It’s tempting to describe all 28 sheds in Debra Prinzing’s “Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways,” but that would take the fun out of discovery. Here’s a tease: A tiny, rustic cabin in the woods; an astonishing, asymmetrical, steel-framed structure over a pool; a grass-roofed, Norwegian stabbur; a stucco-and-tile pavilion surrounded by desert plantings. OK, that’s enough.

For those of you who read Kym’s Q&A interview with me and then moseyed over here, I thought I’d share the photos of each of the stylish structures she highlighted in her tease. These photographs reveal the incredible talent of my collaborator William Wright.

Enjoy!

A Tiny, Rustic Cabin in the Woods

Separate from the main residence but as comfortable as a little cottage, the 14-by-14 foot writing shed is nestled in the Connecticut woods

 A Stucco-and-Tile Pavilion Surrounded by Desert Plantings

Grass-Roofed, Norwegian Stabbur

 I hope you find inspiration from these incredibly diverse garden destinations!

A tiny chicken coop with loads of style

Last week’s visit to Santa Barbara included a stop at “Rooms & Gardens,” a wonderful home furnishings, antiques, accessories and interior design emporium on State Street.

I needed to check out the store’s new backyard chicken coop and garden.

Owners Eric and Jami Voulgaris recently created the sweet coop and romantic garden, where four Buff Orpington hens reside.

When I met Eric a few weeks ago, at the Santa Monica “Rooms & Gardens” store (they own this location with a partner, actress Mary Steenbergen), he told me about the chicken coop project.

The little building measures about 6-by-6 feet in size, with a charming shingled roof, board-and-batten siding, a country-style screen door and shutters. Stained that dreamy grey-blue shade, it looks both elegant and timeless.

A curved cobblestone path leads from the store’s back door out into the postage-stamp-sized garden. Picket fencing contains the four gals in their little yard.

The Voulgaris children named the Buff Orpington chicks, born on Easter morning: “Henny Penny,” “Rosy,” “Cornflake,” and “Scramble.”

The 800-square-foot garden’s renovation came about because it had to be ripped up when the neighboring Apple store was moving in. When that construction came to an end, Eric and Jami saw it as a chance to dress up the space, which really hadn’t changed much since Rooms & Gardens opened 16 years ago.

Happy chickens living in a happy garden

Pretty and inviting, a corner garden

Fully organic, the Martha’s Vineyard-inspired garden is landscaped with espaliered apple trees, Meyer lemon trees, ‘Iceburg’ roses and clumps of lavender. One corner holds a display of potted hydrangeas and an iron chair.

The garden and hens complement the carefree lifestyle settings inside Rooms & Gardens. Eric describes the store’s look and feel as “a fusion of British Colonial, ethnic accents, Chinoiserie and a relaxed coastal theme.”

I love the happy vibe that you feel upon entering. It’s a store where sink-into furniture is paired with uncommon accessories, all of which suggests well-loved and well-lived-in environments.

The garden is open to visitors during store hours. If you want to taste the yummy brown eggs produced here, check with the staff. Eric mentioned that a plan is in the works to supply Tuttini’s, a cafe around the corner, with their daily source of eggs!

My lifeblood is comprised of words, sentences, paragraphs, stories. I am definitely NOT a writer of “short” blog posts. But sometimes, I do have to defer to the photographs to tell a story. So today, you will be treated to mostly photos of our afternoon at the Ventura County Fair in Ventura, California. After years fighting the crowds, strollers and sticky run-ins with cotton candy at the King County Fair in Puyallup (Washington), I have to say how nice it is to take in a smaller fair with fewer bells and whistles. With the charming theme, “Homegrown and Pure-Bred,” Ventura’s is the perfectly-sized county fair. Of course, when you go on a Monday afternoon, you’re not going to encounter the weekend crowds. So we did.

What follows are my favorite images of the day. The fair continues through Sunday, August 16th. For details, click here:

RIDES TO THRILL

The giant slide. A ride down the track on a burlap sack couldn't be more fun. My son Alex is nearly prostrate, on the green slide; his friend Philip is racing down the orange one.

 JUST FOR LOCAVORES

A prizewinning Hubbard squash in the Agricultural Building caught my eye. I'm growing one in the garden, but she won't be this big for a while yet.

Turkey racing. Words cannot describe this silly event, but we loved it!

