Friday, 15 January 2021
at home
I woke up thinking about weeding and then remembered that I had painting to do. If I really loved weeding as much as I say I do, I’d have been sadder to put it off again.
Skooter got himself stuck in the front Catio and grumbled about kittens till I let him out. He does not chase, swat at or fight with them, just makes bitterly complaining noises.
Some thoughts about our boat shapes:
Rosemary Verey has a temple-like stone folly at the end of her garden; you can read about it and other follies here.
The Oysterville garden has this.
And we have boat shapes.
My idea is to add two more, one at each end, which will effectively stop the eye from seeing security lights. I must find ways to stop my eyes because even on a dark day, bright lights give me migraine. I am using a blanket in the fence for an eye stopper now, above left, and even a boat shape is more elegant than that.
Years ago, Robert and I gardened for a wealthy gay man, George Fisk Hammond II, at his home in Seaview. He had been a set designer in Hollywood and, in his small garden, he had big flat piece of wood, maybe fancier than plywood, painted cobalt blue, behind an area of pots. He could have afforded a stone folly if he’d had wanted one. I liked him for being gay, funny, generous and artistic.
He and I went on a nursery day trip once, to Joy Creek and Cistus Nursery. On the way back, we detoured to see the small town of Deep River, near Naselle, where his reaction to seeing several for sale signs was to consider buying the entire town.
He was a scion of this family. His quite interesting obituary is here.
He and Robert had a falling out over something trivial that I can’t remember. He wanted me to continue working for him alone, but I’m too loyal for that sort of betrayal. He had wanted Robert to come to Olympia to make metal railings for his “highly designed waterfront house” for a great deal of money. Based on the spat they had, it would not have worked out. I felt quite sad about giving up the local garden, though, because he was interesting and a lot of fun to work for.
Since then, for reasons not having to do with George, I have stopped working for wealthy people, so I never hear things like “I am seriously considering trying to buy this whole town.” (I might consider a wealthy client again but only if the person fit my criteria for the perfect client, something I wrote about in 2010.)
Returning to the present: When the boat shape setup is longer, we can put some kind of deer barrier gate up, maybe just in summer, in these two spots:
…..and my big idea is that I can use one or two compost bins to grow courgettes. But I digress.
When Allan retrieved the two new boat shapes from Alicia’s patio, where he had put them out of last night’s rain, he found Skooter there, still grumbling.
Allan set up the shapes in the sunny back garden.
As I painted, I noticed that the bright green is wearing off the south side of the house, revealing a hint of the original pale, dull brown. The colour we had wanted for the house was the colour I am applying to the boat shapes. It got mixed wrong and ended up the bright green of a billiards table.
The shed got painted the correct green, and so will the house, eventually. That paint job of Allan’s has lasted for ten years.
While I painted one side, Allan went up on a ladder and cleaned the gutters.
His views from on high:
I did some weeding at last while waiting for the first coat to dry. When the plywood was flipped, Allan finished painting the last one while I returned to weeding.
As if he has nothing better to do, I showed Allan the area in the willow grove where I want to make a path to a view of the seasonal pond.
He wasn’t very enthusiastic, even when I mentioned that I’d be using the rechargeable chain saw.
Returning to my weeding, I disturbed a winter’s nap.
I was pleased to get a large area weeded, about one fourth of what must be weeded before I can order mulch.
The boat shapes will be installed tomorrow after they have dried thoroughly. Meanwhile, Allan measured up a spot in the area behind the garage where he is going to add some shelves.
It looks like we have several more nice days so I hope to get three big beds weeded before rain returns. It will be tempting to do the willow grove path instead.
That is some view of the garden. The boat garden has got to be the coolest feature I have seen in my limited views of gardens. I enjoyed reading about George Fisk.
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Thank you. Allan just said re the boat shapes “They’re not that pretty.” :-D. This was in response to my pondering aloud: “I don’t really mean this, but if we just out three boat shapes like free standing sculptures in the FRONT yard, I could block those OTHeR security lights…”. I appreciate your comment about a feature that I sometimes feel is embarrassingly….cheap, compared to a nice stone folly. 😀
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Those are the kinds of feature this frugal Mainer likes. 😉
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“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.”
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You bet!
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As people draw curtains, close shutters, erect fences, grow hedges taller – all to block out neighbour’s annoying security lights…odds are they won’t have eyes on any thief trying to break in. Ergo these neighbours have eradicated the neighbourhood watch principle, and the security of having security lights.
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That is such a good point. When my front garden was all light and flowery for the enjoyment of passersby, I could also see my neighbor’s house better and since I stay up till all hours, I am a good security guard. :-D. And on the other side, I used to have an eye on six different doors belonging to assorted houses and garages and have now blocked the view of all but one. I would do an inadvertent security check on the doors from my window when I closed my curtains at two AM. I recall reading an article somewhere (and I only read “reputable” news sources) saying that security lights really don’t make a difference re crime. I’ve been meaning to search out an answer to the question of do they or don’t they.
I don’t mind all lights. One neighbor has a really big tall light but it is amber in tone and so it is not the utter bane of my existence. One light that is a real bane is on a cute little guest cottage that used to have a warm glow of a bulb in a cute fixture and is now a glaring white bulb with no cuteness left at all. I don’t know the owner well and I feel I’d I asked if it would be possible to go back to the old bulb, and that I’d even buy it, and was told no, it would be awkward henceforth.
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Too much night lighting is a plague which is losing us the chance to see the stars and harming wildlife too.
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George Fisk Hammond II sounded like quite an interesting and fun character! I enjoyed reading the article on his life. I wonder what brought him to Seaview? That is quite a view from your roof top. It would be fun for you to have a stairway up to a rooftop porch. Hope you are able to block the annoying bright light.
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We succeeded in our light blocking quest. We do fantasize about a roof view!
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