It's that time. Time to update you on all the latest and greatest at our sweet little AirBnB. Since our last post in February giving you a pictorial journey on all of our brand new amenities, we have added much more and wanted to give you another visual of what you can now find at the Red Barn.
But before we begin on what has already been added, allow me to preview what is coming soon.
• FRONT PATH:
We just started a project last week in the front that will connect our beautiful red arbor to our sweet little "Noah's Bridge," which crosses the dry creek. This will allow guests to follow a path we are creating that will lead down to the tennis court. This portion of the path is now done (as of today), but the rest of the path will be in the works fairly soon, and this is why I'm including it in the "coming soon" area.
• TENNIS COURT AREA
Tennis is definitely our family's favorite sport. For over ten years, we played in tournaments, classes, clinics, and the like, down in Ojai. And once I have surgery to fix my torn rotator cuff, it will again become my lifelong sport. Cannot wait. So to prepare for this exciting moment, and also to promote the enjoyment of our guests, we have a few things we're working on:
Resurfacing: Though the court doesn't really need to be resurfaced, we're going to bite the bullet and just do it. Current dates for resurfacing are for the week of July 6th. We have enjoyed this court so much and want to extend the life of it as much as possible. Still deciding on if we'll keep the Paribas-inspired colors or change it to a different set.
Court Entry: We have wanted to build some sort of entryway for a while now. It has been somewhat difficult to traverse the rocky, uneven ground to get to the gate door, but not anymore. Jeff is still tweaking it a bit, so it's not quite finished, but we are loving it so far! My husband is a true artist when it comes to tractor work!
Seating on the Side: So this is something that is definitely still in the planning stages — make that the "talk the husband into it" stage. It's gonna be a lot of work and probably will be quite costly, but I believe it will totally be worth it. Here's my plan:
On the side of the court, Jeff has already carved out a semi-circular area with the tractor. His original intent was to build a small outdoor storage hut for tennis equipment. Well, I talked him into creating a bigger area with the thought of building an above ground deck with comfy seating and some sort of overhang to protect from the sun. Since we're able to bring electricity over, we can install twinkle lights and use an outdoor fridge for drinks, .....and if we're doing that, we might as well add a BBQ pit and dining area. Well, we'll see. So far he has agreed to some sort of deck and some sort of seating. 😊 One step at a time...
• BARN ANIMALS!
Years ago on our ranch we built a chicken coup and enjoyed raising chickens with our little ones. When our older daughter was four, she had the chore of collecting the eggs for us, which she gladly did until our rooster starting pecking her.... We ended up giving our chickens and rooster to a friend, and went chicken-less for many years. But now we're back in the game...
In March, we bought six little chicks with the hopes that our ten year old son would take an interest in this outdoor project that will one day benefit the family. Jeremy was beyond excited and has grown very fond of our little flock. When they were just days old, he made a habit of holding them every day. While "Zooming" with his 3rd grade class, he would often have his favorite chick -- DooDah-- sitting on his shoulder.
Our kids have named all of the chicks --
Daffy, Zippity, DooDah, Hey Hey, Roadrunner and Link.
They are much bigger now, and recently DooDah has made the announcement that he is a rooster. His cute little crow can't really be heard at the barn, as the coup is below our house, but it is such a welcome sound on our little ranch. From our house we hear his "cockadoodledoo" all during the day. So fun!
Lately our Barn guests have been enjoying visiting our chickens. It's about a 5 minute walk down to the coup, and for most city folk who stay with us, it's such a welcome jaunt.
So I got to thinking... why not branch out and get some pygmy goats? Well, this is also in the "talk the husband into it" stage, and I think we're about 40% there. I've been researching on what it takes to care and raise little goats, and have mapped out an area for them. Getting excited about even the possibility of eventually getting a pig, and maybe some sheep. One day, one day.
• CRAZY J GARDEN
Over the 17 years we have lived here, we have grown many watermelons, pumpkins, zucchinis, etc. Used to have a pretty good size garden, but it got overrun by critters and my husband gave up. But now we are back in the planning stages of a hefty sized garden just below the Red Barn (see pic below), and it looks like it's going to be more of a greenhouse project due to the overabundance of wildlife who would like to participate in the taste-testing. (This includes deer, rabbits, squirrels, and gophers.)
What are we planning to grow? Lettuce, onions, watermelon, zucchini, corn, potatoes, cucumbers, and more. And this will also bring fresh organic seasonal produce to the guest table inside the barn, which will be so awesome! The veggies will add to the many fruit trees we planted last year all around the outside of the barn, of which our guests are welcome to enjoy the fruit of while they're here. Next summer should be quite the harvest for this!
So that's all the planning I can share for now. More to come. But below is what has already been added....
The Red Barn is in constant development. I absolutely love decorating and changing things up, so I think the Barn will never be the exact same if you come back for a visit. Here is what I've added since the last update in February:
I recently purchased this on a closeout sale at Kirkland's. Woohooo, so thrilled! Absolutely love the sentiment, as I find this is a much needed reminder to everyone. Time just flies by way too quick... and every single one of us needs to be reminded to stop and enjoy each moment. Having lost both my parents within the last 3 years, this hits home all too hard.
Cute sign, yes it is, but I felt it really was missing something. Couldn't decide just what it was at first. Had to hang it on the wall next to the front door before I realized what that was.... polka dots! But not just any polka dots, RED polka dots.
So.... I grabbed some brushes and my red paint and got to work.....
And here is the result. It's hanging next to the front door and we just love it. Maybe polka dots aren't your thing, but it sure fits in with the decor at the barn. Yay.
And for maximum comfort and luxury, we added two beautiful, soft robes in the master bedroom for guests to use. Honestly, these robes are the height of bliss—super comfy, super soft, and majorly high-end, even if I say so myself. Guests tell me all the time that they love them!
So I just couldn't pass this one up. Saw this welcome sign on Pinterest while searching for cute front porches, and decided to try and find one to spruce up our barn front porch. I honestly can't remember where I found this one, ha, either Kirkland's or Tuesday Morning, not sure. But I just love it. It's exactly the sentiment we want to convey at the barn to all who come to visit. All are welcome here.
Next thing to show you is the adorable clock we added to the back porch. Yeah, I know, y'all don't want to remember what time it is when you're on vacation, but we did it anyway. Also added a super comfy, soft and fluffy rug underneath the patio chairs. Love this spot... one of my favorites.
We purchased a few new items for the kitchen that I'd like to mention. First off is this adorable soap dispenser at the kitchen sink. Of course, we love it cuz it's red, but it's also really practical since we can see when it's running low, ha. Super cute.
Speaking of practical, we added this fire blanket to the side of the stove after watching an amazing video on how it puts out fires. This is definitely one item we hope guests will never have to use. And, yeah, we like it cuz it's red. Of course.
Another wonderful addition to the kitchen is the newly installed water filtration system. We already have a filtered water dispenser on the fridge, but it's sure nice to have one at the sink. Guests are loving it.
And last, but not least, is the beautiful framed picture of a barn that I recently added to the black and white bathroom. Just love it. Guests might remember that we had a much smaller unframed picture of a black barn there before, but this one is just the right size.
So that's it! You're all caught up to date on what's new (and coming up) at the barn! Thank you for reading all the way to the end. Subscribe to our site for notifications on when we blog (which isn't that often since we're so busy). ❤️
Hope to see you at the barn one day-
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