Gnomes, Fairies and other garden friends

I might have to check out some thrift shops today...

Ginger

HD, Michaels, WM, Big Lots, Rite Aid, etc. You can find them lurking most anywhere. LOL

I just collect way more “useful” stuff than I could ever use, but I swear as soon as I get rid of the widget, that I have no clue what is, I’ll need something just like it. Drives my DH nuts, he’s a minimalist and I broke down in tears trying to figure out what I could stand to get rid of when we moved. We’re getting to a working compromise.

Lynn, if you find a place with a good selection around here, between Seattle and Portland, let me know. I really prefer to shop personally, but…

Sally, but is there anywhere that you’ll know they’ll at least have something? Mom and I did Toys R Us, Wal-Mart, Rite Aid, Michael’s, Jo Anne’s, and just about anywhere else we are and haven’t really found much. Online or making it ourselves seems to be the way we’re going.

Went to Fred Meyer last night (fuschia sale) and they had bunches of gnomes...very cute and I was tempted, but walked out with a solar elephant instead. Go figure!

One of our $$$ Store type stores...we can't remember the name right now...had a whole collection....Laura will have to post the one I got for her....I got this little guy at RiteAid.....

These two guys belong to my mom, they were made by my aunt and uncle about 50 years ago.......if I can find some of the brush on latex mold material I want to make a mold and cast some more of these, every time mom has a garage sale half a dozen people want to buy them.......they aren't for sale......I get them someday, if they last that long!!

Went to Fred Meyer today for tubs to plant seedlings....
Got shelves, tubs, strawberry pots, lavender, cilantro, rosemary, grow lights........but passed on the wonderful yard peacock husband picked up... $55..YIKES...

Did find some not so wonderful yard creatures at my BEDROOM WINDOW this morning....

Grrr.. great brown yard munchers....with doe eyes.....my husband wants to put out HAY for them.... I explained how fast the $200 a weekend we are spending in flower landscaping will be GONE..

Ginger

Laura, I know it's hard to find them sometimes. I just check when I'm there. I like the idea of home made ones better! The ones Trisha posted are adorable, can't find anything like that in a discount store. Think I'll go check out Fred Meyer.

Ginger.....how can you resist those eyes. Hahaha Mine only seem to come around when the apples are ripe and we have enough to share. Maybe they don't like what I'm growing.

What does a solar elephant do? Light up its trunk or its tusks?

Trisha, those gnomes are cute ones alright.

A solar elephant???

Yep, I'm pondering that one too!! LOL

I worked so much in the garden today that I am exhausted and sore. Two Aleve and a hot bath and I'm ready fro sleep - my "hot' Saturday night!

yes, I think I need to decide what I want in my Fairy Garden and start making pieces....and, maybe I can coerce Bill to help with some items as he is the one with the torches and the metal work know how... I am so looking forward to the warmer temps predicted for tomorrow!!! At least the bike ride won't be cold and miserable for a change.

Trisha, you ride when it's miserable out? What a trooper!! Wish I had someone to do metal work, I love that. My brother does, but he lives too far away.

I'm feeling my day too and want to take advantage of tomorrow's expected warmth.

A Solar Elephant. Not usually an elephant fanatic, but thought he was really cool and I can put him on my front table so I can have something solar that actually works AND stays in the yard.

I have tried the little solar garden lamps, but I have a dog who is a thief and I can't keep them in my yard. My Rott'n'Lab Bonnie has decided that it is much more fun hanging out at my Mom's house than mine, so she spends most of her time there unless I am in the yard. I think she has a plan to lure me up there to live, because she takes things from my yard up there to Mom's back porch. She started with six packs of seedlings in the spring one year, and moved up to a 10 pound pot of annuals the year before last. My husband has tried to light the approach to our deck with the solar lights, and every single one has ended up at Mom's. The good thing is, she is careful...she has never damaged anything that she has hauled there...very rarely even spills any dirt out of the plants!

