Sunday, March 16, 2008

To Gnome, Or Not to Gnome


Why gnome? Another bit of whimsy for the garden that really does bring good luck and prosperity to the garden.


Liking all things cutesy and countrified, I like gnomes. It helps that they are said to watch over and protect the garden. I like that idea as well as their novelty.


No matter who you are, or whether you like garden gnomes or not, you will smile when you see them in your garden.

I have two little gnomes watching over my Coral Bell collection. These garden gnomes where prizes on a Volksmarch in Germany. They are made of clay, though certainly not from the famous gnome factory in Germany called Phillip Griebel Factory. For further information on the factory and history of garden gnomes, visit http://www.zwerglignomes.com/index.shtml.

According to the above website, this little gnome is a cultured gnome. He has a book; which is a symbol of learning. He is not a worker or a gnome of leisure. If he was a worker he would have a pickax or some other working utensil, and if he was a gnome of leisure, he would be smoking a pipe. I never knew this about gnomes and find it interesting.

I like to think my little gnome is most active at night, hence the nighttime picture. Though, as you can see, he seems to be steadfastly on the job, but not too active.

So, I ask you, is it better to gnome? or not to gnome?

in the garden....

25 comments:

  1. Good morning to all

    Cue post Tina. I love gnomes.

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  2. Hi Guys,
    You have two of these? I have too many to name, not the gnome but the type with the little gnomie face, getting quite the collection of occupations and hobbies. Can't resist.

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  3. I like gnomes and think they are cute as can be in the garden. The Saint on the other hand hates them! Says the colors dont belong in the yard. Duh, what about flower colors? I don’t know what makes that man tick at times LOL.. I slipped a solid gray gnome into the yard when he was not looking and he does seem to accept that one. He is the lazy gnome doing nothing but snoozing under a tree stump that holds a fern...

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  4. Oh, forgot to tell you yesterday Tina. I did put the egg tulips on the yucca across the street! With the yucca being so far off the street, the egg carton tulips look like real flowers! Saint got a kick out of me doing that... Wonder if anyone will notice them and get a bit confused by them as your loggers did? LOL...

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  5. Are gnomes part of your genomes? If so it is essential to gnome;) We don't gnome over here, but we have other creatures running around in our gardens.

    May your gnome continue to bring you garden good luck.

    Gail

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  6. glad i am not the only one with gnomes!

    mom-good morning! lovely day here in tennessee. hope the same in your neck of the woods.

    dawn with peaches-you never showed me your gnomes! i can't wait to see them all in that garden once the mobile is gone.

    skeeter-glad the saint is tolerant of the gray one. skeeter-you and i are of the same spirit! you go girl with the yucca flowers!

    gail, we need to get you some! not sure about the genomes but that was too cute!

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  7. Hello Tina and everyone. Got a lot of errands run today!

    I don't have a gnome in any of my garden beds. I have rabbits and bird houses.

    The most bizarre thing I guess I have done (besides egg carton flowers on a yucca) is the bottle tree. My husband has finished mine and this week I will get it painted and put up. Tina I'll send you a pic of it.

    Oh, the advantages to living out in the country, my daughter would never get by with any of this in her neighbor!!

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  8. nina-hey there! you sound ever so busy and very happy. can't wait to see your bottle tree. you have been talking of it for a while. it is great to live in the county where we can do what we want! did you see skeeter put some yucca tulips out too? it is so great. my neighbor came over to see the tree peony and i gave her a short tour. she so thought the yucca tulips were real and HAD to laugh. i guess the wonder is more when they finally realize the flowers are not real? or that there is no such flower as yucca tulips? anyhow, i bet some have noticed yours too, even though you are far from the road.

    another gorgeous day in the garden. dividing d%$^&* daffys. such a job. but rewarding. i have a cute little bulb blooming that most like. i may post it tomorrow. but then i may do the bowling balls too. depends since i have jury duty early in the morning.

    someone from out of town looked up my number and called me saying how much she loved my articles in the paper. very nice lady. wants me to see her garden and vice versa. she lives by a stream so that is probably pretty cool. does not ever do the computer. couldn't imagine.

    anyhow, jabbered enough. gotta go eat dinner and get ready for tomorrow.

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  9. Tina,

    Thanks for noticing my new photo.

    Gail

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  10. Cute little gnome, looks like he has his gardening book under his arm. I don't have one, wish I did. Will have to look for one. I have others like rabbits,squirrels, skunks & a coon.

