A Visit to Downtown Home & Garden

While The Family was in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to see The Boy graduate from the University of Michigan recently, I had a chance to visit one of my favorite stores.

Downtown Home & Garden is an Ann Arbor institution, stuffed with wonderful things that Martha Stewart would love. It sells almost anything you can think of that would enhance, well, home or garden. I love wandering its aisles and looking at the goods for sale.

Itty-bitty cast-iron pan (fried egg for one?) by Lodge:

Blue-and-white china galore:

This little cutie isn't for sale. A vintage, Magic Chef four-burner stove and oven:

Love that green shade!:

Hats for gardening in, or just strolling in the sun:

The bench is for sale, but the pad isn't. It's for "Wallace":

This is Wallace, the store cat. He's a rescue, and he has happily stepped into the vacancy left by Lewis, the store's former beloved orange tabby cat. Wallace is settling in very nicely:

He's a sweetheart, just like Lewis, and has tons of fans. It's not hard to see why:

I love a pegboard wall full of utensils. Oh, the possibilities!:

Old-fashioned bushels filled with potatoes. These spuds aren't for eating; they're for planting:

This beauty caught my eye. It may be old, but it still is working:

A rainbow of colorful pots:

Can't fit these lovelies in my suitcase, but I sure wish I could:

This is the mountain of hay bales where Wallace finds a mouse, almost daily:

Not for sale, just for show, this carriage dates back to the time when a large carriage-making factory existed just across the street from Downtown Home & Garden:

If you ever find yourself in Ann Arbor, Michigan, be sure to visit Downtown Home & Garden. You'll be glad you did!