29 & 30 Nov: a Shop Small narrative

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Today was Shop Small Saturday, and since I wanted to stay very local (and needed to “cover” the event for Discover Ilwaco), we stuck to the Port of Ilwaco.  I was very well chuffed to have friends Kathleen and J9 come by to join us.  On the way down, I found it terribly difficult not to pull some small weeds from a Howerton Way garden.  With Kathleen’s encouragement, I managed to walk on past them.

J9, Kathleen, and I amble along Waterfront Way (Allan’s photos)

a crisp sunny day, such a contrast from yesterday

We walked by Time Enough Books.

And OleBob’s. We would return to both later on.

Regular readers will be glad to know that after a week off work, I did not need my cane to make it to the port and back.  In fact, I was not even hobbling!

 

entering this year’s Ilwaco Christmas Market venue, the former space of Queen La De Da (who moved her shop downtown)

The market will be richer in vendors starting next week.  There was a big craft fair, maybe more than one, in Seaside and maybe Astoria today so crafters were spread a bit thin, we think.  NEXT week Pink Poppy Bakery will be there…but Kathleen will be back in her Olympia home and will miss that delight till she returns in two weeks.

In the Saturday Christmas Market:

It occurs to me I need to look at jewelry and compliment it; I tend to ignore it as I don’t wear it much. .(The exception is that I always notice the very cool jewelry of Debbie Haugsten; I wish she had a booth at this market.)

An artist in wood….

had made a beautiful boat.

The miniature charts were actually old, he told us.

boat detail

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

In the interest of supporting the market, Allan bought an oyster shell ornament.

wreaths

signs

Allan’s photo

When I saw market manager Bruce Peterson carrying a wooden star down the street, I realized he must be planning to put the topper on the crab pot Christmas tree.  I left the market and tailed him for a photo opportunity.

approaching the tree at the west end of Howerton Way

Peter and Bruce place the star

“Does it look straight to you?”

Betsy Millard, director of Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum

helpers

zip-tying the lights and greenery

On the way back, I simply had to stop at the westernmost Howerton Way garden and break the dead stems off of a Gaura ‘Whirling Butterflies’.  I had meant to bring my clippers.  Kathleen reminded me that I was on staycation but I could not be dissuaded.  After that excitement, we reunited with Allan and J9 and all went into Time Enough Books for awhile.  Before entering, Allan saw co owner Peter putting up some lights.

Peter making sure the lights reach down to the Purly Shell yarn shop

In the bookstore, my good friend Scout waited to greet new customers.

 

 

Allan’s photo; shop dog Scout

We sat by the fire (Allan’s photo) and I hope added some ambience.

Allan’s photo: lots of patrons for Shop Small Saturday

Time Enough Books

J9, an avid reader, browsing the shelves

J9 left us to run assorted errands and head home to her new kittens.  Kathleen and I made a stop into Purly Shell Fiber Arts, right next door to the bookstore.

Purly Shell Christmas tree

yarn displayed on nautical nets

in Purly Shell (Allan’s photo)

I tried to start a conversation about the cozy mystery series The Seaside Knitters and how I was loving it so much that it made me want to learn to knit.  This was a missed opportunity as I could at that moment have been easily convinced to take a knitting class.  Allan commented how much our cats would enjoy the yarn.

It does look like a pleasant pastime.

Allan departed to work on a home project: getting some Christmas lights hung.  Kathleen and I were starting to feel peckish.  Before lunch, however, we wanted to visit Artist Don Nisbett.

Don in his shop

cards

tiles

glasses

and a marina view…

We each bought some Christmas cards, and Don signed them for us.

cards by Don

While we were there, a fisherman came in asking for a good place to eat at the port.  Don suggested OleBob’s.  Then the fisherman told us that the boat he’d been on last night was almost the first casualty of the crabbing season.

a fisherman’s tale

The boat called The Hornet had sprung a leak at sea during last night’s windy weather.  The Coast Guard was called.  In choppy seas, some of the expensive crab pots were lost, and crewmate Big John went overboard.  Thankfully, he got back to the side of the boat almost immediately and was saved.  Within just thirty seconds, his legs had gone numb from the cold.  You can see a short Coast Guard video of the rescue here.

Soon Kathleen and I went down the way to OleBob’s ourselves and were pleased to see the fisherman and the owner of the boat ordering a big set of meals for the whole crew.  The boat’s owner told us the leak would be fixed soon and they would go back out.

crab fishermen at OleBob’s

We waiting peaceably at a corner table while the big order was cooked.

views from OleBob’s…

Kathleen had fish and chips (left) and I had crab cakes (right):

I took a bite of the tasty garlic bread before I remembered to take a photo.

On the way out, we had a look at the two maps where visitors to OleBob’s stick a pin to mark how far they have traveled for a tasty crab cake.

map of the USA

map of the world

At home, we found Allan still working on the lights in the quite chilly air.  He kept at it till sunset and took some photos from the roof.

The Jessie’s star, right

 

one string of lights on the back of the house

Kathleen left for her beach cabin in time to get home before the roads  iced up.  As I write this in the late evening, it’s 29 degrees outside and I am looking forward to six days of reading.  Only one more work task remains: the billing for November, and then I can turn to books for several days before next Saturday’s lighting of the Crab Pot Christmas Tree calls us out again.

Sunday, 30 November 2014

 It took all tedious day to do the billing.  Now that it is done, I REALLY feel like I am on staycation!

The last gardening news for November:

Allan got the darling little cyclamens from Kathleen planted.

The wheelbarrow got a tune up in Allan’s shop, and the gardening tools got unloaded from the van.

I am sorry to say we already have a call from a client who needs some help with a bulb transplanting project, so a few tools will have to go back in so we can come to her rescue.  (There are always a few job-related tasks that come up to interfere with pure staycation.)

a bouquet of chrysanthemums from Long Beach still in bloom by the window

Fatsia ‘Spiders Web’ is still holding up well.

The front garden is pretty well crispy.

We have but one small tomato left of the last handful that I brought in before the cold night.

And the cats are well settled in for the winter.  For much of the rest of staycation, at least any cold and/or rainy days, I hope to be joining them on this chair:

 

 

 

 

 

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28 Nov: Peninsula Arts Association Studio Tour

Friday, 28 November 2014

As planned, we left the house at about 10:30 AM for the Peninsula Arts Association Studio Tour.

All up and down the peninsula!

We knew we would not be able to see all 17 of the venues, so we skipped the shops in Long Beach and a few places where we had been before. (The event continued Saturday for those who could devote two days to fitting in every single stop; we had other plans for Saturday.)

Marsh Pottery

I was curious to see a pottery studio in the Sahalee neighbourhood on the hill west of Ilwaco.

When we got there, the weather was like this…and a worker was on the roof of a new house being built across the road!

The hill houses overlook the Columbia River.

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo: Every stop had various snacks on offer.

Potter Linda Marsh and art patrons

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo: The roofer had taken shelter.

Hobbit Shop

We tried to go to Karen Brownlee’s studio next but shot by her driveway, went into the next driveway thinking it was hers, and decided to keep on going north and catch her on the way home. (All day became suspenseful; would we get back to Karen’s on time?)

We swung back over to Pacific Avenue (the ocean side) and into a mysterious driveway. This is what I had been hoping for: to visit places down secret little roads.

down a long one lane driveway

At the end, a place of delight just as I had hoped!

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo, the crow in the peak of the roof

on the side of the shop, ingredients!

the door to the hobbit shop

inside

Allan’s photo; One wall had all sorts of tools and one had art. (Allan bought the wooden box on lower right.)

Allan’s photo, with his little box front and center

woodcarver Jim Unwin

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

building tools

Jim’s wife, Annie, reflected in a carved mirror

I asked Annie if Jim recycled wooden pallets, since I had seen the old pallets leaned up against the side of the shop. She showed me a pallet table (for only $40!)…

table

And she told me that the chairs we had noticed outside were made of pallets…

Allan’s photo: pallet chairs

Allan’s photo

Annie took us out the side door and showed us the fence that Jim is building out of deconstructed pallets.

fence of free pallets deconstructed into slats of varying size.

back inside the shop

Jim at work.

I fell in love with a birdhouse; Jim said it was not one he had made. He had gotten it up in Tokeland at a craft fair for $20. Make me an offer, he said, and I acquired the charming birdhouse for $20!

not for the outdoors or for real birds

Getting to see this hidden-away woodshop was one of the highlights of the tour for me.

