Art for Heart's Sake

Look at This!!

Hi, oh we had such a lovely day yesterday.  The trip to Golden Bay was magic, such beautiful countryside.  I managed to get a few photos taken 1/3 of the way back up the hill on the way home and I'll post them as soon as John's uploaded them from my phone. 

We stopped in Takaka itself before continuing on for about 30 minutes to get to Bainham where the Langford Store is and wandered around looking at the shops there.  Takaka is a small settlement but there are some wonderful little shops showcasing art, craft and other things.  Here is a photo of a ''Mushroom Lamp'' made from wood and possum hides (possum are pests here in NZ).  I couldn't believe how incredible this lamp looks.  Unfortuantely the photo doesn't show the other side of the lamp stand which has a magnificent tall 'mushroom' leaning against it!  Such wonderful imagination!

We carried on to Bainham and stopped at the store owners' house first to have a lovely cup of tea and a chat.  Afterwards we took my art to the store and left Sukhita to display it all.  Sukhita is such a lovely woman and the store is such a special treasure filled with family history.  I love that my art is there for the season.

I need to get busy creating more gift tags and canvases now as well as being head down, bottom up in the garden.  I think I need to spend 1/2 a day in the garden and 1/2 a day in the studio while fitting other day to day things inbetween, pant, pant! 

Off to the garden I must go because I have to go out to John's choir recital this pm.  Smiles..

Over the Hill!

Hi, giggle, no not me!  We are heading over the Takaka Hill to Golden Bay today to take my art and gift tags to The Langford Store where they will be exhibited throughout the coming Spring/Summer etc season.  I am so excited and delighted to be asked.

I love the Takaka Hill, it's a lovely steep road with lots of sharp corners and it's a dream to drive up there in our little car.  The view from the summit is indescribably beautiful!  I'll see if I can get a photo of it for you.

Off we go!  Smiles..

Weeds and Art!

Hi, phew yesterday I really slogged it in the perennial garden.  I planted a mulberry tree near my glasshouse and have perennials in this bed too.  Little did I know the mulberry tree wouldn't put roots downwards but across the garden.  Oh brother, what a twit (nz for silly person) I am!  Needless to say there are now areas where I simply cannot dig the soil because of the roots.  On a brighter note my perennials seem to be standing up to it really well, even if I'm not!  I was SO grumpy by the end of the day.  All is not lost though.. I have some perennials especially G. phaeum and her seedlings that are shallow-rooting so they will be REALLY happy there.  I'm going to compost really heavily too.

We had some sad news on Monday, our neighbour who is a farmer was involved in a horrible road accident on Sunday and is in critical condition (we think he still is).  He's been flown from our local hospital to a main centre to receive specialist treatment.  We are hopeful he will recover and if there is one bright note, at least it wasn't a head injury.  Our thoughts are very much with you our friend and we're looking forward to being able to talk to you over the paddock fence again soon.

You honestly never know when life is going to throw a major curve ball and this sort of thing REALLY makes me realise a lot of the things I get agitated about just don't matter one bit in the grand scheme of things.  I'm going to try to remember this every day when something is trying to get under my skin.

On my way home from getting vegetables today I called into The Rosarie which is a flower-growing business and small retail outlet run by friends of ours.  I got a couple of bunches of beautiful blue dutch iris and yay my gift tags have almost sold out so I need to make some more.  I'm really excited about that so will be busy this week finishing some of the ones I started before I went to New Plymouth.  I've been so busy weeding since I got home I haven't had a chance to finish them.

Yes, you guessed it, out to the garden I must go!  Smiles..

Breaking My Habit!

Hi and wow I've broken my habit of not going into Nelson very often!  Yesterday I took my picture in to be professionally packed and priced and this morning I had to go back in early to sign the paperwork because they agreed to a price that meant I could send it with them, fully warrantied against loss or damage.  Yay, this makes me so happy because if I sent it via NZ Post international courier it wouldn't have that sort of cover.

I'm home now and about to leap into the garden.. hmm I seem to be doing a lot of leaping these days, giggle.  My left leg is feeling the pressure a bit - no pain but just a bit tight behind the knee.  It will get a rest this weekend.  We are off to Golden Bay for the day on Saturday and I'm going to John's choir concert on Sunday pm so that rights off most of my gardening time.  I will get a chance to do some on Sunday morning though.

I need to make another ''to do'' list because my brain is so full of everything I'm finding I'm getting a bit uptight about it all.  Oh bother and blast it - a list is definitely the way to go!

I'm going to write it while I drink my much-needed cup of tea!  Smiles..

It's Off!

Hi, yikes I took my, oops Kathryn's painting, in to be professionally packed this morning and I'm waiting for a phone call to let me know it's ready to be sent.  It's really exciting and I love that my painting is going to be in someone's home, being enjoyed.

On the way home I bought another 30x36'' canvas and I'm looking forward to getting started on it sometime in the near future.  I had to do a few more errands on the way home so it was lunchtime by the time I got back.

