R.I.P. Mac Daddy

On Wednesday, March 17, a bright and sunshiny bit of love left this world, for on that day I buried a very dear friend.  With heavy heart, and tear streaked face, I dug a hole, lovingly laid his linen-wrapped body in it, and began to shovel dirt back over it.  When I was done, I built a cairn of stones over his grave, spending the waning hours of the winter evening gathering stones in my grief.  I cried, sobbed, and snuffled the whole time.

(Mac Daddy on Julie's front porch)

Mac Daddy wasn't necessarily my cat, but I was definitely his human, but we loved each other unabashedly, and neither of us made any bones about it.  Belonging to one of my very best friends, Julie, I've known Mac Daddy since he was just a young adolescent.  He loved to share his joy and love with others, and always took nurse duties with new kittens, taking very good care of them.  And nobody, of course, could occupy a lap quite like ol' Daddy.

Having reached the grand age of 12 sometime over the past year or so (you know how it goes with cats... you just don't always know), Julie and I had both noticed he was getting to be an old cat.  He spent a lot of this winter indoors, but then heck, who didn't?  Having heard that he had been spending the last few days under the bed, I wasn't surprised.  I wanted to do the same.  I thought little of the fact that he hadn't come out to visit me the week before.

But I was shocked when he made his slow, stiff-legged way down the hall into the living room wednesday afternoon.  Poor Daddy!  He had lost weight, couldn't move very well, was so fatigued he took mulitple rests to get across the room, and was literally gasping for breath!  He went to the water bowl, but just couldn't manage a drink, laying back down without going to the food bowl.  My Daddy wasn't well!

Julie called the vet, and we took him right in.  He was made comfortable until the vet could get to him a short time later.  Not long after that, the vet euthanized him, a mercifully peaceful end to what had become a very uncomfortable existence.

Examing Mac Daddy, the vet had aspirated a lot of fluid from one lung, which was completely full, and had collapsed.  It filled back up immediately, leading the vet to a diagnosis of FIP - Feline Infectious Peritonitis.

I'm thankful that Daddy didn't suffer for very long at all.  Of his last three days, while it's apparent he knew something was wrong and had been hiding under the bed - as cats are wont to do - I don't think any but the last day were acutely uncomfortable.  His mates Sam and Boogie were at his side continuously with love and concern and companionship, and humans who loved him were at his side right up to the end. A life lived like Mac Daddy's is well lived.

All this heartbreak brings me to the secondary reason for this post.  The pet cemetery.  Creatures who bring such joy and love into our lives such as a cat like Mac Daddy deserve something more than disposal at the vet office, or a hole in the the ground out along the back fence.  When I arrived home Wednesday afternoon, I broke the news to Mike (who also loved Mac Daddy very much) and asked him to consider where we might begin to create our own memorial garden for beloved pets.

We wanted somewhere where there was space to accommodate all of our pets over the years, someplace peaceful, beautiful, and fairly easy to reach.  It needs to be permanent - there will be no moving this particular garden element in 10 years because it's in the way of another project.

We chose a patch of forested area between the mushroom garden and the display beds.  It has a moderate slope, lots of ferns and violets, and is along the primary pathway into that section of woods.  Additionally, it's behind the large stump pile in front of which Mike planted a shrub border, so it will be secluded.  I like to think that a cat-spirit might enjoy climbing the stumps to watch out over the area or bask in the sun.

 

(Mac Daddy's final resting place)

I don't exactly know how the pet cemetery - I need to come up with a name for it, as I don't exactly like that term - will evolve over the next few years.  I am imagining a series of stone cairns ringed by moss, ferns, and violets, as well as rhododendrons and hostas.  I would like to include a bench for sitting and visiting, and occasional grieving.  Mike wants to cast a 'tufa cat statuette for Mac's memorial.  We'll use cedar boughs to create a decorative fence along the edges.  Beyond that, I'm sure whimsy will take over and guide our efforts.

I miss Mac Daddy very much, and I'm tearing up just writing this post.  How will I handle it when one of my own cats dies?  [Sigh]... love can be tough.

I thought I'd post a couple of pics taken in my veggie garden - which I never blog about, it seems. Poor thing, and it's growing so nicely, too...


Little strawberries, wondering when June will arrive...


while the chives don't care - they're happy to bloom regardless of the gloom.