More turkeys, including the brown ones.

The "Floriculture" displays featured some outdoor gardens. Here's my very favorite: The "Flower Bedroom." I've seen planted beds before, but none as fanciful and well-executed as this one. Note the succulents spilling out of the dresser drawers, too!

A sedum armchair. Lush and fluffy. Makes you want to sink right in. I love that the lime green arms have been painted to pick up the bright foliage.

Two years ago, I read Julie Powell’s wonderful debut memoir, “Julie & Julia.” Her story of spending 365 days cooking every recipe in Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” was electrifying and compelling.

I couldn’t decide what was more inspiring – Julie Powell’s innocent ambition and subsequent bravado or the between-the-lines story of the power of blogging as a voice for authors.

Either way, I ended up buying 5 copies of Powell’s book for my favorite writer girlfriends. I told them: You must read this book. It will open up your eyes to the potential of blogging.

At the time, I had just bit the bullet and decided to really try serial blogging. My best intentions prior to the fall of 2007 hadn’t gotten me very far. I originally “started” this blog in March 2007, when I foolishly thought Shedstyle.com would be a book-in-progress blog while Bill Wright and I created “Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways.”  Constant travel, photo shoots, intense deadlines and a generally crazy schedule conspired to keep that from occurring (I think I wrote 2 posts between March and October 2007).

In September 2007, I moderated a “Garden Blogging” panel at the annual Garden Writers Association symposium with blogger-friends Kathy Purdy, Mary Ann Newcomer and David Perry (you will find each of them and their blogs the LINKS section of my home page).  I felt like a fraud. Sure, I created the panel and served as its moderator. But I was a pretender “talking” about blogging, not actually doing it.

I came home from Oklahoma City and, wholly inspired, I just started writing. I am eternally grateful to Mary Ann, David and Kathy for their honest and heartfelt support as fellow bloggers.

Like many tough things, repetition and frequency make it easier to learn new skills and habits. In less than 2 years I have written nearly 200 posts and met many awesome fellow bloggers, readers, friends.

Back to Julie and Julia.

That book really did change my life, thanks to the courageous Julie Powell and the inimitable Julia Child. I came home tonight from watching the movie “Julie & Julia” equally inspired.

As director and screenwriter, Norah Ephron is amazing. What a talent. Her screenplay is delightful. Her cast – Meryl Streep and Amy Adams – are delicious. Totally delicious in their roles as Julia Child and Julie Powell.

A woman seated near me (friend of a friend) told me a great story after the movie. As you may know, Julia Child lived in Santa Barbara in her retirement. The woman remembered working as a waitress in Santa Barbara in 1989. She waited on Julia and her husband Paul, who by then was in a wheelchair.

“Julia ordered a grilled-cheese sandwich and a banana for lunch,” this former waitress recalled. Hmm. I love hearing that our culinary icon, Julia Child, liked basic comfort food. It puts a smile on my face.

Not sure where this post is going, except to say that the writer in me LOVED the book and the film. I felt like I was watching all of our stories, our efforts, our hopes and dreams, up there on the screen. When the film portrayed Julia Child’s manuscript finally getting published after 8 years of work, I felt so victorious for her. When Julia Powell was interviewed for a story in the New York Times food section, I felt the excitement at hearing her answering machine buzz (well, that hasn’t exactly happened to me, but I can kind of relate).

Anyway, if you’re into food you should see “Julie & Julia.” If you’re a writer, you’ll definitely want to.

This post is dedicated to Nan, Paula, Mary Ann and Lorene, my friends who received copies of Julie & Julie from me in 2007.

Wow – a nice, little review popped up in the July issue of Landscape Architecture magazine’s “noteworthy” column.

Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways: Big Ideas for Small Backyard Destinations, By Debra Prinzing

Don’t expect the sheds displayed in beautiful, full-color photos in this book to house a lawn mower and a jumble of rusty tools. Geared toward an upscale lay audience, this book is intended to inspire affluent home owners to rethink what a “shed” can be: Tea rooms, writing nooks, playhouses, and fanciful creations that defy simple descriptions fill the pages.

It’s nice to be noticed. But of course, we know that stylish sheds do not have to be “upscale” or “affluent.”

As long as they are designed with heart and soul, they will bring comfort, cheer and satisfaction to their occupants.

Even still, maybe the review will inspire more landscape architects to incorporate diminutive sheds and shelters into their clients’ gardens!

