Monday, 18 December 2017
At the Ilwaco Post Office, Allan delivered our card:
He saw a cute dog waiting outside:
The postal staff told him that this is the busiest day of the year. In our small town, we have to get our mail at the post office (no home delivery). I remember in Seattle that the busy holidays would have lines out the door.
When the rain stopped in the early afternoon, I went outside with the intention of raking some of last year’s debris out of the garden and chopping it into the compost bins.
After deposting a wheelbarrow load of debris into a compost bin, I was inspired to dig up an ornamental grass that was now languishing in the west bed too close to Leycesteria ‘Jealousy’.
I gave that up for a moment and decided to move a pink and white old rose that had become lost and invisible in the middle of the bed.
This particular old rose, maybe Rosa ‘Mundi’ used to live at the Wiegardt Gallery, a former job of ours (that is now handled by Todd, brother of artist Eric Wiegardt). I removed the rose from the gallery for two reasons. First, the deer discovered that garden so every year the rose got eaten to a nub. Second, I planted it when the building was pink, and the rose color did not go with the latest gallery color, a pale sort of pea green.
Back when the gallery was pink and blue:
In 2007 or so, the gallery became a sort of faint purplish colour (not lavender) that still worked with the pink theme.
In 2009, it became a pale green and most of the pink theme did not look right anymore.
So the sad deer-chomped rose came home to live with me.
Now it has been moved to a spot where some gold Helenium and gold foliage shrubs are no doubt going to clash with the pink and white flowers. I can pick the roses for bouquets if the combination is too painful. This placement will enable me to watch the rose for rampant blackspot and to decide if it is worth keeping.
Allan walked out the back door just when I was heading into the garage for the heavy pick to get out the big grass. Lucky me, unlucky Allan. He agreed to help me by hoiking out the grass and digging out two clumps of boring orange daylily and one big clump of grass infested shasta daisies.
An extra tall Boltonia asteroides went into the middle of the bed. The grass went toward the north edge of the garden, in the hole the boltonia came out of, to balance another white and green variegated grass. A bit of shasta daisy went where the daylily came out, and Allan helped me do a better job of standing up the columnar apple I had transplanted into the west garden bed not long ago.
It was a tremendously satisfying work session and solved several problems that had been bothering me all summer.
After dark, which comes at 4:30 now, I read the shortest book of my reading year:
At 31 pages, this darling book is to be a gift for Dave and Melissa (who I am sure don’t read this blog, so don’t spill the beans). They have a nice flock of chickens. I read Lovgreen’s book in the 1970s and have always remembered its charm.
I have requested her memoir, As Far As I Can Remember, via interlibrary loan.
In 1982, I visited a friend who was renting a small house on Bainbridge Island. Imagine my amazement and thrill when it turned out to be Minnie’s old house. How I wish I had taken pictures of the house and landscape… Those were the days when film was precious and blogging was a thing of the far future.
All I have to show of that day is this photo of me and my significant other, Bryan, sitting in Minnie’s house.
Today, in the evening, Allan wrapped all the presents. He does a good, neat job. My wrapped presents come out like bundles. Some friends found this endearing, or so they said; this year, only Montana Mary got the bundled style of wrapping.
I can now show you how perfectly the little truck I got at NIVA green goes with a Christmas card from The Card Lady.
Tomorrow, much excitement awaits because we will go to see the new Star Wars movie with Dave and Melissa.
I love your “bundled” style of wrapping, which so perfectly matches my own! I recall a friend showing me how to do it “right”. I watched him, tried to follow his instructions, and ended up with only a slightly neater bundle. hah.
I also enjoyed seeing the thank-you card you gave the post office (whose crowds look much the same as ours this time of year). I always give a small Christmas gift to my mail carrier — they work plenty hard, especially where I live now in winter. (As an example, one year it was a gourmet packet of cocoa mix and a lovely cookie.)
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You are right, yours are bundled, too! But I never realized that before.
Very nice idea re the postal workers. Will keep in mind for next year.
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