McMenamins Edgefield Manor - heaven.

WHY is Edgefield Manor in Troutdale, Oregon, heaven? Part of it is the artwork in the building and the ambiance. Thank the McMenamin Brothers for that. Another part: the gardens. Native plants like flowering currant and Oregon grape, dogwood and lilac in bloom, herbs popping up in the garden - rosemary in bloom - and all sorts of other delights. Birds are twittering and swooping past windows on their way to small bird condos scattered here and there.
Today was the Oregon Press Women's 2008 Spring Conference at Edgefield (and a beautiful warm day it was!) and I got invited along as a guest. There were delightful speakers and wonderful women to chat with about writing and lots of other life issues that didn't involve working for a living. (Just living.)
A colleague and I walked the grounds and these photos are just a few of the things we found.
It made me want to start planting things. Maybe not the huge hairy plant, though. It looked as if it delighted in the bog near the Little Red Shed where concerts are held on the lawn. The new red leaves on the established ivy vines will cover this wall before long.





Spring flowers in Oregon are lasting a little longer than usual with our cooler temperatures. That's one of the good things. And if these wooden lounge chairs in front of the ivy-covered building don't make you think you're in the South of France, nothing will! Check the upper left hand corner for an updated number of visitors. No. 2000 will will my art prize. Cheers - femminismo