A vintage EGGS sign hangs in Kathy Fries's fanciful coop

Fresh eggs, how can you argue with that idea? I love cooking with fresh, organically-grown eggs produced by free-range hens. Thank goodness that I can buy them at my local, Thousand Oaks Farmers Market every Thursday! 

I wonder how long it will take before I graduate from growing backyard herbs, fruits and vegetables to raising chickens? Let’s see. . . maybe after my children leave for college, and perhaps after my beloved Lab, Zanny, has passed on.

Poultry fever has smitten many of my friends, though. I love the way they’ve integrated chicken culture into horticulture (get it?). And I really love the chicken coop architecture created by inspired hen owners.

Bonnie Manion's hens live in a renovated children's playhouse!

My blogger friend Bonnie Manion, who writes at Vintage Garden Gal, often shares stories of her hens, advice on raising chickens and even the care an maintenance of coops. She has just inherited a couple of charming gals – Buff Wheaten Marans. You’ll want to read more of Bonnie’s chicken adventures (and see more photos of her charming coop, which is a re-purposed children’s playhouse, shown here ).

Recently, a writer friend of mine paid me what I think was a lovely compliment. She said, “Debra, I want to create a book just like Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways – but about chicken coops!”

And my response: Go for it!

Bill Wright, my fearless collaborator, would love to photograph a chicken coop book. I call him “fearless,” because how else could you describe a guy willing to get inside a coop with half-a-dozen chickens, two youngsters and a lot of feed flying around . . . just to capture the perfect shot!!!?

Here is that photograph, of our dear friend and shedista Kathy Fries, along with her sons Xander and Jasper. We documented a moment in their daily routine, when mom and boys feed and water the chickens, gather eggs, and generally putter around the coop. That coop, by the way, is no ordinary henhouse. You’ll see what I mean about “poultry fever.”

”]Kathy’s chicken edifice is called the Palais de Poulet. She worked with Seattle artist-builder John Akers to create the magnificent chicken abode, complete with a jaunty turret and a brick entry path lined with boxwood clipped into a fleur de lis pattern.

READ MORE…

Leslie's Autumn-inspired piece is topped by a fabulous flame

There’s new artwork at the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden  and it’s as colorful as the peacocks strolling around the grounds.

Four sculptural “towers,” designed, crafted and donated by artist Leslie Codina, celebrate winter, spring, summer and fall. The installation complements a 10,000-square-foot display of ornamental and edible plants called “Garden for All Seasons.”

Codina, who lives and works in Ontario, creates whimsical stacked towers of color, pattern and form. Her hand-built earthenware “beads” are fired in vibrant glazes, eye-catching patterns, and exaggerated organic shapes that suggest thorns, leaves, flowers, tendrils and bugs. Each piece has a hole at its center so it can be slid over a metal rod in whimsical, mix-and-match designs.

“They are my crazy interpretation of what’s already in the garden,” she says.

The artist sells her $400-$650 garden sculptures at local fairs, including the Arboretum’s L.A. Garden Show each spring. She proposed donating a permanent, site-specific sculpture several years ago, but it wasn’t until after renovations on “Garden for All Seasons” started in 2007 that Tim Phillips, the Arboretum’s acting CEO, agreed and suggested the site. Codina worked with garden curator Darlene Kelly to come up with the four-season theme and determine where the pieces would be installed.

The four spires represent the garden's beauty in all four seasons

At 9 to 15 feet high, the quartet of spires has more than 50 individual “beads” and is larger than Codina’s typical work.  “The scale is huge – the base shapes are the size of a beach ball,” she says. “When we put them all together, they look hugely impressive. They complement the garden and the garden complements the sculpture.”

The sculptures follow the seasons, both in size and color. “They gain height as they ‘grow’ from winter through the rest of the year,” Codina says. Purple-and-sage designs symbolize winter; spring is a full spectrum of green colors; summer has hot pinks, oranges and greens; and fall is depicted with mustard yellow, olive green and red hues.

Unlike Codina’s smaller pieces, which often have branch-like armatures, the sculptures at the Arboretum are made of mostly cylindrical shapes. “I made them very peacock-safe,” says the artist. “I didn’t want to give the peacocks any place to perch.”

