Tuesday, 15 December 2020
At home
The predicted rain and wind had not arrived, even though I could see from the south window the double red wind warning flags flying over the port office. So I had to delay my reading and do some weeding and some rearranging of containers and plant sale plants. I did enjoy it, even though I need two more days now to finish the Katharine Graham memoir (1000 plus pages in the large print edition).

First, I noticed a handsome conifer and then had a look at some more of my conifers and a few other plants.


Maybe I should get the conifer above out of its pot. One of the two dark leafed pittosporums I planted might have plotzed and this could go in the ground in its place. I should dig around in the pot to find the tag, if possible, and see how tall it gets.



I would like to have some rocks that have really good water bowl capacity.




I weeded and rearranged by the spider web arbor where the big hebe came out.


I was excited to think of a new planting area till my sensible side remembered that the Euonymus ‘Green Spire’ will take up a fair amount of room so…annuals, maybe.
The cattens had run through the house to the back Catio in order to watch me.


They’d have more fun if there were a cat run along the wall from the back Catio to the front porch.

On the other hand, the new and so far unenclosed shelf would be good for displaying attractive objects like flower pots and old watering cans.

With still no rain, I had to do some more weeding. Some areas are just a mess.

I got partway through one area…
…when the rain arrived forty five minutes before dark and I was able to abandon it and go indoors.
My Queen’s Tears houseplant is blooming.

This little cat makes it a challenge to type out a blog post from the comfy chair.

From Katharine Graham’s memoir about her life and The Washington Post:


Now that’s civilized behavior.
A couple of news stories below the lines…
I found this useful article about how to talk to “anti-vaxxers . I have known one person who was so adamantly anti vaccine that they would insert the topic into random conversation with a great deal of fervor. I felt surprised and disconcerted and would just try to change the subject instead of pressing for ….science. Perhaps this article would have helped, or perhaps the book Non Violent Communication would have helped me get out a sentence like, “When you seem so angry about vaccines, it gives me indigestion because I become concerned about your health. Would you be willing to read some scientific articles on the topic of whether or not vaccines cause the damage you fear?” At the time, it did not seem like a critical issue. Now it would be. Although I no longer personally know anyone who’d be opposed to getting the Covid vaccine, I see plenty of anti-vaccine talk on local social media groups.
Meanwhile, across the river, Clatsop County, including Astoria, has been declared extreme risk for Covid, with strict rules in place for businesses and social gatherings.
Thanks for the excerpt from Katharine Graham’s Memoir.–Really, really good.
Such a snuggley kitten!
I’m not an anti-vaxxer, but am on the fence about the vaccine. Have read if you have severe allergies, you shouldn’t take it. I have them.–Age 7, DPT shot landed me in the hospital for 2 days (heart slowed), Age 27, Fluorescein eye drops for contacts made my throat to close up. I could hardly breathe.. Brushing against a sunflower makes me break out in hives and sometimes my ankle & wrist swelled to twice the normal size because I touched a sunflower at that spot. (It’s the latex in sunflowers.) Am also allergic to all sorts of foods I actually love such as celery, squash, spinach, kale, wheat, etc. Do I get the vaccine? I don’t know. .
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As steveston gardener said, it’s not a bad thing to be lower on the list so that the vaccine will have more testing when it gets to us. I am hoping some of the later vaccines that are almost ready will be better for people with allergies. If I were offered it now, I would (repeating myself) take it as my civic duty, but I don’t have allergies. It’s a serious problem for those who do, that’s for sure. On the other hand, being a recluse suits me fine. 🙂 BUT one can’t control fate and there are all kinds of emergencies that could force a recluse out into the open.
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More reply. I’ve just watched our local health dept zoom updates that they do every other week. They said food allergies and hay fever or asthma are not the kind of allergies that put people in danger from the vaccine. However, people who’ve had experiences with getting anaphylactic shock are in the risk category for reactions. For those people, our health dept is going to monitor them in person after the vaccine if they choose to get it. My hope would be that enough of us without that sort of problem will get it, so that we get to herd immunity and protect the rest of us.
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It sounds like you are in the category of people who could be protected by herd immunity rather than the jab. I hope your county health dept will have more info when the vaccine becomes available.
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A very telling passage from Graham’s memoir. Your landscape looks ever so much different than our frozen landscape, and more snow to come tomorrow. Those patios are just grand. I love how they run out whenever you are working so that they can watch.
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We only get snow maybe once a year, if that, usually for a day. People in snow country make fun of how our cities come to a halt with a few inches of snow. I read somewhere that our snow is heavier and stickier. That sounds made up but I swear it was a reputable article. 🙂
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No, it doesn’t sound made up at all. Not as cold where you live, and warmer weather usually makes for wet, heavy snow. The worst kind as far as I’m concerned. Hard to clean, perfect for knocking branches off trees, which in turn cause power outages.
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I know you don’t do the seasonal festive decor thing, but your garden is a treasure trove for a lovely naturalistic garland or wreath. The tour had me going…”wouldn’t that look great in…”
I will get the vaccine as soon as I am able, which looks to be by September next year. We are allocating by high risk employment and age, with no jumping of the queue by politicians or the rich. The vaccine will not be available for sale.
But I will admit to having some concerns as there has not been nearly enough time to study side effects – we don’t even know much about long term covid. As ht gardener mentioned, it is now recommended if you have allergies not to get it, if you are pregnant, or think you might get pregnant in a few months. They have just downgraded the efficacy of the Moderna shot by ten percent if you are over 65. They has been little time to study contraindications with other medicines.
Hopefully by September next year this will be better sorted.
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I don’t mind being low on the list so that any problems can get sorted first. But. There are rumblings that everyone here who wants it might be able to have it by April. I doubt it very much. If it is offered, I will take it as my civic duty. I understand the reservations; I did not get the flu jab till three years ago when my good friend Carol had been pressuring me for a few years. She had a work friend die of it, at our age, and that convinced me. But it wasn’t cuz I’m an anti vaxxer. It was just that I’m a procrastinator.
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PS I got a very nasty comment from an anti vaxxer. Fortunately, I have my comments set for approval so I can just put it in the trash.
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Oh, also, an update on the Oregon coast situation: https://www.oregonlive.com/coronavirus/2020/12/all-of-oregon-coast-now-classified-as-extreme-risk-of-covid-19-spread-gov-kate-brown-says.html?fbclid=IwAR3Q_FGPL4stermnKs-ZMdB2Yc9eASNpxTbJr6GHUFTnvpwx2yFflKgQegQ
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I will get vaccinated asap.
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Same
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Chamaecyparis are pretty sweet. They are not common here at all. I notice them more in your region, probably because they perform better than the common junipers that are more popular here.
Oddly, my favorite conifer right now happens to be a juniper of the worst kind; Eastern red ceder that is not even a garden variety.
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Love seeing the cattens in their Catio. We plan to get the vaccine when it is our turn.
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