Gggrrrr..It's a Tiger !! .. ...Salamander.

                 This is the final product of this Tiger Salamander, It took three tries to get the color right , right to me that is. I really , really like it. It's currently residing at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens.

A Flower Garden Not my Own...

    ......Sadly for me,  this is a flower garden tended by so many, many people, thus it would only be a garden I could have if I won the lottery.   So I delivered to Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens last week, and Martha Anne,  said " Liz , go look around ". Well, I've been selling my work to Lewis Ginter since 1991 or as Martha Anne also said "Liz, you're the oldest vendor we have ", now,  I didn't take offence because I knew she meant I had been there the longest of any other vendor. Not that I'm horribly old. I'm pretty sure that's what she meant. No , I'm kidding, Martha Anne's a doll.  Anyway, I went out to look around and while I wasn't paying attention Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens got huge  and gorgeous. If it hadn't been so hot I would've stayed there all afternoon. The rose garden alone was fabulous and that's what is pictured here. A tiny part of it.  Really , it's just as good if not better than any old English country estate gardens. I am proud to have my work there.

Bhindi is my Co-Pilot....

   ... but only on the 1st leg of the trip. On the second half we were just fellow travelers dependant on the kindness of strangers. The last few days I've been delivering my work to different places, Garden Place and Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens in Richmond and Through the Garden Gate in Roanoke.  And scouting out new places to put my work. It's fun traveling usually BUT, this time not so much. This time Bhindi , my Subaru and I were hauled home on a tow truck. Nearly all breakdowns are aggravating, unless miraculously they happen right in front of your house.  When you are out of town and it's hot and your car has stopped dead in the middle of a parking lot , cell phone doesn't work and there are signs all around saying " No dogs please" , well it'a little panic making. However, the very kind Vikki at Lewis Ginter loaned me her cellphone because for some reason mine could call everyone else but AAA. And eventually after some more shenanigans I won't go into,  we were on our way home. Which is what  I realized as we walked up my steps, Staunton is my home now. That's how I think of it.  It didn't even take a year to get a warm fuzzy feeling when I go into my house.  Whew... That's what it felt like to come home.