I am not very certain of the future outcome of this poor little orphan tomato. It needs sun, and I have none to offer it.


Greens! Lovely, luscious greens!


Someday, these little bitty babies will bloom into a wildflower mix for me. Maybe. If summer ever arrives. I'd give up hope, but they haven't. So I carry on. For the flowers. ;-)

I've posted other pics on my other blog...

Thunder, Trifolium incarnatum, and Tiny Mushrooms

A peal of thunder - the first of the day - peals across Arcadia as I sit down to write this post. William Elliot Whitmore's Ashes To Dust is playing on the iTunes, and Chewbacca sits perched on my desk, just below my chin so I can most easily bend down and nuzzle her head. She likes that.

I've spent the day out in the garden and down in the woods. Today was the day, seed in hand and "scattered sun" in the forecast, that I finished tidying up the veggie garden and planted my fall crops. I may have missed the window on one or two of the plants I set seed out for, but I'm not too worried. I'm sure winter will cooperate. Indian Summer is yet to come, if it comes at all this year, and first freeze still seems a few weeks away.

Crimson Clover, Trifolium incarnatum, has been planted in Beds # 1 and #3. I pulled out all the plant matter that was leftover after tearing out the squash and nasturtium in Bed #3, and tossed it on the compost, scattering found nasturtium seeds around the fence and out in the trees and stump pile. Bed #1 had been cleared of brocolli and heat-killed, late-planted dill starts a week ago. I turned both beds over and sifted for large roots, then scratched what was probably a generous dose of lime in. Raking everything smooth, I reserved a bit of soil from each bed, broadcast seed over them, and scattered the reserved soil back over to barely cover the seeds. I don't know if that was the way I was supposed to do it, but that's how I did it.

[Hoo-boy - big thunder and wind and rain, all at once!!! Boy it got dark! That's Mother Nature, watering my seeds in...]

And I have to say, that soil looks quite nice after a season of stuff growing in it. I was going to put some of that garden soil we recently had delivered in my beds to enrich them, but it's too weedy, Mike quite rightly recommended against it. And since I've planted crimson clover, the soils will be even better in the spring. I'm planning to plant root crops in Bed #1.

In Bed #2 I had mulched with compost a few weeks ago, while I removed much of the cabbage, all the dill (which would much rather grow in really crappy soil), the shallots, and the nasturtiums. I had left my transplanted miner's lettuce, a few nice cabbages and some French sorrel. After removing a couple ore cabbage plants, I added lime and turned everything over, rather shallowly - a couple inches at most.

Having removed some French sorrel last week, I realized after some reading that I really do want to try the very young leaves, or cook with the older ones. I had tried an older leaf raw, right out of the garden, and I didn't like it. I figure I should give it another chance or two. Today I discovered that it has a very long root, which I couldn't fully remove (think thistle), there were numerous little starts all around each plant that I could 'comb' out of the soil with my fingers. These were transplanted to their own rows, and I gave them each a little kiss of love and an urging to thrive. We'll see how they do.

I planted a patch of shallots from last fall's planting - while not all had multiplied, many had. I also stuck three white garlic bulbs in the edges on the other side of the bed. I left a row along the full long edge open for Inchelium red garlic, which I still need to go to the Olympia Farmer's Market to get.

I also planted seeds for Arugula, two kinds of mustard greens (Southern Giant Curled and Spinach), corn salad (or mache, if you know it as that), and lettuce (both Salad Bowl and Buttercrunch). I figure the mustard greens and arugula and mache will all do fine, but I don't know if the lettuces have been planted early enough. I expect they'll all be fine.

I still have a bit to do out three before I can kick back and let things go, and grow, for the winter. I want to plant crimson clover under the raspberries. I need to build that fourth bed. I am desiring a rhubarb root to put in a patch, and if I had straw I could build my potato patch.

So after I finished up in the garden, I took a wander in the trees, looking for chanterelles. I don't even know if I should expect them, but I look anyway. I didn't find any, but I did find very young coral mushrooms, and one red russula looking specimen, as well as numerous puffballs, all very young. There were a few other varieties that I didn't recognize.

And now I'm blogging and the thunder has passed. Chewie is still sitting beneath my chin, purring of course. I'm going to eat lunch, then maybe look for mushrooms elsewhere.

