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A Special Little Garden

 

Gardens are such special places and getting to see how
my friends Julie and Jim’s gardens were coming along was a
real treat on my recent visit to California…
Jim added the shade cover to their vegetable garden to protect the plants there from the harsh
and  intense California summer sunshine.  Great idea to incorporate in our gardens!

Jim purchased the beautiful red barn {top lead photograph above}
and then built it towards the left-back part of their property
in the Wildomar/Lake Elsinore area of Southern California.
*Update: Julie just FB me and said Jim built this lovely barn from scratch.  I am not surprised as he is a terrific carpenter.
🙂
Being that their property is quite wide and is deep ~ nearing a half-acre with a covered porch set up against the eastern-facing back-yard, a large swimming pool to the immediate right and traveling back down along the fence line, bougainvillea along the chainlink fence separating their yard from their neighbors and many lovely rose bushes planted in-front of the bougainvillea,
Jim and Julie were able to do a lot with their yard.
Their next big plans are to add a retaining wall running down the left side of the yard and to plant it with oleander bushes, which grow really big in California and will create a nice privacy screen
with their left-side neighbors.
Don’t ask why  I didn’t take any photographs of the rest of the yard for you ~ I have no idea why except I was there just to visit initially and then Julie suggested we go on a tour.
That’s how we ended up upstairs seeing her home’s
gorgeous bathroom!
I’ve been to their home many times over the past decade for
teas that Julie has hosted and often just to visit or to pick her up
on our way as a group to go antique browsing or out to lunch.
So, at some point I can share more of their beautiful home
and gardens through other photographs I’ve taken back when
we were all getting our photographs printed.
🙂
 
Two sweet chickens who are friendly and enjoy being picked up and cuddled ~ Rhoda (L), a Rhode Island red and Mr. Clara (R), in the apron, and who was originally thought to be a female.  Lol!  The Barred Rock chicken below is Maddie.

Today it’s all about the chickens
These girls are gorgeous in their black and white feathers
and their shiny red combs.
I just looked them up and I think the black and white
chickens are of the Barred Rock breed which are good
egg layers and produce large white eggs.
Here’s a link I found talking about types of chickens that I
found useful in trying to identify these fluffy girls.
Another friend in Northern California who also raises chickens
and whom I went on a long hike back several years ago
says that the way to sex a chicken is by their tails ~
roosters have curved tail feathers as compared to the
straighter female’s feathers.

Julie was telling me a while back that she makes little
“aprons” for her chickens to keep them from getting
picked on by the other birds.
Unfortunately I guess chickens do this a lot as several of
her birds are in separate chicken pens due to having
been picked on.
🙁
Guess that’s where being hen-pecked comes from…
😉
*Here’s a link to pick up some chicken aprons of your own
if you need some:
I am an Amazon affiliate and if you purchase something from me I will earn a small
commission on it ~ please see my full disclosure HERE.  Thank you!
\Aren’t they the cutest??!

I kept trying to get this one chicken to turn so I could get a good picture of her sweet pink apron but she wasn’t budging.
Oh, well!
I loved the big red chicken barn with it’s places to roost ~
now Julie just needs a sweet chandelier to make her chicken’s
home a little “chicken chateau!”
😉
 
Seriously, though, their farmyard garden is a working garden and the chickens are providing eggs for friends and family.
The vegetable side of the garden has pole runner beans, a variety
of lettuces and even tomatoes currently growing in the
Southern California warm winter sunshine!
I have been hankering for a fresh homegrown tomato and if
they had been ripe I would have asked to eat one.
🙂
 
Just a quick post today as that’s all the photos I have for you
from their garden.
Hope you’ve enjoyed the tour!
 
Sharing with
Snickerdoodle Create Bake Make ~ My Husband Has Too Many Hobbies
Inspire Me Monday ~ Create with Joy
Family Joy Link Party ~ Thinking Outside the Pot
Dishing It and Digging It ~ The Freckled Rose
 
 

Happy Monday,
Barb 🙂

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