Garden Gnomes in the Shrubbery
Gnomes Checking out the View
Oh joy, oh bliss! My two new vintage garden gnomes have arrived in the post - packaged snugly in lots of environmentally unfriendly plastic padding. But they're here, all parts intact, eager to join my ever-expanding garden gnome collection.
A Little Different
There's no easy way to say this. These two chaps are a little different than your average garden gnome. It's not the rakish facial expressions, or the white face make-up, but rather the eyelashes and - ahem - the sultry red lipstick.
But they're absolutely delightful, and refreshingly different, if indeed that's important in a garden gnome. Both were set in concrete back in the 1970s, and I've never seen either of these gnome moulds used before.
Welcome, William and Henry
I named them William and Henry (well, they've named themselves, really) and chose the Shrubbery for their first photography shoot. And so they posed on a huge head-high stump by the Shrubbery path - the perfect spot.
Gnomes on the Tree Stump
Safe Enough?
The boys could keep an eye on the garden, and visitors could easily stop and chat - any that were daft enough and felt so inclined, that is. Here they'd be safe from Rusty the charging dog - he uses these paths to zoom around at white-dog lightning speeds...
But what if there was another big earthquake aftershock - would a high tree stump be safe enough? I lost my original bachelor gnome (Bach was his name) during our shaky-earth problem last September, swept into the depths of the pond by a wave surge...
Cat Check
Then another duty of care issue reared its furry head - I'd reckoned without Fluff-Fluff the cat. He decided these gnomes needed checking out, leapt onto their tree stump, and barged in-between them. Aargh! There was just enough room, but it wasn't a good look.
Well, I left them there, and then woke in the middle of the night worrying about them. Ha! Many things can be blown out of proportion at three o'clock in the morning. Then again I often solve my latest gardening dilemmas at such times. But never, ever before have I been kept awake concerned about a pair of concrete blokes and their safety in my garden.
Fluff-Fluff the Cat and New Garden Gnomes
Oops - might have to move them to ground level - but then they wouldn't get such a good view...
William and Henry - Vintage Garden Gnomes
Welcome to the Shrubbery, chaps, take care, and enjoy! Oh, sorry about the brown fungus overpowering your tree stump. It's just a seasonal issue, no problem...
Brown Fungus and Garden Gnomes