Judi, I am with you. In the greenhouse before eight this morning, and just came in from helping my husband in the shop tonight. I can barely move, but Oh does it feel good! And more sun tomorrow!!!!!!!! At least I know I will sleep well!

Trisha and Sally, we crossed when I was posting.

Trisha, I really wish I had your talent to make friends for my fairy garden! I am learning to do metal work (DH is teaching me, but I still have a LONG way to go as our schedule is so hectic that my lessons are VERY far apart!), and am hoping to be able to find some artistic talent there. Will see.

Sally, Isn't it just splendid to have had a day to actually "feel" at the end? Without a stocking hat and two layers of gloves?!?




This message was edited Apr 4, 2009 10:38 PM

Julie, Love your elephant!
I worked out in the yard today, got a couple of the trees planted - yeah! Going to bed now, I can hardly move. But it sure was nice to be able to play in the dirt today without getting rained or snowed on.

Love the elephant !!!.

I have always like to make things. DH gives me the occasional metal working class but I think we have both about decided that That is not one of my talents.....think I will stick to leather, clay and paint.

Looking forward to nice weather....but don't know how much I will get to enjoy it tomorrow we really do need to check in with my sister in law...with our colds etc. don't want to visit the brother in law yet.....he has had back surgery and is still in ICU.....from what my mother in law says, he is still in very bad shape and probably would not know we were there anyhow....My husband has a real hospital phobia....but I have to get it across to him that he needs to at least talk to his sister.....I know they have never been close, but still, she IS his sister!

My uncle is still the same, they have moved him to a nursing home closer to home so it will be easier for the family to visit. It is all in HIS hands now.

Going to call it a night, hope everone has a beautiful day tomorrow.

Good night all....

Oh, he's cute. Lights up inside, right? That is too funny about your dog. LOL

Yes, it was great in the yard. I even took a break on my swing today and listened to my garden. The birds were happy, the chimes were going, there was a plane doing loop de loops (we have a hobby airport nearby) and the cows on the ranch behind us were mooing. Great day!!

Trisha...I'll be thinking about you. {{{hugs}}}

Just how big is that elephant? If the dog can haul 10 pounds of potted plant.....

I took care of a dog one Winter who managed to haul home a covered 5 gallon bucket full of food scraps from the neighbor's house. We had a very steep driveway up which she dragged it by the handle. She also learned how to turn doorknobs in order to escape in the middle of the night, and was adept at other types of doors as well. The same neighbors called me to warn about a thief who had stolen a package of frozen meat from their freezer in the garage. I had wondered what the scraps of white freezer paper in the yard were from.

Trisha, things sound pretty tough right now for so many members of your family. I'll be thinking of you and yours tonight. How are you holding up through it all?

Trisha, you have definitely had more than your share of pain to deal with lately. Blessings to you and yours, and wishes for a smoother road in the near future!

Lynn, Glad you got at least a couple in the ground! You have a few holes ahead of you still, but you're right, it's great to be outside and dry! Now if things would just dry up enough that I don't have to wear my big rubber boots and can go back to my muck boots!

Mauryhillfarm... SNORT! I didn't think that it could get worse than Bonnie! At least she only steals stuff out of the house when I leave the door open in the summer time! She hasn't managed to get the door knob thing down yet! Fortunately, she has the body of the German Rotwiller, so short little legs and big body...doesn't like standing up to reach things to much. If I put things on the table top, they are safe...thus a decorative elephant VS a light that is supposed to be stuck into the ground!

This message was edited Apr 5, 2009 7:12 AM

I'm doing pretty well.....just really tired. My mother in law taking Peter's accident pretty hard...it has been difficult for all of them....he is twenty years older than my sister in law and my Mom is taking Uncle Rex's stroke pretty hard.....this just leave she and her younger sister out of six children and their spouses in her family. It is hard dealing with any one of these situations, but both families at the same time makes it even harder.

Appreciate hearing from all of you....I really am going to try and get to bed this time. Good Night all.

