My Favorite Place On Earth

This is it. Deetjens Big Sur Inn. On the Pacific Coast Of California. Julie and I have stayed here many times on our way to Carmel, San Francisco and Napa Valley.It is simple and charming....all the food served is grown in the organic garden out back. Cats and dogs sleep stretched out on the porch. Woodsmoke fills the ocean air. A fire is always smoldering in the fireplace in the dining room. Classical music plays throughout. A large wood bar serves tea in the morning...wine in the evening.Bouquets of wildflowers and stacks of old books fill every room.I am trying the best I can to make Farmhouse like Deetjens. There really isn't much more to say. The pictures say it all.

A Trip To Carlock's Bakery

I took a ride out to Carlock's Bakery today. It about 15 minutes away in Los Osos. It was such a pretty drive because the hills are so green and the yellow mustard is in full bloom. When I got there, it did not dissapoint...I go there for every holiday just because it is so old fashion.

The men were sitting in the back drinking coffee and eating doughnuts. Nothing fancy here. Nothing trendy. Just coffee and doughnuts. The place always reminds of the bakery in my hometown of Los Gatos called The Cream Puff.When you walk in the ladies are dressed in pink and white dresses and are ready to help.The chalkboard in the back lists the specials of the day. Today it was all Valentines. I brought home the little tiny heart shaped cake in the last picture for John and I to share tonight with some fresh raspberries. Sending all of you Warm Valentine Wishes.

I'm Barefoot Today!

This is not a joke. That is really me about 10 minutes ago. You see, today I am gardening...barefoot! I know..I said I wasn't gonna mention it anymore. But today I am planting my forget-me-not and baby blue eye seeds.And it is about 75 degrees in my garden this Saturday morning. Some of my columbine flowers are starting to bloom and my nasturtiums are sprouting back up.The leaves on little cherry are starting to open up too. I am gonna say it. It is downright warm out today. For supper tonight we are pretending it's summer. Making BLT sandwhiches, corn on the cob and I am making a macaroni salad later this afternoon. If you are coming to the Valentines Party you are welcome to come early and stay for Supper on the Porch tonight. We'd love to have you.

You're Invited To A Valentines Tea Party

Strap on your snowshoes everybody and come on over. Farmhouse is throwing a Valentines Day Tea Party. And everyone is WELCOME !


Where: My Farmhouse Kitchen

When: Sunday, February 14, 2010

Time: 3 o'clock or till the biscuits run out


Menu

Pink Champagne
Cherry Blossom Tea
Strawberry Lemonade
Ginger Ale


Lemon Squares
Angel Food Cake With Raspberries and Strawberries
Butter Biscuits
Jumbleberry Jam from last Summer's Berries
Busy Day Cake
Red Velvet Cupcakes with Pink Icing
Heart Shaped Sugar Cookies with Pink Sprinkles

All doggies are cordially invited and encouraged to attend. Valentine treats and fresh water will be available. Party favors include a tiny heart shaped cookie made by Buddy with love

Each one who attends will receive a party favor bag of emergency biscuits to take back home.

Overnight accomadations will be available for those who's plans are canceled due to snow.

Carriage rides will be available around Farmhouse for those spending the night
Hot chocolate will be provided. All dogs are welcome on the ride. Plaid blankets to wrap up in also provided

Each bedroom has a fireplace , robes and quilts...extra firewood is stored downstairs by the back door. Please help yourself.

The kitchen is open all night to anyone

Breakfast and tea will be served in the morning

Please R.S.V.P. at My Farmhouse Kitchen

Hope to see everyone there

Cherry Tree and Mache Lettuce

I promise...no more today. But this was the view out my kitchen door this morning.
If you look close you can see the Cherry tree just barely starting to open.And that green grass by the bird bath is mache lettuce...that is flowering. The little tree in the back is my Santa Barbara Peach. It hasn't opened yet. This winter John planted 3 cherries and the peach. We have a Seek-No-Further Apple and a Pumpkin Russet Apple along with a Blenheim Apricot.... o.k. that's all for today. Enough is enough.....

I'm Not Kidding You

I'll keep this short.
I really did hesitate on if I should show you this...or not. But I'm not kidding. These flowers are really blooming in my garden...today. February 10th. To be fair...it has been raining alot. But this morning we woke to clear sunny skies and a warm sun. Took Buddy for his walk in my slippers. Then headed out to the garden in a t-shirt in see what was blooming. I won't dwell on it. We are going to walk downtown now for some tea. There is an old plum tree in full bloom right now at The Old Mission in downtown San Luis Obispo. I want to get a picture of it before it goes by to share with you...Spring Dreams, my friends....

A Chicken Called ...Buttercup !

Yesterday I am over at Borders crusing the isles and I come to the Farm Section. You know the one..where there is Mary Jane's Farm, Hobby Farms Home, British Country Living, The Herb Companion,Culture..the one that shows you how to make your own cheese...more on that later....Mother Earth News..and then I see it. What is that? A magazine on Chickens? It is...I grab it and head to checkout. I know this is for me...

I told John the other day that this spring I want to get some chickens. Every spring over at Farm Supply they have the baby chicks. And every year I stand there and yearn. But with all the remodeling here at Farmhouse...a chicken coop was like the last thing on the list...but we MIGHT be getting close. It doesn't need to be the Rolls Royce of chicken coops..at least not for now..I have seen the ones that look like a cottage from Carmel set in a cherry tree orchard with the window boxes spilling over with red and yellow geraniums, shutters on the windows, a little peaky shingled wood roof and a gaslight lampost leading to the front door...but that's just not going to happen this year....we still need to do the bathroom.... I'll take the simplest I can get just to have the chickens.

So I opened it and what a whole new world. Did you know there is a yellow chicken?The last picture is of that variety. They even give sources for mail order. I am IN LOVE with her....and there is a variety called Buttercup...Oh, please...how much more belovedness can I take. Buttercup !

I have visions of the girls lazily pecking through the garden on a warm spring day. High white fluffy clouds in the sky...maybe a light drizzle for late in the afternoon. My clothes, sheets and yellow gingham tea towels are flapping in the March wind on the clothesline out back. I am gathering a small stack of wood to start the fire with tonight in the woodstove and am picking rhubarb to make into a small pie for after supper. A small bouquet of sweet peas that I picked this morning fills the kitchen with the fragrance of bubble gum and spice. A basket of straw filled with brown eggs from the girls sits on the drainboard ready to be made into a country quiche for supper. ...sigh...

I am thinking of naming them after my italian aunts that still farm up in Santa Cruz. Rose, Maria, and Diana...Hope they don't mind. Maybe I won't tell them.