August 18th, 2013
Maybe I should just change the name of the blog to “Life on the Peninsula”, what with all the non gardening events I have covered over this weekend.
I used to work seven days a week almost every week. That wasn’t good for my own garden and there were many summers of the sixteen that I lived in my other Ilwaco cottage that I thought to myself, “It’s another lost year for the garden.” I had to work to survive but now times are a little easier, especially during the lull time of August when we have very few plants to put in the ground. Thus, the goofing off.
My dear departed neighbour Nora‘s granddaughter was next door when we got up on this Sunday. We always enjoy seeing her. She and her friends from Portland took a quick garden tour and one of the friends, clearly a city girl, was smitten with the cuteness of a snail. Devery, formerly Nora’s caregiver, held it for me but insisted on not being in the picture. She’s gorgeous, but I obeyed.
Devery and the snail
The “city gals” were gaga over the way it put out its little face. Alicia photographed it with her phone.
phone photo with Alicia’s friend reflected…
curiosity
I do wish Alicia could make this her summer home as I dote on her and she always brings such nice friends…. I think daily about my hope of having nice neighbours as the next door driveway is RIGHT by our back door…. Dear reader, I will be sure to announce here when and if the house goes up for sale because I want pleasant gardening neighbours!
We had been given complimentary tickets to Jazz and Oysters in exchange for my doing the Music in the Gardens Facebook page. (Both events are connected with the annual Water Music Festival.) For this occasion, I took my first ride in our new van, stopping first at Olde Towne Trading Post to exchange the compost bucket. Luanne had the sign ready for me that her son Michael had made me for a belated birthday present.
Luanne and the Bogsy Wood sign!
The van was duly admired before we set off for Jazz and Oysters (via dropping the compost bucket off at home or there might have been a stench after parking in the sun).
We had had the van for a week or so but it had been being fitted up with a trailer hitch for our utility trailer. My plan up until now had been that on non-plant-hauling days, we should probably keep working with Allan’s compact Saturn and the trailer, because that is so much more ecologically correct due to the Saturn’s good gas mileage. Just a few miles into my first van ride, I knew that was not going to happen. It would be all van from here on. I have sold out for comfort and for a much better view from a higher seat. My traffic phobia immediately dissipated to almost nothing because I no longer felt that I would be squashed like a bug by all the larger vehicles.
Speaking of vehicles, while parking at the Jazz and Oysters field we saw our friend Joe’s truck for sale. (He was volunteering at the ticket table.)
I love this art truck but it was a little too small for us.
In case it is still for sale, here is the info. (One of two phone numbers shows.)
Allan’s attention was immediately drawn to another vehicle.
I usually don’t talk about cars much at all, and yet within minutes I had asked a stranger at the event if I could photograph his t shirt, because it captured the essence of Robert’s and my old VW van, “Beaky”.
The Beaky look of an old VW van. Our did not have the split windshield.
It took some time to figure out how to find our food…The desserts were way over in another building. We were too late (arriving two hours late) to get a mango lime dessert from the Bridgewater Bistro, more’s the pity…but I got a delicious pear tart cleverly and appropriately baked in an oyster shell.
pear
The oyster grill was far from the desserts, but we found it as well…
Allan, to left, collecting delicious food items
And at the grill, to the right in beige baseball cap, is the fellow who bought our old Tangly Cottage in early 2011. He invited us to come sometime soon and see what he has been doing with the place. He’s an expert and brilliantly creative carpenter so I am quite excited to visit.
Jon at the grill, right
Allan took a good series of photos at the oyster grill:
sausages; in the background, right, Pam activities director from Golden Sands and me
Jon on the right
shuckers
- an oyster shuckers’ ritual
Huzzah!
We found a picnic table, the last one of the few that were on site.
It was so darned hot I had to wear my floppy lavender hat; it had seemed like a good purchase and yet is not exactly the garden hat I had in mind after all.
The stage was far in the distance and the music was excellent. To my surprise the second band was not very “jazzy”. Instead, they played old disco numbers that I adore like “Mighty Real” by Sylvester and “Best of My Love” by The Emotions.
If I ever go to this event again, I will bring a parasol.
If it had not been for the heat, would I have joined the dancers in front of the stage? We’ll never know because about that time, our old friend J9 found us. (That’s her name, folks, perhaps not legally….Think “Jeannine”.) Twenty years I have known her since she stayed at the Sou’wester the year I lived and worked there. She moved here, lived here for years, moved away and now very much wants to move back.
J9 and I
In solving various problems, we inadvertently mimicked each others’ gestures. That is supposed to show we were in full agreement. J9’s voice would sound familiar to listeners of our local public radio station. She used to host the jazz show on KMUN.
The sunny heat was too too much so we left while the band still played on and before I even got into my own garden, I wandered down to Tom and Judy’s and sat in the shade of their back patio with them and the dogs.
Towbeh
Stymie
the courtyard bubbler
We had stopped at The Basket Case Greenhouse on the way home (even though they are closed for the season) to buy some hardy fuchsias. I plan to put more of them under the Long Beach street trees. I rejoiced at how easy they were to put in and take out of our new vehicle.
Just wow!!. For those who want to know such things, it is a Dodge Grand Caravan SXT 2005
The weather had cooled a bit, so I could do some deadheading in my still pretty near perfect garden.
early evening lilies
and the new sign in the bogsy wood
And next…back to some serious gardening work and lots of it.