As we left, the weather was still like this.

Carol Couch Watercolors

Kathleen had told us we must be sure to visit Carol’s studio and home. Oh my, she was so right!

Carol’s sign was the easiest one to see!

Allan’s photo

shed/greenhouse

studio at front of house

The house that stood here before was a manufactured home. One stormy day three trees fell on it. Rather than replace it with another manufactured, Carol decided to design a house that would be a place to grow old in, with wheelchair width doors and all on one level. It is gorgeous.

an open floor plan

doors to an enormous deck

shed door viewed from the deck

fresh air outdoor room

looking in from the deck doors

snacks on the kitchen table

Carol introduced us to her friend and chef, Eddie, who had done much of the design work on the house and who was cooking up delectable empinadas.

Eddie busy cooking empinadas

with two sauces, so good!

We loved the art and bought two prints and some cards and a mirror framed in beach glass.

Allan’s photo of Carol and me and the wonderful light in the studio.

Allan’s photo: beach glass mirrors made by Carol and her daughter.

As we left, Carol invited us to come visit in summertime. We look forward to that.

Note, bottom right below, the Depot Tavern. That was the previous incarnation of The Depot Restaurant, now our favourite place to dine and one of our gardening spots.

some of our art haul from Carol’s studio

Naquaiya’s Studio

On a quiet side street in Ocean Park, we found the cutest little house. If we’d ever been up that street before, I would have noticed it.

600 square foot cottage

Next door is a barn housing the art of several artists, including owner Michele Naquaiya.

Just inside, jams and jellies represent the culinary arts.

an array of cards by the artists

paper decorations

lower right, broken plates about to be repurposed as mosaics

Some of the card art that we acquired from this studio…

As we left, I noticed the mosaic shutters on the house.

Allan’s photo

The next day, Kathleen told me that she got a tour of the house later that day. I was jealous! She told me that artist Michele had done much of the building and had learned a lot about power tools in the process. The house was only recently completed. Michele had told me that all the wood trim was hand cut and she made all the mosaics.

Allan’s photo shows the horse mosaic by the front door. Another will join it.

Allan’s photo: a garden in the making

roadside greenery across the street (cotoneaster, evergreen huckleberry, salal)

intermission

We saw some cute little Ocean Park cottages on our way to the next studio.

with lavender shutters

detail: Robin’s Nest

and blue shutters

tiny cottage next to blue shutter cottage

green and red

across the street from the next studio; I like this better than a big fancy house.

Bette Lu’s Holiday Studio

Allan’s photo

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this one; would it be just Christmas decorations?

I was pleased to discover a tiny studio full of excellent art. Artist Bette Lu Krause said she just calls it the holiday studio because of the time of year that she opens for this event; most of the time, she sells through local galleries.

cupcakes and hot cocoa

Who should walk in the door but our dear friend Kathleen! shown here with the artist.

Allan’s photo; This was the only studio where we crossed paths with Kathleen.

Bette Lu herself

Her art is evocative of nature, fog, trees, and the sea.

“contemplating clams” and trees in fog

Allan’s photo

 

view out the back window

We came away with cards: the back yard Buddha in springtime and the best Christmas card I’ve ever seen.

On an impulse, even though I was concerned about time left before 4 PM, we decided to make the rather long drive up to north Surfside to a studio we’d visited on a previous tour.

On the way….(Allan’s photo)

Don Perry Metal Art

Don’s studio is in a garage up a steep driveway.

garden art on the way up (Allan’s photo)

more garden art (Allan’s photo); I was smitten by the starry sphere

Don Perry (Allan’s photo)

We both tried to get photos when his metal tool was actually shooting blue sparks. It occurred to me later that neither of us are at all assertive in getting people to pose for photos. In one sense, this means you can count on the blog photos being true to life; nevertheless, it would have been so easy to ask him to just shoot off some sparks for a great photo.

in the workshop: Allan’s photo

I decided I could not live without that starry sphere. It was a long day’s wages in price. I learned years ago from the book Your Money or Your Life how to value things I want to buy. You deduct your overhead expenses from your hourly wage, figure out how many hours you would have to work for said thing, and then decide if it was worth it. The starry sphere was most definitely worth a day of my time.

Don Perry brought it down from the garden….

…and he kindly carried the heavy object down to our van.

He warned us it is assembled under tension so never undo it. I promised we would not dissect the garden art.

intermission

Surfside is a windswept neighbourhood on a base of sand.

A lot of the gardens look like this.

a planting of ornamental grass in glowing autumnal colours, even in the rain (Allan’s photo)

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

Allan noticed the viewing deck next to a low slung home.

In Ocean Park, we made a quick drive to the beach approach restrooms. Across the street, I noticed the unusual sight of the very popular Full Circle Café without cars and trucks parked all along the front.

Full Circle Café and Tapestry Rose yarn shop

Allan noticed the weathervane atop the café.

He nipped across the street to get a photo of a driftwood fence with beach grass and salal.

Bay Avenue Gallery

We next visited the Bay Avenue Gallery especially to see the latest creations by our friend Joe Chasse.

Allan’s photo

inside

Lisa, who runs the edible garden tour and often volunteers at Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum, was cashiering for the event.

All of Joe’s recent “canned ham trailer” pieces from his Dangerous Toys collection had been sold. They HOP off the shelves. You can see some photos at his blog, here. Other interesting pieces remained:

We also found a display of the little pottery houses by Jan Richardson. We miss seeing her around since she has moved away from the Peninsula. You can see her former Peninsula home and garden here.

dog houses

dream house

A display of Karen Brownlee’s pottery reminded me we must hurry as I did want to see her studio.

Karen Brownlee pottery

Lisa told us we must go next door to the workshop as more art was on display there.

the workshop and classroom space

a new sign for the front

I was smitten with a flattish piece with a poppy seedpod design. It turned out to be a second, a platter that the artist thought had failed, and the price was therefore low.

It came home with me.

Back into the gallery we went to pay for it.

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

Beach Home Old and New

We reluctantly, because of time running short, skipped the Weir Gallery as we think it is open more often than the “occasional shop”, Beach Home Old and New.

It’s housed in “The Barn On Bay”. (Allan’s photo)

inside, our friend Debbie Haugsten’s jewelry

to the right, in background, is Debbie herself.

The large space abounds in all sorts of just the kind of thing I like.

Allan could not resist, and bought a fairy furniture gate and door.

I could not resist five little houses for $2 each. Here they are on my bookshelf a day later.

Wiegardt Gallery

Of course, we had to stop at the Wiegardt Gallery to have a staycation look at the garden (no weeding allowed!) and to say hello to Eric.

Miscanthus variegatus behind the gallery (Allan’s photo)

Allan checked on the tiny bun of dianthus….

and found a Knautia still blooming.

Miscanthus

front walkway

autumnal lawn beds

all tidy by the front door

montbretia…ready to be pulled…but it’s staycation!

east front corner of the house…a shrub in bloom. (Allan’s photo)

Allan’s photo

a winter blooming camellia??

inside

Allan’s photo

alliums and grasses, displayed by gallery manager Christl

Eric himself

A young art patron reached out to touch a photo and his mother, as would any good mother, admonished him not to touch.

Eric, a renowned art teacher as well as a renowned artist, said that it was okay for the boy to touch the painting. In fact, said Eric, there was a painting with even more texture. He got it down from the wall so the boy could examine the layering of paint.

Allan’s photo

an inspiration

With just a little over a forty five minutes left, we departed to try to make it to Karen’s studio. On the way, we drove right by another studio tour sign and realized we had forgotten…

Epinoia Studio

…so we turned around in the driveway of Peninsula Landscape Supply and went back. Who did we find in the driveway, giving a consultation about some running bamboo, but our good friend Ed Strange!

inside Epinoia Studio

I wish I had inquired as to whether the flower flags were for sale.

a large space for creating

Allan and the artist

me ‘n the Edster; we’re trying to solve a conundrum about the game Words with Friends

 

I’m showing him, in our van, the awesome sphere with stars.

Karen Brownlee Studio

We had to take our leave of Ed and rush down to the Brownlee pottery studio. This time, we knew that we should turn in at the driveway with mosaic posts. No photo ensued as the driveway was long and the tour was due to end in about fifteen minutes.

Karen was busy at her potter’s wheel

You may recall the annual charity event, Empty Bowls, and that Karen is the driving force behind it.

