Portland has:
- my sister Pooh and her family
- nurseries filled with flowers and plants, each more enticing than the last
- a plethora of antiques and collectibles just awaiting discovery
- shops that are unexplored (at least by us)
- the International Rose Garden
- family crafts
- plenty of to-do projects that we can help out with.
We have a year's worth of in-person talking to catch up on. So far the subjects have ranged from genealogy discoveries to children to neighbors to what we could do this week. The worst part is trying to get three women to decide what's next without getting sidetracked. Do we pick up more paint chips to find a nice neutral for the living room or measure curtain material for the dining room window? Do we embark on a flower hunt or move firewood away from the fence so the two-by-four can be replaced? Do we start on Pooh's tablerunner pattern or make coffee filter roses first? We can fritter away most of a morning just trying to decide.
Little by little, we are getting our collective acts together into a cohesive whole. Even though we know which activities have the highest priorities, sometimes we decide to tackle a smaller easy-to-finish project or stumble across a dream, like this Crystal Fountain clematis that Pooh fell in love with.
Pooh is happy we moved wood so she could access her fence during our cool morning, I completed my flower search around lunchtime and the Queen Mother succeeded in getting us to learn a paper rose technique when it was hot and we were glad to stay inside with the A/C. All three of us feel like it was a productive day and it's far from over. Flexibility is necessary.
Sounds like a productive and fun visit!
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