Sunny Skies in Portland . . .

 Wow! So many interesting responses to Monday’s post, proving yet again the significance of quotidian domestic details. If you haven’t yet pondered the place of electric kettles in your life or in the lives represented in this blogging community, you might enjoy checking out that post and the conversation that has built from it.

Since I spent many words responding to the comments at that post, though, I’ll give you photos only for the rest of this one. You will notice my idiosyncratic magpie tendencies with the camera, and I hope you’ll find something to enjoy in what has caught my eye. The sunshine, sadly, has been replaced by rain, and today I only ventured out for a bit of retail therapy, otherwise content to stay in the hotel room with my knitting and my reading and my writing . . .

That’s all for now. . . Aren’t those camellias glorious?!

23 Comments

  1. hostess of the humble bungalow
    21 March 2018 / 11:27 pm

    The lovely magnolia and cammellia are so pretty…it looks like a grand day to be outside in Portland. Lovely here too but a cool breeze off the ocean this afternoon on my walk.

    • materfamilias
      22 March 2018 / 3:18 pm

      That one day was the quintessence of an idealized Spring, but yesterday and today, it's that grim reality of cold grey rain. Ah well. . .

  2. Anonymous
    22 March 2018 / 6:10 am

    Marvelous camellias-such a beautiful day!
    Here is a sunny morning,but very cold,around 0°C
    Dottoressa

    • materfamilias
      22 March 2018 / 3:18 pm

      Brrr! Bundle up with some cashmere!

  3. Coastal Ripples
    22 March 2018 / 8:05 am

    Oh those blue skies. Just what I needed to see on yet another very grey day. Glad you found an electric kettle. It’s something I’ve been meaning to buy for my travels. European hotels are very hit and miss when it comes to drink facilities. The French are notoriously bad. As for French Cottages I usually have to boil the water for my tea in a saucepan. A travel kettle is the way to go. Enjoy the rest of your stay. B x

    • materfamilias
      22 March 2018 / 3:22 pm

      This has been our experience as well — only in England have we consistently found basic tea fixings in our room. The kettle I bought here in Portland is an inexpensive full-size kettle that I'll hang onto for roadtrips but which will be too big to bring along in a suitcase. Still on the hunt for a good travel kettle…

  4. Linda
    22 March 2018 / 8:06 am

    So many lovely details to savour in the architecture. The colours in particular struck my toned-down Scottish eye – imaging combining orange and yellow with red brick! I see the camellias are untouched by frost. I noted in Bordeaux last week that although the camellias were well advanced, they had all been burned by frost.
    Loved the kettle debate! What about switching on another at some point on the subject of microwave ovens, which might also be lively? (Nailing my colours to the mast – they are the work of the Devil)

    • materfamilias
      22 March 2018 / 3:26 pm

      Yes! The architecture here is surprisingly rich in heritage details, and the colour stories! Surprising and inspiring combinations.
      Interesting about the Bordeaux camellias — I've never had one (I dislike the way the older varieties hold onto the browned flowers) — the ones pictured here will probably have been exposed to frost, but they don't seem to have suffered.
      Nope, anything that inspires the phrase "work of the Devil" is probably a topic to avoid 😉

    • Linda
      23 March 2018 / 7:37 am

      I take your point! But who knows, I might have been swayed in my views by the courteous and persuasive arguments of your lovely readers!

  5. Ceri in Bristol
    22 March 2018 / 9:41 am

    Wouldn't be without my microwave, Linda, but you can keep the dishwasher.

    Lovely colours and small details, Frances, very cheering in the still grey English spring.

    • materfamilias
      22 March 2018 / 3:27 pm

      And I can imagine the squabbling if I followed Linda's suggestion! (keeping my dishwasher AND my microwave, for the record)
      Yes, we're back in the grey wet as well, here, but that day of Spring colours really boosted my spirits as well. Hope you get your own version before too long.

    • Ceri in Bristol
      22 March 2018 / 5:11 pm

      Good point. Let us speak of domestic appliances no more.

  6. Ellen
    22 March 2018 / 3:47 pm

    Love seeing beautiful pictures of my hometown. Miss it.

    • materfamilias
      26 March 2018 / 12:04 am

      Lots to miss, Ellen.

  7. Beth From Portland
    22 March 2018 / 5:08 pm

    You captured the beauty of one of my favorite neighborhoods in Portland. We walk there often. Wasn’t Tuesday a glorious day?

    • materfamilias
      26 March 2018 / 12:04 am

      It was such a gift, Tuesday! Yes!

  8. Alene
    22 March 2018 / 6:22 pm

    Have you gone to any of the authors events at Powells?

    • materfamilias
      26 March 2018 / 12:05 am

      Often intended to, never made it, and stupidly didn't realize that Elizabeth George was doing a reading until I saw something online the day after.

  9. Anonymous
    23 March 2018 / 7:16 am

    Portland looks lovely . We bypassed it when we were in Oregon many years ago , wish we hadn’t now . I couldn’t believe the number of comments on your kettle post – perhaps a mixed blessing when you are replying to them all . Today we have pale blue skies & watery sun , so gardening gloves on & to work .
    Wendy in York

    • materfamilias
      26 March 2018 / 12:06 am

      Hahaha, oh Wendy, so true, it was a mixed blessing, and I do sometimes wonder why I've committed to answering all responses 😉 But wasn't that something, the number of comments!

  10. Eleonore
    24 March 2018 / 1:00 pm

    Sitting in the cold rain with nothing but a few crocus (croci?) to look at, I could hardly believe your last picture was real. I have never had camelias on my radar, I think I should change that.

    • materfamilias
      26 March 2018 / 12:08 am

      I've never had a camellia in my garden — I have a strong preference for winter-flowering trees/shrubs that are fragrant, and camellia flowers are not. But oh, that colour so early in the year. . .

  11. Duchesse
    26 March 2018 / 2:21 pm

    Breathtaking camellias! We don't even have crocus yet. In fact we don't really get spring here, just three weeks of mud and then straight into early summer- so these shots are very much appreciated.

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