Monday, 11 May 2020
At home
We are now pretty much not working for a couple of days till the Catio is done enough to hold Skooter in at night.
Allan’s boat went up high in his shop to give him his work bench back.
He has an idea for a most interesting humans’ access door for the Catio that can be built inside the shop later.
The lumber was delivered by Oman and Son Builders Supply by an employee who was masked. The green jugs hold water that I dipped out of the two water barrels that had to be moved out of the Catio.
It is enough lumber and wire for the building of a larger Catio outside the back cat door, later. Both structures will be adjacent to the house wall, but not attached, as that is the rule for rooms added to manufactured homes. Allan’s Catio structures will be cat-proof fences, not rooms, but we might as well follow the rules, besides which, our manufactured home is too flimsy to attach anything to, and one must never ever “puncture the seal”.
While he constructed, I did some ineffective garden puttering.
At five o clock, we drove north through Long Beach to look at a small new one-off garden job. I felt twitchy about all the dying bulb foliage and deadheads in the city planters. We only saw one person on the sidewalk and I wondered if I had made the right decision to quit the job…Those poor planters.
While it would have been awesome to have a big new job with a big flower border to fill up with languishing plants from my imaginary plant sale, the small job we are going to do for someone we like very much is more the size of a couple of dresser tops.
At the end of this week, we will get it weeded and mulched and ready for Katie to plant and enjoy. It will get a few cosmos.
If anyone has a really big border to plant up (preferably one without deer), let us have at it with an assortment of my interesting plants. Or…I really must have an invitational hobby plant sale somehow or other, when our county begins to re-open.
When we returned to Ilwaco, we planted cosmos at the port office and the fire station (all Allan’s photos).
South side of port office:
North side of Time Enough Books:
My dwarf Stipa gigantea (from Xera Plants):
At the fire station:
We still must find a quiet time to plant some cosmos at our volunteer garden at the post office. Amazingly to me, I successfully grew some cosmos myself so have a some different ones (Happy Ring and Cupcakes) to plant on a return visit to the Boreas, as well.
At bedtime, I saw the news that Nigel of Gardener’s World, beloved dog of Monty and Sarah Don, had died at age 12. I cried for an hour, reading some of the hundreds of mourning comments on social media. I suppose I was crying for all the cats I miss, too, as a flood was unleashed. I expect more tears on Friday night while watching this week’s episode.
I think it was Kilyn who recommended to me that I read Monty’s book about Nigel. I had not even seen the show then or heard of Monty himself. After the book is when I sought out episodes of the show online and then discovered the extensive selection of British gardening shows on YouTube and DailyMotion and Tubi. My life was deeply enriched.
Nigel was a most wonderful, funny, gentle, playful, silly, dignified, and loving dog.
From Monty’s Instagram:
I had tears in my eyes as I read Monty’s moving tribute to his dog.Especially “See you in the sweet bye and bye.” I am of the firm opinion that we can love other creatures as dearly as we love other humans. Still mourning the loss of our dog-buddy Liam, who died two years ago. The yard just doesn’t feel right without him.
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That phrase also got to me the most. Because I want to believe in the sweet bye and bye. Liam must also have been an exceptional dog. Monty had a beautiful eulogy at the end of yesterday’s episode of GW.
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I cried too when I read about Nigel’s passing. You are right that the tears flood because it also brings back the loss of our own companions. We have two dogs buried in our yard, remembered by the crocus planted over them, whose leaves are now doing their seasonal faded dance in the lawn.
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Darling dogs, still so beloved.
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Pretty port gardens! Nigel sounded like the most wonderful dog. Our pets mean so much to us as companions, asking for so little.
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Yes, and he was an exceptional dog.
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Dear, sweet Nigel! It is a shame our companions pass through our lives so quickly. Yes, it does bring back memories of those who have gone one before us. We have four cats buried here, Mr. Beaucastel, Mr. Austin, Klaatu, and Willow. Abby, our oldest cat, is now 18, and in her golden sunset years. She is still doing well, but is slowing down. With 8 cats, and the youngest three closing in on 7 years old in August, the next decade is going to be a hard one for us.
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It is hard to have a family of aging cats. I was shocked when the vet told me age 10 is geriatric.
Also….Klaatu!!! Love it.
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We were sorry to hear about Monty’s dog too. The catio looks like a major work.
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It was!
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Well, 2020 is hardly bearable. We all loved Nigel so. As Monty said, he could steal the show. Now, just Nelly and the new little one whose name I can’t remember. Grief is indeed collective, isn’t it, just comes up in waves when I start to cry over the latest one. Thank you, Nigel, for a job well done. You will be missed.
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Nelly and Patti are dear, but do not have the presence of Nigel. Just like all my cars are dear, but Smoky was the one I loved the most. Monty’s tribute to Nigel at the end of this week’s episode had me in tears again, while at the same time laughing fondly at Nigel’s antics with the tennis balls.
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