Sleep well, Trisha. You need some good rest.

That dog, Phoebe, was a Husky-German Shepherd mix and she was SMART!! I also had to put a stick in the trough of sliding glass door so she couldn't push it open. She had grown up in Alaska and went absolutely nuts when it snowed, would do anything to get outside and roll in it. It had snowed and was very cold the night I discovered she could turn the doorknob. I woke up and the house was freezing, with snow blowing in the open door.

Trisha, I'm so sorry you're going through all this. And when there's nothing you can do except be there to listen, it's not easy. We're thinking of you. And it IS a blessing that your BIL is still here.

Holly, those dogs stories just crack me up. I'm always impressed with "sneaky" dogs. Obedient dogs are great and impressive in their own way. But you have to love those dogs who think for themselves. I guess that's why I'm a sighthound owner . . . guess I've chosen my own punishment.

I used to work at a horse ministry. One of the horses, an arab, was like that. She could get out of anything. She would wait until Sunday when everyone was at church and then go let all her friends out... There was one horse she didn't like, Wesley, so when we came on to check up on everyone after church 35 horses would be loose and one pouting in his stall.

The place was down in a little valley so everyone just crowded around the hay shelters......but it was always a round up.

Ginger

I had a great idea on our bicycle ride today!!! I want one(or more) of the tall jagged end stumps for my garden.....with a nice space for Fairie Doors......don't have access to any property to find one.....and of all the dumb things to have the only Chainsaw any of the relatives have is an Electric One.....where in the woods do you find an outlet to plug an electric saw into???? But, my bright idea!!! We have a friend who is a logger......think I will take pictures of what I am looking for and see if I can pay or trade bike parts to get Clyde to keep an eye out for some pieces that he could bring down, or arrange for me to pick up..?? Now I just have to remember to take the camera out with me on the bike...forgot it today. Now to start planning this and also my dish garden!!!!! Spring Fever has hit!

Trisha you are such a positive person and so full of energy. I can see why people depend on you to help through tough times. Just remember to take care of yourself as well!

I can't get the image of a dog dragging a glowing elephant out of my mind...

Love the elephant and the dog stories. I have a horse story---My first horse was a 15 year old roan named Smoky. We had gates that consisted of three poles streached across a span of about 10'. When Smoky wanted out, he would go up to the gate, stick his head and neck under the top pole and push it sideways until it dropped, then he would jump over the other two. He never went anywhere off the place and he would usually jump back in. Didn't put the pole up though. My second horse was a palimino named King. He would pick up sticks in the field and whack the other horses in the rump to get them to run and play with him.

Today I saw one of the hummingbirds eating thistle seed from the feeder. Weird!

Had a chance to charge the elephant today..he is pretty cool. We'll see how long he stays put!

I am not sure which is a funnier image..a dog running around with a glowing elephant in her mouth or a rowdy horse running around smacking his friends with a stick!

These stories are just too much. What great visual images. I am dyin laughing.

Either the dog/elephant or the horse makes a pretty amusing picture~

ROFLOL......again!!! That elephant is neat!! Horse stories are great, didn't know they had a sense of humor.

Ohhhhh... My friend had a field of fainting goats.....

She got a little colt......

Little colt figured out one day that if he ran up to a goat and snorted at it......it would fall over.

He spent his whole days entertaing himself by knocking out goats ...

she finally had to move him.


Ginger

OMG....that is too funny!!

Yup, the colt making goats faint goes right in there with the other two images. Now I just have to think of something to tell my co-workers when I occasionally snicker to myself at work tomorrow while visualizing animal antics!

Tell them the daylilies made you do it......

Pollen sniffing....

Ginger

I always entertain the ladies at our water aeobics!! They love it, none of them ever get on the computer, so they aren't exposed to all of these fascinating things!!!

I have had my DH, Laura, Sage and my son in law all looking at me funny tonight until I filled them in on the above ....... I think they figured I had finally gone over the edge!!