24-26 Oct: friends from afar

Saturday, 24 October 2015

Smokey and Mary say good morning.

Yesterday, I had gotten a message from a Canadian Facebook friend, Karla, saying that she and her spouse planned to be passing through Long Beach and wondered if we could have dinner with them.  We’ve been imaginary friends since August 2008, the year that I was obsessed with playing Scrabulous.  When the game of Scrabulous was discontinued, we continued to be imaginary friends.  Karla and Gary had some car trouble and did not make it here yesterday, so today I was waiting for a phone call saying that they had arrived so we could meet them for lunch.  That call came at 12:45 and Allan and I left immediately to meet them at the 42nd Street Café.

Meeting in person for the first time went very well. (Allan’s photo)

Gary and Karla watch Allan taking photos of the food.

I had the tuna sandwich, Garden Tour Nancy’s favourite.

Karla and Allan had delicious mushroom quiche.

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

Gary’s photo

Gary and Karla (Allan’s photo)

We all found it easy and natural to converse as if we had known each other for a very long time.  Our friends had come all the way from near Toronto.  As Karla said, she loves meeting old friends she’s never seen before, and as they continue down the Oregon Coast and then across country to their winter home in Florida, they might visit more Facebook friends.

After lunch, we had the pleasure of accompanying them to the Seaview beach approach where they saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time.

Allan’s photo

meeting a cute little dog named Taco (Allan’s photo)

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

The tide was out, making it a long trek over tire tracks to get to the water.  They agreed that it is weird and not very nice to see vehicles driving on the beach.

Looking back from the shoreline: I was a wee bit embarrassed that they had to cross this ugly mess to get to the water.

Gary, Allan and Karla on the clean wet sand.

looking south toward North Head; edited out the wide view that would have had an SUV in it!

Gary’s first visit to the Pacific.

Allan’s photo

It’s a long walk to the water at low tide. Karla, determined to get her feet in the Pacific!

chasing the waves

a dream fulfilled!

Allan’s photo; the water is cold!

contagious happiness

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

 Karla and Gary left to go down the Oregon Coast where they will get to see miles of spectacular beaches (with no cars on them).  We will be following their journey on Facebook.  The visit was joyous and too brief.  I wish we had a guest cottage where we could have put them up and taken them round to see all the sights…and yet they do need to get across the country before winter, and we do have a lot of sights.

At home, we spent the late afternoon working on the Corridor of Spooky Plants for Halloween.  We cannot assemble it all now in case there might be a windstorm.  It’s good to get the basic structure done a week in advance to avoid a last minute rush.

assembling the corridor (Allan’s photo)

Allan tying hops on the arbour.

the framework in place with some Thalictrum ‘Elin’ and some spooky alder branches tied in place.

Allan’s photo

Evening brought the task of B&O taxes and state tax figuring, and I give myself a gold star for taking care of business.

Sunday, 25 October 2015

My rainy day with Susan Conant…sort of a friend from afar because we are Facebook friends.

Monday, 26 October 2015

I had hope for another rainy day so I could read the next in the Dog Lover’s Mysteries.  It was not to be and so became a gardening day.  Allan took the opportunity to paint the trim on the front fence to match the new arbours.  This made me very happy.

setting up (Allan’s photo)

Allan starts painting.

I was pleased to see a flower bud on my Tetrapanax.

And lots of buds on my Eupatorium hernandezii , a plant from Todd that should bloom in winter.  (With Mary)

I decided to clean up the back garden middle bed.

Smokey was hoping for a campfire.

It was wonderful to see shy Calvin being brave out in the garden.

Next door: The crab pots are being readied for commercial crabbing season.

my project: 2 PM

Allan’s photo

5 PM

I also kind of hoped Allan could move our “park” sign which does not show well with a passion flower and clematis growing over it.

speaking of which: passion flower still blooming

It turned out that sign was attached with bolts that had rusted tight.  Allan managed to remove it and is going to rust proof the sign so the fine details do not not wear away.

The last photo of the sign in this spot.

Smokey continued to hope for a campfire, but we had other dinner plans.

Allan’s paint job.

Allan’s photo

I had added more material to the Corridor of Spooky Plants. (Much rain is predicted for Halloween, sadly.)

Allan’s photo

Allan’s painting sheet looking like modern art.

In the evening, we began a visit with another friend from afar.  Carol (my friend for 37 years!) was here from Seattle and we had dinner at the Depot Restaurant.

mango scallops at the Depot

Wilted spinach salad is back!

Allan’s delicious French Onion Soup

Cinghiale Brasato, my favourite winter menu dish.

8 PM at the Depot

After dinner, we took take-out desserts to Carol’s home for the night, the Zelmar Cruiser at the Sou’wester Lodge.

I love visiting the Sou’wester. The Zelmar Cruiser (Allan’s photo)

When I entered the Zelmar Cruiser, which I had cleaned many times during my year of working at the Sou’wester (1993), I found myself hugging the round wall at the back of the kitchen!

The bathroom and bedroom are through there. (Allan’s photo)

in the Zelmar Cruiser (Allan’s photo)

the living room (with take out desserts from the Depot; Allan’s photo)

Carol in the Zelmar Cruiser living room

as we leave, more trailers: The Potato Bug and The Blue Wave (Allan’s photo)

Next: Carol and I tour Cannon Beach, followed by Allan goes boating.