Vintage Wicker

 This is a lovely old wicker chair...a bit wobbly and missing a few details but I love her!

 The patina is so interesting and unlike anything that could be reproduced

 This is what is so wonderful about  vintage wicker

 The flakey red with old paint splatters.

 The charm and character of something really old.

 It  has a story to tell.

 The wonderful rough and leathery spots.

 Sometimes it looks grey, sometimes  pink and sometimes red

Years of sunshine and use...

 On this wonderful chair we are using a mix of vintage fabric for our cushions

 A linen floral with a natural background and bits of sage and grey

 The seat will be this wonderful old grain sack

 circa 1910

 It should be all finished this week 

 Can't wait to see how she looks in her new cushions!

Happy Monday

~kelley~

Red Hot: Inspiration

 This month in House Beautiful there was a house that I really loved...

 Designer Ellen O'Neill spends her weekend in this little gem in Bridgehampton

 Some of the red I liked, mostly the washed out colors, like the big vintage fixture...and some seemed to strong like the mirror....and the chairs

 This room is wonderful

It was an interesting article and you can read it here.

 The editor asked Ellen O'Neill if she loved red and her answer was,

 that the "red, just sort of happened"

Hey me too!

 In our little condo project I have used red everywhere...and I'm not sure how it happened!

 I think it started here,

 with the bar stools and the navajo rug on the club chair

 Then I used the grey and red French ticking pillows.....

I think Millies collar is red

 More red with black stripes

 Lots of red in the Bennison fabric

 These are some pillows made from 4th of July bunting,  red white and blue...

 Red on the bait bucket lamps

Red in the French Boutis 

 More red on the swiss army blanket

and some of it on the walls

 I even bought a red tin can with a candle in it!

How did this happen?  

I really don't know...

It just did!

~kelley~

The Big Squeeze

 Yum...its orange season

 Our family orchard has about 15 Valencia orange trees

 And right now is peak season for harvesting.  

Valencia's can stay on the trees for a very long time and continue to ripen.  

 With this many oranges to juice, I went in search of the best 

and most efficient way to juice these baby's

I've owned a Krups, a Waring, an Acme 

and probably at least dozen other brands over the years... 

But lo and behold

 Juicing nirvana:

The Breville

 This juicer is a power tool for the kitchen 

 I typically juice 50 to 60 oranges at a time and can get the job done in about 10 minutes, with a yield of 3 quarts of scrumptious yummy juice

 The juice just pours out of the fruit and you can vary the amount of pulp

 with the different sized strainers.

 The arm of the juicer simply drops down 

and requires absolutely zero effort on your part,

 to get the oranges squeezed

 This machine gets every last bit out of the fruit and all you are left with is the rind and it is so user friendly!

 I read many of the reviews on cooking web sites about this great machine 

And I can add my own now....

 5 STARS!

Now who's got the bubbly

I feel like a Mimosa...

Cheers

&

Have a healthy and juicy weekend

~kelley~

Garden Update: A few new things

The garden continues to change and mature... 

&

We keep finding interesting and secret spots

to create little niches and places to sit

 Some of the projects have a purpose...to support grapes, as in this case

 And some of the projects have been inspired by the view 

Or the location, 

in relation to where we work in the garden

 At the very rear of the veggie garden are two peach trees.

  The spot was a little bare with just this bench,
 but a wonderful vantage point.
What could we do here?

 On a recent trip to Big Sur, up in Northern California, 

we were taken with this wonderful arched pergola.

 This seemed like just the thing for a vine covered spot in our garden,

 and it didn't seem like it would be too difficult to build

I also wanted to add a little folly to the pergola...just for fun 

 These are new gates,
which have been "ageing" in the yard,
for the last few months

 The details are vintage looking 

and they are now really rusty and look right at home 

 The arches of the pergola are made of large  glulam beams with a 12' span.

It took a while to find a manufacturer,

 but eventually we found a supplier who made them out of cedar.
The funny thing about these beams is that they are made first to your specs
and then sent out to be bent.

The wood will have a similar patina to redwood over time 

and we have used redwood on almost all of the other garden structure projects.  

 The top is made up of alternating 4x4 and 2x4 beams

   The same turn buckle and wire system, 

will help to support the vines when they are newly planted

 The rusted gates are now at home along the front.  

They don't really close or do much,

 except make you smile.
 I really like them...

The arch of the gate fits nicely with the arch of the beams

 I have always wanted a Wisteria vine in my garden and so this will be the place.

Wisteria grows like a weed here in Ojai....not really sure why

There are many old beautiful vines on the historic buildings downtown, which people seem to ignore but they are really amazing when they are in bloom

  I am hoping this will be a wonderful spot
to sit when the vines have matured 

 A simple project really.  

I will get the vines planted next week....

not looking forward to digging those holes!  

I'm sure there are about 4 million rocks,

  lurking under the surface, waiting for the tip of my shovel!

Notice the blooms on the peaches...

I can't believe it!

Spring has sprung

~kelley~