Friday, 14 August 2015
I did very little Friday but work on the blog. I am guilty of spending more free time blogging about gardening than free time actually gardening lately. We have not had appreciable rain since March, they say, and I am so tired of the dryness that watering is about all I accomplish at home. On the other hand, Allan has been busy with the project!
hoisting the beam
the center splice, clamped
Here’s a photo of the beam splicing he did on our last weekend off.
Up it goes.
Allan’s photo
Allan’s photo
Allan’s photo: second crosspiece going up
Fully in place.
I’m still looking for the energy to replace that grass path with gravel.
Melianthus major by the front fence shows evidence of some moisture.
Someone wanted this elephant garlic by the front sidewalk?
front sidewalk fence
Along with the project, Allan had to go water the Ilwaco planters and street trees.
He saw this flower stand on the way.
At the Ilwaco city works yard, where he stores the water pump trailer, he discovered a doe and fawn on opposite sides of the fence.
Mother inside.
baby outside
He tried to herd the doe out of the works yard, to no avail.
Poor baby!
He had to leave the situation and go do the watering, beginning with filling the tank at the boatyard (where the water has good pressure).
a boat being brought in
one of our planters on Spruce Street
When he took the water trailer back to the works yard, the deer had somehow reunited. (Or there were two fawns, which is a worrisome thought. Allan reassures me there is way through at the back.)
As it happened, Pam Fleming was in town for the evening, as her spouse was playing with a band at the Blues and Seafood Festival at the Port. She came by afterwards to examine the project, which had been her idea (when I had mentioned to her that I needed a gate there). We stepped back and forth through the gate opening several times and agreed that it feels good and gives a sense of entry and enclosure.
We sat on the patio for awhile, out of the north wind. (Allan’s photo)
sunset over the new project
Saturday, 15 August 2015
Allan added the gate to the arbour.
He had built it to spec. (Allan’s photo)
Allan’s photo
Our Kathleen came for tea in the early afternoon and then we went to the market, but not for long as the heat (all of 80 something, I suppose, or maybe 75!) made me dizzy.
Ilwaco Saturday Market
I bought peaches…
dinner at Sea Star acres
We had been invited to dinner at Dave and Melissa’s new-since-last-October home near Oysterville. I was looking forward to seeing their garden and it lived up to my expectations. Someone who loved plants lived there before, and Dave and Melissa have been making all sorts of discoveries in the overgrown garden.
They used to own a nursery and if I thought *I* sometimes have a lot of ladies in waiting (unplanted plants), it is nothing on their vast and cool collection. All they need is some time off from working to expand the plantable garden space.
arriving (Allan’s photo)
Melissa has told me she does not quite get what blogging is, so since she may not know, I am going to not show you so much that I totally invade their privacy. I’m not sure she had any idea what she’s in for getting to be friends with a blogger. (Someone’s already told her that they know we have dinner at the Cove once a week.)
the front of the garden
I heard the sound of this waterfall pond at the west side of the house.
bamboo accents on the house
Pontederia cordata (blue pickerelweed) in bloom in the pond.
looking across the pond from next to the house
one of the big frogs
We suppose it is the invasive species bullfrog. Melissa caught one eating a bird the other day! And yet at a job recently, she caught a snake eating a frog, so…
Frog is so big you can see its head poking up in the water beneath the Japanese maple.
the waterfall; what a great feature to get with a home purchase.
four different kinds of figs, in pots, waiting for homes
a trio of Geum ‘Eos’
lots of fabulous ladies in waiting!
north side of house
triple bridge
a huge eucalyptus
They are finding all sorts of mysteries and treasures in the overgrown garden.
an old pond with a pump
espaliered pears in among larger trees
an old outbuilding on the north side
fence along north side
The fence had a Japanese style roofed top.
exploring the edges of the old garden (Allan’s photo)
a box of bamboo had escaped and run…
and run….
and run!
more ladies in waiting
There will be room for all, because the property is six acres. Four are wetlands; that leaves two to plant.
Dave is constructing a most awesome patio.
I had also so been looking forward to meeting their dogs. Both Anna and Coulee are Hovawarts, a breed that is rare in this country.
meeting Anna (Allan’s photo)
Anna is a rescue who is rather shy; she was friendly, calm and quiet.
