fly off the fence, bnnging smiles to all three of us. She
explained that some of the fence’s bed frames they found at
the dump, and some had been given to them by their friends.
The statues were mostly given to them by their family, but her
son never could find Snow White to go with the seven dwarfs.
After we moved permanently to the coast, it was
years later that I traveled on the same road. On a trip north I
did pass this property; sadly, the flowers were replaced with
weeds, the bathtub, sink and toilet were still there, the statues
and whirley-gigs had disappeared, only parts of the fence were
still standing. Some windows were broken, the white house
was a bit dingy, but the red door had remained bright red.
I’ll always hold the memory of this garden with a
smile, and.the elderly lady describing the enjoyment she and
her husband had in creating this most unusual garden and
small retirement home.
While 1 was writing this garden story I thought why
not plant some annuals in the three old tea kettles I’d saved
because of their colors: one red, another bright blue, the third
aqua. 1 didn't find them at the dump, but they all sprang leaks
from being left on the hot stove too long. I now have a
w histling one that reminds me 1 had turned on the burner to
boil water to make a cup of tea. I’ll refrain from adding my
old tennis shoes to plant and to sit alongside the birdbath with
the angel statue. Two other angels grace my yard; one sits
next to a large pot that sits on my deck, another is mounted
above the door of my garden shed. Their heavenly replicas
are placed there to help protect my garden. Numerous cement
frogs and two setting hens filled with sedum are placed
throughout the yard. Instead of Snow White and the seven
dwarfs, I’d like to find a statue of a troll; however I don’t have
a bridge for him to stand under, nor does Billy-Goat-Gruff
quite fit in my garden.
Recycled Gardenware
A bathtub, sink, a white porcelain geranium-filled
toilet, various-sized kitchen wares, pots and pans, tea kettle
and strainer, boots, a couple of old tennis shoes, buckets, and a
blue enameled turkey roaster, were containers that used to
hold plantings of brightly colored flowers in a garden in
Washington State.
Some years ago, travelling from our home on
Bainbridge Island, Washington to our beach home here on the
coast, we’d pass this small while house with a red front door
and garden landscaped with the most unusual array of flower-
filled containers. The gate and fence that surrounded this
property were made from parts of metal bed frames and
springs. Five or more whirley-gigs were mounted on the
fence: a man paddling a canoe, a roadrunner-like wooden bird
with flapping wings, and a couple of windmills. Statues of the
seven dwarfs, a deer, rooster, hen and chicks, a pair of Dutch
children, and gracing the entrance to the garden a bent-over
washwoman whose backside faced the road.
One summer day we stopped to talk to an elderly
lady who was tending this garden: gray-haired, dressed in a
bright-colored sweat-shirt and pants, rather bent over, walking
with a cane, a small dog trotting along behind her. She
greeted us with a smile. Not wanting to appear too curious
about her unusual garden, we did say how we had passed her
home on our monthly trips and how we enjoyed her colorful
garden. My husband asked about her fence, as at close range
it appeared that the pieces had been welded together. She
proceeded to tell her story. She and her late husband had
bought this small home when they retired many years ago.
The house needed repairing and there wasn’t much of a
garden. She said her husband could fix anything, he had been
a welder, adding that he had worked in the shipyards welding
ships in World War II. Because of their small fixed income,
they’d been scrounging for building materials. She said the
local dump was the best place to find things. Some of their
doors, windows, old light fixtures that needed repair,
discarded lumber and other usable building materials, even a
full can of red paint that they used to paint their front door, all
came from the dump. When they replaced their fixtures in the
kitchen and bathroom, the old fixtures were hauled off to the
front yard. Since they never could find someone to cart the
items off, she eventually decided to plant them with flowers.
The old fixtures were the beginning of their adding more
unusual containers they found at the dump. She wistfully
mentioned that the boots she had planted with sedum had been
her husband’s favorite footwear. She proudly told us that her
husband had made the whirly-gigs. At that moment a slight
breeze caused all their moveable parts to flap. The man
paddled his canoe, the windmill blades whirled, the
roadrunner’s wings Happed so fast it appeared it was going to
Correction: I’m expecting a bolt of lightning and
clap of thunder to suddenly come dow n from the heaven
where my mother is, as last month’s “June’s Garden” column
printed in error that my mother w asn’t an adventurous cook. *
It should have read, my mother was an adventurous cook; in
fact she could have been called a gourmet chef. Her recipes
have been handed down in the family. In 1982 my daughter
Leslie Sears started a restaurant in one of the buildings of the
School of Arts and Crafts on Barnes Road in Portland. Her
husband, Michael Sears, gave the restaurant its name, “Hands
On.” The next year another daughter, Lee Fitzpatrick, joined
her sister. Some of the recipes they used were their
grandmother’s which they named in her honor. After Leslie
left to help her husband with his chiropractic practice, Lee
continued to run the restaurant, eventually taking on other
partners, and sold the business to them in the last part of the
1990’s. Any credit I take for my clam chowder, I owe to my
mother. But that’s all another story.
*Probably Billy and Sally couldn’t read my writing,
unlike my super editor and typist Ann Wicrum, who has
helped me correct my writings for several years.
— Editors’ note: You are correct, June, but you have
our profuse apologies in any case. And the biggest go to your
mother!!
M am zam H a News
&
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A Cheerful Presence in MAnzAnitA
PORTLAND ROASTING Coffee & Espresso Drinks
TEMPTATIONS Homemade Pastries. Sandwiches & Soup
350 Magazine Titles
Oregon Coast and Local Maps, Local Newspapers
Open Daily 7:30am— 5:00 pm
500 Laneda Ave
Manzanita
368-7450
***■*<*
! 436*1885«
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TRILLIUM
NATURALIWS >
Sk
Anorta
'A Unique Blend ol Ait.
Cate and Comfort"
108 ,0th Street
Astoria. Oregon 97103
503-325-5450 • Fax 325-9712
Cannon Beach
"Fine Art Gallery and Gifts"
13, W. 2nd • P. 0 Box 1245
Cannon Beach, Oregon 971,0
503-436-1253 • Fax 436-1617
Gcppctto’s
* '
p
Toy
Shoppe
200 N. Hemlock
Cannon Beach, OR
* 4 3 6 - 2 4 6 7
A SHOE & ACCESSORY BOUTIQUE
503-436-0577
239 N HEMLOCK
Where quality and tradition make kids happy"
CANNON BEACH, OREGON
SPRINGTIM E
A C T IV IT IE S ...
Owners:
Jeff Bt Gladys
Womack
1238 8. Hemlock
P.O.Box 985
Cannon Beach, OR
97110
(503) 436 2000
Pax (803) 436-0746
\Ne Have the Toys!
BUSINESS CARDS
SIGNS & BANNERS
LAMINATING/FLYERS
BROCHURES/FORMS
OFFICE SUPPLIES
FAST ISPS SERVICE
COMPUTER SUPPORT
INTERNET ACCES8
NOTARY SERVICE
We re located right downtown,
only 1 block to the beacn and
Cannon Beach City Park.
Boats
Sand & Beach Toys
Jump Ropes
Things That Fly.
Bubbles
Indoor Activity Sets
Art & Woodcraft Kits
Books
Games & Puzzles
Baby Toys
Music
Travel Toys
and m uih more!
C lifton A. B atchelder REAL ESTATE
Cole Horsley - Sales Associate
Residence 503-436-2845
Post Office Box 386
1235 S Hemlock Street
Cannon Beach, OR 97110
1
Phone 503 436 9670
Fax 503 436 9668
1 800 436 9670
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