Gnomes and Fairies in My Cottage Garden Back Yard

Welcome to Debbie-Dabble Blog!!

I am so happy you decided to stop by!!

For the past few years, I had 2 Fairy Garden tubs out on the back Patio.....

This one on one side of the Patio.......

A Gnome Fairy Garden in a Beverage Tub.....

And I had this one over on the other side of the Patio....

 Fairies in a galvanized tub....

Over the years, after being out in the elements, some of my Fairy Garden pieces are no longer with us.....

I also moved a lot of the nicer looking pieces into the house and used them to create my Fairy Garden on the Mantel of my faux Fire Place in my "Garden" Sitting Room.....

 Click HERE if you missed that post....

So I then decided to combine the items that were left from the 2 tubs and just have one ........

I removed all the crystals and pea gravel from the beverage tub and then hauled it out to this corner of the yard.......

Then I filled it back up with empty soda cans that I use as fillers so my plant containers will not be so heavy, and potting soil as I plan on planting some annuals in it....

I then moved this galvanized tub from this side of the Patio......

Over to this side of the Patio.....

Thought I pulled my shoulder out.....

Moving it over to this side of the Patio will give us more room on the other side......

Case in point .....

Our Son, Joey, who is staying with us for the duration of this health crisis, lounging on the Patio.....

Over on this side of the Patio, the tub is out of the way.....

I cleaned out all the leaves and debris from the Winter and added some of the blue and green crystals from the other tub......

This is how my combined Gnome/Fairy Garden Tub looks for this year.....

Let's take a closer look.....

I only have succulents, hens ad chicks, planted in this tub because anything else tends to grew too well and takes over the whole tub.....

The green crystals are to mimic grass.......

In the middle of the tub, is pea gravel........

The solar lit houses are from Big Lot's who always seem to have a great selection of Fairy Garden items.......

This cute solar light was bought on Amazon using a gift card from my son......

A fairy and gnomes frolic between the 2 houses......

Mama Gnome sets a table for Tea.....

This house is also a solar lit house.....

The blue crystals mimic water......

Another fairy......

The rocks I used around the border of the tub are from Dollar Tree along with the blue and green crystals....

And that is what my Gnome/Fairy Garden tub looks like for this year......

But this is not the only place where you will find Gnomes and Fairies in our back Patio and Cottage Garden.....

Over on my Baker's Rack/ Potting Stand.....

Joe went to Dollar Tree on Monday to buy Solar Lights to put in the flower bed that I extended by our Court's mail boxes.....

And came home with these pretty Hummingbird ones......

Of course, I said no way were they going to be used in that other flower bed.......
 
I gave him some of my plain silver solar lights bought at Dollar Tree last year to use....

These are perfect for my brightly colored Boho styled Patio.......

  They really are pretty lit up in the evening too!!

I also have these sweet little fairy garden doors that I bought last year in Dollar General.....

The one on the left says "There is no place like Gnome"!

 I have one small fairy garden house that I did not want to put in the tub so I put it here on the Potting Stand.....

"Born to Garden, Forced to Work" is no longer the case!!

Also in my Cottage Garden back yard.....

 I have a few more Gnomes......

 I bought these larger one a few years ago in Lowes on Clearance....

 I think I am going to give them a fresh coat of paint......

I bought this cute toad stool house in Big Lot's 2 years ago....

And over on the left side of the yard......

More Gnomes.....

 Again, maybe a fresh coat of paint, followed by a coat of spray sealer.....

I bought this ceramic door way at a yard sale for $1.00 many years ago!!!

In my last post, I shared all the work I did on the front porch, back patio, back yard and the flower bed by our mail boxes.....

Well, I paid for it as Tuesday morning I woke up with swollen feet, hands and eye lids and generalized pain, mostly joint pain...........

I suffer from Auto Immune diseases....Hashimoto's Thyroiditis along with IBS and Fibromyalgia like pain which go hand in hand with the Hashimoto's....

The swollen joints, pain, Sun and Heat Sensitivity, GI distress and being unusually cold or hot are my typical symptoms.....

So Tuesday was my day for relaxing....

It was nice and cool....about 60 degrees with a lot of sun so I made myself comfortable our in the Patio with my swollen feet and ankles elevated.....

How do you like my centipede socks????

I used to wear all kinds of crazy socks at work because we had to wear battle ship gray scrubs....

I sat out there enjoying the view in my private little Secret Garden, looking though decorating and garden magazines......

No one can see me sitting in the patio with all the trees behind us even though there is another row of 10 townhouses behind mine.....

And the privacy lattice that we attached to our chain link fence provides privacy on the 2 sides of the yard......

What a great view.....

 In case you are not familiar with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis or think that it only causes Hypothroidism and it can be corrected with medication.......

 This is a great letter, explaining the disease and how debilitating it can be a times....

