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: