An Art Fair Weekend

Swanstone Gardens Celebrate Nature Art Fair August 2010
Some of my beads


Some of my display tables for the fair.
Do you know this sweet plant?
A tobacco harvest - just trying....
This is our first harvest of the transplanted beets - they were very good.
The trenched fence that is now backfilled and protecting the yard.
I like the look of the black fence.
Later this fall this area should get a cement slab too.
Queen Red Lime Zinnia
These are so lovely.


I participated in a three day art fair at Swanstone Gardens just up the road from home. Friday was not the best weather warm, close, and very buggy but Saturday and Sunday were just great - breezy and sunny with a nice crowd all day long looking at the art and other things for sale. I like this art fair and from what I can see people like what I offer. Besides gardening I work in glass and make beads. I have been doing this for almost ten years. Lampwork, as my beading is called, is great fun and glass is such a wonderful medium with vibrant colors and endless possibilities for shapes.
The other activity this week was our fence. We had taken out the split rail fence and had contracted for a black vinyl chain link fence to be installed. With all our rain I was not sure how we were going to get the job done. Monday the crew arrived and dug the post holes and cemented in the posts. That night we had a downpour and because I was burying the chain link in a trench those trenches filled with water and I mean filled! Tuesday was drain day as the contractor deemed it too wet to work - yes it was too wet. I think it took most of the day to drain the water out of the trenches. The east side needed to be siphoned and the west side I had to ditch to get all the water out. Late in the day the water was gone. Wednesday the fence crew returned and we were fenced by noon. I have always had the garden fence but now with the back yard enclosed I no longer have to fence the garden and I really like just walking into my garden space at anyplace I want.
At the art fair I had a small flower display of zinnias and they were a hit. They are called Queen Red Lime and are from Johnny's Select Seeds. They are tall plants(40-50in.) but the flowers range in size and are a mix of green and red and I am really fond on these. They are really pretty and people would touch them at the fair and said "Oh these are real!" So the pictures try to show you what they look like.
Happy Gardening