Wednesday, 22 December 2021
At home
It was an indoor reading day for us because of wind and rain and thunder and lightning. Skooter, who rarely takes a completely indoor day, spent most of his time in his favorite box on Alicia’s back porch.
Anne Nixon, who gave Skooter his first of three homes, shared these photos:
I finished Spirit of Place: The Making of a New England Garden by Bill Noble and ended up with a new list of must have plants:
Denainthe caerula*
Cornus sericea ‘Silver and Gold’
Glaucidium palmatum
Meconopsis lingholm*
Salix eleagnus angustifolia
Salix fargessi
Rhamnus frangula asplenifolia
Salix sacchalinensis
Lonicera prolifera. Silvery with great flowers
That is but a partial list. I photographed paragraphs from the chapter about rock gardening and stone troughs.
I then indulged in a gripping novel, mostly set in two tourist towns, one back east and one in Moclips, on the Washington Coast, which is why I read it. Promise me the setting of an old motel on the coast, and I will read it! While sometimes tourists are lovely, and I remember being a (I am pretty sure not annoying) tourist myself, the author grasps the downside of the tourism-based economy well.
I used to buy Explorateur cheese at Seattle’s Pike Place Market but have never had it served to me in a restaurant. It was delicious. I haven’t had it for over thirty years.
As for the summer homes which are only used for a short while out of the year…
…reminiscing about the old days when the homes were lived in by locals. I’m not sure that was ever true on the Long Beach Peninsula, which has a century plus tradition of summer homes.
Much as I’d like more reading days, I’d also like to get the south fence done and off my mind (and Allan, the builder!)! And I must move more plants into the greenhouse tomorrow because the weather forecast is for three nights next week with temperatures into the low 20s F.
Tangly Cottage Gardening 
Those are beautiful photos of Skooter. He is his own cat, for sure.
I noted a few willows, genus Salix, on your list. I remember fondly a willow tree my mother planted when I was 7 years old, and how it grew into a big willow I could climb by the time time I was 14. They years go by in a long parade, and the house changed hands a few times. My childhood friend who still lives across street has kept me informed over the years about trees my mother and I planted back then. I don’t think any of them are left now. Mom had also brought a holly seedling up from Kentucky. That grew up past the second story window. It is gone, too.
35 degrees and raining here this morning. The forecast says snow tomorrow, and possible down in the teens next week.
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That is poignant about trees being gone. I do wish new owners would cherish them.
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The 20’s–That’s a tad cold. Brr!
Even though your book is a novel, it’s based on some truths. My home is humble and lived-in with dog hair, dust, and memories in the making; however, some of the houses around the ‘hood are filled by people who either live there sporadically and/or have someone else do everything for them. I have nothing in common with these folks.
Love those sweet photos of Skooter. He’s beautiful.
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I knew someone who lived full time in a local town, Surfside, and said it was almost empty in the winter…which is true of several areas on our peninsula.
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Skooter is at his cutest! He is so funny squished into the box. I had never heard of Explorateur cheese. It is supposed to be down to 9 degrees for a low here on Sunday night. I’m moving some of my outdoor potted plants into the garage.
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Explorateur is creamy and delish.
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We are in for a polar vortex this weekend with unseasonably colder than normal weather. Minus 20c with the wind chill, so about -4f. That’s a whole lotta zone 8 and 7 plants toast. Ah well, I will have new little view corridors in my overplanted beds.
At one time my parents had a small business in a seaside area that was home to many part-time homeowners. What surprised them, was the propensity of the well heeled seasonal dwellers, to want and demand everything cheap. As if the very nature and status of a small town, and small town dwellers, was to exist on a lower rung on some sort of socio-economic ladder, and be willing and able to provide goods and labour for far less than bigger cities. Even if the “cities” were but an hour away.
The best of the season to you and Allan, and may the presents you receive include great gardening telly, plenty of time for a book in hand and a cuppa, peaceful puttering in your own garden, and cat cuddles.
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Thank you and wishing you lovely holidays. You absolutely pegged what entitled tourists can be like.
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And I am so sorry your forecast is so darn cold.
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Hope you have a warm and cozy Christmas! Cheers!
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Thank you! Same wish for you!
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“Did You Ever Have A Family” was terrific; I read it several years ago.
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I just ordered his newer book and it’s waiting for me at the library. I want to read his memoirs, too.
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