a rainy day

Friday, September 20, 2013, part one

I was disappointed to be woken at the usual time because I had expected a rainy day off.  And then I heard the gurgling of water in the rain barrel outside my window and looked out to an increasing drizzle.   So at last, it turned out to be the day to go get new shoes.  We were off “overseas” to Astoria.

As often seems to be true, the sky over Astoria and points east was lighter and we were out of the rain as soon as we got through the Chinook tunnel.

bright sky over Astoria; Columbia River to our right

Because a 55 mph wind is predicted for Sunday, the workers on the bridge were folding up the enormous tarps that cover the highest part.  Last year, they got caught out by the first storm and had to close the bridge because of the dangerous flapping!

Screen shot of news story, in case it eventually goes away as old news:

last year!

A shoe shopping expedition is not a treat for me.  I find it very hard, and always have done, to acquire comfy shoes.  Last year, in the local Reach Out Thrift Store, I happened upon a pair for $2 that felt soft as butter.  (I had been looking for a work shirt, not shoes, but checked the shoes in a desperate attempt to avoid actual shoe shopping!)  It turned out that they were SAS, an expensive brand, but one that would be worth any amount of money to me.  Since the ones I bought that day were already worn and now have holes by the little toe, today we went across the river to the store that carries them: Gimre’s.  I had the most pleasant shoe shopping experience of my life there and bought two pair, and that is enough about shoes!

Ok, for my friends who do love shoes, here they are:

left: new slip ons, middlle: new laceups, right: thrift store pair

I commend SAS for making such great shoes.  I will even try to keep the slip on pair out of the dirt…(We’ll see how long that lasts.)

Back to (mostly) garden theme, with this digression for one of the best hotel advertising slogans ever:

hotel elliot

I continue to be an ardent admirer of the Astoria planters on Commercial Street and some side streets:

chocolate cosmos on Commercial

planter with Fuchsia

Periscaria

Euphorbia and Verbena

(I hesitate to use Euphorbia in planters because if someone broke off a piece, hurting their eye with the toxic sap would be a high price to pay for finger blight.)

I adore the planters with wire sides and plants spilling out all the way to the ground:

planter

closer

The rain caught up with us in Astoria, so we went to lunch, passing this cute storefront on the way.

We also passed a curbside garden on Marine Drive with a name I recognized:

Jessica’s garden

I met Jessica some years ago and loved the slogan that she used for her gardening business, which I think was called Wyndlesham Gardening:  “Hand Tool Gardening”, and am pleased to have found this interview with her on that subject.

Chocolate cosmos in Jessica’s garden

Jessica’s garden

We dined on the lunch buffet at the wonderful Himani Indian Cuisine.  Guess which plate is mine and which is Allan’s.

messy vs. tidy

I went back for a bowl of raita.  I could eat a mixing bowl of the stuff!  (Yogurt with cucumber.)

On the way back to the van, we peeked into the interior of a building that I remembered from when a tea shop used to be in its basement.

as I remembered: cool architecture indoors

Our parking spot was very close to the wide Columbia River.

the great Columbia

and the scent of water and pilings

Crossing the bridge again, we found the big tarps completely bundled off to the sides and decided we had better take the coming storm seriously.

Just a few hatches truly needed battening at home.  Allan took the blue bottle hanger (from Back Alley Gardens) out of the danger tree.

rainy day garden

blue bottles coming down

and time to take down the great wall of china…

and the beautiful hanger made by Sheila (New Leaf Plants and Pottery)

Poor spider had to move so we could get Sheila’s pottery down.

The space between the house and shed is a fierce wind tunnel in a storm from the south.

cats underfoot, as often happens in the garden

It seems awfully early for a storm to come and batter the garden.  Before the storm:

Dicentra scandens climbing into a hanging basket

a perfect clump of Dianthus

boat (The Anne Lovejoy) with cosmos

The Solidago ‘Fireworks’ has fizzled out:

browned off now

But Lemon Queen is going strong.

Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’

dahlia

I took a walk around because the flowers might be bowed and battered soon.

for Ann who wants more photos of garden signs

Nicotiana langsdorfii

some Fuchsias for Mr. Tootlepedal

fuchsias against a darmera peltata leaf

Fuchsias fronted with Persicaria ‘Firetail’

I checked out the bogsy wood because in a high wind it will be too dangerous to go back here.  I tucked the Bogsy Wood sign more safely against a tree.

bogsy wood

autumn leaves in a salmonberry tunnel

When all the salmonberry leaves fall, we will have our winter view of the port buildings.

The swale under the bridge will fill with water…

Under the danger tree (a big dead alder, died last year) is a shade bed that will disrupted if the tree falls before we have it cut.

shade bed in danger

Allan wheeled a blue pot from the base of the tree to a safe spot.

heavy!

We left the lady to fend for herself, and may regret it.

she lost her feet so was inexpensive….but heavy!

blue pot safely tucked by the boat

Mary and Frosty take cover from the rain.

Mary is not a bird hunter so does not have to wear a BirdsBeSafe collar.

Throughout the garden we could hear frogs.  We had an appointment to keep, so I only found this one.

Pacific tree frog

The frog sees me!

For a non working day, this has gone on for much too long and we still had two garden visits to make before dark…

to be continued…