Our Summer Vacation

Amar's sister and her family spent their summer vacation with last year. We really enjoyed spending time with them and I was there with my trusty camera to document just about every waking moment we had with them. I hope this video goes beyond your ordinary, average vacation photo album.

Art in the Garden

T Rex Lives!!!
Originally uploaded by Martha {Dancing Monkey Jewelry}

Saw this in my neighbor's yard on a walk - I love it. My dog, well, let's just say he doesn't know what to think of it and did a fair amount of growling when he first saw it.

I love art in the garden. It adds interest and gives you something to look at during the winter months. I intend to add some statuary in my secret garden and maybe a water feature - though I'm not sure if either of those would be considered "art".

When life has other plans...

This post isn't going to be about gardening. Though there's plenty to write about. My garden has been terribly neglected this year (to the point of being embarrassing) and it's also been the first year a hummingbird has staked it out as "his" garden - I've been dive bombed a couple of times when I get to close to the buddelia that he favors. Also, there has been abundance of butterflies this year. So there you go - a little good to go with the bad.

What do you do when everything seems to be going wrong for you? Me? Well, I can't seem to hold back and next thing you know I'm calling my family, texting my friends, posting on my social network sites and write about it in my blog. For some reason it's very therapeutic for me - let's me work out my angst and I get words of encouragement from those who know and love me. The problems don't go away but it's nice to know that other's have similar experiences and have come through relatively unscathed.

I've been on vacation for the last week. We have family visiting from England - Amar's sister and her family. For the most part it's been quite nice getting to spend time with them. Throw in a couple of illnesses, a cranky old dog (seen in the photo above) who isn't tolerating small children and the transmission going out in my car in the middle of an outing and I'm telling you I'm seriously considering not taking a vacation for a very long time. What's even more stressful is that I've got one week left of vacation and I don't think I'll be able to survive week two if it is like week one.

What are my plans? Well...I'll be relying on public transit to get to work and home for the new few weeks. Transmissions repairs are quite expensive my web research has told me - so there will be a fair amount of scrimping and saving. And then I'll be trying to generate some sales in my on-line shops (hint, hint). All in all, this hasn't been a banner year for me (along with a lot of other people) so I'll be happy when 2010 rolls around - I just want to be done with 2009.

So...if you want to help out a fellow crafts person/photographer/blogger and make a purchase from one of my shops (or even leave some words of encouragement on my blog) I'd be most appreciative. Right now I feel like I'm standing in the middle of a swamp and I've lost my path to land in front of me and there are alligators snapping behind me. Not the best position to be in but at least I'm still standing. And there's plenty gardening to keep me occupied as long as the hummingbird doesn't mind.

The Beginning of the Secret Garden

DSCF2523
Originally uploaded by Martha {Dancing Monkey Jewelry}

When Amar and I bought our house there wasn't much of a garden. Sure the contractor planted a few boxwoods and a rhodie bush and called it landscaped, but in truth it wasn't. Our house had stood vacant for several years and the yard was quite overgrown with weeds and several trees that were dead or dying and the contractor did a good job of cleaning the yard and clearing out the overgrowth and dead trees and left with two Honey Locust trees, a cherry tree and two Holly Trees. It was a nice start.

Since then Amar and I have added a fence, a tree, several bushes (Red Honeysuckle, Mock Orange, Forsythia, and a Dwarf Lilac), garden beds with many plants. It definitely doesn't look the same.

Our next big venture will be to add a "Secret Garden on the northside of the house, a patio and a garden gate. Our patio will be in the spot you see in this photograph. We've removed the tree that you see by the fence and Amar will be putting down a patio, turf or deck - it all depends upon his energy and our funds. We would like a fire pit, comfy furniture and some privacy in this spot. It's going to take lots of work but when it's done it's going to look fantastic.

Changes for "Bella Faire - Art in the Garden"

I've been thinking about this for quite sometime and I've decided that I'm going to change the focus of this blog. It started out a venue to showcase local artists who participated in last year's "Bella Faire - Art in the Garden" art show. This year there will not be a show and it was hard enough to get the participants of last year's show to submit information for this blog so I'm going to change the focus of the blog to gardening. Specifically, my garden and the gardens in my part of the world - both community and private.

So, welcome to the first blog of "Bella Faire - The Art of Gardening". I'm going to combine my love of photography, gardening and writing in this blog. Spring is a time of renewal and there's lots happening in my garden. I'm excited about the new direction I will be taking this blog. I hope to bring you lots of good information, photos and stories in the coming months. So stay tuned. I'll be back in the next couple of days with a good post for you to read.

Best Regards,

martha

Coming Attractions!!!

It's safe to say that the first Bella Faire - Art in the Garden was a total success. Though there were a few glitches along the way, we couldn't have asked for a more perfect day - the show went off without a hitch. The weather even cooperated with us - which a great gift as weatherman threatened rain showers on Saturday. In a couple of days photos from the Saturday will be posted on this blog.

Last but not least, the Bella Faire - Art in the Garden blogged will be updated regularly so that you will know where and when the next faire will happen. Also, any updates that come our way on the participating artist will be published here. There may even be a mailing list in the works to keep you posted on the happenings of Bella Faire and the participating artists.

Thank you to everyone attended - we wouldn't have been a success without you!

Bella Faire - Art in the Garden

On July 26, 2008 several artists from the South Puget Sound region are getting together and are hosting a fine art show in a lovely garden in North Tacoma. This will truly be an exciting event for both those attending and participating. The venue will provide an intimate setting so that so that you'll get a chance to meet and get to know artist and learn where they get their inspirations for the art they create.

In this blog you will be introduced to the artists you will be able to meet at Bella Faire - Art in the Market.