The Sea & Me

 We took a trip to the coast to visit the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, followed by an afternoon at the beach

 

Salt & Straw

 

 We've been making a weekly pilgrimage to Salt & Straw for ice-cream every Friday afternoon to ring in the weekend

 The goods

 Double-Fold Vanilla

 Alas, these lovely autumn colors will surely bring colder weather, and with it an end to our ice-cream cravings

Short Sands (aka Smugglers Cove)

The trail from the car-park down to the beach carves it's way  through a lovely old forest

Which opens on to the sheltered cove, with mellow, albeit chilly, waves

Battered and blustered

Then on to Camp 18 for a well earned pint

Horsetail Falls

Hummingbird

This hummingbird has been visiting the salvia in front of Anette's house on a daily basis. Long may it last

First day of school!

 Here's Lucius heading out for her first day of school...

...where a nice sign was waiting to greet her

 Home time
(Her amazing teacher Monica is on the left)

Every day ends with a long play in the garden, before we have to drag her away
 

Flying high at Mt Tabor

Mt Tabor is a lovely park nearby. It's a dormant volcano, and full of amazing trails and trees, and this playground.

Forest Park

A swift edit of our first family walk in Forest Park since we moved to Portland Oregon, 2 weeks ago.

(Click here for full size)

Relocation

Dear All

After 4 years in the lovely French campagne, we are now beginning a new adventure. We have loved having the countryside, mountains, and ocean within easy reach. We now want to combine that with all of the action, convenience, and opportunities of the city. Following a year of extensive thought and research, we are excited to have chosen Portland, Oregon, as the 'correct' place for us; Lucius will begin her schooling, and we will continue our design consultancy, Ptarmigan.

We relocated in mid-August and are settling in nicely. We'll continue updating our blog with words and pictures of our new exciting adventures.
 

Elaine, Neil, and Lucius
  

The garden

Before we bade our beloved garden farewell, we took some pictures of the veg in full swing

 

Awesome pumpkins

 Courgettes (eaten daily)

 Butternut Squash

 Grapes

 Beets

Garlic

 Peas

And Pickles