 Hi. My name is Hashimoto's. I'm an invisible autoimmune disease that attacks your thyroid gland causing you to become hypothyroid.
I am now velcroed to you for life. If you have hypothyroidism, you probably have me. I am the number one cause of it in the U.S. and many other places around the world.
I'm so sneaky--I don't always show up in your blood work.
Others around you can't see me or hear me, but YOUR body feels me.
I can attack you anywhere and any way I please.
I can cause severe pain or, if I'm in a good mood, I can just cause you to ache all over.
Remember when you and energy ran around together and had fun?
I took energy from you, and gave you exhaustion. Try to have fun now.
I can take good sleep from you and in its place, give you brain fog and lack of concentration.
I can make you want to sleep 24/7, and I can also cause insomnia.
I can make you tremble internally or make you feel cold or hot when everyone else feels normal.
I can also give you swollen hands and feet, swollen face and eyelids, swollen everything.
I can make you feel very anxious with panic attacks or very depressed. I can also cause other mental health problems. You know crazy mood swings? That's me. Crying for no reason? Angry for no reason? That's probably me too.
I can make your hair fall out, become dry and brittle, cause acne, cause dry skin, the sky is the limit with me.
I can make you gain weight and no matter what you eat or how much you exercise, I can keep that weight on you. I can also make you lose weight. I don't discriminate.
Some of my other autoimmune disease friends often join me, giving you even more to deal with.
If you have something planned, or are looking forward to a great day, I can take that away from you. You didn't ask for me. I chose you for various reasons:
That virus or viruses you had that you never really recovered from, or that car accident, or maybe it was the years of abuse and trauma (I thrive on stress.) You may have a family history of me. Whatever the cause, I'm here to stay.
I hear you're going to see a doctor to try and get rid of me. That makes me laugh. Just try. You will have to go to many, many doctors until you find one who can help you effectively.
You will be put on the wrong medication for you, pain pills, sleeping pills, energy pills, told you are suffering from anxiety or depression, given anti-anxiety pills and antidepressants.
There are so many other ways I can make you sick and miserable, the list is endless - that high cholesterol, gall bladder issue, blood pressure issue, blood sugar issue, heart issue among others? That's probably me.
Can't get pregnant, or have had a miscarriage?
That's probably me too.
Shortness of breath or "air hunger?" Yep, probably me.
Liver enzymes elevated? Yep, probably me.
Teeth and gum problems? TMJ?
Hives? Yep, probably me.
I told you the list was endless.
You may be given a TENs unit, get massaged, told if you just sleep and exercise properly I will go away.
You'll be told to think positively, you'll be poked, prodded, and MOST OF ALL, not taken seriously when you try to explain to the endless number of doctors you've seen, just how debilitating I am and how ill and exhausted you really feel. In all probability you will get a referral from these 'understanding' (clueless) doctors, to see a psychiatrist.
Your family, friends and co-workers will all listen to you until they just get tired of hearing about how I make you feel, and just how debilitating I can be.
Some of them will say things like "Oh, you are just having a bad day" or "Well, remember, you can't do the things you use to do 20 YEARS ago", not hearing that you said 20 DAYS ago.
They'll also say things like, "if you just get up and move, get outside and do things, you'll feel better." They won't understand that I take away the 'gas' that powers your body and mind to ENABLE you to do those things.
Some will start talking behind your back, they'll call you a hypochondriac, while you slowly feel that you are losing your dignity trying to make them understand, especially if you are in the middle of a conversation with a "normal" person, and can't remember what you were going to say next. You'll be told things like, "Oh, my grandmother had that, and she's fine on her medication" when you desperately want to explain that I don't impose myself upon everyone in the exact same way, and just because that grandmother is fine on the medication SHE'S taking, doesn't mean it will work for you.
They will not understand that having this disease impacts your body from the top of your head to the tip of your toes, and that every cell and every body system and organ requires the proper amount and the right kind of of thyroid hormone medication for YOU.
Not what works for someone else.
The only place you will get the kind of support and understanding in dealing with me is with other people that have me. They are really the only ones who can truly understand.
I am Hashimoto's Disease.

I was diagnosed when tested for Lupus as Lupus and Auto Immune disease run in my family....

I was able to catch a great sunset from our front porch.....

The Sun will be setting further to the right as time progresses......

And it won't be behind the trees on the side of our road......

I even was able to catch a near Full Moon in the back yard.....

It's the simple things like a Sun Set and a near Full Moon that add to Life, don't you think?????

And then we have this forecast for Saturday morning!!!!

YEP!!!

SNOW......

However, it is not uncommon for this to happen here in NEPA as it did back in 1966....

I always say that Mother Nature corrects herself as she gave us unseasonably warm temps. in February and March.....

Finally a bit of a warm up by mid week next week!!!

 I hope the snow and frost that is predicted for Saturday morning will not kill off my lilacs on my tree int he back yard before they get a chance to fully open!!!!

And one final note....

I do want to wish all To all those Nurses out there a Happy Nurse's Day and Week!!

Especially those who provide DIRECT PATIENT CARE in Hospitals, Nursing Homes,Urgent Care facilities, Clinics and Doctor's Offices......

Who are mandated to do overtime, who work 12-16 hour shifts, who have to work weekends and Holidays, who work short staffed, who don't get to take a lunch, let alone go to the Bathroom .......

Who actually take care of patients face to face.....

I am so happy to be one of those RETIRED Nurses......

 It amazes me that only a year ago, no one really knew about Nurses Day and Week and it went by virtually unnoticed by the Public.....

I am glad that Nurses are FINALLY getting the appreciation that they deserve because up to now, it was a Thankless, unappreciated profession which you were used and abused by administration and employers......

You can read about it HERE......

  Last year, I finally got to write the Letter of Resignation that I dreamed about doing for years.....

So much so that I even framed it!!!!

Have I mentioned how happy I am to be RETIRED??????

LOL!!

In my next post, I will be sharing Part 2 of How One Thing Led to a Huge Project......

In a previous post, I shared how this new acquisition added to Joe's Pittsburgh Sports Collection....

 Led to totally re-doing Joe's corner in our Master Bedroom.....

In my next post, I will be sharing this area of Joe's corner.....

 And how his collection now moved over to another wall in our bedroom......

 So I hope you will stop by to visit again soon!!

Stay Safe, Healthy and Happy!

 Thanks to those who took the time out of their busy day to spend a little bit of time with me!!

If you do not have a blog, PLEASE  give me some way to reply to your comment, maybe by including your email in your comment.  If I can not find a way to reach you, I will reply on the post where you commented so please check back......

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