PHOTOS: courtesy Gene Sasse Photography

Linda Ann Vorobik, Lopez Island-based botanical artist

Sometimes, if you’re open to the experience, you meet the most amazing people in the unlikeliest of places. Earlier this month, artist Linda Ann Vorobik was my surprise encounter.

This is Part 2 of my Lopez Island story. We went camping on July 4th weekend on a lovely little island called Lopez, in the San Juan Islands of Washington State.

My friend Jennifer Cargal, who organized the camping trip, mentioned that the Farmer’s Market on Lopez was a real treat. Imagine, getting to poke around booths, sample jams and nuts, talk with artisans – all while ostensibly on a camping trip (I must add that Jennifer made the most of our visit to Lopez because we also managed to have a “mom-only” tasting at the Lopez Winery, while her husband kept an eye on all four boys – what a champ).

Turns out that the Lopez Farmer’s Market was a 2-day affair over the holiday weekend, so we went Friday and Saturday. Amid the vendors of artwork, yarn spun and died from local sheep and alpaca, jewelry, pottery and photography, I spied Linda’s display of botanical artwork.

A botanical art gallery at the Lopez Island Farmer's Market

Linda is an incredibly gifted scientist and illustrator whose work has documented highly regarded field guides and botanical reference manuals. She considers all three west coast states “home,” but has returned to her family property on Lopez to live and draw and work on myriad research projects. As we spoke, I realized how broad and deep are her talents. She pretty much has the entire west coast flora population covered in her knowledge.

With a PhD from the University of Oregon, Linda conducts field research and teaches in the Siskiyou Mountains of southwestern Oregon. She also visits Berkeley on a regular basis, where she is a research associate at the University Herbarium at UC-Berkeley.

Linda is the principal illustrator of The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California (an expanded, updated version of which will be issued next year) and The Flora of Santa Cruz Island. She has contributed many illustrations to scientific, botanical and horticultural publications.

We started talking about Santa Cruz Island, which is the tiny, remote island I visited in California’s Channel Islands this past May with my friend Paula Panich. Linda’s illustrations of native California species that grow on Santa Cruz are just spectacular. I think we’d have to go earlier in springtime to see some of them growing in situ. But the next best thing are her watercolors. I had to purchase a set of note cards to send Paula as a reminder of the day there.

The set included Dicentra formosa (Western bleeding heart); Dicentra spectabilis (Garden bleeding heart); Calochortus catalinae (Catalina Island mariposa lily); and Calochortus splendens (Lilac mariposa lily). Check out Linda’s web site to see the incredible detail of each plant and its parts. All four of these flowers are available as cards, prints – and even a few of the original paintings are available for purchase at what seems like a pretty affordable price for original botanical art.

Okay, so the Channel Island note cards were in my basket. What next ? Oh, I couldn’t resist two cards for my new friend Marie Lincoln, owner of the Chocolate Flower Farm on Whidbey Island. Having just met Marie a few days earlier, I was thinking about her when I saw two beautiful cards with patterned fritillaria, which Linda rendered in sultry, luscious “chocolatey” hues ranging from soft green to deepest plum. Fritillaria affinis (Chocolate lily) appears in several coastal Pacific Northwest locations. As Linda writes on her web site: “If you are lucky enough to encounter them, take a peek into their enchanting nodding bells to see six bright yellow stamens with a background of green and brown checker-painted petal color.”

Spring Wildflowers of Lopez Island

Finally, all this gift-giving for my garden friends made me yearn for something of Linda’s to bring home to my Southern California walls. The perfect print was there in her little open-air gallery. It symbolized the happiness I experienced on Lopez, as I enjoyed nature, good companionship, the laughter and boisterous activities of children, eating food around the fire, and pure summer.

Linda’s print: “Spring Wildflowers of Lopez Island,” features several of her botanical watercolors together: Zygadenus venenosus (Death camas – prettier than its name suggests); Dodecatheon pulchellum (Shooting star), Camassia leichtlinii (Camas) and the two gorgeous chocolate lilies. Just looking at this print today makes me smile.

If you have any inclination to learn more about botanical art, you’ll be pleased to know that Linda teaches workshops all around the west, including classes scheduled for the Berkeley area this September. Read about them here.

It’s these small souvenirs that become touchstones for so many of our memories. That’s why I brought home a pocketful of smooth pebbles, gathered from the shore of Lopez Island. They are piled on my nightstand where I can be sure to see them – at least twice a day.

