Penelope Bianchi

ducks

My definition of “luxury”!

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luxury

My friend who writes the blog “Splenderosa” asked us to
write about our “definition of luxury”!
Here is mine!!!
 
noun (pl) -ries 
1.
indulgence in and enjoyment of rich, comfortable, and sumptuous living
2.
(sometimes pl) something that is considered an indulgence rather than a necessity

3.

something pleasant and satisfying: the luxury of independence
This definition works for me!
Now;  I will tell you what this means to me!  And I suspect it will be quite different from others!
But maybe not!

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I will start here!  My picnic table my friend found in the nearby “collective antique store” for my 18 chairs I found in  Paris

at the flea market 30 years ago!  And my beloved bantam “mille fleurs Belgian chickens”!  Every morning I let them out of their

coop!  The joy of seeing them…indescribable!!!..the roosters, the chicks…and they change every day!

Not to mention their delicious eggs!

LUXURY!  Not to most;  but to me!!!

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Meeting my friend Brooke for the first time!  She and her husband Steve are two of my

most treasured luxuries!  who could have known how close  and

beloved we could become!  When she called me her “mentor” and said that

our house had inspired “Patina Farm” (I get goosebumps typing this!!)

was one of the great “luxuries” of my entire life!!!

Honestly.

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My family!  Here is my darling husband and two grandchildren at

“Grandparents day” a few years ago!

Tremendous “luxury”!!!

5 out of  our 7 grandchildren  live within a mile of us!  Lordy!  LUXURY!!!

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My Balinese chicken coop;  designed and built by my beloved talented Radisha!

Every single day I see it;  I think of him….and what a luxury!  (as you can see the chickens love it too!!)

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One of my greatest luxuries EVER were my parents!  My Daddie died when I was 4;

and my Mommie when I was 33;  but I had the luxury of the most loving

and supportive parents…in every  way!  And then I discovered this

amazing video a few years ago!  (my cousin’s contractor discovered)!

the BIGGEST LUXURY OF THE LAST DECADE!

(see my blog about it if you are curious!)

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An enormous luxury is our amazing house and garden we created

out of a “vacant lot”20 years ago!  With more birds and creatures

than you can imagine!  The quail running to their roosts; and their sounds

in the morning fill my heart with joy….and are a luxury far beyond!!!

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My mother’s pink azalea in a pot…I’ve been dragging that thing around for

60 years…..(honestly, I have proof!) and every year when it blooms;

It is as though she is saying hello!

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Our pond!  (It was a luxury before when we dug it and it filled with water)

But then;  with the drought…..it went away!  (see previous blogs for story.  SOB!!!!)

My husband Adam spent a fortune to line it.  The minute it was lined and the water

trucked in;  we set the duck houses in position;  the

mother duck for the last 7 years showed up and claimed our pond and her house!

Hatched 7 ducklings the earliest ever in 17 years!  March 6th!

My idea of Luxury!

More pictures of things I consider luxuries!  Friends, places I have stayed,

things I love.  Those are true luxuries to me!

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My friend Renees house!

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My friend James  visit and his partner’s photo of us with dogs!

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My husband and my visit to the Columbe d’Or 30 years ago or something!


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My deer I bought from Nathan Turner when he was moving his shop!  Above my living room window!

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part of our garden!

desk

My office!

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my path to the pond!

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My collection I discovered of china collected over 65 years!

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My ducklings every single year!  (this was last year….they narrowly escaped by walking a mile to my neighbor’s pond!!!

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My collection of the artist Marcel Vertes started by my mother in 1961;

and greatly aided by eBay!!!

and I haven’t even started on my great luxury of true and talented friends.

I am a very rich woman;  indeed!

So to wrap it up:

luxury

1.
indulgence in and enjoyment of rich, comfortable, and sumptuous living
2.
(sometimes pl) something that is considered an indulgence ratherthan a necessity
3.
something pleasant and satisfying: the luxury of independence
All those things apply to what I consider “luxury”!!
Thank you Splenderosa for affording us the terrific opportunity to express our
different viewpoints on so many subjects!
BRAVA!!!!!
You are another of my Great Luxuries!!!!

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The tale of the pond!

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This is an updated version of a blog post I wrote in  2011!

I hope you enjoy!

On Mother’s Day in 1997; we purchased this vacant lot.  It is a little over two acres;  however it seems like more because it is in the middle of 90!

…

The tale of the pond!Read More

Spring Is Here!

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bianchiestate_farmtable

 

  Today really feels like spring! 11 baby ducklings!

Just in time for the Piedmont Garden Club!!

photo 1-2

The proud Mommy!  It’s the most we have ever had!

The duck house in the rear (from LWB Creations in Georgia) is where she sleeps to keep the ducklings safe!

She laid her eggs and hatched them in the one in the front!

photo 3-1

  The ivy is growing new leaves!

photo 2-2

I was asked by the Piedmont, California Garden Club to show them our garden and house.

I was so pleased and flattered;  I asked them to have  a picnic lunch in the garden at the long table!

They are coming on Tuesday!

 

Spring Is Here!Read More

A lovely post by a friend and blogger!

By 15 Comments

 

 

My friend and fellow blogger Tracey Jackson

came to Santa Barbara to visit her mother;  and came over to visit!

(These pictures were taken last Spring!  Not by Tracey)

Screen shot 2013-02-18 at 10.27.04 AM

 

 

Tracey is a screenwriter, and that is one reason she is such a good blog writer!

