Giant purple rhododendron

Giant purple rhododendron. Needless to say, this bush was not planted last year.

How old must it be?

Not sure but that is one big, prolific rhodey.

Another view here.

East Farmington cozy fire - guest photo

This sent to me this morning from the East Farmington room.

Guests took this photo last night in of the East Farmington sitting area.

Nice.

Thank you for sending to me!

Firewood

The firewood we use comes from our own woods. We've lost some older oaks and pines in winter storms which have provided enough wood for two winter seasons so far.

Warm chicks - a weekly update

How many three-week old chicks can a hen keep warm at night?

Fourteen.

At least that's what this hen is doing. Well done, I'd say.

May rains

We realy need this rain. And I love it. It's so fresh outside and who doesn't love a wood-burning fireplace in this kind of weather? What a perfectly cozy weekend.

It's hard to photograph rain, so these are rain drops in the koi pond. I swear.

Friends

Glendeven owner John Dixon with friends Greg Gorman and John Scharffenberger in Philo today. A very nice day indeed.

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

Guest Photos

We love getting images from guests. We've chosen a few to post here from Helen Hong.

This makes me think we should do some kind of contest. We'll work on that!




Here are a few that we've chosen from Helen. She has a great eye.




This is a view of the farmhouse taken from in front of the Wine bar[n].







It's not a typical vantage point, and we liked it very much.

Many folks come to Glendeven armed with camera phones, small digitals, or even big fat SLR cameras.

All the pictures we get are great and we thought this is a fun way to share.

Sends us yours and we'll post them too!

Art Piscitelli, Il Guardiano

One of the best things about being at Glendeven Inn is that we get to work with the amazingly talented, Art Piscitelli.

He's the man who helps us make sure that everything is in perfect condition & running order.

He's not only helped us since we arrived just over a year ago, but he helped the last owners, Sharon and Higgins for eight years, and Jan and Janet DeVries before them.

Art's been here for around two decades. He knows where every fuse is located, where all the plumbing lines go underground and in the walls, he's amazingly skilled at doing anything that needs to be done around here, and the list goes on.

Art's done everything from small fun projects like making custom chicken nesting boxes and remodeling the entire coop for the 30 chickens and building our wonderful new mailbox (that's modeled after our Barn building), to large things like fixing numerous electrical and plumbing emergencies, helping us get the Wine Bar[n] and Sea Ridge Cottage ready for prime time, and troubleshooting just about everything when it goes wrong.

Here you see him creating one of our new signs -- this one is being made using a fantastic 100+ year-old pristine piece of redwood lumber that was salvaged when he and Higgins remodeled the Farmhouse kitchen years ago. Art stored this special piece of wood in the rafters of the shop for just the right moment. And its moment has come.

We're very lucky to have him around, and appreciate everything he does. Say hi to him the next time you see him.

We owe him a debt of gratitude for all that he does, and the way he gets it done.

Thanks Art.

- John & Mike

Sea Ridge Cottage

After working all summer to get it ready, Glendeven's new vacation rental house, the Sea Ridge Cottage, is now ready to go! We are very, very excited about it.

The Sea Ridge Cottage provides guests a new kind of coastal experience at the high standards that Glendeven sets in everything we endeavor to do. With its sweeping views and absolute quiet situated a quarter mile from any neighbors, this house is a paradise of tranquility and beauty.

Our first guest writes in the guest book, "I will remember the deer grazing outside, the silhouette shapes of the trees outside at day break, the attention to detail, and the quiet.", signed Ottmar Liebert.

We've decorated this fine little house in an unfussy slightly contemporary way. We love using eclectic things that we think go well together in color & detail, interest, and quality.

At the Sea Ridge Cottage, just six miles south of Glendeven, you'll find the same high quality linens and amenities , a large jetted hot tub just waiting outside your bedroom door, and quality in everything you see. It's a place to find peace and quiet surrounded by the power of nature, to rekindle romance together, or find a retreat to renew yourself.

We hope you get a chance to check it out on our website, and we hope to see you soon.

-- John

The Great Outdoors

So, one of the reasons we wanted to be in this beautiful part of the world was to take full advantage of all that it has to offer.

We've been at Glendeven Inn now for just over one full year and decided that it's time to start really making an effort to see and do more of the fun outdoor things there are here -- right outside the door. We've just got to make the time to do it, it's that simple. One new thing per week, that's the plan.

And, of course, it helps us to make recommendations to guests.

Given this new mantra, there's one thing that I've done a bunch of times over the past year: outrigger canoing up Big River.

Renting kayaks or outrigger canoes is quick and easy at Catch a Canoe and Bicycles Too which is just one mile north of us. You sign in, get your life jacket, a thorough safety refresher and away you go. Once up the river about 500 yards, you feel like you're in the middle of nowhere surrounded by nature. And in fact you are. It's quiet, there are no buildings, very few people, and you're likely to spot otters and harbor seals. And there are lots of birds too, which is pretty great.

Check it out next time you're here.

-John