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Penelope Bianchi

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duck house

A sad pond story with a happy ending for some ducks!

July 4, 2014 By //  by Penelope Bianchi 42 Comments

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This is what our pond looks like now.  I was so upset about this I couldn’t  even photograph it!

Finally…….now that the ending is written……I could.

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This was two months ago.

Can you imagine???

This is what our pond looked like a few months ago!

Montecito is in a severe drought;  and we have been ordered to cut our water use

by 60%.  When we dug this pond 17 years ago;  it filled up with water!

However, because of the drought, the water table has fallen.

Our mallard ducks, who have come every year and laid their eggs in the duck house, came and hatched

their ducklings.  The ducklings can’t fly for at the least, 52 days.  They hatched

April 13!!

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These are our ducks in our pond last year  June 29th!!!   They were just about to start to fly!  The Mama

is in the middle (slightly lighter);  and she is talking to me!

This year……different story altogether..and I didn’t see it coming!!!

When the pond started going down precipitously ;  I was beside myself!!

We ordered 6 thousand gallons of water trucked in by tanker.  It lasted 4 days!

(The water is what protects the ducklings from all the predators.)

My friend Radisha suggested that I buy “wolf pee”!  And apply a ring of it around the pond!  I did!!!

(Guess where you get it???  “Predator pee.com”!!   could I possibly make that up???)

It is collected at zoos and sanctuaries;  and the wolf pee is the one every animal is afraid of!

(the sale of these “predator pees”  help fund the shelters and

refuges of coyotes, and wolves…..and other mammal predators!)

The “wolf pee” worked for a week; and then the water was down so far I knew the coyotes and bobcats and

who knows what would prey on these ducklings!

(I think my husband thought a straightjacket would be a good idea!)

Hysteria set in!!  Sobbing…..it was bad.

It was so scary and terrible.  I feel so responsible for these ducklings!

We had to leave for the east coast in the middle of this emergency!  We left at 3 am on a Monday…….I was catatonic.

This mother duck.  She is the heroine of this story.

That very day that we left;

she walked 1 mile across the nature preserve next to us with her seven ducklings

To my friend Lynn Conrad’s pond.

(the babies cannot fly until they are 52 days old , minimum)

  My friend has the exact duck house.  (I ordered it for her)!

She called me to tell me a neighbor had called about 7 pm and said,”Open your Gate!!

There is a mother duck and 7 ducklings outside your gate!!”

She did and in they came!

.”your ducklings and mother are safe!!!”

Here are “our” ducklings in her pond!

She recognized the mother duck!  The same duck with 12 babies five years ago;  (I could not make this up) got scared at her pond…..and walked

across the nature preserve……down the middle of our lane….up our driveway and into our pond!

I called her; and she answered the phone……”do you have my ducklings???”

This is one smart mother duck!!  (we both recognize her…..she has an extra-long neck!)

When I returned;  my housekeeper and I went to see them!  I honestly was crying!  When I started talking

they came running!  Peeping like mad!!  They recognized my voice!  and the mother did too!!

It was truly a peak experience!

Just yesterday I spoke to Lynn……they have all just flown away….(they will be back to visit)

except one!  She said…”this duck is so tame;  if I sit down, it will sit in my lap!”

Thank the Lord these ducks were so lucky to have such a smart mother!  YIKES!!

Animals are extremely smart!

I am so happy they are safe!  They love the architecture of their duck house!


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Here is the same mother;  (and she is the same)  with her babies safe and sound.  I cannot even tell you how happy

I am!!!

The mother is talking to me!!

They all flew about 10 days after this picture was taken!

Except one who is so “tame” Lynn says “If I sat down, it would sit in my lap!”

Now.  My job is to figure out how to get the “heart of the garden” back!

The water is the key and the heart!  The pond needs to be lined.  Carefully.  Then the only loss will be

by evaporation…..which is very little!

We have to fill it (once it is lined) with water brought by tanker  (we know and love those people)!