Karen’s work is both beautiful and practical.

pie birds

pottery flowers; I could use a whole bouquet of these in my garden, I just realized!

assorted fruit

Karen offered some garlic made this way for a snack, with bread….delicious.

an interesting poster on the wall

This cranberry pattern mirror was my last purchase of the day.

at home

We left Karen’s at 4:00 on the dot and came home to lay out our acquisitions and dote on them.

our art haul at home

To make the end of the day even more satisfying, I saw from my window that Jessie’s Ilwaco Fish Company had lit their holiday star for the first time this year.

south window view

Even better, I knew I had one more pleasant social and artistic occasion the following day and then I might have six days of reading time.

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27 Nov: crabbing and feasting

Thursday, 27 November 2014

We decided to not to go the always delicious Ilwaco community Thanksgiving dinner because 1) I am sort of hibernating and 2) we like to eat later than noon to 4 PM (even though early dining is a Thanksgiving tradition for many) and 3) our friend Kathleen had proposed the delightful idea of going to a potluck at the Sou’wester Lodge, where we would mingle with a different crowd.  Therefore, I got to sit and read for the afternoon.

 I asked Allan if he would mind driving down to the Port to get some photos of the Aleutian Ballad, a crabbing boat that was once a part of the Deadliest Catch telly show and was rumoured to be in town dropping off crab pots for the local fleet.  Always interested in a photo assignment, he came back with all these photos.  Our fleet is, we hear, going to drop their pots tomorrow, and when crab season opens on December 1, they will motor out to retrieve all the crabs who’ve wandered into the pots.

Port of Ilwaco

Allan apologizes that the photos are grey.  Twas a grey and rainy and windy day.

Evening Star ready to go crabbing.

all poised to set their pots

Three boats lined up, loaded up with pots.

looks like the whole fleet is loaded and ready

on the docks

The Aleutian Ballad; It now gives Bering Sea tours.

he Aleutian Ballad; It now gives Bering Sea tours.

Storm flags (gale warning) flying over the port.

Aleutian Ballad from the lighthouse loop road

Allan would like you to see that the rain began in earnest!

looking east over the harbour

crab pots stacked at Ilwaco Landing

Our local fleet uses round pots, much smaller than the big square or rectangular ones used by the Bering Sea crabbing fleet.

Sou’wester Thanksgiving

At six o clock, we met Kathleen at the Sou’wester Lodge for a potluck Thanksgiving dinner.  Allan had made two pumpkin pies; Kathleen brought a modern sweet potato dish (olive oil instead of a brown sugar glaze).

As we approached the lodge, I took a photo that turned out blurry, so here’s one from our last evening visit.

Sou’wester Lodge by night

a warm glow from one of the four cabins

In the living room, a fire was burning.

A selection of appetizers were on offer.

On the drinks table, I found a bottle of organic cranberry juice from Starvation Alley. Just a splash is perfect in tonic water.

corner of the room that, when I lived at the Sou’wester in ’93, was the bedroom of the previous owners.

on the sun porch

an honour system shop on the sun porch

sun porch shop

We repaired down below the lodge to the pavilion, where tables were set up for dinner.

Allan’s photo; the potluck table was lavish with food.

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo; that’s Sou’wester owner Thandi, right, and her mom, who Thandi said cooked for three days!

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo, Kathleen and I at the end of the line

Allan’s photo of the board groaning with food.

Allan’s photo; we all raise a glass to the Sou’wester, for a photo

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo; After dinner, all the leftovers got carried back to the lodge immediately, because of bears.

Allan’s photo

Back in the lodge living room after dinner. I took a few more photos and was glad to be back at the Sou’wester as a guest.

Vintage trailers figure large here as decor and as lodging.

 

trailer decor on living room shelves

 

In the kitchen, a large crew washed dishes, so many helpers we could not squeeze in.  There were so many dishes, some had to be left to dry before the second round of washing.

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo; I took a photo into the living room as we left.

looking from the sun porch into the living room

As we departed, Kathleen (right, with white hair) stayed to visit some more.

As we walked back to the van, I looked up at the carriage house.  In ’93, Robert and I lived on the top floor after he had added a bathroom, a kitchen sink and stove and the dormer with the oval window.

carriage house after dark

Back then, the wind whistled through the eaves, the roof leaked, and the second dormer had not been built.  The conditions were one of the reasons we left.  I’m happy to show that new owner Thandi takes good care of her staff.  The glowing room in the lower right corner is the old laundry room where I laboured with one washer and dryer.  Now they have several.

Before the carriage house, we lived in the Spartan trailer with the rounded front, second from the far end, for almost five months.

another look at a cozy cabin

It did my heart good to visit with the new(ish) owner, Thandi.  I would recommend this place to any friend who likes to stay somewhere with an alternative “vibe”.  It is second in my heart only to the Sylvia Beach Hotel.  I wonder if it has room journals?

This was the perfect place to be on Thanksgiving and I am grateful that Kathleen had the idea to go.

Do watch this wonderful music video filmed at the Sou’wester; the music is good, the video is skillful, and I recognize so many of the interiors.  The male protagonist of the story is cleaning the trailers and the lodge…just as I used to do.

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26 Nov: Loomis and Lights

Wednesday, 26 November 2014

While I’ve had my nose in one book after another, Allan saved the blogging day by a boating excursion on….

Loomis Lake

Loomis Lake

The state park access was closed for the season.  Fortunately, having our friend J9 residing in Tides West just a block from a little lakeside park made it possible to launch from there as a guest.

Tides West community park, lower right

Allan:  I felt it was a better day for the birds and the bird-watching residents before I intruded. There were over a dozen swans when I first arrived. I quietly walked to the waters edge with my camera but they had moved to the other side of the lake and were gone before I dragged the boat through the shoreside weeds.

elusive swans

He came prepared with his ‘wellies’ to drag the boat out through the weeds.

a weedy shoreline

The Tides West community plans to continue clean up of this lake, as evidenced by meetings listed on their website.

a flock of geese leaving as I drifted downwind toward them.

In typical staycation fashion, Allan did not get out of the house till mid afternoon, so it was a short boating excursion.   Afterward, he stopped by J9’s house to help her put up her storm windows and got to see her rambuctius new kittens, Jake and Louie, in action.

Kitten Intermission

On the way home in the dark, he got us all some photos of the Christmas lights in…

Long Beach

Long Beach City Hall

lights along Pacific, north of Bolstadt

Bolstadt beach approach

window of our favourite shop, NIVA green

window of our favourite shop, NIVA green

window of our favourite shop, NIVA green

Have a look: the yellow chrysanthemum is STILL blooming.

another lovely shop

Fifth Street Park

Fifth Street Park

Fifth Street Park

Pacific Avenue (Highway 103)

Fifth Street Park

and Ilwaco…

Ilwaco community building and Ilwaco Timberland library

Ilwaco City Hall

crab pot decorations on street lights

Thanks, Allan, for keeping the blog going for one more day!

On Thanksgiving we will be attending an interesting potluck at the Sou’wester Lodge (thanks to the suggestion of Kathleen)…and on Friday an art studio tour all over the Peninsula.  Saturday is the first day of the Saturday Christmas Market at the Port, which I need to photograph for the Discover Ilwaco FB page..  Even though I am mentally in hibernation mode, all of these may provide enough blog fodder to keep the blog going daily through the end November even though staycation arrived early this year.

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23 Nov: Nahcotta Boat Basin

Sunday, 23 November 2014

Allan made a shopping trip to the two grocery stores in Ocean Park and his side trip to the Nahcotta Boat Basin provided just the tiniest bit of blog fodder for today.  I had me nose stuck in a book.  I’m exploring the fictional town of Sea Harbor, Massachussets, and will share something about that in the future.

Port of Peninsula
Serving the Oyster and the Crab Industries, a Gillnet fleet and Recreational Users.

The arrow is Nahcotta. (And Flora is my Google moniker.)

The arrow shows Nahcotta, on the Willapa Bay side of the Long Beach Peninsula.

Port of Peninsula, Nahcotta

Located in the middle of the Long Beach Peninsula at Nahcotta on Willapa Bay, the Port has about 90 leased slips. A Brow Hoist Boat Sling is available for lifting boats (30′ and under) into and out of Willapa Bay. Construction of a Public Boat Launch Ramp was completed in 2003. Power and water are available, as well as a boat sewage pumpout station, the only one located on Willapa Bay.

Birders might be interested in this link to the Great Washington State Birding Trail.

