Tea at Caples House

What a busy few weeks!  Yesterday the Portland Women's Forum went on their annual tour, this year to visit the Caples House Museum Complex in Columbia City, Oregon.  This beautiful place is owned and operated by the Oregon State Society - Daughters of the American Revolution.  Many of our PWF members had never been here or even knew where Columbia City was so I suggested we come here for our tour.  This is the new gazebo they had built, isn't it pretty?  The complex has a wonderful view of the Columbia River with Washington across the way.  To read the history of the place, click HERE, then click on "History".  I just happen to be the volunteer webmaster for Caples House.  :-)

An early pioneer, Dr. Charles Green Caples migrated across the Oregon Trail as a boy. After his marriage to Lucinda McBride, he studied medicine in Portland and passed the examination by the Board of Physicians for his degree. In 1870 he constructed his two story home on the same spot where his father Joseph Caples built his log cabin in 1846. The family lived on this land until 1959, when Dell Caples Houghton, a daughter of Charles and Lucinda Caples and a member of Mount St. Helens Chapter, Oregon State Society Daughters of the American Revolution, willed the house and property to the OSSDAR as a museum.

The front of the wonderful almost 150 year old house.  

The Cottage with 4 of my PWF lady friends in front.  This building has been set up with several tea tables for small groups for parties, meetings, classes, etc.

The Knapp Center which is used for larger parties, teas, event, weddings, meeting, etc.  This is where our tea was served, 25 of us.  

The Caples House Orchard has 14 old varieties of apple trees and 4 pear trees 3 Bartlett & 1 Keiffer.  The trees were in bloom yesterday and everything was new green and gorgeous!!

The trees are so old and have moss on the limbs in which little ferns have made themselves at home.. how cute is this?

*LOVE*

As we meandered into the Knapp Center for our afternoon tea, we were invited to pick out our favorite tea cup and saucer to use.  :-)

I picked a chair at a table with this view.  Sweet.

Our tea hostess was Terry Maloney from the St. Helens Chapter DAR, she had made many of the delicacies.  

The scone was a delicious orange and dried cranberry with clotted cream, lemon curd and blackberry jam.  Yum!  There were savory cucumber sandwiches, deviled eggs and chicken salad on rye and egg salad on a pita style bread.  

Fresh strawberries and blueberries, too.

Terry made cinnamon marshmallows from scratch!  Also there was Russian Teacakes, an orange cookie and a kind of gingerbread brownie.  Nummy!

I must say the marshmallow was eyes-rolling-back-into-your-head divine.

Our ladies enjoying tea and a nice chat.

My dear friend Shirley.  Three of the ladies don't eat gluten so Terry made them special gluten free treats!

The tea was amazing, it was blended especially for the Oregon DAR and the sale of it raised money to support the Oregon State DAR museums.  Of course I had to bring some home.

After a delicious, relaxing and memorable afternoon tea we headed to the Caples House Museum for a guided tour by Rhonda, the Portland Chapter Regent and volunteer docent for Caples House.  This wonderful antique pie safe is the first thing you see when you enter the back door to the house.

You enter right into the kitchen and see this great old wood cookstove all set to make a good pioneer dinner.  :-)

There was a guest book which we all signed was sitting on the farm table and covered with this amazing and impressive hand crocheted lace pinwheel tablecloth.  Isn't it something?

The pantry had a wonderful collection of antique kitchen things which I drooled over.

It also contained an old cabinet filled with more old fashioned kitchen implements.

The sitting room has a big square piano, apparently it would not fit in the front door so they had to take out a window to get it in.  :-)  The art on the wall is a "hair art" piece.  Oh my!

With a nice fireplace it's a very charming room.

The dining room was where the doctor saw his patients and now has a secretary desk and a museum cabinet filled with Caples House memorabilia and an old doctor's bag.

In the nursery area off the kitchen where babies were brought into the world by the doctor, there is now museum cases with some Native American Indian artifacts.

Baskets, stone implements, beaded things and tools.

Some of our ladies posing for me in the Cottage, Betty, Bev, Diane and Lilly.  :-)

Our 2018 Portland Women's Forum Annual Group Photo!  

And then... Diane C. came ambling along.. so we got her in the 2nd picture.  LOL!  Note the three good-natured husbands in the photo.  They are members, too.  

Another great day.  I'm resting up today as tomorrow is another huge day.  I'll be at the Vista House helping to celebrate it's 100th birthday!  I will be leading a 6 member DAR Chorus to sing the national anthem during the flag-raising and several other patriotic and Oregon-themed songs.  So, expect one more photo laden blog post from me and then I'll be back to sharing my garden flowers, crochet, family fotos and the occasional political rant.  :-)  ((hugs)), Teresa :-)