And the frogs (and I pray the turtles) will come back……and by the Spring..

the duck houses will be floating again.  My dream will come true!!

And the ducks can come back;  lay their eggs in the houses

and their ducklings will be safe again!

The happy ending that is most important happened. Thanks to my smart mother duck and my friend

with the pond and the duck house!

A sad pond story with a happy ending for some ducks!Read More

Filed Under: Blog, Design, Gardens, Landscapes Tagged With: "predatorpee.com", baby ducklings, backyard habitat garden, brave mother duck, drought, duck house, duckhouse, garden with pond, Lynn Conrad saves the ducks, pond, scaring away predators, wolf pee

Success story with ducklings!!!

July 2, 2012 By //  by Penelope Bianchi 17 Comments

Well!  After the trauma of the drowned ducklings  (good thing I never had to go to war)

The same  Mallard female trusted Winston’s duck house from Georgia…….and laid 6 eggs in the back nest box!

Another mallard mother trusted the newly fortified ” old” duck house and also laid 6 eggs!

First time ever  (in 14 years)  we have had two female mallards sitting on eggs.  Also the first year we and they have had the luxury of two duck houses!

It is quite a story!

A new mallard mommy laid 6 eggs (they lay one egg a day);  wait until there are at least 6;  they start sitting…….so they all hatch on the same day!

Now; just in case you did not know this……..(wild birds and chickens do the same)  You are in the vast majority !    100 CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies were asked this question!!

2% knew  the right answer.  (We need to educate people about these things…………That is pathetic!)

So the first mallard laid 6 eggs…….we counted!  The first one hatched…….off she went with the first one……..the other five did not hatch!  (my theory….first time…..only child is easier?)

My happy tale is that the same mother mallard who lost her first brood..(because of our leaky house……..sob!)….(we can identify  by some markings on the back of her head)  went to Winston’s new house!

She laid six eggs………and we watched her stay right in there for 2 days after the first one hatched!   Until they all did!  Bravo!  No egg left behind !!!

Winston had that new house here so fast………and I drove a truck!  Winston is the hero!

Here are the pictures!!

  The back house is Winston’s “new house” from Georgia which arrived in 6 days!  This is the female who hatched one chick….left the rest of the eggs in the old house…..and when the new house arrived……well……..here you are!  “WOW!  This sure a pretty place”!

She laid her eggs and that one hatched in the old place (all fixed up and waterproofed ) in the foreground!

The girl who lost her brood was not trusting that old place……..was so pleased with Winston’s she laid 7 eggs in Winston’s!

I will not bore you with my photos of her every single day for 28 days……..sometimes I could see her beak…..sometimes I could see nothing and despaired!

Then!  Tah Dah!!  Here she was with 7!!

They are honestly the size of bumblebees!

This is the mother who lost all six one day old ones in our house that leaked.

 I am seriously into their survival.

 Mother Theresa…….no…..but” mother duck” I have become obsessed……this mother duck I have a debt to.  I cannot tell you.  I practically slept on the bank.

 

They hatched!

 

It is hard to see them!

This is the same mother duck!

This is a happy ending to a very sad story!

And they are still alive; growing up way too fast…….(just like children) !

And I will be starting my before, during and after story of our daughter’s house next!

Penelope

Here is the mother with the “only child”!

(lots of my friends think she is “smart”

easier than 6 or 7 for sure!

I almost forgot the chicks!  Yikes!

Here is the first set of our “mille flour” bantam chicks……..7!

The bobcat has been visiting……and decimating our flock…..so inside everyone!  for a few months!

Look at the little chick peeking out of the Mommy’s feathers!  (I will now get 500 withdrawals )  (I promise there is some serious design work coming)

 Here are seven!

And then the other one hatched 9!

Now comes the “before and after” of what I think may be the very best house in all of Montecito!

Honestly.  It was built in 1935.  The golden era of proper scale; views, proportion…..and   “enfilades” !

