Vintage Living Candy Shop in Manzanita

 If you long for the nostalgia of your childhood favorites, you have to check out this cool candy shop in Manzanita, OR.  http://www.manzanitasweets.com/

It's nice to see this location a happy place again.  Everyday there a cute, new little dress at the front door, and a list of the featured goodies of the day.

Moon Pies, Wax Lips, Mars Bars...A kids dream!

I found my own favorite Abba-Zaba Bars, and was instantly transported back to walking home from the local Dairy Store, while enjoying my favorite candy in Linda Mar, CA. For the unenlightened, Abba-Zaba Bars are a taffy candy with a peanut butter like center. We won't even discuss the fact that they are a dental disaster waiting to happen...for an 8 year old, you're talking pure bliss!

The nostalgia continues, with cute 50's style aprons, and Unique Clocks

Special Occasion hats...

and a glass counter full of gourmet chocolates!  It's definitely worth a stop.

From Chicken Coops to Opera

Last Saturday, I heard about the Tour De Coops in Vancouver, WA.  There were 15 coops for viewing, and it was about a 15 minute walk north of downtown.  It was a beautiful day, perfect for walking around town. 

These cute signs alerted everyone to the coop sites.  Lots of people rode their bikes from site to site.

Many people put in runs for their chickens, which are more like pets with benefits. The 'benefits' are the fresh eggs they provide to their owners and neighbors.  These hens are more likely to die of old age, than end up on a dinner table.

 

Neighbors get involved in helping to care for chickens when the owners go on

vacation.  It's a win win situation for everyone. 

Charming entry to one of the homes on tour.

A view from inside one of the coops.  Many were decorated with chicken memorabilia, which owners claimed the chickens favored.

This one, had a chicken run that led into the garden, where there were lots of very healthy, and well fertilized plants! 

One happy hen

Beautiful gardens and chickens seemed to go together

In case they get lost

More happy hens

This colorful Art Chicken was actually on the street.  DH had to get in the act.

The chickens are tucked in at night to protect them from predators.

I cut the Coop Tour short to head over to good friends, Steve and Trudie's for a night of Italian wine and opera.  What a lovely way to savor a warm summer night! 

They go to Italy a lot, and their garden definitely has a Mediterranean feel to it.

At intermission, Trudy served lovely desserts-Toffee bars, fresh peach and berry Angel food Cake, and Brownies.

Gotta love summer in Oregon!

Best Chinese Food in Vancouver

From the front of the the building in a quasi-industrial area, you would never guess that the House of Beijing was a 4 star restaurant, but the food is fresh and full of flavor!  We started with the Crab Puffs and Pot Stickers-not your usual dab of chicken and crab...very generous and not at all doughy!

The Lemon Chicken was the best I've ever had...very lemony and fresh! 

I'm not even a fan of Kung Pao, but the Kung Pao King, full of chicken, scallops, shrimp, and veggies, was fresh and amazing.

Don't let the location fool you-it's worth the trip!

Cracked Pots Art Show at Mc Menamins Edgefield

I finally made it out to Mc Menamins for the Cracked Pots Art Show.  It's held every year, and features art made from recycled materials. There's also some plants and herbs for sale.  Mc Menamins Edgefield is a magical place, and I can't wait to go back out there to sketch and paint. The Mc Menamin Brothers are famous in the Portland area for taking run down and abandoned buildings and turning them into showpieces featuring restaurants, gardens, movies and often live entertainment. This property at Edgefield was once a Poor House. http://www.mcmenamins.com/?loc=3 But, today it was a background to some amazing art.

 Art was displayed all around the property, so it was fun to just walk around the natural garden settings and imagine how a piece of art would work in your yard.  Believe me, there were several pieces that would have worked in mine, and I really was tempted at every turn!

 These charming glass flowers, Blooming Glass by Alex Hargrave, were made of metal and glass, and I regretted that I didn't circle back and purchase one. 

Chicken Coops are a big deal in our area, and there's often tours  http://www.growing-gardens.org/portland-gardening-resources/chickens.php to show off abodes for these barnyard fowl. Wouldn't these cute chickens by HollyArt be perfect for coop decor?

 The ground at Edgefield provide tons of 'eye candy' for artists and gardeners.  This is the doorway to their herb gardens.  Of course the water tower in the center  of the property is a real focal point.

 I loved the sea of umbrellas that shielded diners from the rare Portland sunny day.  Each property has it's own unique style, and in the background you can barely see the cool painted decorative towers.

 Lovely little secret places to explore...note the decorative finials at the top of the stairs near the on-site brewery.

 Around the show were lots of great tips to reduce waste and raise recycling awareness.

 

  I had to take one of these fun metal fish home for my beach garden!

  Love these metal fruit sculptures

 Another view of the water tower and the art that was everywhere.  There was a lovely place set up for lunch outside where you could order things like Hawaiian pork, Cesar Salads, and burgers, but I was having too much fun chatting to take pictures.  You meet the nicest people at these shows and two lovely women, Leona and Dee, kindly let me share their table.  It was fun to talk crafts and favorite books.

There was so much to see, I spent an amazing three hours checking everything out.  If you want more information, check out this link: http://www.crackedpots.org/index.html  I know I'll definitely be back next year.

This is the porch in front of the hotel. Back in my wedding photography days, this property was one of my favorite places to work. What a lovely place to relax and enjoy the view.

Crusin' the Gut

Last weekend DH heard of a car show in Vancouver, WA. called Crusin' the Gut.  We rushed over to Vancouver thinking it would end in the early afternoon, and found that it continued well into the evening.  Unlike many car shows, this one actually had the cars cruising down Main St. rather than just sitting on the street for viewing. 

The cars had to be older than 1972 and I heard there were well over 1,500 cars exhibited.  It was a free event, and all people had to do to participate, was to donate a couple of cans of food for Share House, a local food bank.

I don't know much about 'muscle cars' except that I like to paint them in watercolor, but the hydraulics looked fascinating.  They could move side to side, up and down and they put on a good show.  It was a far cry from the 'hopped up' cars of the past.

I always love the decorative hood ornaments like this airplane above.

People lined the streets in lawn chairs, watching the day long parade of cars. Some bars and restaurants set up beer gardens on their patios, but mostly it was a family event that everyone enjoyed.

Fun car colors you never would have seen in the 50's, 60's, or 70's.

These signs were posted everywhere, but later in the evening

we saw a car roar down the street with flames shooting out the back- a real crowd pleaser.  

  At dusk things really fired up and it was fun to see these cars in action.  It was a beautiful summer night which has been rare in the NW the past couple of years.

It was fun to step back to time when life seemed much simplier.  The local Kiggins Theater, played American Graffiti throughout the day, and hamburger joints did a great business.  It reminded me of Crusin the Main (Main St. Walnut Creek, CA) back when I was in high school, when hanging out at the pizza joint after a football game was the highlight of the week.

Remember when 'car hops' brought your food out on trays that hooked to the door and you ate in your car?  My girlfriends and I would sit for hours drinking A & W Rootbeer, eating french fries, and talk for hours about the 'Big Hunks' at school!

Celebrating a time when Hot Rods ruled the day and crusin' was a way of life...Oh yeah, gas was 32 cents a gallon!