7 Oct: gardening and sushi

Wednesday, 7 October 2015

We’d had a good rain overnight, and I was ever so pleased as I’d been fretting over whether the Ilwaco planters needed watering.

rain barrel overflowing; Allan was putting away the “bogsy wood” sign as a big wind is due soon and I don’t want it to get broken by a falling branch.

lots of calendula and California poppies have come up in the front garden.

poppies reseeded in the lawn path…make me more inclined to turn it to gravel even though I love the softness underfoot.

the huge dilemma: to turn all this northwest corner “lawn” into gravel or leave it as soft cushiony (even when dormant) lawn…

Speaking of not having to water the Ilwaco planters, we had seen this in the police report:

So the first task was to drive around checking all the planters.  They all looked ok so whichever one was knocked over had been picked up again.

We embarked upon a short-ish work day as we had a dinner engagement at 5:30.

The Depot Restaurant

I found to my dismay that, because the drip irrigation timer has been turned off, the window boxes are drying up.

NOOOOOO!  They would go into November if watered.

Wide eaves keep them from getting rainwater.

We watered them, of course, and will try to remember to do so every week.

We pulled out that darn cosmos that refused to bloom.

north side of deck

Super tall Coreopsis ‘Flower Tower’, a plant which amuses me greatly.

A sudden plan: to weed along this strip and add some matting sedums and some seeds of Calif. poppies and alyssum..

Long Beach

I’ll be glad when the welcome sign flowers are done for the year so I am not reminded weekly of how bad this garden got damaged during Rod Run weekend.

sigh….Most of the tall flowers got trampled.

Geranium ‘Rozanne’ finally making a show of blue.

not what it was….

I had gotten a phone message this morning from Parks Manager Mike saying that the water to the Long Beach planters has been turned off.  I can now declare watering season officially over!  Pretty sure it is over for the Ilwaco planters as well, with another big rainstorm forecast for Friday and Saturday, and then I do hope we will have regular precipitation.

We had our check to pick up at city hall and decided to do a bit of fall cleanup and make a debris run.

Allan trimmed some Miscanthus on the west side. Before…

and after  (art tile by Renee O’Connor)

I cut down the big Aruncus (goats beard) on the north side.  It did not really HAVE to be cut down yet.  I just quite simply felt like it all of a sudden.

aruncus before and after

a lovely hydrangea against the east wall in the bed called “Peggy’s Park”

As we were working at City Hall, MaryBeth drove by and we were able to invite her to join us for dinner.  (She divides her time between here and the big city.)

The Anchorage Cottages

We divested ourselves of our small trailerload of debris on the way to The Anchorage, where we groomed the beds and containers and where Allan dug out some running roses in the center courtyard.  I was very much enjoying the cool, grey, autumnal weather.

center courtyard today

the beautiful arbutus

arbutus, closer

and closer still

the rose, pushed back from the edge, much better

some further refining of the shade bed by cottage 8

Long Beach again

With the rest of our short day, Allan tidied the gardens at Veterans Field while I checked up on one block’s worth of planters.

still lots of painted sage and cosmos  in the planter by the stoplight

Veterans Field indicates the wind from the south

The Cove Restaurant

Our traditional Thursday evening dinner at the Cove had been moved to Wednesday, and at an earlier time, because tonight was the new monthly Sushi Night and we wanted to be there early in case they ran out!  That was on the recommendation of our friend Michelle, who had been to the very first sushi night last month.  We had been looking forward to her joining our party and were sad she was under the weather and could not be there.

Parking Lot Cat was there to greet us. (Allan’s photo)

three of the North Beach Garden Gang (Allan’s photo)

the delectable menu

at the Cove

The sushi surpassed my expectations.  I had not had any so good since leaving The Big City.

seaweed salad and ceviche

seaweed salad

artful sushi

Allan’s photo

Dave and Melissa practice their chopstick skills.

more

sushi with a view

Allan’s photo: Dave, Melissa, Me, MaryBeth

replete! (Allan’s photo)

At first, we refused dessert, until Allan said he wanted some, and then, as Melissa said, the floodgates opened and we all had dessert.

Crème brûlée

strawberry cheesecake (Allan’s photo)

Parking Lot Cat waiting to bid us goodnight.

He has a cushy life in the house by the parking lot where the owners live!  He got his name because someone abandoned him in the parking lot, no doubt knowing that Sondra would take in any stray.

parking lot farewells (Allan’s photo, MaryBeth, me, and Melissa)

It was a perfect evening (but it will feel odd to not have our dinner on Thursday night!)