Finally!

Look what we found today!

Finally! I seriously was beginning to think that we had the only chickens every born hatched that would never lay eggs. But just look at these beauties!

And they tasted pretty yummy, fried up with some veggies and served slathered in hot sauce. Just look at the pretty orange color, and check out how fresh eggs cook, the middle doesn't cook as fast as the edges.

Tomatoes and garlic courtesy of our garden.

Here's some more veggies from our garden. I'm not sure what to do with all those peppers. Any suggestions?

Even more on the Evans' garden!

Cindy and Mark told Janine, from Laguna Dirt and I that the LA Times was planning to a feature their home and garden, but with the weather being cold, gloomy and threatening rain when the original date was set, I didn't know when they would eventually come out.

So, I was really thrilled to pick up last Saturday's paper, and there it was in the Home section! How cool is that? You can read the article here.

Somehow I couldn't get both the story and the pics on the same link. So, forgive me, but I'll share the pics below.

Photo: Gina Ferazzi
View from the dining room looking into the festive kitchen

Photo: Gina Ferazzi

Janine and I mostly wandered around the garden, but the LA Times folks focused more on the intereior. It was the Home section, after all!

Photo: Gina Ferazzi

Photo Gina Ferazzi
Cindy and Mark with Maude (under the table) and Junior. 

Photo: Gina Ferazzi
The beautiful garden for a backdrop

Photo: Gina Ferazzi
Siesta time

Photo: Gina Ferazzi

Photo: Gina Ferazzi

Photo: Gina Ferazzi
Mark also plays and collects guitars

Photo: Gina Ferazzi
Their dramatic dining room looks into the colorful kitchen

Photo: Gina Ferazzi
Cindy wanted her kitchen to remind her of her Mexican Grandmothers' kitchen

Photo: Gina Ferazzi
The latest flea market find: a wooden firescreen that depicts Mission San Juan Capistrano

Now we leave the house and get back to the garden... 

Photo: Gina Ferazzi
An vintage barbeque, that still works, is filled with succulents

Photo: Gina Ferazzi
Remember this one? That sombrero kills me!

Photo: Gina Ferazzi
Mark and Junior check out the palapa

Pretty darn impressive! I don't know about you, but the LA Times hasn't knocked on my door to feature my house in their paper.

Couldn't get enough? Good, there's so much more!

This is going to be a photofest of the garden that I visited with my friend Janine who has a cool blog called Laguna Dirt. Check out my last post so that you're up to speed!

Like I said, around every corner, and in every nook & cranny there were such cool vintage, flea market finds. Each treasure added so much to Mark and Cindy Evan's garden, highlighting their cool aesthetic. We had a hard time keeping our jaws off the ground, and not gushing at every detail!

The front door. I love how it's ajar, just waiting to welcome friends!

Vintage Mexican folk art horse

I don't think that I could pick one favorite detail. Each item adds so much to this whimsical garden.

I adore the mix of Mexicana with the religious icons

Can you ever have too many donkeys pulling carts? No way!

I think I would pot lots of plants in this potting shed!

Who's that knocking on the door?

Oh, and there is the sweetest courtyard off the kitchen and living room, the tile and fountain are all original to this 1920's casa. It's almost too much for me to take!

Frogs with sombreros, of course!

The perfect sunny spot for the Virgin Mary

Very inviting... iced tea, please.

I'll be dreaming about this garden from now on, and thinking of ways I can infuse creativity into my own garden.

Cool art, too!

 Can picture yourself sun worshipping on this bench? Ah...

I could easily spend another few hours in the Evans' garden, taking pictures and admiring what they've done. It truly is a work of art!

Mexican themed Laguna garden

My friend Janine Robinson has a great garden blog called Laguna Dirt. In her quest for cool gardens around town, I thought I'd introduce her to some friends. I knew she would love Mark and Cindy Evans' amazing garden. So we went by one day, and Cindy just happened to be out tending her garden. We asked if it would be ok if we could come back with a camera so that Janine could take some pics. And after chatting for awhile, and us drooling over all of their wonderful vintage finds, she agreed!

What's behind the gate?

 A few days later, I tagged along when Janine went back to take lots of shots of the garden and to talk to Mark and Cindy a little about their space. Their garden is the stuff of myths. Every inch, and around every corner are wonderful vintage Mexican and religious themed statues and trinkets that leave you feeling nostalgic, and very lucky to be in their space. Sheer bliss.

It's all about the details in this garden.

Aren't those flamingos fabulous?

We stayed for hours! Wandering around and through their large garden, following paths that lead to patios and sun drenched nooks. Everywhere you looked were more cool flea market treasures. 

The colors and textures made this garden so interesting!

Adorable donkey with cacti

Cindy's dad made this St. Francis of Assisi for her, per her instructions

Very cool, right?

A sleeping deck off the main house, the bed is behind the closed blinds on the right.

This Mamasita and her piglets guard the front window

More to drool over

Another Mamasita

Cindy's dad also made this cigar smoking dude.

I have so many more pics to share! I'll have to do another post...