Designed by a gifted architect…….who did the airport in Santa Barbara;  the Arlington Theatre……and a few houses…….and would be much more famous had he not died at 46!

Joseph Plunkett..part of  “Edwards and Plunkett”…

The loveliest house!  I will begin with the “before”!  Where it was when I found it!

Just about the opposite of all “spec” houses and “McMansions” being built today!

Charm, warmth, proportions…….light……exposures……..(does everyone know what that means?);  graciousness and cosy!

Next post!!!

Stay tuned!!!

Success story with ducklings!!!Read More

Filed Under: Blog, Gardens, Landscapes Tagged With: birds, death of ducklings, duck house, duckhouses, ducklings, edwards and plunkett, floating duck house, floating duckhouses, garden ponds, habitat, habitat pond, Montecito, natural garden, natural pond, Plunkett architect, pond, wild mallards, wildlife ponds, Winston

Story of the Duck House!!!

May 9, 2012 By //  by Penelope Bianchi 27 Comments


WHEW!!!   You haven’t heard from me in a while.   We had a duckling disaster!!

Six baby ducklings hatched in our duck house.  Last Spring we had nine at the end of March, four in July, and nine again in August, all of whom got as big as their mother;  and off they flew after 53 days!

This year, April 19 they hatched;  and the first night, It poured rain like I have never seen here!

The next day I could see only two ducklings;  and I was beside myself!

More rain;   and no ducklings!

I had no idea that the wood chips had become soaking wet; and the poor mother duck was trying to keep her ducklings warm;  and she couldn’t!!

This is the repaired old duck house;  and the new duck house from South Carolina!!!  Today the new one went into the pond!

…

Story of the Duck House!!!Read More

Filed Under: Blog, Design, Family, Gardens, Landscapes Tagged With: duck house, ducklings, floating duck houses, goose platforms, Linda Brown, LWB Creations, mallard ducks, Penelope Bianchi, pet portraits, pond, rooster, saving baby ducklings, Winston Brown, wonderful pet portraits

Spring is Springing in Santa Barbara!

April 15, 2012 By //  by Penelope Bianchi 28 Comments

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 “!

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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!!!!

Spring is Springing in Santa Barbara!Read More

Filed Under: Blog, Design, Gardens, Home, Landscapes Tagged With: Anduze pot, arbor, baby chicks, bantam chickens, Boston ivy, cat fur in the bushes for helping birds make nests, dovecote, duck house, ducks, faux bois bench, focal point, fragrant roses, gravel, Janus et Cie, old roses, olive allee, Penelope Bianchi, Provence, Rose Story Farm, roses, Santa Barbara, slipcovers, spring, Spring in Santa Barbara, spring slipcovers, trophy deer, trophy deer heads, vines in trees, wisteria, wrought iron deer head

Early Springtime in the garden 2012

March 30, 2012 By //  by Penelope Bianchi 31 Comments

These pictures were taken two weeks ago, around the middle of March!

Many people think we don’t have seasons in Santa Barbara;  but I am going to show you that we do!

You can see the wisteria; which not only looks beautiful, but smells sublime!


It creeps across the front of the garage, and around the side through the “sweet olive”!

This is pretty much its prime;  no leaves yet!

The finial fell off the duck house;  I am not replacing it until the end of the summer!  The wood duck loves posing as the finial!

wood duck!

The juvenile black-crowned heron takes turns!  And there is a mallard sitting on eggs in one of the nest boxes!

This heron won’t hurt the baby  ducklings;  but we chase the Great Blue Heron out of here when there are baby ducklings!

Our Boston ivy comes in red in the beginning;  red leaves are not appealing to birds.  The rooster is happy to have his tail feathers coming back!!

From the other side!

The real roosters didn’t lose their tail feathers!

This shows a glimpse of our mesquite front gate.

This shows the mesquite railing that goes across a small stream from the pond ! It is interwoven with willow; so it is a living railing! The willow loses its leaves in the winter.