    I got the Black Cherry Rose set out today. Took 5 bags of top soil. Have to get more before I get the other rose in the ground. Trying to set them up a little so when it's real wet their little feet won't rot off. Wouldn't want to loose them as they are $$$$.

    Skeeter, I bet they notice your Yucca Tulip, something changed & that will make people notice. I hope they do anyway.

    Got rather warm here today. Sure will be glad when the tornado season is over. Ga. had quite a few of them. One went over my brothers house. Thank goodness it didn't do any damage. They are so proud of their garden. Will have to get them to send me some pics.

    Have a good one, all.

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  11. Hi Tina! Just so darn nice we spent most of the day outside. Our two little duckies are really keeping the kids happy. They follow you everywhere and the kids love that! My neighbor is making another flower bed in the front of his house. He really worked on it today --just has to decide what him and his wife want to plant in there. They have such a nice yard already. When I saw his lawnmowing tractor out I got nervous --I was like oh no --is it lawn mowing time already? lol He was using it to pull a trailer with the sod/dirt he took out. It will be fun to see what they do with the yard. Their lilac bush is covered in buds too!! Pretty soon we'll be enjoying that beautiful smell of lilacs --can't wait!!! Good luck with jury duty --my oldest boy got a jury duty notice when he was 11 yrs old --had to prove he was a child --lol. He has the same name as daddy --who was in Iraq at the time:) Easy to make that mistake --I guess except one was a junior:) My boy was like wow --they will pay me --I can get McDonalds for lunch with the money they give me, hahahaha!

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  12. Skeeter I am glad you did the yucca tulips and I bet people will notice them and bet some even check it out to see what they are missing in their gardens.

    Wish I had a Yucca....I'd put some on it in a heartbeat if my daughter sent me some containers to make em with.

    That's cute Anonymous but I hope you told him they barely pay enough to even get McDonalds.

    Good luck Tina tomorrow. Take something to read while you hurry up and wait.

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  13. gail-you are welcomed!

    lola-gotta get you a gnome to go with the critters. he'll fit right in. i think my gnome does indeed have a gardening book under his arm-like me most of the time.

    anonymous-great day yesterday. i too was in the garden. wish i could be there today as it may rain tomorrow evening. that means it is an EXCELLENT time to plant because the water will settle it all in. my onions are up finally. i planted them about a week or two before you-so soon.

    hey mom, do you have another same type of plant you could put some egg cartons on? i am getting ready to send a package to bri and christy, so i will add in some egg cartons too. never know. maybe sandra could find a plant and would do it. ttyl

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  14. Radish and lettuce are coming up from me planted seeds! I am thrilled, well, until the bunny finds the lettuce. I saw one in that area a few evenings ago. arggggg... Garden area still too wet to do anything. May have a late veggie crop this summer....

    The Purple Verbena is in full bloom! Really pretty from my office window...

    Too funny an 11-year old getting called for jury duty. I have heard of people pet dogs getting credit cards too! LOL...

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  15. I just took a walk outside to see if I had anything in bloom. I know some of you nice folks think that Maine is all cold and snow but I have a whole patch of Crocuses in full bloom. Too late to take a pic today but I will try and get my granddaughter to take a pic tomorrow.

    Tina, no Terri-Lynn does not have a digital camera. She is like me and likes her snapshots and does not change what is not broken easy but the kids wanted one so she had bought them both one. However, because of this blog for about a month now I have been looking at them in all the flyers.Trouble is -I don't want a cheap one. The camera I now have is an APS and has a zoom and takes great photos so if I get a digital I want one that also takes great pics and has a zoom so want to research it all good before I spend the bucks for it.

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  16. skeeter, plant enough veggies for you AND the critters. you should have enough room? so rewarding when they start coming up.

    mom, digital cameras are so fabulous. once you get yours, you will wonder how you ever lived without it! i still have my aps camera. in fact, i took it to iraq with me. sure wished i had a digital though. easier to share pics and faster results. looking forward to some pics from you. crocuses always did bloom first up there. i used to spot them blooming in the snow when i went to longfellow. i can still vividly remember them from all these years. i bet they are still blooming there and i always go by the old school each time i visit.