She has also published books!

Honestly, in about fifteen minutes, she took some wonderful pictures and posted them!

The title is “Penny Bianchi’s birds in Paradise”!!

Here is the link!

I think you’ll enjoy her blog!

 http://www.traceyjacksononline.com/2013/03/penny-bianchis-birds-in-paradise/

I’ve been taking some “beginning of Spring”  pictures which I will be posting soon!

Happy Easter!!!

A lovely post by a friend and blogger!Read More

Kitchen details! I was asked by one of my favorites to show my kitchen! Here it is!

By 39 Comments

Hi there!  One of my favorite bloggers and commenters asked to see more of my kitchen!

It was from those darling people at “Wilson Kelsey Design”!

Based in the next town to our daughter who lives in Marblehead, Massachusetts!

Another lucky couple who work together in this fun and wonderful profession.

(some people look at me as though I were insane when I say that! But;  I mean it!)

 And I have so loved the comments from people who

enjoy the “stories” behind my things.  Lordy!  There is a story for just about every single thing!I will try not to bore you!

We will start here:   You come in one of two doors from our “big hall”;  and here is one of the first things you see

I flew to New York to go to Sister Parish’s auction!  One of the things I was dying for was this lantern that was in her entry

in her “maisonette” in Manhattan!It went “off the charts”!

Imagine my delight when John Rosselli copied it exactly;  and I could buy four for my kitchen!  Identical;  no one could tell them apart!

Now the  roller shade!

We copied most of the floor plan from our beloved house in Pasadena when we built this.  We did eliminate the dining room!(It was between our “loggia and our kitchen”!

Our first party;  we were on the “loggia”;  and there was the cateress at the sink!  OOPS!!

So I had some French fabric I had laminated (print on both sides) and a shade made with some divine old trim I found at an

antique show!  (Scalamandre  still makes this trim with little wooden apples!)  This shade looks great from both sides up or down!

Next the antique toile behind the chicken wire!

I had artfully arranged glasses and things in this cupboard with only chicken wire!  My housekeeper said;

Oh!  This looks nice;  but where does the food go?  OOPS!  Food!  I forgot, this is a kitchen!

I had this antique toile I had bought at an antique show…..the images just fit the panes!  I wish I could say I planned it!  NOT!!

Lastly, the upper cupboards are the color of the trim in the whole house; the lower (including the two dishwasher drawers) are this dark red.

The painters thought I was on “hallucinogens ”  You can see;  the fabric on the skirt ties it all together;  I invited them all back to see the kitchen finished!  5 different colors!

…

Kitchen details! I was asked by one of my favorites to show my kitchen! Here it is!Read More

Kitchen details! I was asked by one of my favorites to show my kitchen! Here it is!

By 39 Comments

Hi there!  One of my favorite bloggers and commenters asked to see more of my kitchen!

It was from those darling people at “Wilson Kelsey Design”!

Based in the next town to our daughter who lives in Marblehead, Massachusetts!

Another lucky couple who work together in this fun and wonderful profession.

(some people look at me as though I were insane when I say that! But;  I mean it!)

 And I have so loved the comments from people who

enjoy the “stories” behind my things.  Lordy!  There is a story for just about every single thing!I will try not to bore you!

We will start here:   You come in one of two doors from our “big hall”;  and here is one of the first things you see

I flew to New York to go to Sister Parish’s auction!  One of the things I was dying for was this lantern that was in her entry

in her “maisonette” in Manhattan!It went “off the charts”!

Imagine my delight when John Rosselli copied it exactly;  and I could buy four for my kitchen!  Identical;  no one could tell them apart!

Now the  roller shade!

We copied most of the floor plan from our beloved house in Pasadena when we built this.  We did eliminate the dining room!(It was between our “loggia and our kitchen”!

Our first party;  we were on the “loggia”;  and there was the cateress at the sink!  OOPS!!

So I had some French fabric I had laminated (print on both sides) and a shade made with some divine old trim I found at an

antique show!  (Scalamandre  still makes this trim with little wooden apples!)  This shade looks great from both sides up or down!

Next the antique toile behind the chicken wire!

I had artfully arranged glasses and things in this cupboard with only chicken wire!  My housekeeper said;

Oh!  This looks nice;  but where does the food go?  OOPS!  Food!  I forgot, this is a kitchen!

I had this antique toile I had bought at an antique show…..the images just fit the panes!  I wish I could say I planned it!  NOT!!

Lastly, the upper cupboards are the color of the trim in the whole house; the lower (including the two dishwasher drawers) are this dark red.

The painters thought I was on “hallucinogens ”  You can see;  the fabric on the skirt ties it all together;  I invited them all back to see the kitchen finished!  5 different colors!

…

Kitchen details! I was asked by one of my favorites to show my kitchen! Here it is!Read More

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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"the top 10 most romantic homes in the world in 2012"

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Oh my goodness!!  Imagine my surprise when our agent sent me this!

This is an annual list released once a year!  These houses are selected each February and are

publicized all year!

No one can apply for, nor purchase this advertising!

I feel extremely honored;  and I am with some very spectacular company!!

I have had calls from friends from all over who saw it in their newspapers, and even on AOL!

 This is sure  fun for me!!!  And I consider it a big compliment!!

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"the top 10 most romantic homes in the world in 2012"Read More