Hardenbergia  vine blooms in the winter (the purple one) and the white potato vine (a type of jasmine) blooms 12 months a year!

Chickens busy at bug finding and eating!

The crabapple fence just starting to leaf out in the herb garden!

These steps are petrified wood!

I love the rock edging on the herb garden; and the lavender planted in gravel.

This is our “Certified Backyard Habitat ” sign!  My granddaughter was in the first grade when we went online; filled out the application,  and sent it in with photographs.

It says  “This property provides the four basic habitat elements needed for wildlife to thrive:  food, water, cover, and places to raise young.

It has been certified by the National Wildlife Federation as an official Backyard Wildlife Habitat Site.”

We are very proud of that!!

Our gardener planted these native iris two years ago as a surprise;  he didn’t think they “took”;  but look at them now!!!!

When the gardeners on our lane “blow” (mercifully only once a week) , they leave the pile of oak leaves for us!!  My favorite path material!

more iris!

More hardengerbia and potato vine and chickens!

In a week or so; I will post what it looks like further along in Spring!

Early Springtime in the garden 2012Read More

Filed Under: Blog, Design, Gardens, Home, Landscapes Tagged With: backyard habitat, chickens, duck house, ducklings, garden, gravel garden, hardenbergia, herbs, heron, iris, lavender, mallard, National Wildlife Federation certified backyard wildlife habitat, native garden, petrified wood steps, potato vine, seasons in Santa Barbara, spring, wild garden, wildlife, wisteria, wood duck

Duckling update!

May 11, 2011 By //  by Penelope Bianchi 3 Comments

“Be like a duck. Calm on the surface, but always paddling like the dickens underneath.”  Michael Caine.

I have not been very good about keeping duckling updates!  But I have pictures to show their progress!  They are  46 days old today!  I have added a few images to show how they have grown over the past weeks. Ducklings are able to fly at 53 days old so it is almost time for them to move on from our pond.  It is a joy each year as we hatch new babies and have the opportunity to watch them grow.

The ducklings bask in the sun along the side of the pond, a view of their duck house in the background.

And today, they are hardly recognizable as baby ducks anymore.  In about a week’s time they will fly away in search of bigger and better ponds! Of course they always drop by for visits, but I don’t know if they will ever find a pond where the owner lovingly chases away hawks and other predators, or where they can nestle in the comfort of their very own duck house.  But I like to think so!

Duckling update!Read More

Filed Under: Blog, Design, Gardens, Home, Landscapes Tagged With: duck house, ducklings, garden, Mallards, pond

House Beautiful

May 2, 2011 By //  by Penelope Bianchi Leave a Comment

 

House BeautifulRead More

Filed Under: Article, Bedroom, Blog, Design, Gardens, Home, House Beautiful, House Featured, Landscapes, Marcel Vertes, Press Tagged With: antique tub, antiques, chickens, duck house, ducks, gardens, House Beautiful, Marcel Vertes, patina, pond, toile

Ducklings

April 20, 2011 By //  by Penelope Bianchi 28 Comments

Little Duckies

Welcome baby ducks! This is the tenth year we have had mallards hatch in our pond.  Hatched March 24th, they are now almost 1 month old.

Ducks take a special liking to backyard pond: By Carolyn Bolton, News-Press Correspondent

A Mallard gave birth to a brood of ducklings Thursday on a private pond off East Valley Road in Montecito. “They just hatched this morning,” said Penny Bianchi, an interior designer and owner of the pond, pointing to the eight cotton-ball-sized baby ducks as they were taking refuge under their mother’s wings.

The ducks are part of a long line of wildlife that have found refuge at the home of Ms. Bianchi and her husband, Adam Bianchi, who manages his wife’s interior-design business.

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DucklingsRead More

Filed Under: Blog, Design, Gardens, Home, Landscapes, Press Tagged With: animals, duck house, ducklings, garden, habitat, pond, SB News Press, wild animals

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