out and about

Ah, la vie romantique! These are my wonky French chairs from the courtyard of La Musee de la Vie Romanatique in Paris, a charming little gem tucked into a neighborhood near Montmartre. We enjoyed seeing a cast of Chopin's hand, among the other works of art inside, then repaired to the garden for tea and a tarte. It was a little look into the lives of upperclass Parisians of the period and one of my favorite small museums. Then we saw the erotic museum, but no pictures from there!

Fall is definitely here in Portland, and I have been so pleased, once again, by the gourds that grow unexpectedly each year from the old gourds that I throw into the side garden. I never know what will come up, and I am always delighted when those big green leaves start to appear. I have been especially proud of my one gourd that I trained to climb along the neighbor's fence. It was such a cheery sight to see it hanging there, with big yellow blossoms and it seemed that I could watch it growing daily. The rains came, though, so it was time to harvest him, but I will continue to enjoy my gourds throughout the Fall season atop my mantle.

I wish I had planted this chair myself. I always meant to do one, so when I saw this one at the Lake Oswego antique fair a couple of weekends ago, I brought it home to place by my front door. I hope I can get it to winter over.

I had a lovely day out in the country last week, and one of the stops was Bauman Farm near Brooks. The plantings they do are spectacular, and this huge petunia hanging basket was one of my favorites. Note the figure to the right, which shows the scale.

It is a wonderful place to buy produce straight from the farm, unique plants, and especially baked goodies like their applesauce doughnuts, which are hard to resist. Now they have a giant castle made of hay bales and lots of pumpkins. It is a great outing , only 45 minutes from Portland-that is, if you don't get stuck in traffic for two hours! If you go, say hi to Mary for me.

My favorite stop of the day was Isabella's Garden near Albany. This is a charming place, in an improbable location, right in the middle of a neighborhood. The shop has only been open for a year, but it is full to the brim with unique gift items ,plants and flowers. The real gem is the garden in front, which was planted for the owner's mother when she was caring for her.

She told us that before her mother died she said, "!You must do something with the garden" so Isabella's garden was born,named for Isabella the rabbit. When we visited, the heirloom roses were past their peak, but I would love to see them in full bloom. We were treated to the Fall garden overflowing with lemon basil , plum and cherry tomatoes, and lovely garden vignettes like this topiary dog.

It's a little tricky to find, but so worth the effort! A real gem of a shop and an owner. We wish you the best of luck for sucess.