This pm I'm going to spend some time in the garden again, eeeek I'm making slow but sure progress and need to as it's meant to rain all next week, oh bother.  I'm also going to put some cord on the back of my other canvases too.

I'm sorry this is a bit short, this week seems to be really busy.  More tomorrow.. Smiles..

Squeeeeee It's Sold!

Hi, oh my I am so excited.  I've been wanting to tell you this news for the past week but wanted to wait until true confirmation came through.  I've sold my painting ''Into the Sunset'' to a lovely woman in Mississippi, USA!!  I can't believe it and am truly humbled, delighted and beyond excited.  It's a wonderful yet strange feeling knowing that ''part of me'' is heading across the world to be enjoyed by someone.  Here's a slightly better photo of it than the last one I posted a couple of months ago.  It is so hard to capture the depth of colour and texture in a photograph, this still doesn't do it true justice.

I am taking the painting to be professionally packed and sent tomorrow.

This morning I had the delightful pleasure of meeting with an artist I have admired for many years.  Janet Marshall is a world-renowned artist specialising in botanicals and birds.  I can't tell you how lovely she is and INCREDIBLY talented.  Dad bought me a book of hers ''Images of a Garden'' back in 1996 and a couple of years ago I met Janet at an art club meeting and asked her to sign it for me.  Here is a link to her beautiful art.  Click on her ''Paintings for sale'' and you'll see some gorgeous work. http://www.janetemarshall.co.nz/

I am about to leap back into the garden.  Smiles..

A-Weeding I will Go!

Morning on a truly beautiful Sunday morning.  It started off slightly cloudy but that has been replaced by blue sky and sunshine again.  I'm going to spend most of the day weeding the perennial garden.  I made a start yesterday and I've decided I'm going to work my way from one end of it to another.  I tend to weed in patches but I really need to be methodical about it this time.  Oh brother the couch grass has really become well established now - before my hip operation I had it under a certain amount of control.  Not any more!!  Ugh!  Battle couch is going to be a tough one!

I baked a peach shortcake for afternoon tea yesterday and oh my it was so scrummy!  I will definitely be making it again. 

Here's a photo of me taken last Saturday evening at my sisters' house in Inglewood near New Plymouth.  I have photos on my phone of Mum too and I must email them to myself so I can post them here. 

This week has gone so quickly after getting home and I can't believe it will be September in just over one week, crikey - next thing it will be Christmas, gulp!  Time to weed!  Smiles..

 

A Double Hellebore!

Hi there, here she is, my gorgeous double hellebore (winter rose).  I just love the way she looks straight at me!

Today is a bit of an odd day!  We have friends coming over for afternoon tea and I've decided to bake a peach tea cake.  I just looked at the recipe and it is going to take a while for the butter to soften so I probably won't be baking it until just after lunch.. yikes!  It needs to be cool enough to eat by about 3pm.  I need to vacuum the living area this morning and then I'm hoping to get out into the garden for a while.

My plan is to weed the entire perennial garden really thoroughly and I have a feeling it could take about one month!!  Eeeeeek!

Must fly as need to get things done.  Smiles..

An Early Start!

Hi on Friday afternoon!  I had to rush out of the house this morning to get to the farm shop for our vegetables and to drop off 14 punnets and 5 potted plants to Bay Landscapes.  My plants have started to ''tick over'' quite nicely now and it is so exciting.  I need to keep sowing vegie seeds each week or two to keep up with demand.  There is another person also selling vegetable punnets so I am specialising in more unusual, heritage varieties. 

Yesterday I sowed my first lot of tomato seeds for the season.  I will probably only sow two or three lots 2 weeks apart because the main planting time for toms is October, early November.  I've realised I will have to buy some sweet 100 cocktail tomato plants for me because I don't have seeds for them.

This pm I am digging up a few  of my stock plants and splitting them up for orders that I already have.  There are one or two varieties that are REALLY popular and I'm having trouble keeping up stocks of.  I will plant a few more pieces of these around the garden too so I have more stock plants.

It is a BEAUTIFUL day here today.  It was frosty to start with but the sky is true blue and the sun is lovely.  I have to say it is pretty chilly in the shade though.  Off to my potting shed!  Smiles..

Eeeek So Much to Do!

Hi there, this will be a fairly short post today because my head is bursting with all of the things I need to do.  Spring is approaching really fast and I suddenly realised this morning I desperately need to get my tomato seed sown, eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek, as well as splitting up some more stock plants etc.

Yesterday I moved the plants that are for orders to their separate spot, well away from my nursery.  This makes me feel so much better because I know they won't be sold.  I also realised I need to pot up a few more of a few of them because I don't have quite enough for my orders.  This means I need to get these potted up el pronto so they can put on some good growth in the next month or so.

I've been contacted by a few groups who want to come to the garden so I must leap into the perennial bed with gusto in the next few days too.  Pant, pant!  Top that with trying to finish gift tags and sort out my art to be exhibited at the Langford Store by Saturday week (when we go over there) and you have one busy ME! 

Off I go, hi ho, hi ho!  Smiles..