Old Barn near Penngrove

It's amazing how many terra cotta pots, vessels, urns and planters there are out there…not to mention stone, marble, clay and cement.

We have the seed of an idea for a replacement "water feature" for our patio. Before we begin the demolition we thought we should have some notion of what to do in its place. Our current thought is some sort of large vessel with water falling into it, falling out of it, bubbling up from it or maybe all of the above. The goal is a pleasant sound. It has to be just the right vessel. The task is daunting.

The internet is not the place to start, since we probably don't want to find the perfect 600 pound pot in Florida! Although William Randolph Hears shipped most of his Hearst Castle in Central California piece by pillar, tapestry by fireplace from Europe. But, wait…we're not William Randolph Hearst! But somebody had to ship all those Tuscan terra cotta urns from Italy. One way or another, I suspect we'll pay.

Today, we thought we'd start with the Cottage Garden in Petaluma, which we love. It is beautifully laid out and carries a lot of pots and planters. The thing is, I have been there so many times, that I'm pretty sure I know every single pot they have in stock. We went anyway, and took some pictures of OilMan standing next to a number of vessels (for scale) .

On the way home, I got a picture of yet another of the old barns which are all over the rural parts of Sonoma County. I hope they don't get replaced by subdivisions and outlet malls anytime soon….