Tuesday, 25 August 2015
We might have quit TOO many jobs, as it seems that all of a sudden we just did not have any work to do today. That did not seem like a bad thing. We had intended to stay home, but when I got a text from Melissa that she and Dave (Sea Star Landscape Maintenance) were working at an old job of ours, we could not resist going to have a look.
Steve’s Garden
Melissa had asked if we could come tell them where the garden beds used to end, what plants might be missing after two years of the garden going back to weeds, and so on.
That waterfall had become completely overgrown with weeds when Mel and Dave took over the job a couple of months back.
The dry creekbed that recirculates water from the stream has also almost dried up, something I never saw in years of working there.
The dryness has given our friends the opportunity to really get in there and clear the area. On the right side, we were able to find salvageable Japanese and Siberian Iris that they can dig and relocate to more manageable areas. Below: a screen shot from my 2007 blog, showing the stream and path as it was. Joanne was Steve’s wife, who had died of cancer the previous year and who had worked with us to create this garden.
Allan’s photo of a weeding session along the stream in 2013, possibly the last day we worked there. It had gotten to be too much for us as the Long Beach and Ilwaco jobs got bigger and bigger.
The reason the recirculating system is turned off is because the lake that provides the water has gotten too low for the pump.
On the way out via the long driveway, we stopped to say hi to the horses. We used to bring them treats, but it has been so long that they do not remember us. Or maybe it is a new set of boarded horses.

Our day off fell by the wayside when we decided to do our work at two jobs that were on our way home, thus making the rest of the week easier.
The Red Barn and Diane’s Garden

Ilwaco
With that little bit of work done, we drove back to Ilwaco and visited Todd at a garden where he is currently clearing out lots of brush and beautifying the landscape by tidying up sword ferns and shrubs.
When we left there, deer were wandering the high school parking lot.
And they wandered to right outside the garden where Todd was working. Later, he told us that they had joined him for tea.
At home, as I passed time puttering, I heard the shop vac outside. When I looked, I thought Allan was vacuuming his garden. No, he was blowing rhododendron leaves off the ground at the back of his garden.
The Depot Restaurant
For weeks, I have been anticipating my old friend Carol’s arrival for a three day visit to the beach. She drove down from her hotel in Long Beach to pick me up and I treated her to a scumptious dinner at the Depot.

Steak Killian (mine); love those potatoes. Carol had Mediterranean Prawns, and my photo of that dish was a fail.
While Carol and I enjoyed ourselves at dinner, Allan watered the Ilwaco planters, because it had to be done. His photos from the watering session:
After watering, he took a tour around the town.