Sorry for another long post; we’re trying to catch up.
Saturday, 8 September 2018
at home
I slept long and thoroughly, exhausted from a stressful week and from Slow Drag. Last night, we had gotten only about half of our Slow Drag photos processed and posted to Discover Ilwaco before getting too punchy to continue.
I was not going to give up a gardening at home day to processing more photos, though. They got done (and yesterday’s blog post written) after gardening.
Skooter also slept in:
I woke quite late to hear happy voices in the garden. Julez from Salt Hotel, and his son Flynn, and Jessika from next door, along with Scott, also from next door, were picking apples for cider pressing. I love that they take our apples, which would otherwise mostly go to waste.
In the back of their truck were the apples they had picked earlier in the day in Chinook.
So they would not have room for all of ours!
Allan’s photo
Allan’s photo
Allan’s photo
Allan’s photo
Flynn and Julez
Jessika and Matt
a clever apple picking device
a good harvest
Flynn and his friend Skooter
I made them all walk back to the bogsy wood to see my new path.
It is thrilling, really. (Allan’s photo)
a truck bed full (Allan’s photo)
I was pleased to see that we had had a good rain overnight….
rain barrels full
The harvesters did not even get to the Cripp’s Pink:
(also known as Pink Lady because it is more salable)
They know they are all welcome to come to get eating apples any time.
After they departed, Jenna arrived, at my invitation, so we could debrief about Slow Drag. I was pleased to delay a garden project that I had almost begun. Some coffee and cookies and a good long conversation gave me energy.
After Jenna left, I did my project, one of those that had suddenly occurred to me even though it was not at all on my mental list.
The elagrostis (weeping love grass) along our little driveway had gotten tatty looking. And they were too big and tended to tangle our feet as we unload the work trailer.
looking out from the garage
before
after
after regaining six inches of the driveway on each side
Allan does most of the trailer unloading. This will make his life easier. He helped me to remove the most difficult grass (the last one, when I was out of steam).
I kept weeding in the front garden till dusk and accomplished much. As I watered toward sunset, the fragrance of brugmansia by the greenhouse was intense.
This would normally have been the day that we went to the Cannon Beach Cottage Tour. I was glad to stay home and felt no regret. I had thought that Allan would go to the Rod Run up in Ocean Park. He also was content to stay home and work on his book about local kayaking or canoeing sites.
Allan’s photo, self publishing
Sunday, 9 September 2018
at home
Skooter had another lazy morning.
I had hoped for a rainy reading day (and for a good rain so that we would not have to water much this week). The predicted quarter inch of rain did not materialize, so I went out to putter aimlessly in the garden.
Devery stopped by and we had a long visit, sitting on the patio. I was offered three more cats, age ten, all Siamese. Their person is not well. However, Siamese cats and I are not especially compatible. Blue-eyed Frosty is part Siamese and has their talkative nature and inability to just settle down on my lap.
Of course, I made Devery walk back and look at my new path. “I’d walk on that!” she said gratifyingly.
I then weeded and did some pruning and clipping and layered green and brown clippings (never weeds) in my compost bin. Not a single photo was taken.
In the late evening, we watched an episode of the new season of My Cat From Hell. Despite my longing for a lovey dovey lap cat, it made me anxious about adding anyone new to our current cat quota of two. I fear that Skooter might act out by spraying in the house. And yet, while I don’t get lonely for people, I am lonely for a special cat who dotes on me.
I finally found out who left me the great bouquet of Liatris. It was Steve and John from The Bayside Garden.
still looking fresh today
Monday, 10 September 2018
Again, we did not get the predicted quarter inch of rain. A light rain in the night had left a few small puddles in the street.
Our Kathleen is here at her beach cottage for a week’s vacation. We went out to the Shelburne Pub for lunch, while poor Allan was on the phone still trying to sort out his Medicare fiasco.
Kathleen noticed a tiny Pacific Tree Frog on the post that holds the pub sign.
A rock for Ilwaco High School had been placed by the entryway.
I had the chopped salad with fried chicken added:
And Kathleen tried the black garlic fried rice, which she declared as wonderful as I had been saying it was.
chopped salad with fried chicken
A new dessert, cream cheese tart with blackberries, proved to be perfection.
We sat down in the pub at about 12:20 and we talked through lunch, dessert, and long after. I do believe we spent a good three and a half hours there catching up, as we had not seen each other for several weeks.
At home again, I passed on to her a red leaved weeping Japanese maple that I had in a large pot. I did not find it exciting enough to keep (although I have four other Japanese maples that do please me). It will be happier in the ground at Kathleen’s cottage.
She admired my white passiflora along the front fence and gave it an encouraging talking to while she trained its tiny tendrils to grasp the deer-proofing wire.
After she left, I spent some time working on the messaging aspect of arranging a peninsula garden touring day with Ketzel Levine and Beth Holland. Wrangling three garden hosts and maybe up to four touring gardeners taxed my social director abilities, which are low. I think I managed to set a date that works for all about two weeks hence, and I very much hope Ann Amato will be able to join us from Portland.
With the hour and a half left of the day, I watered all the containers and a few new plantings with rainwater that we had saved in the green jugs. This is virtuous, good exercise and much more time consuming than using the hose.
Allan, meanwhile, had watered the Ilwaco Community Building Garden (after getting not very far with the Medicare dilemma) and the Ilwaco planters.
His photos:
maple leaves in the ICB garden
autumn blooming crocus
a new boat in the Ilwaco boatyard
Max buzzing by on his motorized bike. Allan did not have his camera out to catch when Max doffed his top hat in greeting.
In closing, here are a few photos of our garden at the end of the day.
Sanguisorba ‘Pink Elephant’ soaring overhead in the front garden
While touring in Manzanita, Ketzel had said a gardener was brave to have planted passionflower. I wondered why.
my passiflora
This is why; it is starting to pop up all around:
Uh oh
Skooter
white sanguisorba
Cripps Pink apples
Helenium ‘Sahin’s Early Flowerer’ (which starts early and goes on and on) and Solidago ‘Fireworks’
I could start trimming santolinas if I wanted to.
I do want to trim santolinas, even though I once lost some in a cold winter after trimming them in the fall.
My window boxes have gone all tatty. I won’t bother replacing the plants this late; I will be switching them out with the bulb inserts next month.
Susie’s window boxes at the Boreas Inn put mine to shame. She posted this photo today:
photo by Boreas guest Sascha Jennifer Gordon
Next year will be better.
A long trip for me but many traveled even further from the Seattle area. 
Entering OceanShores from the north, I spotted some of their signs on the main boulevard. 
With only a half hour before the start of the 6-mile race, it looked lightly attended. More would show up later. 