Summer on Lopez Island

We drove from Seattle to Anacortes, Wash., where the Washington State Ferries depart for several San Juan islands, as well as Victoria, B.C. (Anacortes is about 2-hour’s drive north of Seattle). Jennifer and I were in one van with 2 boys. Her husband David was a few cars behind us with 2 other boys. Suffice it to say that the car-waiting lines were long and even though we arrived around 1:30 p.m., we were given the bad news that we wouldn’t get on the 2:30 p.m. ferry. Instead, we would have to wait until 5-something. Bummer. Setting up camp at the same time you want to cook dinner isn’t great fun. But the holiday craziness started on Thursday this year. Even though we thought we were smart departing for our trip on July 2nd, it appeared that thousands of other people were just as smart!

Mom and son enjoy a glorious 4th of July weekend

We let the boys hop out of the car to run around the beach. Then Jennifer started edging the car forward in the line. Next thing we knew the line didn’t stop rolling…yikes! I had to jump out and run, yell and simultaneously try to dial my son’s cell phone number, to get the kids back in the car. Miraculously! We actually squeezed our car/van caravan onto that 2:30 p.m. ferry. The camping gods were smiling on our little group after all.

With that auspicious beginning, our vacation commenced. Lopez is small island with a population that swells from something like 800 year-round residents to hundreds of thousands in the summer. Especially on holiday weekends.

We found our campsite, located at Spencer Spit State Park, near the water but in a forested area, and set up two tents, a canopy over the picnic table, and multiple chairs around the firepit.

Jennifer gets the fixin's ready for a pocket pizza, camping style

CAMPING FOOD

For dinner, Jennifer had planned “Cook-your-own sandwiches.” She has amassed a great collection of camping accoutrements, including several hinged, cast-iron sandwich-makers with long handles. They are called Pie Irons (and you can purchase them for approximately $15 each).

Hot off the griddle - a Hobo Sandwich!

Butter the inside of each 4-by-4 inch tray (about the size of a bread slice) and lay bread in both.  Add cheese, pepperoni and tomato sauce to make a pocket pizza; Or just use the cheese to make a grilled cheese sandwich. And for dessert, use the bread as “crust” and add apple or cherry pie filling to make a one-person piece of pie.

The “cooking” occurs by sticking the square end over the campfire or on the campstove. Heat for a few minutes on one side; flip it over and do the same on the other side. When you finish and open up the hinged sections, the finished sandwich, calzone-like pizza or sweet pie is ready to eat.

I told my friend Robin about our fun grilling experience. And she proclaimed: “Oh, my husband used to make those when he was a kid! They’re called Hobo Meals!”

LOPEZ ARCHITECTURE

The architecture of Lopez fascinated me when I was there in 2004 and again on this trip. In the center of town there is a restored 1914 water tower and pump house. Tall, square and slender with the look of a lighthouse. It has weathered shingle siding and tiny windows. As it turns out, there are several of these structures on the island; I even saw one incorporated into the corner of a residence.

There is something very appealing about these towers. They are utilitarian as well as incredibly beautiful. They have that New England, maritime architectural style (reminiscent of Cape Cod, Mystic Seaport, Rockport). Having lived in New England as a young girl, these salty, breezy edifices felt comforting to me. And permanent. Jennifer and I walked around “downtown” Lopez and snapped photos of cool architecture. Here are a few that captured our imagination:

Driftwood shelter on Spencer Spit

BEACH ARCHITECTURE

We spent a lot of time beachcombing, and apparently, so did others.

The driftwood that washed up on the beach is obvious inspiration for shelter-builders who stack, pile, lean and construct temporary driftwood shelters.

Here is a beautiful, open-air A-frame made from driftwood (see left). It reminds me of the human urge to create shelter.

Wherever we are; whatever materials are at hand. We find a way to establish “home” for ourselves and our loved ones.

Another structure occupied the beach at Spencer Spit. It was a replica of the original fishing house that once stood here. Simple, clean lines. Open to the air. A shelter in the truest sense of the word. Again, it filled that yearning void for enclosure, safety, comfort and protection from the elements. Open and inviting to anyone who happened along this stretch of beach. I love the “spaces” that create view-framing windows through which to enjoy the gorgeous water, island and maritime views:

The fishing hut on Spencer Spit

A breathtaking framed view