Allan’s photos:

boat ramp

I’ll add here a couple of my photos of the Port of Peninsula:

Port of Peninsula, probably 1999 or so

view of Port of Peninsula from the south, 2014

And there is an unexpected blog post for today, thanks to Allan’s desire to look for another place to put his kayak into the water.

 

 

 

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22 Nov: last workday of 2014

Saturday, 22 November 2014

I woke up early to the sound of stormy weather and the happy thought: Today I can spend all day reading And the Dark Sacred Night…at last!..and then fell back into a sound sleep. Both Allan and I slept shockingly late. I clocked an exhausted ten hours and did not even wake for a dramatic thunderstorm around 7 AM (unless that is what woke me for a brief and happy book thought).

When we finally arose, the sky was blue in all directions. Ironically, at 1 AM the night before Allan had asked if we were going to go do Marilyn’a garden if the weather looked good today. I had said no, because she lives a half an hour away and I did not want to fall for a weather “sucker hole”, get all the way there on a day that predicted to be rainy and then have the rain dump on us and make it a wasted trip.

However….the weather app promised a perfect window of opportunity to get the job done….

So off we went after quick bowls of cold cereal for breakfast. We skipped making coffee and went through the Great Escape espresso drivethrough instead.

view from Great Escape coffee window. I have issues with pampas grass. However, these look pretty fine right now.

Marilyn’s Garden

At Marilyn’s, we had two projects to accomplish. Allan’s was to clear a better path around the east side of the house. He did an impressive job.

before

after

after

Allan’s audience on the roof next door.

My project was to pull some patches of montbretia, cut back some flopped ornamental grasses so they would not smother other plants, weed some little plants out of the gravel path, and pull some weedy creeping charlie.

before, front driveway

after

before, near back porch

after

Creeping Charlie is a fun weed to hate, as it comes up with ease in satisfying large sheets. There’s always a bit that lurks in the center of a perennial and then emerges and covers the ground again. Some folks might even like it (even though the leaves are stinky) and plant it on purpose. I have found that I do not much like anything that is called a groundcover as most plants described as such turn out to be invasive pests.

all nicey nice again

Charlie still lurks in the background; more will be pulled in spring when we cut down all the stems of perennials. In this garden, we leave the backdrop of tall perennials standing over the winter as shelter for birds (and deer!).

My good friend Goldie came outside for awhile.

looking for (and getting) some pets

This patch of montbretia (which I really wish was not there at all) got pulled.

looking south: path weeded. Fig tree on left had lots of figs, most unripened.

Maddeningly, I had forgotten to bring the little bits of golden boxleaf honeysuckle that I meant to plant at the south end of the path. I was able to get some layered rooted starts from the Lonicera ‘Baggeson’s Gold’ that is already there to extend its run. The starts I have in a bucket at home will just have to go somewhere along my fence instead.

looking northwest from back porch

Allan had finished his side project in time to also tackle the drainage swale in back where we have commingled Siberian iris, ornamental grass, and daylilies.

before

after

same area, after, from the corner of the house

That is a very hard area to do as all the irises are difficult to shear.

Goodbye to Marllyn’s for 2014!

To our own amazement, we got out of Marilyn’s with a full load of debris in time to dump it at Peninsula Landscape Supply’s mulch pile.

Peninsula Landscape Supply

at Peninsula Landscape Supply

I walked around taking some photos for their Facebook page while Allan dumped.

When I went to join him I decided to just leave him to finish and take some more photos instead.

Allan at the back of a long slog of mud.

He was probably glad I had not been in the van as I would have been freaking out about maybe getting stuck in the mud.

more pics of the very cool large river rock on offer

and angular rocks

I was ever so relieved to look back and see the van coming around from behind the mulch piles.

not stuck after all

Woody debris gets ground and composted down into mulch.

We took the buckets of creeping charlie home as we did not want to inflict it upon the pile of mulch making ingredients.

Depot Restaurant

On the way home, I suggested a check on the windowboxes at the Depot Restaurant. Of course, the annuals are still refusing to die.

endless osteospermum

I did see that we needed to cut down the Coreopsis ‘Flower Tower’ and a completely blackened pineapple sage.

before

after

42nd Street Café

I’d been cogitating about the prospect of yet another celebratory dinner. I knew the 42nd Street opened early, but how early? We went four blocks up the road to find out and learned that we had only ten minutes to wait till opening time.

Something had been bothering me every time we drove by there: the dang blang lady’s mantle near the entrance. Restaurateur Blaine Walker recently had knee surgery and I decided we could trim up the area as a get well present.

before

after

Even though we have bowed out of the occasional job of weeding the river rock, Allan could not resist pulling some big clumps of weedy grass along the front edge.

Sunset over the 42nd Street Café

And now, to celebrate the official start of staycation…

We were almost the first to arrive.

marionberry lemonade and a Vesper (A modern Version of James Bond’s Martini) Broker’s Gin, Tito’s Vodka, Cocchi Americano and a lemon twist…shaken, not stirred.

The restaurant soon began to fill.

bread with their famous corn relish

flatbread pizza appetizer; today’s flavour was New Orleans style

I opted for comfort food: Rich & Real Beef Strogonoff

It is beyond compare, especially compared to the hamburger helper stroganoff that was a staple of my childhood. Not my grandmother’s cooking; hers would have been real.

Allan opted for the crab and cheese ravioli. It did not appeal to me as much from the description; I think because last year, in another restaurant, I had crab in a chile relleno and did not like the combination.

our two dishes

The crab and cheese ravioli

However! that lemon and caper sauce was one of the most delicious sauces that I have ever tasted. We are going to have to return so that I can have a dish of it all to myself. Allan might like to have a dish of it all to HIMself.

My spoon kept sneaking past the breadbasket to get another taste of that lemon sauce.

Our wonderfully warm and kind server, Betty, said “That sauce is so good you could put it on a flip flop and it would be delicious.”

The café filling with diners

In the corner, a diner got one of the thrilling birthday sparklers that are a feature of the café.

We shared a chocolate rum truffle cheesecake that lived up to its description.

Allan had a chocolate linzer coffee and I had the house made spiced butternut squash liqueur.

Now that was a meal worthy of staycation celebration.

leaving the 42nd Street

home

At home, the work board is now empty except for two teeny tiny clipping jobs and some projects for 2015:

The windowbox annuals and chrysanthemums that refuse to die are all that is left.

Each of those last check ups will take only five minutes each!

I broke out last March’s birthday present from Lisa. I’ve been saving it for staycation evenings.

This all seems to imply that with kahlua in my morning coffee and Laphroaig at night, staycation is a boozy affair. Actually, I don’t know how people get much done with a couple of drinks in them as it took me over an hour to stop feeling like it was naptime after tonight’s dinner.

It’s time now to watch this week’s episode of Grimm. Certain friends of mine think it is high time I stopped blogging and joined them in the comfy chair. (Speaking of stopping blogging, there may be a staycation blog slowdown coming up soonish.)

Smokey, Mary, Frosty

My staycation plan is to read, read, read (and I must work in my own garden on some good weather days. And take trash picking walks around town). First, I’ll read And the Dark Sacred Night, the third in a loosely connected trilogy by Julia Glass. I have started it and was worried that I saw no familiar characters. I peeked ahead and was relieved to see my beloved Fenno and Walter will make an appearance. [Later: I was halfway through the book when I realized with a thrill that one of the original characters appears in the very first scene, using his full name rather than a nickname.]

I have a huge stack of library books on order, including the rest of the Seaside Knitters mystery series, and would like to reread some books from my own library, especially Margaret Drabble.

I also intend to catch up on my favourite blogs. I have some midsummer posts to read on the Tootlepedal and The Miserable Gardener blogs, and I have about three years worth to read at Moosey’s Country Garden. I intend to read the archives of Oysterville Daybook, Bonney Lassie, Rhone Street Gardens, and The Outlaw Gardener…among others. One of the drawbacks of writing a “daybook” myself is that it is so time consuming in the evenings that I fall behind on the much better blogs of other gardeners.

A two month staycation is clearly not going to be long enough.

 

 

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21 Nov: a book and some culture

Friday, 21 November 2014

Even though we woke to much rain and wind, I did not feel like we were on staycation as we still have one more job to do.

north window view

east window view

south window view

From the south window, I can see the wind warning flags just past the port office. Today, they said gale warning.

telephoto

This was backed up by the head of Pacific County Emergency Management:

water plants below south window

For the cats, staycation is just an ordinary day, other than the fact that they seem to be extra happy when I am home all day.