My weekend project - compost bin

Look what I did this weekend!
I built a 3-bin compost center out of that old lumber Mom and Dad brought by the other weekend. I'm pretty pleased with myself, too. Usually, my 'carpentry' projects don't turn out so well.


The central dividers are easily removed for turning the piles over into the next bin, the two front outer posts (and the backside) are supported by metal fence posts driven deep into the ground. A display shelf allows me a place to view interesting rocks and knick-knacks. I've even got Bin #1 loaded and composting already!


The space between the garden and the compost center is about three feet. It gives ample space for my little friend the fern to live, as well as buckets and a bin for poles.


The compost center is backed up against that large mound of kitchen scraps and garden waste, stumps and sticks, and dirt and ashes that I had been using to compost waste this past year. I intend to simply shovel stuff off the mound and into a bin, and hope to have the mound significantly reduced by summer's end.

It was a lot of hard work, but I am very happy with the results, and even more happy that I have a real compost center to work with! I can't wait to make my first batch of mulch and spread it lovingly over a bed.

My veggie garden - and other things

Omigoodness, it's been a while since I posted here... shame.

I finally took some pics of my veggie garden... I think it's looking pretty good. See for yourself.

This is Bed #1. I have planted baby spinach and broccoli here. Nasturtiums are tucked in along the corners and sides. Tuesday, I transplanted a handful of dill seedlings from Bed #2 to the back row of this bed. I think most of them will do alright.


This is Bed #2. I have a wider variety of tasties planted here - shallots, miner's lettuce, sorel, arugala, red cabbage, green cabbage, redleaf lettuce, dill and dandelions, with nasturtiums again tucked into the corners.

This is the berry bed. These are red thornless raspberries. A blackcap vine which grew along the driveway has been transplanted to the the (upper-left) corner. I'm glad I did, as a number of those which I didn't transplant are now dead - I dunno why.

Two of my Canadian Explorer roses... technically, the canoe is not part of the garden as it sits outside of the fencing.

My third Canadian Explorer rose - this one is called

I built this little 'pond' for the water loving irises. I think it turned out pretty well.

I built it by laying out a lumber frame. I didn't nail it together or anything, I just laid boards down. I then laid down a double layer of thick black plastic. I place a few bricks around the rim to hold the plastic in place, then filled it with a bit of water and placed the plants inside.

Here is a close-up image of the pond:

I filled it further to check for leaks or overflow, and because it is built on not quite perfectly level ground, there was a bit of an overflow which resulted in the other end of the pond not getting more than an inch deep. I raised the lumber frame a couple of inches on the low end, and then did my best to hide the ugly lumber frame, hence the bricks and large hunk of wood.

This is another project I did with brick recently, to protect the pots of plants that Mike built a sunscreen for. While the plants were protected, their black pots were still overly exposed to the harsh and drying sun and wind.

I can't be certain, but I think things are happier for it.

Mom and Dad are retiring, and downsizing as they'll be moving soon. Among a host of tools and things, they've offered us their hot-tub! Here it is in place after two days of tugging, heaving, hauling, cursing, sweating, dragging, pushing, cursing, sliding, and shoving. Did I mention cursing? What a chore to move! Here it is all ready for wiring:


I don't know that the teal works for me aesthetically, but I'll put up with that much for a free hot tub!

I don't know that I can sit in the house today...

It looks like I'll just have to put on rain gear and go putz around outside. I miss that nice weather we were having. I want it back. In fact, the weather site says it'll be raining forever, or at least for the next week, which might as well as be forever.

This is no time to be stuck in the house. Things are happening outside! Daffodils are up, and would like to bloom. Snowdrops, crocus, cyclamen and Iris reticulata are blooming. The Osoberry (Indian plum) is budding out, and the alders are blushing. The temperatures are warming and the sunlight lasts longer every day.

The veggie garden beds are full of soil, and I've even got some shallots planted already. I don't know if they'll survive or not, but Mike found a plastic shopping bag of them just sitting all lonely and abandoned on the sidewalk at his office recently. We thought we might as well stick them in the ground and see what happens. I've planted a dozen bulbs. I love shallots, I hope they thrive.

