Yard garden and patio Show 2008

I often find February to be a long dreary month. To cheer myself up I look for signs of spring coming. A nice dry way to look for signs of spring is at garden shows. The Yard, Garden and Patio show starts Friday February 15, 2008 and runs until Sunday February 17, 2008. The show is at the Oregon convention center. 13 local wineries will be there sampling their wines. Find out what wines go with your plants. What a nice thought, a glass of wine by the pool relaxing in the evening. That is a few months off, until then I can pick out new patio furniture, buy plants that I don’t have room for, and plan an outdoor kitchen that won’t fit in my yard. Dreaming what fun. www.ygpshow.com

Admission is $11. $2 off discount tickets are available at the web site under tickets. The show will run from 10 a.m. - 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday and from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. on Sunday. Oregon Convention Center, 777 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Portland. On the Max line.

Oregon Seafood and Wine Festival

Is at the Oregon Convention center Friday February 1, 2008 from 2 to 10pm; Saturday February 2 from noon to 9 pm. Tickets are: $12 adults, $8 seniors, and $ 8 children 12 years and under. Discount coupons for $2 off the first two hours of the show are at www.eventsnw.net/ENW/seafoodandwine/images/coupon.gif

The first 500 adults will get a free wine glass. The festival benefits the Oregon Chapter of the national MS society.

Food item prices range from $1 and up. Wine sampling starts at 50 cents. There many delicious wines and seafoods to sample. I enjoy seeing what wines go with the seafood. And have a fun time sampling things.

Art Exhibit and Sale at Oregon Convention Center

Today is the last day of the Arts and Craft Showcase at the Oregon Convention Center. Admission is free. The Portland Handweaver guild has demonstrations showing how the spinning wheels and looms are used. Beautiful textiles are for sale. I liked the shimmer of the rayon and bamboo hand-woven textiles. The Oregon Potter’s Association Ceramic Showcase has over 300 artists displaying their ceramics. I admired an inscribed vase depicting a scene of salmon spawning. I enjoyed all the hand painted tiles. I admired the Mexican potters hand painted cats; each one had a different expression. One cat looked like it was going to sneeze. There are demonstrations, and separate areas for adults and children to work with clay. The Oregon Glass guilds Glass gallery show and sale was impressive. Sue Bradley’s black glass cats with green eyes reminded me of my cats. Chris Hucke’s iridescent purple glass vase caught my eye. The Portland Bead Society bead show has may lovely beaded necklaces. The Metal Arts Guild presents jewelry and metal art. Wow all the gold jewelry for sale. Also a silent auction for CASA. The shows close at 5pm May 6, 2007. Oregon Convention Center 777 NE Martin Luther King Blvd, Portland, OR