Journey of a garden

what a shame I failed to update this post, as the garden was transformed and looked amazing both in summer 2013 and this year. Here are some images from then.

made a succulent garden, The slugs put their seal of approval upon it straight away :/

Clematis growing through the Wisteria post flowering

The Wisteria was amazing this year

Sad to say that this little beauty was STOLEN from outside my newly opened vintage annexe in the summer.
If you see it out and about please let me know where. 

Hi People! :) well I came back from NZ to one of the hardest winters I have ever experienced, in every sense. The garden a shambles from the frost and an attack of vine weevil. Had to completely gut it and remove all the contaminated compost and plants, around a ton of it. without the help of my darling brother this I could not have managed! Bless him!

Here is what it looked like in early March;

'scuse the large finger in the corner!!!

oops not used the where the iphone's camera was located. lol

anyway, you can see all the pots emptied and piled up. At this point I had absolutely no idea how I was going to put it all back together. No resources at all and I wanted to cry!

However, my very kind and generous friend Jane at Lakers garden centre in Winslow, helped me out with some plants and compost and the transformation began. 

beginning to take shape, I was so desperate for plants that I was digging up seedlings from the gravel!

Add caption

The transformation complete!

My travels

Hi dear friends, oops! I know! it's been a long time and so much to share with you all.
Where shall I begin? Well I had a very long break in New Zealand, a sort of busman's holiday.
I had been before about 8 years ago and fell in love with the landscape, the coastline and the lovely friendly Kiwi's ( people not wildlife) , so when the opportunity presented itself to go back and re-establish contact with friends and galleries I had to jump. Here is a little taste of my location, north of the south island near Collingwood, Golden Bay area. A lovely luxury B&B called Song of the Tui.

 misty dawn my first day of waking up in NZ, heaven!

 couldn't resist taking pics from the bus on the way through the mountains

 My room, just look at that view!

View from the helipad

 Aorere River, on the way to the Heafy track, below is one of the many beautiful beaches nearby.

Reg and Tina

I met some amazing people, all of them helpful in one way or another  in my mission to establish a working environment/studio to produce my art over there for the NZ market. The shipping costs from here are prohibitive and although I found two galleries willing to show my work, only one of them is happy for me to send it from here.
My friend Reg Turner, owner of the B&B and my host for most of my stay, was very active in helping me to get known in and around the south island, turning me into a kind of celebrity for a while! He managed to gain interviews and articles about my visit in two of the main newspapers! Shame I was having a bad hair month! lol
So having made myself a space to work in Reg's enormous garage, I am ready to get out there every year to make some art and enjoy their summer

'Princess'
The two galleries I have established contact with are; South St Gallery in Nelson and Bryce Gallery in Christchurch. Lovely people both.
Here are some more pics, my host and his friend Tina, his dog Princess ( the royal pain!)and my new friend Kyra, who also loves pottery and has a kiln!! Couldn't get any better could it?