Gnome or No Gnome

I have never been interested in wanting a Gnome before. I always thought they were creepy.
However, I mentioned the other day that I wanted a Gnome for my little natural garden area in the front yard. I didn't want to buy one, I just wanted to find one.

While we were shopping the thrift store last week, My husband showed me a Gnome for sale. I was thrilled and said "I want it". It was only 1.99. It just needed some cleaning up, and painted. It was a sport themed Gnome that I didn't care for but knew I could give him an up-do.

My husband worked hard to get the logo off of his hat and then I let my daughter paint him more gnomish.

She did great! I love his new look and now he is ready to sit out in my garden.

OR is he?

Before I wrote this post, I went online to get a little history on these cute little dolls. But I could not find anything good about them. As a Christian, my conscience was now telling me to stay clear of such statues as they have no Biblical meaning but only have mystical meaning in which I've always been taught to stay away from. Same with fairies and trolls. I have even given up on the fairy garden idea for now.

After reading some History of gnomes., It has given me uneasy thoughts about placing one in my yard. However, I just think they are so darn cute and Its not like I believe in all that stuff anyway.

I may place him in my garden for a couple days just to see how I feel about it. I never thought of it as a bad thing. I just thought they were pretend garden luck. Just for fun. That's how I looked at it anyways. But now that I know different, I don't know. Maybe I just need a frog.

Here are a few fun facts about garden gnomes.

• The first gnomes were produced in Germany in the 1870's.
• Gnomes are known as symbols of good luck.
• Gnomes are mostly popular in the gardens of working class people.
• Gnomes is Latin for earth dweller and were thought to live underground. 
• They were even forbidden in some places.
• They are also called "Enchanting helpers'.

OK , yep, still creepy but I sorta like him so I'm going to leave him there for now.

BUT if he moves, hes OUT!!!

What do you think? Gnome or no Gnome?

Mantis Mania

You are fixing to read and see something really cool.

Back in January as I was inspecting my butterfly bush in the front yard, I noticed a sticky glob of something on one of the branches. It was stuck on there like a wad of bubble gum. I wondered "what in the world is that"? 

I showed it to my sister and we began investigating. She concluded that it was definitely a Praying Mantis nest. We began to search around inline to find out about them a little more. 

Come to find out that you can save them in a jar until they hatch. Some sell them or give them to schools for learning. Once they hatch, you will have hundreds of Mantis to scatter throughout your yard and gardens. These little creatures eat almost any bug it comes across, so they are your friend.

I don't really care much about bugs but I  remember how my sister used to find butterfly cocoons and save them until they would hatch. So, I asked her if she wanted the mantis nest. Of course she did.

I carefully broke off the limb it was attached to and placed it in a jar covered with cheesecloth and gave it to her. She kept it inside and placed it in a window where the sun would keep it warm.

Yesterday, my phone started going off. She had babies. Little Praying Mantis babies. Hundreds of them. She sent me several pictures of the new critters.

I thought it was creepy looking but really amazing at the same time. 

She took them outside to release them from the jar.  

hopefully she will have a bug free and blessed yard this summer. That is if the mantis do not eat all of each other!  

Eggsamining

I'm sitting here pondering about these eggs a customer sent my way yesterday.

I have never had fresh eggs right out of a chicken before that I know of. What if there's a chick inside? As I eggsamine [examine] them carefully, I'm wondering why they are not white? Iv'e heard of brown eggs but not  pink, green, blue, orange or grey eggs as I'm seeing all those colors here. But aren't they pretty?

I'm guessing my grandmother and maybe even my mom has used fresh eggs before. I'm not sure. I know grandma rung chicken necks and plucked them before she cooked up the best fried chicken ever. That does not bother me, but something about an egg that's not stamped with approval makes me skeptical.

I just noticed the Bible verse on the inside of the carton. I bet you don't see that at many stores.           Maybe that's my stamp of approval.
I get a feeling of guilt when I read that verse after I've complained all day.

I guess I'll take a leap of faith and crack some open for a tasty dish.
Is that all I do?
How do they differ from the ones in the store?
Does anyone know why they are different colors and if that has anything to do with flavor?
What is the expiration date?
Do I have to clean them somehow? I mean, you never know where the chicken has been.

Countryfied but confused.

DIY Fairy House

So, I mentioned a couple post back that I was in mind to make a small fairy garden for my patio. For the record, I'm not into the whimsical fantasy or fairy tale stuff (even though I'm also looking for a gnome to put in my front flower bed too). I was just wanting to create a cute garden of succulents, and herbs that will have some fun character. I fairy garden is perfect for this.  I have no place for a garden and I have a blue thumb, not a green one, so I'm thinking this will be a fun project for me to piddle with.

I have no idea yet on how to design it, but I will eventually figure a plan out. For now, I have already created this "fairy house" to add.

I plan to use the house and a couple other little decorations surrounded by live moss and small plants. 

I started with a water bottle and cut it down in size so it would be small. I just hope it will be small enough. 

Even though setting it up crocked was my plan, I didn't worry about making it perfect because I wanted it to look like it fell straight from the tree. 

Later, I collected some pine cones from my afternoon walk and used petals. Would that be what they are called? "Pine Petals"? I thought they would just easily break off, but it was not that easy. I ended up having to cut them off with a pair of scissors. 

Using a hot glue gun, I carefully glued and layered each petal. The bottle was not a very good choice because the glue melted the plastic. Applying glue on each petal and waiting a few seconds before applying it to the bottle worked fine. 

I found a piece of tile and shaped it into a little door and painted it red.  While It looks cozy sitting in the mint plant for a photo shoot, It will soon adorn a small potted garden..

Suffering Allergies

It never fails. Every single morning and most of my days are filled with sneezing and stopped up sinuses. My nose is a like a clogged spigot with a drip. Constantly, I suffer. Its part of my life. I've learned to control a lot of it but I still suffer every single day.  When I was a child, I had hay fever and asama which I grew out of the asama problem. I was always told it will come back sometime in my adulthood but I hope not. When I take a morning walk, my eyes are filled with tears. I look as if I'm crying. I just don't know.

My medication of choice, going on about four years now, is Allegra. I take a pill each night before bed. If I do not take one, I will wake up double worst. It will be like a full blown cold. crazy huh? I do not call them seasonal allergies as I have them year round. The worst mornings are rainy ones. You would think the rain would wash away the allergens in the air and make it a fresher day for me. But no. With that being said, I sorta think maybe I'm allergic to molds instead of pollen or dust.

That reminds me of a funny embarrassing moment I had.
One day I was having a conversation with this man about our allergies and such. During the conversation I said, as serious as I could.... "Oh I can not live without my Viagra".......I meant to say "Allegra".  The room was silent until I quickly corrected myself and then we had a good laugh. 

My Daughter suffers allergies just like me but hers are somewhat worst and on a different level. She used to take allergy shots. She had to get two shots a week for four years. And those four years were her college years. It was an inconvenience but did her good. Now that shes over the shots, her allergies are gradually worsening. Most dogs, cats and dust are what triggers hers. Sadly when shes around someone that owns pets, that is enough to put her in an allergic state sometimes.

I'm thinking of trying a new allergy medicine just to see if it will work for me. The doctor told me that I would not get immune to the Allegra and it was safe to take every day. It does not make me drowsy or restless. But I just don't know sometimes. All I know is I cant skip it.