Tag: animals

  • A Glimmer of Dragonflies

    A Glimmer of Dragonflies

    Welcome back!

    I mentioned a few posts ago some of my ideas on decorating the house. Today, I thought I would tell you my plans for the garden adornment. After all, it wouldn’t do to neglect the garden. Once again, ceramics will play a big part in decorating the garden area. They will not all match, but each one is a piece that caught our eye and felt worth keeping.

    One piece is a large raccoon that Tim recently painted.

    Didn’t he do an excellent job? And it only took him a few hours, too. Since it is life-size, I’m sure it’ll look great tucked away somewhere out there and be sure to snag the attention of passers-by.

    I also have a fox figurine that looks pretty realistic. It’s curled up with its tail over its feet. After seeing how well the coon turned out, I told Tim he could paint the fox as well. It might go well in the orchard under a peach tree. Definitely not too close to either the rabbit hutches or duck coop, though.

    A sleeping bunny will be sure to find a cozy little spot to nestle. I’m not entirely sure where, though. Maybe in the carrots? Or the lettuce. We’ll have to see.

    Since we are starting ducks, and hopefully a few geese, we thought we should keep a pair of geese we came across while sorting ceramics. They aren’t really detailed, more country goose-style, but I think they’ll look really neat anyway if done right.

    A ceramic frog and turtle would make charming additions too, don’t you think? The frog was already nicely glazed when we got it. Actually, I have two large glazed frogs. One is tan with light green and orange spots, and I call him Puddleglum. The other is a mottled purple and cannot lay claim to any name.

    The turtle is rather large and detailed and I’m really looking forward to painting it. Alayna has painted a small snail, but we might not want it in the garden—I don’t want it to sneak off and nibble the tomatoes! If we still have any of the alligators we had listed at one point, I might keep one of them too. Thankfully, they aren’t life-size!

    We even found a squirrel willing to sit under our rambling rose bush and look cute. Maybe having a nut to hold makes him more docile, you think?

    Besides different animal figurines to work into our garden layout, I also plan on using some large planters, like the owl and raccoon ones I mentioned in the other post. They will have to be treated carefully to avoid breaking them, but I think it is doable. I can use them for herbs and such that have to be brought inside for the winter.

    Then I found this tile or stepping stone and just had to have it. I adore dragonflies and I am thrilled with how this turned out.

    It has four small holes in the back to allow for easier anchoring to a fence or something similar. I also have a small glimmer of individual dragonflies to place around it once they are painted.

    While it might seem silly or childish to some to take the time and effort to decorate a garden I see the garden as an extension of our house in some ways. It’s a place the whole family can spend time in and makes up an extremely vital part of our livelihood. I’m interested in having the garden be a fun place to work and not just a bunch of boring plants and pesky bugs like it was to me when I was little. So these are some of my plans to make the garden my own and give it some pep and character.

    These quirky little touches turn our garden into more than just a food source—they help make it a space where memories are made, laughs are shared, and beauty grows right alongside the veggies.