Fern shadow

Everything is coming up, even the ferns. Fresh and new for the summer.

(I've decided this is the best way to have a self-portrait done -- without having to touch up the wrinkles.)

Finch pair

A pair of pretty finches. They're back for the season.

Fish eggs

Fish eggs on the bar.

Wild iris

Wild rises on the path to the chicken yard. Nice.

Chicks update

Mother Hen is taking fine care of her foster brood. We are two weeks out since their arrival and they're "feathering out" already.
They grow up so fast. They're all brilliant and I'm sure all headed for Stanford.


Seriously, it's very fun to watch. They're in constant motion.

Steller's jay

Lots of birds around - always. These guys are frequent visitors to our many feeders.

Our Courtyard Market Umbrellas

Our new market umbrellas in the Wine Bar[n]'s courtyard. Fun.

Miss Roxy pounces

This cat runs passed you as you walk the grounds. Out of nowhere she'll leap and follow anyone. Everyone. Out from under bushes, from behind a fence. She likes people. A lot.

Afternoon cypress sun

It's been very warm these last few days. Beautiful weather. Cooler as the sun goes down this afternoon.

Showy Pieris bush

Spring is all about the garden. Here is one of the pieris bushes. Such a cool plant. The new growth is red, and paired with the dripping flower clusters, it makes for quite a show.

JUST MARRIED

Every day nice people come to the inn and often times they're celebrating anniversaries, birthdays, or other events. We love being part of each special day.

Here is an image from today of the back car window of our new newly-wedded friends. They said they want to make reservations for their first, fifth & tenth anniversaries. We’ll be here, and can’t wait to see them back again.

Wine Bar[n] Garden

The new gardens at the Wine Barn's yard and courtyard are in their second spring, and they're starting to look pretty good I think. You can also see the greenhouse, water tower and the Barn Loft's deck.

Champagne and Wine

A special champagne and wine tasting in the Farmhouse lounge. Special indeed.

Pretty chickens

What baby chickens aspire to be.

White rhody's moment

The rhododendrons all bloom at different times. White is having its moment at the moment.

Llama regatta

It's rare that all the llama ladies all kush at once. If the meadow were the sea, they'd be a regatta.

Easter Chicks!

This is the coolest thing. We had a broody hen here at Glendeven. She was instinctually hatching eggs, but there were no eggs under her to hatch and, well, we don't even have a rooster....

So an online search uncovered some tricks for “snapping her out of it”, so she'd start laying again and running around with the rest of everyone. I wasn’t sure about any of the proposed ideas, and figured I’d just let her snap out of it on her own.

It just so happens that my set of new chicks was arriving and the nice folks at Highway 20 Feed told me that -- and this is the cool part -- if I slipped the new chicks under the hen while she's sleeping, she'll awaken a new mom and care for them. All 15 of them. All different breeds of them. There was a chance it wouldn't work, but was worth a shot.

Needless to say, it worked!

This is a "win-win-win".

Chicks are happy and safe, mother hen gets what she was hoping for -- her own clutch of chicks -- and I don't have to worry about heat lamps, cleaning a chick box, and the stress of introducing the young birds to the yard. Nature will take care of itself.

Happy Easter indeed!

-John

Wooded parking lot's welcome gate

Glendeven has parking for 25 cars in our wooded lot just north of the inn buidlings.

We direct people there for events and other overflow parking needs, so we built a gate and a trail to the Wine Bar[n]'s courtyard to welcome folks who enter from that direction. The signage matches the rest of what we've done around the property, and I think Art Piscitelli (see previous Blog entry) did a great job of building the gate.























The design matches the woodwork on the Carriage House's trellis pictured here.

Salmon Rhododendron

We have about 35 mature rhododendrons on the property, and I think these may be my favorites. The salmon color is pretty striking. That is Bayloft's ocean view window on the background.

Miss Roxy the Cat

Here's Miss Roxy the cat. She's sort of the neighborhood cat, but mostly ours by now I suppose.

A good hunter, she's welcome around here, as long as she stays outside. Letting her in is tempting, we know! But letting her inside breaks the big fat "no pets" rule and we have a 'wanted' sign at check-in.





Basilcally it says "No cats inside", and "Please don't feed her", and things like that. She is well fed, and has a cozy bed in the woodshed.

I imagine there will be more photos of her posted here over time.... she's pretty great.

- John

Another Beautiful Day

I was out running around the property just now and it was just really nice looking out the kitchen window across the pasture with the llamas grazing, and Van Damme rock out in the ocean.

Dogwood

The gardens this time of year are pretty amazing. Spring.

Every bush, tree, and flower has its as its moment during the year, and the dogwood's moment is now.

This tree is near the entrance of the Stevenscroft building.

Gallery & Bar[n] today

Here we are "two-for-two" on the photo of the day idea, which is very exciting for all of us at Glendeven.

This is a photo I took of the Wine Bar[n] just prior to its opening today taken from inside the gallery.

In it you can see the painting "Cuba" by Ricia Araiza / Michael Leventhal who co-paint each piece.

These large format oils are striking and we think add a fun element to the Bar[n].

As an added bonus I'm attaching two other 'images of the day" to this post.


Exciting indeed.
- John

Photo of the day - Mike & Art

So, one of the things I tell people is that each day I wake up at Glendeven and think, "Oh! I have another (bad) idea!" Some of them are good though, and stick. Others go out the window.

This morning I woke up and thought - I have another (bad?) idea!

There is always something interesting to see at the inn, and it changes daily with weather and the seasons and other activities and projects.

So, I'm going to start posting a picture of the day.

So here's the first.

This is Mike and Art working (and finishing) the exterior siding on the wine locker for the Wine Bar[n] taken through the picture window just behind the bar.

Let's see how this "picture of the day" idea goes..... and how long it lasts!

-John