Penelope Bianchi

baby chicks

The inspiration for our French chickens!!

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Our granddaughter feeding the chickens!

About eighteen years ago;  my husband Adam and I went on a trip to France.

I had read a lovely review of a new hotel opened in Burgundy that sounded wonderful.

The name was” Chateau Vault de Lugny”.  The owner was a young woman

who had grown up in the Chateau as her family’s country home.

She wanted to turn it into a country hotel; and described to us all the work and all the requirements

to qualify for a ”Relais and Chateau” member.

Our room was beautiful;  and best of all;  the labrador retriever “Licorice” slept on our bed!

(We missed our dogs; so we were encouraging him.  Not everyone’s cup of tea!)

…

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French Lavender Oil

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When we were building our house;  we went on several trips to Provence.

We stayed on one trip at a wonderful hotel in Aix-en-Provence called La Villa Gallici.

http://www.villagallici.com/en/hotel

It smelled absolutely divine;  so I looked everywhere for a housekeeper who spoke English!

I found one and asked her what on earth smelled so good!

She explained that they used drops of pure lavender oil on the carpets and rugs throughout the hotel!!!

It is a natural insect repellent;  it is a anti-anxiety treatment, and I have been using it at least 4 times a week ever since!

This is a big bottle;  but to use it on our rugs, it is convenient to have it in small bottles that release just drops at a time.This

bottle is to refill the small ones!


photo 1

photo 2

I don’t know how to make it!  I do make sachets out of our lavender!

Surprise!

  

chichoto

And our little hen hatched 5 baby chicks just in time for Mother’s Day!!!

I transported her chicks to the “maternity ward” coop in this basket!  She is taking great care of them!

Ichicks

Happy Mother’s Day!

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Renee's Kitchen

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The very first time I went to Renees house;  I got so excited I forgot to take pictures of the kitchen and dining area!

I thought the design was so creative and practical that it really should be shown!

So, back I went!  How divine is this bicycle?!  She rides it with “Bittersweet” the Yorkie in the basket!

The trumpet vine amazes me more every time I  see it!

The green cabinet makes one half-wall;   It seems like it was a counter in a butcher-shop or some kind of shop.  The crack in the marble makes it even better!

Her French press and espresso cups are on the adjacent counter with a farmhouse sink in between.  Note the green lantern and sweet chandelier!

The window with the shutters on it look out to the ocean!  The outdoor dining area is straight ahead;  and the most charming fireplace is  in the corner.

Here is “Bittersweet ” on his bed!

On my way out;  just look at the roses…..and she also has the cutest car!

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Spring is Springing in Santa Barbara!

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I posted the very beginning of Spring a while ago.  Some people say we have no “seasons” in Southern California!”

Yes we do!!  Spring is in full swing!!

DO WE HAVE SPRING???

YES!!!!!

We have a handsome new deer trophy!  (wrought iron)  in a proud position!

The house is fully cloaked with ivy!  (People ask me why I bothered to pick a color of the plaster!)

You can see the plaster in the winter;  all the leaves turn colors and fall off!

I found a wonderful “dovecote” from the estate of the wonderful artist, Jack Baker!  I’m hoping doves will make nests!

The arbors are covered with different roses!

This giant azalea is as old as I am!  There are pictures of me as a child next to it!  It is in a big pot!

These roses all came from the wonderful place “Rose Story Farm” in Carpinteria!  They only have old roses;  and roses that have fragrance!!

(I learned there  that you have to leave your nose smelling for a full ten seconds to get the fragrance!)

This is the stupendous  (I think!) view from the window by my husband’s desk in his office!!

“The maternity ward” has a hen with five chicks!

They are so fast!

Can you see the wisteria in the tree?

Our grandchildren’s clay art works are displayed on this table!  It’s their “Art Gallery”!

This is the “olive allee” with its focal point of an Anduze pot we bought in Provence!

and our lovely “faux bois” bench from my friend Janice who owns “Janus et Cie”!

 Our proud “trophy “!

I

at night….I learned from Tara Dillard!!  Pretty to see in the windows!!!

Another angle!

The roosters are so happy to have their tails back!

I love the damp and mossy stuff on the pots!  and the other rooster!  (I AM SO SO lucky to inherit pots !!)

Tara says to buy pots and garden accessories that people will “fight over, at your estate sale!”

A happy rooster!

We really do have Spring , Summer and fall in Santa Barbara!

The only thing we really don’t have is “Winter”!  I must admit!

I almost forgot!  Here are the “Spring slipcovers”  They go on the first day of Spring!!!

A lovely little bird took a tuft of our cat’s fur (I put it on the bushes when I brush her) and flew off to put it in her nest!

I’ll do another post  about the garden when it’s Summer!

And we have a mallard sitting on at least 8 eggs in the floating duck house!  I will show you right away when they hatch!!!

HAPPY SPRING!!!!

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Hatched in the wild!!

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Three weeks ago,  a hen of ours went missing!  I was afraid a coyote or hawk had taken her;  but I couldn’t  find feathers anywhere!

About  ten days later, I found her outside the coop in the morning, and I knew she must have made a nest outside of the coop!

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