Beautiful camellias

This morning I went to the Camellia and Garden Expo at the Toowoomba TAFE which is right next to the Cobb and Co Museum where our local farmer's market is held each Saturday. The last time I attended it was a cold rainy day which made it very miserable for everyone as most of the stall holders were outside in the weather. However this year it turned out to be a beautiful winter's day which was warm and sunny after a cold morning.

 

 It is always interesting to meet new people at our local market and today I met Vonnie from Von-Katz Soaps and Gift Baskets who was selling her handmade soap which was very impressive.

 If you haven't made soap before then you wouldn't realise how much experimenting goes into finally being able to produce soaps like those in the photo. Vonnie has a large variety of soap including some for washing the family dog.

 

 She also has gift baskets and apparently she is going to be selling online very soon once she has her website set up so if you are interested in some good quality soap then check out her Facebook page and I am sure she will announce when she is ready to send out her gift baskets, etc.  If you are a local you might find her at the PCYC markets at times too.

 After the market I headed over to the camellia show and you wouldn't believe the different varieties of camellias they had on display and for sale.

  In one of the tents there were several displays which I presume were for a competition.

 I felt a bit bad thinking about how neglected our poor old camellia tree is as it rarely is watered. 

 However, these camellias were just so beautiful and obviously get a lot of TLC.

 

There were also some local artisans there as well and I met Karen Canning from Studio Fifty Three. She was selling these plants inside a glass jar which was such a good idea....

 ....as well as Kokedama plants. Check out her website and you will see some of her stunning work there and she also holds workshops. 

 I just had to take a photo of this old timer as it brought back memories of when I was young.

Coroneos is a local plant nursery which has been around for ages. Don't you love the different colours of the camellias in the photo?

There were knitted and felted goods for sale and quilts as well plus a stall selling the loveliest pots and I did succumb and bought a $3 one which I thought was rather good as I didn't get tempted to bring home a box of plants like I usually do. It is just so dry I didn't want to have more plants to look after until the weather improves. 

The Expo finishes tomorrow so if keen gardeners live in the region it would be worth your while going for a drive to check it out. Sophie Thomson and Jerry Coleby-Williams from Gardening Australia are two of the speakers and they are always good to listen to. 

The beautiful weather is such a reprieve after the bitterly cold and windy day we had last Monday. I hope it has been nice at your place too. Enjoy the rest of the weekend.