A Midnight Visitor

 

"While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door."

More Laura Zindel to entertain you this Halloween.  We'll be offering a few treats at the store and maybe some tricks too!

 

Laura Zindel Ceramics

 

'Tis the season, and by all reports it appears to be a good one.  Almost everyone I know who has gone mushroom picking is coming home with bucketloads. When I first moved to Oregon , I became friends with a guy who grew up near Mary's Peak (the highest mt in the Coast Range).  He would take me chanterelle hunting out in the woods and we would bushwhack our way through the hinterlands.  I learned about using downed logs like ladders, following deer trails, and how to survey large swaths of terrain for clues about mushrooms. And then come early afternoon, he'd pull out a skillet, a stick of butter, and some utensils and we'd make a fire and fry up the chanterelles, right out there in the middle of the woods. I pretty much thought I'd died and gone to heaven.  Nowadays happy to fry them up at home with a bit of garlic and eat them over toast on a foggy Oregon morning.

Wolf Child

 We thought a lovely Wolf Child tee might be just the thing to get you into the Halloween spirit....

 

photo courtesy Wolf Child

Me and the Camera

 

Pretty little shot from the store....

The Festive Table

 

Happy Autumn to us All!  Fun little fall tablescape we did for the Register Guard last year....

Gingham napkins and burlap runners are in the store now.  The plate is a Judy Jackson stoneware piece that we're happy to special order for you.  It's a tongue in cheek take on the paper plate.  Vintage handpainted china plate from my Great Aunt Lillian.

 

 

 

And maybe I'll layer in these  chestnut patterned pieces from Terra Firma.

How fun would that be? 

Oh the joys of setting a table. 

Squirrelling Away Your Nuts

So happy to see these whimsical little acorn purses back in stock.

A Little Something Mysterious.....

Look what Lynn Peterson made us:

 

Little treasures.

John Derian Trays at Passionflower

 There is something so child like and wonderful about autumn and leaves...in the way spring is about flowers...autum is about leaves......our ode to autumn leaves at Passionflower -

courtesy some very beautiful John Derian trays.

The Joy of Eggs

I have been known to spend copious amounts of time researching the best ways to hard boil an egg.

And my egg obsessed friends and I once had a taste off with chicken, duck, and turkey eggs. And we can all agree, there is really nothing quite like eating a farm fresh, soft boiled egg for breakfast. And because, it's that crazy shade of terra cotta orange, I just had to have this lovely cookbook for the store and I think for me too.  How To Boil an Egg seems like it belongs on the shelves of any serious cook.....or anyone who raises chickens....or a kid just starting out ...or anyone who likes simple, basic, rustic cooking.  And once I get through it, I may change my mind but for now I'll stick with Deborah Madison's tips for hard boiling an egg: bring the eggs (doesn't matter how many) to a boil in water for 1 minute, turn off heat and cover for 6 minutes, then plunge in cold water.  Works like a charm, everytime.

What's Happening at Passionflower

In between watching the clouds, the autumn reset is coming along well.  Lots of great new goods arriving daily. 

Figalicious Love

 

 

 

Remember I promised you some more fig happiness?

 

 

It's my new favorite tablecloth in the store.  Not that we haven't had it before.  It's just that it has moved into favorite position.  Because, in between dreaming of grapes, it's figs that have captured my imagination.  And a big thanks to Tiffany Norton, from Party Dowtown, who took me even deeper into that  figalicous dream world.  I brought her a whole slew of figs from my tree.  She halved them and roasted them, drizzled a little honey and put a dab of creme fraiche on top plus a  mint leaf

and we served 'em up at our Becky Going Away Party.  How cool is that?  You bring the chef food from your garden and they cook it up for you.  Gotta love Eugene.

 

bottom photo courtesy Couleur Natur

Home Bath and Beauty Products

One of the things I like about going to the gift show is that you sometimes get to meet some very sharp and savvy manufacturers.  Like this vendor who was selling sponges and bath salts.  With just a little prodding I soon got the short course on the ethical harvesting of ocean sponges.  His are from the Caribbean and come from a multi generational family business.

I liked him and I liked that he knew the origins of his product.  And since we are rapidly approaching bath season and I am of the tribe who could not live without the bath, I could not resist the simple lure of his product. So happy to be offering three kinds of bath salts for your cold, rainy, winter day bath rituals.