Smokey

Mary

I had a good selection of books checked out of the library. They had been waiting so long for me to have rainy reading days that I had had to renew most of them.

mostly cozy mysteries except for the Damien Echols autobiography

I sort of accidentally ended up with a preponderance of cozy mysteries. When making my first set of winter reading orders from the library, I realized I had fallen behind on the China Bayles series by Susan Wittig Albert. The Friday Night Knitting Club and The Wednesday Sisters had been recommended in a book I recently read about friendship. Damien Echols got in there because we recently watched the third Paradise Lost documentary, and I have The Perks of Being a Wallflower, having recently enjoyed the movie. I don’t knit, and yet I am reading a mystery series called The Seaside Knitters, mainly because it is well written and takes place in a small seaside town. So even though I long to read And the Dark Sacred Night next, I had to read Patterns in the Sand, book two of Seaside Knitters today as it was actually overdue and accruing a 15 cents a day fine.

Allan made a delicious breakfast with an omelette containing olive tapenade. I broke out the kahlua for staycation mornings coffee. Just a splash, not enough to interfere with reading.

with one of my favourite condiments, Patak lime pickle, on the side

 

I felt restless because of having one more job to do before the official start of staycation and found it hard to settle down to read my book. When I finally did so, the wind was still roaring outside.

I now had only four hours to read the book before we had to go out for the evening. Fortunately, it was a short and satisfying read.

Patterns in the Sand by Sally Goldenbaum

I like its descriptions of seaside town life that remind me of our lives here at the SW Washington coast.

Reminds me of Ilwaco Saturday Market:

Some lovely descriptions of beachy landscapes:

The sweetness of the knitters gathering to make chemo caps:

One of those pencil corrector type of reader had gotten to the book before me. I do have to admit she is correct, in that the fiber is spun rather than woven. I do find such corrections jarring even when they are right.

My only caveat about the small town setting is that there are so very many restaurants that I begin to wonder if it is actually a town more the size of Newport, Oregon. There’s Annabelle’s…

and Harry Garazzo’s deli:

And a teashop or two:

So many successful restaurants and bars.

I made note of them: The Artist’s Palate (clever name!), The Ocean’s Edge, Sweet Petunia (the real name of Annabelle’s), Coffee (the coffee shop’s eponymous name), The Gull Tavern, Harry’s Deli, and more…and then a character enters a scene bearing a Dunkin’ Donuts coffee! That does imply a city like Newport more than a small town like Long Beach or Ilwaco.

The fictional town of Sea Harbor is supposed to be on Cape Ann, Massachusetts, near Gloucester, which may explain why so many restaurants can thrive in its setting. It’s closer to some big cities than we are here.

Cape Ann

I’m looking forward to the third and more books in the series.

Meanwhile, Allan sorted and flattened the paper bags that had been used for sorting bulbs and got them all into a box for storage till next year.

good bags and discarded torn paper bags and mesh plastic bulbs bags

While sorting, he commented: “You’re getting better. I’m not spotting any more mistakes [typos] in the blog or any more bulbs left behind in your bulb bags.” During his last bag sorting session, he’d found five small, stray, tiny bulbs (each from a different bag) that ended up at the Ilwaco Post Office. I am sorry for whoever missed out on them and should have gotten them.

Bulb time is OVER as Allan takes the box out to the shed for storage!

I just managed to finish my book by 5:30, when it was time to go to Chinook for an evening event:

Shakespeare Revolution in Chinook

Join actors Laura Montes and Joe Wegner for a public performance at the Chinook Events Center!

Part of Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s School Visit Program, the actors will present their touring Shakespeare and literature programs in an event entitled “Shakespeare Revolutions.”

Chinook Event Center

Allan’s photo

The Chinook Event Center (in the town of Chinook just a few miles east of us, upriver) was all kitted out for the event.

castle decor

The Depot Restaurant served up “Bard Bones” and potatoes.

Chef Michael of the Depot

Nancy Gorshe of the Depot serving wine and cider. No mead!

Allan’s photo, as I acquire some cider

Allan’s photo

a “bard bone”

I opted for just lots of potatoes with scrumptious horseradish sauce.

Ilwaco High School Jazz Band performed for an hour before the show.

Allan’s photo

guarded by knights in armour

jazz

I suffered from some disappointment before the show when I learned that our friends who were to join us had to cancel because one of them is still under the weather. It was much more of a disappointment to her, as she is the one who had encouraged us to attend the event. I felt bad for her. It was a comfort to find Seaview Patti and another gardener, Debbie of Ocean Park, to schmooze with at the back of the room. I was thrilled to learn that Patti has decided not to sell her glorious home and garden and move to Portland after all. Madeline and Jacob of Pink Poppy Bakery, Jared and Jessika, our Starvation Alley Cranberry Farm neighbours, and many other familiar faces filled the room.

Jared and Jessika of Starvation Alley Organic Cranberry Farm!

(As I write this blog entry, I am drinking some delicious Starvation Alley Cranberry juice and tonic water.)

From the upstairs balcony, Allan caught me texting event updates to my dear friend who was convalescing at home.

The theatre performance was so delightful that I hesitate to say so, as I know my absent friend will read this and be more sorry she could not attend.

Shakespeare Program: “They Say It’s Your Birthday”

In celebration of Shakespeare’s 450th birthday, the actors will perform selections from some of Shakespeare’s greatest plays, including but not limited to:

Much Ado About Nothing | selections from various scenes: Beatrice, Benedick
As You Like It | Act III, scene v: Phoebe, Silvius
The Winter’s Tale | Act II, scene iii: Paulina, Leontes
Twelfth Night | Act II, scene iv: Viola, Orsino
Macbeth | Act V, scene viii: Macbeth, Macduff

The selections were performed in a modern style, couched in the idea that two young people were throwing a birthday party for Will’s 450th birthday. They had invited characters from the plays without considering that many of them would have squabbles with each other.

the actors

very modern with cell phones and texts from the party guests

I would love to have gotten a photo of the well choreographed sword fight. I thought I probably was not supposed to be taking photos and that, no matter how discreetly I did so, it might be bothersome to other audience members.

a publicity photo from the promotional material

As part of the event, on Thursday and Friday, the actors coached Ilwaco and Naselle high school students in scenes from various plays, including “Much Ado About Nothing,” “As You Like It” and “Macbeth.”

The Shakespeare performance was followed by a timely play about immigration.

“American Night High! The Ballad of an Immigrant Student Dreaming in the USA” is the story of a young Mexican immigrant dreaming, the night before her citizenship exam, of becoming a United States citizen. Throughout the dream we meet famous figures from United States history such as Meriwether Lewis, Teddy Roosevelt, Betsy Ross, Sacagawea, Jackie Robinson and Woody Guthrie.

This 35-minute play is inspired by “American Night, the Ballad of Juan Jose” by Richard Montoya and Culture Clash. The play premiered at the Festival in 2010 and was commissioned by Oregon Shakespeare Festival as part of American Revolutions: United States History Cycle, a 10-year program commissioning up to 37 new plays sprung from moments of change in United States history. The Los Angeles based theatre troupe, Culture Clash, is known for irreverent portrayals of historical and political figures and social satire through sketch comedy.

“American Night High!” is fast-paced and funny. Charged with the history of this great country, it doesn’t shy away from a discussion of immigration issues and the various views held by Democrats, Republicans and the Tea Party Movement. As it navigates these political waters, it never loses sight of the potential of America and the beauty of its complicated history. As one character says, “America ain’t nothing if not a nation built by hard working sons and daughters from far off yonder shores. Every single one of us in this room now is a descendant of immigrants or slaves… Unless’n you’re like my good friend, Sacagawea.”

I was pleased at the subject matter and, of course, the liberal viewpoint of the play, and even though parts of it were hilarious, the more tender parts brought a tear to me jaded old eye. I also enjoyed the hissing from the audience against the right wing tea partier. It’s good to be reminded that we live in a liberal (“blue”) county even though we are at the edge of world.

Allan’s photo of the actors receiving flowers after the play.

When I am at home of an evening, it can be difficult to pry me out, and I miss many an event because I’m too firmly ensconced with cats and books and computer. So I am grateful for the encouragement of a friend that got us out the door to attend this excellent show. I only wish my friend Carol from Seattle could have joined us; she stayed with me in the Shakespeare Room at Sylvia Beach Hotel in September, and every year she takes a trip to Ashland for the Shakespeare Festival.

