Portland weather doesn’t do anything by halves. When it is cold and windy in mid-February, it is dishearteningly grim. When it rains for a solid month, like this past April, it is a soggy mess.
And when the sun finally comes out, like it did this week, it is dazzling.
On an after-dinner walk to see the sunset, I caught these shots of the last rays of sunshine lighting up the treetops in Laurelhurst Park.
As your Grandpa Nelson often says, we live on a pretty planet.
Believe it or not, the party was only the night before Halloween! Halloween itself was even busier.
We woke up slowly Sunday after the party Saturday night, but we had things to do. Grandpa Nelson needed his booster Covid shot and I wanted to visit Auntie Katie and the Cousins. A bright fall walk through miles of leaves and spooky decorations was just the thing.
Kestrel as a mushroom fairy, in her element
It is always fun seeing what Jasper and Kestrel are up to. Sunday, of course, they were putting finishing touches in their costumes. I took some cookies down, as we had leftovers from the party and no one needs that many cookies (not all at once, anyway).
We headed out to have some fun and take pictures in the glorious sunshine. A Mushroom Fairy, top-hatted ghost and stylish Loki were very photogenic! Even Nick, Katie’s second-in-command at BookswithPictures, got into the spirit.
When we said goodbye, I headed for home, taking the number 14 bus to get me up the hill. A nice quiet afternoon on the couch was in order, then a dinner of leftover finger sandwiches and salad.
Then it was actually Halloween night! Time to go see some spooks. I love the spectacle of a street full of costumed kids running through the dark past lighted up porches. It takes me back to those evenings of my own childhood, where Magic was definitely in the air.
One house in particular went all-out, feeling more like a ride at Disneyland than a front yard! Skeletons, witches and werewolves howled and menaced passers-by. It was stunning.
By the time we had seen as much as we could see, it was time for my Sunday night art ZOOM with you, dear Liza. I had a good time, drew a fine banana split, and fell asleep pretty soon thereafter.
Easter Sunday wasn’t as warm or sunny as the day before had been, but it was still nice enough to get out for some fun.
After French practice and crosswords, Auntie Bridgett and I walked by our allotment to see how the seeds are doing. We have sprouts! The radishes and lettuces are sending up tiny green baby bits and I am so excited! I will come by tomorrow with the watering can to make sure they stay nice and moist.
We continued through the neighborhood, past pink drifts and blizzards of cherry blossoms, to the Pix-O-Matic on Burnside. Pix is a fancy French style patisserie. Due to Covid, they have installed high end vending machines to sell their pastries, but also Candy, toys, and odd bits of niftiness. We got a small collection of Easter candies and a pastry called a Shazam to have after dinner. Noticing that Kopi coffee was open, we stopped by and had interesting and delicious Ginger and cardamom coffees, and a blueberry scone. We sat at a tiny table on the sidewalk, watching and listening to all the humanity…..conversations, buses going by, car radios. It was nice to be OUT.
We got home and put the goodies away, did some art, and had lunch. Then Grandpa Nelson joined us and we walked way up into the Laurelhurst neighborhood, loving the spring flowers and blossoms on the hundred year old trees.
We got back in mid-afternoon and it was time to start dinner. I was cooking lamb shanks for the first time, and wanted to give myself time to do it right. Shanks tend to be tough, and need low and slow cooking. I used a recipe from The Spruce Eats online, and they turned out wonderfully! Tender, rich and yummy. I made mint sauce out of our mint from the garden, and it made the lamb even better! Hooray! I love learning how to make new delicious things!
Lamb shanks on the table, decorated with Pam Ferraschi’s ceramics
We remembered to save room for the Pix desserts, however. Shazam is an almond cake with caramel and mousse under a paper thin chocolate wrapping. Delicious!
And THEN it was time for my zoom visit with you, Liza. We chatted, giggled, and drew Easter eggs and bunnies. I showed you the collage I’ve been working on (more about that tomorrow) and visited with your mommy and daddy.
We finished off the busy day with “Escape from the Chateau” and working on a new jigsaw puzzle, and headed for bed.
Today, while Grandpa Nelson and Auntie Bridgett were working, I went for a walk around the Laurelhurst neighborhood. It is just next to our Kerns neighborhood and very shady and pretty.
There is Laurelhurst Park, which I have told you about, 31 acres of maple, fir, oak and elm trees with places for kids to play and dogs to run, as well as a small lake for ducks and turtles, picnic tables and toys to climb on. The Park was built in 1909, and the trees were planted then, because this land had been a farm. So these giant trees are “only” one hundred years old. The Park was made by a landscape architect named Emanuel Mische. The hills and valleys of the land helped him make it feel like a forest and not just flat land with trees. It is my favorite place in Portland.
Lovely old tree in Laurelhurst Park
Sunlight through leaves
Back when the park was new, boys and girls played very different games from each other and didn’t play together as much as you do now. The south side of the play area was “for boys”, and the north side was “for girls”. I will have to do some more reading and learn what games they played. Now, everyone plays together, however they like.
While the park was being planted, houses were being built on land that had been William Ladd’s Hazelfern Farm. Mr. Ladd had been a mayor of Portland, and when he died, his family sold the land to the Laurelhurst Company to develop a neighborhood. It was built right along the streetcar lines, so it was easy to get to from Downtown Portland. This was before many people had cars, so they rode horses, walked, or took streetcars to get around.
Before the building started, the Laurelhurst Company put up sandstone arches at the entrances to the neighborhood. These made the place feel very special, even when it was just hills and dirt.
The houses people built were very different from the house you have in Salinas. There are Bungalow Style, Spanish Revival, a very pretty style called Fairy Tale, and many others. Some houses are a combination of styles, so it is hard to give them all names. Sort of like if one of your Little Ponies had a crown on her head, butterfly wings, and strawberries on her bottom!
Bungalow Style
Spanish Revival Style
The building started in 1910 and in six years, 500 houses had been built. In another ten years, there were only about 20 empty lots left to build on!
Fairy Tale Style
This was a very popular place to live. It was far enough out of town to be quiet and peaceful, but the streetcar made it easy to get to.
Coe Circle was a grassy park in the middle of the Neighborhood, and the streets go in curvy lines around it, very different from the straight streets in most of the rest of Portland. The streetcar ran right to the Circle and turned around to go back into town. In 1925, Henry Waldo Coe, a doctor who lived in Portland, wanted to give a gift to the city. He bought a copy of a statue of Joan of Arc, a famous French heroine, and had it placed in Coe Circle. It wasn’t put in the middle of the circle, because the streetcar tracks were there! The streetcar line was removed in 1925, but the statue is still off-center.
Joan of Arc Statue
I walked for about an hour, got tired and came home to read more about what I had seen, and make lunch.
Spanish Revival Style
Dear Liza 