Allan meets Anna.
a lovely girl
Coulee is full of energy.
soft and affectionate, when not focused on his ball
one more of Anna
In the fenced dog yard is a large Acer griseum (paperbark maple) that made Melissa knew she just had to have this property. (And I knew she was a plant nut when I first met and she told me about the “Acer griseum” that she saw when she came around the corner.)
Melissa and the maple
Acer griseum. It is gorgeous and positioned to get backlit by the western sunlight.
Anna welcomes us in for dinner.
We had strips of steak made on the barbecue, baked potatoes with butter and sour cream, corn on the cob, a salad with avocado in it, and chocolate chip cookies. Delicious. We also saw the cats, including Jack and Butterbean. They were too shy for photos.
inside
The long, dark, quiet drive home emphasized how long and mostly rural our Long Beach Peninsula is.
Sunday, 16 August 2015
I felt bad that Allan spent another day working on (and finishing) the project and not doing anything fun for himself. I felt glad that it is done because I like it very much.
Allan attaches wire to keep the deer out. And for sweet peas!
wiring in progress
Our neighbours across the street were having a family reunion with about 50 people. One of their cats (who spends a lot of time in our garden when we are inside or not home) came over to our side. Allan noticed him and took these photos.
He lay by our fence …
took a nap
and checked up on the goings on from afar.
It looked pleasant and made me wish I had a birth family of fifty instead of, now, one.
A 25 mph wind made gardening unattractive. I did manage to water all but the front garden, and rather miraculously, did a thorough vacuuming of the house, as well. I did not think turning the sprinkler on the front garden would help Allan finish the project.
Fuchsia ‘Pink Marshmallow’
Fuchsia ‘Jingle Bells’
new growth coming up on a “Todd fern” that we all thought had plotzed.
Echinops (globe thistle) in the back garden
There’s a lot I could be doing if the wind would stop and I could get up some energy.
Weeding this area and controlling bindweed from the gear shed lot next door.
weeding here and maybe cutting back the most pathetic looking salmonberries. (That poor sad astilbe needs moving this fall.)
Weeding in the old Danger Tree bed would be pretty and fun.
How the heck did orange montbretia get in there?
I could expand the end of this bed and use it for all the sad astilbes from other beds. The ones on this corner seem happy.
a low, hardy impatiens omeiana, might be ‘Ice Storm’
I have to admit this heather is rather nice.
The 20 plus mph north wind was blowing so hard that it blew the sprinkler water right away from the north end of this back yard bed:
I had to hose water the end.
A couple of weeks ago, I got my Sarracenia (brought to me by Debbie Teashon) planted in, well, a black cat litter tray. They are doing well now on the shelf edge of the water boxes
Sarracenia (pitcher plants)
This Anthemis from The Planter Box keeps blooming without deadheading.
With Allan’s help, I got a bathtub water feature moved out to where it shows. It was hidden under the rose. By help, I mean I dipped out most of the water, still could only barely budge it, and Allan dragged it forward for me. We got this elegant water feature from our friend Terry, who used to live in the Cove RV Park. When the park got new management, residents were no longer allowed to keep “junk” outside their trailers. This was the same Terry, a Vietnam vet who struggled with PTSD, who died in 2012 and whose well-loved kitties we adopted, Smokey, Frosty, and Mary. But I digress. Here is the sort of water feature we see when we tour gardens:
at Little and Lewis garden
the Little and Lewis-y water feature at Floramagoria
at a Hardy Plant tour in Bellevue
And here’s what my budget and abilities run to:
I am going to paint it with some Fusion dark green spray paint, though!
Maybe when we retire, we can learn how to build something more elegant and elaborate.
Tomatoes from the greenhouse almost eluding me by dangling behind the flower pot.
End of day: The project is done!
At some time, Allan will put little crosspieces over the top.
Other than that, there is just one more thing to do, by the front gate: Put up two posts and a simple cross piece to tie this all together. I wonder if this side will be enough to keep the deer out. They could jump the low front fence but might not want to. If they do, I will now have the tall posts to use for running a couple of strands of wire across the front.
Tomorrow: back to the work watering rounds after a long weekend that seemed too short.