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20 Nov: penultimate workday

Thursday, 20 November 2014

Nelly’s garden

I was shocked to awake this morning to nice-ish weather.  The plan had been to do the Nelly bulbs project on a rainy day as it was a garden shed job.  I wanted to get the Port and the Boreas done instead!  I thought, however, that Nelly might have some outdoor projects in mind as well, and when we arrived at her house just two blocks down the street, I was right.  The dahlias had gone down from frost and they and some other perennials needed clipping.

Allan gets started on clipping and on a mission to get rid of the Bad Aster..

Nelly told me that someone had given her a start of the running blue aster years ago and she has been trying to get rid of it ever since.

after

Allan would also be the one to dig the flowerpots of bulbs back into the ground.

center garden before adding pots

Nelly came out to the shed to show me her bulbing method, and also told us there had been a misunderstanding last time, one that is of a type so familiar to me.  She asked her spouse, Don, to come out and tell us to cut down “the pink flowers”.  He did so, and pointed to Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’, in the center of the square bed, above.  I said “Are you sure?  Some poeple like to look at the dried flower heads all winter.”  He was sure.  Turns out what Nelly meant was to cut to the ground the two escallonia shrubs along the back that Don had partly pruned.  Escallonias have pink flowers, too!

To the right, by the fence: two stubby escallonias

I’m tempted to find some flowerheads in my garden of the sedum and stick them in with the clipped plants in that center bed so that Nelly can see them from her kitchen window.  It would be easy to do and a fun surprise.  At first, I thought of adding whole plants, and then realized just the strong-stemmed flat flower heads would do.

Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’: I grow it in most of my gardens, and the dried flowers are  sturdy enough to stick in the ground and hold up till next spring.  The ones in this photo are at Klipsan Beach Cottages.

I started the bulb project.  Nelly showed me that she dumped out each pot of tulips or narcissi or hyacinth in a round plastic dish, removed the bulbs, then placed them back in the pot on top of some of the old soil mixed with bone meal, and filled in with new potting soil from a bag.

garden shed work area with plastic sorting bowl and bucket of new potting soil

It did not take me long before the work area looked like this:

The plastic bowl was not enough sorting space for me!

Nelly has good luck getting tulips to rebloom this way.  The pots get pulled out of the ground after blooming, sit by the side of the garage on a plank all summer, and get put into the garden shed before fall rains come, ready to be resorted and placed back out in the garden again.  They had been labeled “kitchen” (under kitchen window), “garage” (a narrow bed beside the garage) and “garden’; over the summer, a helper had pulled the labels out so there’s no telling what the colour mix will be.

tulips bulbs

some sort of small narcissi

Fortunately, I can at least tell tulips, narcissi and hyacinth bulbs apart.

I had enough spare narcissi bulbs (due to the way they multiply) to put some little ones along the narrow wooden planter by the back steps.

There’s also a pot sunk into the tiny garden bed to the left.

In the summer, perennials and dahlias blowse out and cover the spots where the bulb pots go in the fall through spring.

I had a client back in Seattle who did the same thing but replaced the pots of spring bulbs with pots of annuals in the summer.

I set out the pots each time I finished two, for Allan to plant.

Allan’s photos: ready to go in

 

pots in the ground

Allan’s tidy nature made him perfect for getting the pots in all nicey nice.

Meanwhile, he had cut back the escallonia level with the ground.  I think Don will just mow over it and turn it into a lawn path; the shrubs were placed where it would be more natural to have a walk- through.

Allan’s photos: before

hand pruner and rechargable chain saw

leveled out

after

I know from having done the same thing to two big escallonias at the Wiegardt Gallery that if they are cut level and then any new sprouts taken off, the shrubs will disappear.  If left alone and not mowed over, they might resprout and grow again.

When I went in to say the job was done, Nelly was pleased at how quickly we had accomplished it.  She showed me her latest quilt in progress.

I especially like the way slanted yellow lines makes the pattern intriguingly asyemmtrical.

little houses

and flowers

Nelly has been a member of the Peninsula Quilt Guild for over 20 years.

I admired their wood stove.  Although it is not an antique, it was built from an Amish design.  I thought it would keep the kitchen warm when the power goes out in storms; Nelly said unfortunately, strong winds make the chimney backdraft so it’s not helpful in a windstorm power outage.

It sure is pretty, though.

Port of Ilwaco

We still had some hours of daylight left and the predicted rain had not arrived, so we went down to finish the port gardens.

before, Howerton Way garden north of the Port Office

after Allan trimmed the lavenders and cut back the Gaura ‘Whirling Butterfly’

Allan’s before….

and after photos. Most of the low feathery foliage is of California poppies.

Meanwhile, I clipped a few plants in the garden bed on the south side of the port office.

before

after creating two buckets of debris

my view, looking south

my audience

In the photo below, you can see a black crane (not the bird) in the far distance, behind the boats.

That’s the US Army Corps of Engineers dredge, which is working on keeping the port channel deep enough for boats.  Nancy Beesley, who works at the Port Office and co-administrates the Discover Ilwaco Facebook page with me, took some photos of the dredge yesterday, which I think you will like to see.    You can read more about it in this recent article.

photo by Nancy Beesley

photo by Nancy Beesley

photo by Nancy Beesley

photo by Nancy Beesley

photo by Nancy Beesley

I think this is the port’s own, smaller dredge. photo by Nancy Beesley

dredge repairs, photo by Nancy Beesley

local Port of Ilwaco dredge crew, photo by Nancy Beesley

photo by Nancy Beesley

our little harbour

Back to today:  Don Nisbett was at his art gallery next door to the Port Office, so I got a chance to deliver Jenna’s two bags of biochar soil right to his truck.

behind the gallery

Ok, back to work.  We drove east down Howerton to the garden by the Ilwaco Pavilion where I knew a gaura waited to be cut down.

center: Gaura lindheimeri ‘Whirling Butterflies’, crisped by frost.

I cut it back that hard,

This particular bed is one of my favourite port gardens this year.

While Allan went to the field east of the marina to dump debris, I did some weeding of maddening little grasses in the easternmost bed.  There is still a little scrim of tiny green grass here and here.  It can wait now till February; Allan commented that to him, it just looks like moss.

Looking west down Howerton and calling this job done for the year.

Looking southwest across the parking lot, I could see a nice photo to be had…

We were running out of daylight so I resisted scenic photo opportunities in order to try to get one more job done.

Boreas Inn

We had an hour and a half-ish till dark to drive up to Long Beach and do some clipping back and weeding at the Boreas Inn garden.

The nasturtiums by the front walk way were most definitely done.

Boreas Inn, east side

We worked like mad and managed to get the job done enough to say that the garden is put to bed for the winter.

Boreas, looking east from beach path

We finished at dusk.

path to the beach, looking west

I was so focused on finishing that I did not realize until we got into the van that it had been raining lightly.

Cove Restaurant

Of course, we had to reward ourselves with our traditonal Thursday dinner at the Cove.  I texted fellow gardener Ed Strange (Strange Landscape Services) who joined us.

Allan’s photo

Coziness at the Cove

Chef Jason was back from a brief surfing vacation with his Thursday Chef’s Mercy menu.

roasted beet salad

Ed got Prawns Solo…

and a yakisoba bowl.

Allan and I both got the Thai Beef Curry.  It smelled so good that we both tucked in before I took a photo.

Allan’s, with rice added

Because of living in a small town area, we saw Lisa of the Hydrangea House, Seaview Patti, and Basket Case Fred also out for dinner.

home

At home, I had the sheer delight of erasing almost all jobs from the work board:

We now can declare staycation can commence.  We are due for some rainy days which may delay the final check up of Marilyn’s garden for a few days.  The Depot window box clean up is contingent on the annuals finally dying.  The planting of the memorial garden and the mulching of Golden Sands are projects for 2015, and the post office is volunteer, and here is home, so theose mulching projects don’t count as work.

Time to put our feet up and watch telly.  We’d like to finish the Bill Nighy show (Page Eight) that we’ve been too tired to finish for the last two nights, and then there’s Hell’s Kitchen, a truly silly show and yet I will watch pretty much anything by Gordon Ramsay.

I see a problem, though.  I’m not sure there is room in my chair.

 

 

 

 

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19 Nov: bulb finale

Wednesday, 19 November 2014

We started work an hour and a half earlier than usual, a must (and an unusual decision for us) because of my feeling of urgency to get lots of work done before rain comes.  The previous night, I was in bed before 1 AM, which is practically unheard of as both Allan and I are night owls and are usually awake till two.

The cats were still snoozing. There’s nothing unusual about that at any hour.

I had a huge list of tasks to accomplish.  The first were two jobs that had not even been on the list that I cooked up last night.  We’d gotten such an early start that I thought we could add them.

The Red Barn

The four whiskey barrel planters were finally done and ready for the annuals to be pulled.

I always say hello to this fine, one-eyed fellow.

the sign on his stall

Disney said hello.

I thought this bit of green in one of the barrels was a leaf. Allan showed me it was a sleeping frog.

Frog had lost his plant cover, so I tucked him in under these sedums and he snuggled down all comfy.

No time to weed any more at ground level. It can wait till next February.

Crabbing preparation was going on at the barn.

Diane’s garden

Next door to the Red Barn property, we did frost clean up on Diane’s pots of annuals.

The pots are stuffed with bulbs for next spring.

Next door, Amy’s horse.

Allan clipped back perennials along the road.

We said goodbye to the Diane and Larry garden and the Red Barn garden for this year and went on to my list of Long Beach tasks.

Long Beach

First, we checked the planters on the Sid Snyder beach approach road and found two that needed a bit of attention.

In one of the  westernmost planters, I couldn’t bear to totally cut down the blue globe thistle as it still looks fine, so Allan just clipped a few dead stalks.

the view from our parking spot

This one needed just a bit of tidying.

That’s better.

Allan had started tidying the Kite Museum garden; I walked across the lawn to join him

our little kite garden

put to bed for the winter

Next, we clipped and weeded the bed in the NE quadrant of Fifth Street Park.

before

after, with some Gladiolus papilio corms added

Next, we pulled Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ and some weeds and trash from the garden bed behind Lewis and Clark Square.  It’s behind the L&C wall of plaques and we had forgotten to deal with it earlier.

Lewis and Clark Square

The wall curves around two sides of the square, with plaques about L&C’s explorations.

the garden behind the wall a couple of springtimes ago

today, before clean up

no time to cut the lady’s mantle. Hydrangea was hit hard by frost, will look better when leaves fall off, as they will.

As we drove toward this project, I had noticed some wilt on an Erysimum ‘Bowles Mauve’ in a planter half a block back.  I walked back to check on it.

No wonder it was wilted; it was loosened out of the ground and I had to pull it.

Now the planter is lopsided, which bugs me.

It was actually fortuitous that I was inspired to walk back, as I found that whoever had been supposed to plant the bulbs in this planter (me or Allan!) had missed some and the little bulbs were still placed along the edge!

a startling sight for me to find.

If only I had planted some little crocuses in this particular planter yesterday, I would have seen those stray bulbs then.

On the way back to the Lewis and Clark garden, I saw an apropos sign….

because I was anxiously watching the clock.

The little park almost done, or at least as done as we had time for.

Next, we drove out the Bolstadt beach approach road and tidied up its planters.  The 25 mph wind gusts were not cold and therefore only mildly irksome; the remainder of our jobs would be more sheltered.

The city crew had added garlands and lights to the lamp posts.

Our next task was to finish cleaning up the garden on the west side of city hall.

before, Geranium ‘Rozanne’

after. We left the Solidago ‘Fireworks’ standing because I think it looks more interesting than nothingness.

I was so pleased with how much we had done by now that we took time to go through the Great Escape espresso drive through for some much needed coffee.

at the Great Escape window

Our last little thing in Long Beach was to finish the little memorial garden on the SE corner of Coulter Park.

before

after pulling the tattered schizostylis leaves

There was no time to pull this patch of Crocosmia. I will call it decorative and leave it till late winter (late February 2015).

In less than two hours, we had made a big load of debris to dump at the city works yard.

We now say goodbye to Long Beach parks and planters for 2014, except for some small thing I might see to do when driving through town (such as when the yellow chrysanthemums eventually turn black).  It happened to be the crew’s lunch break so I bid them adieu for the year. One of the things I appreciate most about the Long Beach job is how we are allowed to just decide what needs doing when, with very little instruction.

Now we headed up north to get back to some bulb planting.  On the way, we just had time to run an errand for a friend.

The Planter Box

Jenna (Queen La De Da) had asked me if we could pick up two bags of the new biochar soil mix, made by the local Biocharm Farm, the next time we were by the Planter Box garden center.  So we did.  I saw that they had lots of small packages of bulbs for sale.

I resisted…except for one!

Allan commented that recently, a passerby in Long Beach had asked him where to buy hummingbird feeders, and noted that Planter Box has the best selection.

Just some of the feeders on offer.

Along with one packet of bulbs, I also bought myself five paperwhites to grow indoors.

two bags for Jenna

Klipsan Beach Cottages

I had some bulbs to plant in the window boxes for the A Frame vacation house; this involved removing the annuals and going through a couple of old windowbox liners from behind the garage.  In them, I found a few more early spring bulbs to supplement my small collection for this last minute request.

Allan fetched me the plastic window box inserts from the A Frame while I started clipping some perennials down inside the fenced garden.  He began to spread three bales of Gardner and Bloome mulch.  We had been planning to bring a yard of washed dairy manure at some point and had been awfully glad when owner Mary bought this bagged stuff…saved us a lot of work (even though it did not cover the whole garden).

in the fenced garden, before

after

greenhouse corner, before

after clipping back Coreopsis ‘Flower Tower’, Melianthus major, etc etc

Bella in the basement; she got a quick bellyrub

from east gate of fenced garden

boxwood and blueberries, backed with bay tree

Knock out roses may be sneered at by some, but they are still blooming.

In a perfect world, we would have taken time to clip the uppies off the New Dawn rose.  We did not.

Hydrangea and hardy fuchsias hit hard by the frost. Both will be fine.

I turned my attention to the windowbox project, while Allan did some clipping and raking in the woodsy swale by the clam cleaning shed.

at work in the swale clipping crocosmia, daylily and iris foliage

One of two A Frame windowbox liners planted with bulbs and back in place.

I provided Tulip bakeri ‘Lilac Wonder’, species crocus mix, Tulip batalinii ‘Bright Gem’, and Narcissus ‘Baby Moon’.

Bright Gem and Lilac Wonder

A frame deck

We bid farewell to the Klipsan Beach Cottages gardens for 2014. We will revisit before the end of the year, but for social rather than work reasons.  I hope to read the guest books in the cottages sometime this winter.

Oman Builders Supply garden

A bit further north, in Ocean Park, I planted ten white mix narcissi in the entry garden at Oman and Son Builders Supply (the last of the bulbs!!!), and we did some clipping of lavender, Erysimum ‘Bowles Mauve’, and lily stalks.

OBS garden

grasses, lavender, erysimum, hebes

I debated cutting back the lavender at the south end of the garden, as it is woody and yet looks like it has a good new center growth.  I decided to wait.

It could use a renewal, even though I usually do not cut back lavender that hard…

However, I think the old growth will help keep people from continuing to drive their cars into the wall this winter!

The cottage stone wall keeps getting shoved back, apparently by people’s car bumpers, even though one parks parallel next to this garden…supposedly.

Wiegardt Gallery

Amazingly, we had time to go a few block northeast and put the Wiegardt Gallery garden to bed.  Most of it was done on earlier visits.  We did some clipping along the west wall and in the back garden bed.

before

after (in the darkening dusk)

The grasses will stay up all winter.

a last look at the Wiegardt garden for 2014.

Lately, we have been dining out an awful lot.   Well….we are tired, and we feel like rewarding ourselves for continuing to plug along with work at the exhausting end of the season.  (For many years, I did not take hardly any break and kept going year round with odd jobs…painting, cleaning, winter garden work; I am grateful to be financially secure enough now to take the midwinter off).  So, for another reward (this time for finishing Long Beach for the year):

The Depot Restaurant

Wednesday’s offseason Burger Night special sounded so warm and cozy, we could not resist.

Burger night: You choose your desired ingredients.

Yes, I am greedy.  We get the egg and the pineapple and then deconstruct the burger to have the egg as an appetizer (Allan calls it “breakfast”) and the pineapple as a dessert.

with sweet potato fries, a Mac and Jack for me and a Guinness for Allan.

We were offered the very last piece of chocolate Guinness cake to share….and did not say no.