We've been playing with seeds this past week. I've potted up some white ribes seeds (and will do some red ribes seeds today), and scattered seeds for columbines. Mike has gotten a number of items out of pots, where they had overwintered in the courtyard, and out in the big bed in the front of the house and in the shade garden next to it. That shade garden, btw, is coming right along. Mike has pulled a number of trees out recently, and planting areas are becoming apparent.

It's still raining - sigh. I'm just gonna have to get wet, I suppose. I hope I don't melt. ;-)

Busy, busy, busy!

The last few days have presented with beautiful weather and the opportunity to get lots of work done outside. We've taken advantage of that opportunity, and it shows!

The debris piles are disappearing. We've been pulling branches, rootwads, and logs out of both upper piles and having some great fires. I cleaned out the ashes from three different fire pits and spread them all about in my very informal compost pit. The largest pile, which we started working on first, is more than half gone, and the large pile next to it has been chewed down, too.

Mike working on the debris pile and enjoying a fire

The space between these two piles has grown distinct.

The walled courtyard we plan to build on the NE side of the house has been laid out with little orange flags. We can actually see the space it will occupy, and more importantly, the space it won't occupy. Mike is happy as he sees he has more room for irises on the west side of the wall, and I am happy to find room for a composting center right next to my garden and near the chickens.

We decided to dedicate the drainfield to the chickens. I'll fence in a yard for them that encompasses the drainfield and some space in the trees. Their coop will go nestled amongst the trees behind the garage, keeping it shaded and comfortable in the summer. I'm placing my garden next to the chickenyard, below the drainfield, and will fence it in so that they can wander among the raised beds and eat all the bugs.

Site of the future 'chickenyard' - currently simply our drainfield

Saturday, we hauled a number of rotting stump remnants out of the debris piles and arranged ever so artfully in the chicken yard. Not only does it provide some visual interest to the otherwise flat bare area, they will provide lots of bugs for the gals to catch. I'm making the chickenyard large so they can have lots of room to roam, and perhaps allow some greens to grow once in a while. While I want my chickens now, we probably won't have any until next spring.

Wiijii inspecting my stumpwork. She approves.

She'd like a chicken now too, please.

Next to the chickenyard, just below the drainfield, are my two raised beds, which I built yesterday morning. Each is 4'x8' (roughly). I'm scavenging logs from trees cut recently to build a fence. I figure I'd bury each fence post about 3 feet, leaving me 7 feet of fence, which should be tall enough for deer. Digging a hole that deep will be a challenge, I'm sure - much less a dozen holes.

Veggie Garden 2.0

Since I won't have chickens this year, I don't have to worry about fencing for them just yet. When it's time, however, as I build the fence for the chickenyard, I'll build a second fence inside the garden fence and around the garden beds. This will keep the chickens out of the beds, while allowing them to patrol the perimeter for slugs and other garden enemies. My garden will be simply two 4'x8' beds this year, but there is room to place at least two more, and perhaps as many as 6, if I do it right.

Wiijii naps after a hard day in the garden

The USDA Hardiness Zones, they are a changin'!

Apparently, the zones are all shifting north. I think we are currently in zone 8, and judging from what the map showed, we are headed for zone 9. When I plug in my zip code, the "Find Your Zone" feature informs me we are currently on the cusp of 8 and 9.

Greenhouse Built on the Cheap

We know we need a greenhouse. We thought we needed to rob a bank... This site has a great article on how to build a greenhouse on the cheap.

Using Rocks In The Garden

Today the Seattle Times ran an article on using large stone in the garden . We love using stone in the garden - if you hadn't noticed. They're limited in size to what I can carry, however. Mike has managed to wrangle some larger stones left behind by construction into more pleasing positions near where they were left, but we are stymied in moving larger stones any distance. Where are the builders of ancient Stonehenge when you need them?

The last few months, we've been trying to figure out how to move some very large rocks over from the neighbor's. A rock bar, mentioned in the article, is just the thing. Where to find a big bar of steel?

Unfortunately, the article suggests you buy rock. Buy rock??? Omigoodness. They can't be serious, can they? Go visit a river.

Of course, my favorite rock hunting ground is up on the Cowlitz River, near Packwood. I understand the recent flood to have ripped through the area, so there should be some new rock to look at up there. I'll have to wait until May however, as the road to that spot is gated through the winter.