Finian

I never thought I'd have a gnome in my garden because they're, well, a little dorky. But here's old Finian anyway, smiling amongst the hydrangeas. I'll have to backtrack a bit to tell you the story.....

Several years ago we were out walking our dog around the block. There was an elderly neighbor lady pruning her balls of ivy which she called the "Politicians". We stopped to chat and then she asked us into her back yard to sit a while. She and her husband had built the home 50 years ago and it was quite unique. The property had about 15 mature oak trees and not a blade of grass, just the Politicians, camellias, ferns and such. The home was "California modern" with walls of glass looking out to the garden. The most unique feature though was that it had no front door! Guests had to negotiate a tiny path to a gate, ring a bell, and wait for admittance. That would certainly cut down on nuisance visitors, wouldn't it? And what a quirky garden she had; it was filled with gnomes! Our girls who were maybe 5 and 7 then, were delighted and wandered around peeking under bushes, finding more and more gnomes. The Lord of the Manor and I enjoyed her company and listened to her stories, but soon it was time to go.

Recently she was moved to a care facility and the house is for sale. Teen1 and Teen2 and I went to the open house not long ago. It's all cleared out and the gnomes were gone, but we told the realtor how we'd enjoyed our visit with the owner all those years ago. He was getting ready to close the house up as we found one gnome still hiding under a bush. We laughed and told him about the gnomes and thanked him for allowing us to visit. As we were wandering out the gate, he handed me a plastic bag.

"What's this?" I asked.
"Oh, just some old thing. You can discard it, if you don't want it" he said with a gleam in his eye.
Then I opened the bag, and there was Finian grinning back at me.

And that's how I came to have a dorky gnome in my garden. And I love it.

P.S. I walked today but forgot my pedometer. Same route as yesterday though.