Speaking of chocolate, while we were ordering our dinner, Depot server (and garden lover) Laura showed us a couple of photos she had recently taken at Ethel M Chocolate Factory in Las Vegas.  Here are her photos, for my cacti loving friends.

chocolate cacti, photos by Depot Laura

home

At home, I planted, in a big pot that has some tulips already in it, the ten bulbs that I had bought at the Planter Box:

I don’t think I have grown Muscari ‘Dark Eyes’ before.

I then had the delight of completely removing the fall clean up list from the work board, as we had finished its last item, the Long Beach parks.  Now, we just have a few last garden check ups to do.  VERY few.  Less than two days of work, all told.  The Depot task is only to pull the last few annuals out of the window boxes if they ever decide to die back.  The Nelly bulb project is on for tomorrow.

I would like enough good weather for the opportunity to polish off that list so that I can make the big satisfying announcement that Staycation has officially begun.  (The rest of the projects are either for here, thus not really work, or for 2015.)

I planted the paperwhites in marbles and water on the kitchen windowsill.

As I finished writing this, I heard the rain begin outside.  It is sorely needed; the ground has felt awfully dry while I’ve been bulb planting.  A few rainy reading days would be most welcome.  Now, time to put me feet up and watch Survivor, and to finish the show we started watching last night at ten and then got to sleepy to finish:  Page Eight starring the delightfully droll Bill Nighy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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18 Nov: more bulbs

Tuesday, 18 November 2014

I was fervently hoping that the last batch of a mere 400 bulbs would arrive today so we could get them all planted before rain returns.  When we left home, the bulbs were not yet here.  I thought perhaps we would do some weeding at the boatyard and then go back home to check.  Fortunately, Allan saw, from the post office, the UPS truck driving east past our house so we zoomed back and there was the precious box!

Port of Ilwaco

We began at the boatyard, where I had about 70 mixed white narcissi to plant and another 50 or so short ‘Baby Moon’ narcissi to go along the edge.  Baby Moon reliably blooms in early May so I am counting on it to put on a good show during the children’s parade on May 2015’s first Saturday.

I started planting while Allan pulled dead cosmos and some weeds.

boatyard garden, north end, before

We leave up some of the old foliage to look “architectural” in the winter.  Birds will enjoy the seeds.

For example, the pink achillea flowers, dried on the stem, still look interesting to me.

The cosmos have gone to mush and all got pulled.

Echinops (blue globe thistle) has put out another set of flowers.

A couple of nights ago, we had driven past the boatyard after dark to look at the Christmas lights at Time Enough Books.  I had noticed some large pieces of trash in the garden and was far too tired and sore to do anything about it.  Then I forgot.  Two days later, the trash was still there.  I simply do not understand why citizens strolling by do not pick up something so large and unsightly.

trash small and large in the boatyard garden

This is no reflection on the boatyard work crew who have plenty to do hauling boats in and out.  I am more resolved to do “trash walks” this winter, as it builds up when we are not gardening around town regularly.

While weeding and clipping, Allan picked up this much trash:

In a five gallon bucket: It’s rather shocking.

North end of boatyard after tidying and bulb planting.

As you can see, my own personal choice is not to flatten gardens for the winter.  Only mushy and blackened plants get pulled (annuals) or clipped down (perennials) at this time.  The rest will come down in February.  Ann Lovejoy points out that by waiting till late winter, the stems break off much more easily.  I just like the way the garden looks with some of the attractively coloured stems left standing.

Allan tried taking some photos but his camera went all wonky.

Narcissi bulbs are fun to look at because they come in such different shapes, shades of brown and tan, and sizes.  Baby Moon always arrives with new sprouts sticking out, even though it is the very latest of the narcissi to bloom.

left: Baby Moon. right: mixed tall white narcissi

last May:  bless you for your late bloom, Baby Moon!

The boatyard always provides a busy and fascinating backdrop.

The pressure washer made for a noisy job along the south end of the garden.  I’ve grown so used to boatyard noises that it barely registered with me till I walked right by it (on the other side of the fence) placing bulbs.

The boatyard project took much longer than I expected.  I was hoping for an hour, and it was more like two and a half before we were done and drove down to plant some more Baby Moons and some species crocus by Time Enough Books and the old Harbor Lights Motel.

Allan cut back the Geranium ‘Rozanne’ that had made a wave of blue at the bow of the garden boat.

The Time Enough curbside garden, now with more Baby Moons underneath.

We still have some tidying to do in the three small pocket gardens to the east…but no time today.

Allan also took on the challenging task of planting some Baby Moons in the motel landscape of big river rock.  He wielded the pick to make spots in the landscape fabric for a few groupings of bulbs.

(three summers ago, just after this was installed): not an easy landscape to plant anything in

Across the parking lot to the north: crab pots stacked by the boat storage yard.

Finally we were almost done with Ilwaco and ready to move on.  On the way out of town, I planted five species crocus each in the Ilwaco city hall planters.

I hope the crows did not notice me doing so.

Long Beach

Allan set to work clipping catmint and pulling dead flower stalks off of schizostylis in Fifth Street Park.  He would also cut back the Melianthus major.  Unlike mine at home, the Long Beach one got floppy and leggy.  Meanwhile, the city crew was putting up the Christmas lights above the planters.

That’s Mike Kitzman, parks manager, at ground level.

Allan’s photos of his Fifth Street Park project, before…

after cutting back catmint, Melianthus major, schizostylis, and some weeding

(Above) I could not resist leaving up the Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’, even though it will be the first thing to call us back to work in early February 2015.

after cutting down the frosted Gunnera leaves, and laying some leaves to protect the crown of the plant over winter.

the seasonal sea serpent in the park

one of the snowflake lights hung by the city crew

I walked around all the planters one more time to add species crocus and 100 more Baby Moons.  (I want a really good show during the big parade the first weekend in May when Saturday is Ilwaco’s parade and Sunday is Long Beach’s parade.)

I found a pretty little chrysanthemum just now starting to bloom.

When done with the planters, I added 30 white narcissi and some more Baby Moons to the west side of city hall; I got a start on cutting back the Geranium ‘Rozanne’ that had finally gone crispy.  Allan met me there to load it into the trailer.  We will have to return to get to more, as dusk had arrived.

The city hall lights came on as we drove away (east side of building).

In the city works yard: almost too dark to dump.

At home, after a day during which I felt a lot of frustration at not being further along, I was able to cross off the last of the bulbing.  Under projects, “Nelly bulbs” will be completed Thursday and involves putting some bulbs in pots for an occasional client; they are bulbs that she already has so did not make it onto my master bulbing list.

It’s a slight white lie that bulbing is done.  I still have 24 species tulips, crocus, and narcissi to pop into two windowboxes up at Klipsan Beach Cottages…a last minute request from the A Frame owners, for which I saved some bulbs out.  And I have ten white narcissi to go into the Oman Builders Supply entry garden on the same trip.  I had not planned to add any there, then changed my mind when I ordered from the end of season sale, so it did not make the list.

work stream of consciousness:

It was disappointing to not get to cross off Long Beach parks from fall clean up and eliminate that column as well.  I realized today that we have somehow forgotten to pull the Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ from behind Lewis and Clark Square; the pocket garden there is hidden from the street by a wall.  We did not quite get Fifth Street Park or city hall done.  On the way home, I had blithely announced to Allan that we would finish Long Beach tomorrow before the rains come, and then Wednesday we could do the last clean up and bulbing at KBC and Omans and Wiegardt Gallery.  Allan pointed out that tomorrow IS Wednesday.  I was horrified.  I thought today was Monday.  Drat!

So tomorrow, we are going to try to finish the three small areas left in the LB parks clean up, and maybe find time to check the Bolstadt beach approach planters, and then hare up to KBC and plant bulbs, clip back the swale garden and spread four bags of mulch, and plant those ten bulbs and clip back plants at OBS, and then maybe have time for a last check of the Wiegardt garden.  Am I crazy to think we can manage that?  Perhaps.  All too likely.  My dream of an unusually early staycation starting any day now is thwarted because there will still be a few small things left on the list that will probably have to wait till after a rainy spell.  Fortunately, “Nelly bulbs” is the only item under projects that has to be accomplished during work season 2014, so staycation is NOT contingent on getting all those items done.

On my table: some chrysanthemums of course, some that had broken off in a Long beach planter

I had a phone conversation with friends Bill and Carol tonight before writing this, and afterwards, for the first time ever, I had to use the LIFT function on my mother’s old electric lift chair.  I need staycation to commence!  Now:  Time for us to put our feet up and watch an episode of The Americans over the dinner that is beginning to smell most enticing.

 

 

 

 

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