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  17. Jean,
    The Saint just bought me a new digital Camera and it is great! Has a 10x Optical zoom on it which is much better then the average zoom and 8.0 mega Pixels. I pulled the moon right out of the sky with the thing! It is a Cannon Power shot SX100 IS. Priced at $299.00. We found it at Wal-Mart On-line for $249.00 but they would not honor the price in the store. Best Buy matched the on-line price so we got it there. The next day (Sunday) we found the same camera on sale in all the Newspaper flyers for $249! How funny is that.... We got a larger chip (2 GB)then came with it and we also have the rechargeable batteries. It will make short movies also and other stuff. I was trying to read the book yesterday but fell asleep while reading it. Okay that stuff bores me a bit! The Saint usually does all the reading then shows me how it works. Anyway, easy to use... this one is small so we can take it with us. They make betters ones for higher price but not in the compact size. You may want something larger then this but that is a start for you with some info…

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  18. Thanks for the good info Skeeter.
    I am scared I will NEVER learn how to use it!!!I am not very good at stuff like that and hubby is nothing with stuff like that.

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  19. mom, it is so easy-point and shoot. everything comes up on the screen. even my antique digital from four years ago does that. i am sure a new one like skeeter's will be even easier. i like the new kodak easy share. i have an old one but karla has a new one i used and it is simple. skeeter-did you get a kodak easyshare?

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  20. Tina that is too funny that you mention the Kodak Easy Share as it is on sale at Staples this week for only $149.90 and I cut it out to compare with next weeks flyers. First time I cut one out but will continue to do so as I compare them all for a few weeks. It does have 8.0 megapixels but only a 5 optical zoom. I saw one at Target a couple of weeks ago with an 8 zoom and I think Skeeter said hers has a 10 zoom. I should talk to Gary about one as he knows all the stuff about them.

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  21. Jean, just remember the zoom must say OPTICAL zoom to get the good one! Saint is technical and could explain why. All I can tell you is make sure that if you want a good zoom, it must say Optical and not just zoom…

    The reason we did not get the Kodak is that we print out pictures at the machines at Wal-Mart for certain pictures to place in photo albums. The Kodak chips only work in the Kodak machines that cost more per picture! Not sure if Kodak still does that or not but not smart in my book as we did not buy due to that. I think they lost a lot of sales due to that strategy. They may have changed this now, just don’t know…

    My other camera was cannon and I like the way it functioned and the new one practically operates the same way for a basic snap and go shot… Since I don’t like change in my life, we stuck with a cannon, Which the Saint says was the best in its category. We went on line and compared them all and for the way I snap pictures, this was best for me...

    What ever you end up liking, If you find one on a internet price cheaper, most stores will honor that price and sell it to you on the spot! Just copy the page with the price and store name and have it with you...

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  22. Thanks again for the good info Skeeter. The one at Staples this week did say optical but I am not ready for the big leap yet. It will take me another month no doubt to figured it all out. I guess I should not judge a company by one product but my first printer was a Cannon and it cost soooo much to operate it and was of very poor quality and took forever to print and was terribly loud, so have never bought a Cannon product since. I might add at the time I bought it was not a cheap one. Turned me sour on Cannon. However I will research and compare them all.

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  23. skeeter, very helpful info for me too skeeter whenever i buy a new camera. i initially just knew the higher the pixels the better. didn't know about the machines. i usually print at home, though i know it probably costs more.

    mom, for what you will use it for anything new and reasonably priced will work for you. all digital cameras are such a great thing. look for ease of use and best buy for the money. consumer reports also helps. we bought ours based on a consumer reports report. have been happy except for the turn on switch. it is difficult. now they have changed the design.

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  24. Jean, just our luck.
    Seems we always get the expensive items made on a Monday after a night of drinking for the assembly line crew or, made on Friday with the crew speeding up the job because of Happy Hour! I can not tell you how many VCR’s and Stereos we have been through! The Saint researches everything we purchase but sometimes, it just does not matter as workmanship ‘aint’ what it use to be anymore….

    Just go into the stores and play with the displays after you research and the right one will call your name such as my gnome did to me.... LOL

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  25. Jean, a little bit of information to pass on that I just also learned. The rechargeable batteries are not the same! The Saint just taught me that one as we bought batteries for the new camera. Get the ones with the highest MAH (Mille-Amp Hours) on the package! The higher the number, the longer they last! We just picked up 2600 MAH (AA) sitting right next to 1000mah. So be aware of that also.... Gee, ya learn something new everyday!

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