At the Shop.....

The little Gnomes have been good for 2 days now!! Except for 1 little incident when they hid in my shoes by the door yesterday. They really wanted to go to the shop and see if it is as fun as Kosmoe & Picabo say it is, so yes, I caved and said OK. They soon learned there's rules about going to the shop.... like you have to have a bath, be nice to the customers, and no playing in the shop during business hours. They promised they could follow the rules! Bath time.... they watched Kosmoe and Picabo get a bath and decided it was like a big puddle they play in when it rains..... they loved it!! Awesome! We will have clean little Gnomes!

I showed them their choices of plants they could tend to and asked which one they wanted to take care of. Mr Pichonio asked me if I could please turn around and let them discuss it in private. Hmmm, he was polite about it so I said OK.... like how much could they really talk about?? Finally, Mr Pichonio said they had made a decision. They want to take care of all the plants, so would it be OK if they move to the different planters as long as they do it when nobody is looking? Mr Billy Bob BoFlex piped up and said that was his idea! Wow! I thought to myself, these little guys are really trying! This won't be bad at all! I asked then where they would like to start.... "In the wheel barrow in front of the office!" they both hollered together. "That way everyone can see how cool we are". So the wheel barrow it is!

As I set them in the plants, they had to be moved several times until they were in just the right spot. I think I have the happiest & proudest little Gnomes on the planet! They did great all day! Did not move a muscle! We closed up shop and checked on Mr Pichonio and Mr Billy Bob BoFlex. All is good. I turned to walk away and hear a quite little voice.... "Can you please leave a light on?" Mr Pichonio is afraid of the dark! Ahhh, poor thing! Mr Billy Bob BoFlex starts laughing at him and I remind him that that isn't nice. What if he was afraid of something and someone teased him. "OK, OK, fine! But I'm not afraid of anything!" I turned on the porch light as we headed out....

Saturday morning I check on Mr Pichonio and Mr Billy Bob BoFlex to see how their first night outside went. Mr Billy Bob BoFlex speaks up and says "GREAT!" Mr Pichonio clears his throat and says... "ummm, not really so great, let's be honest." As I look puzzled, I asked Mr Pichonio what happened. "Well, let's just say I didn't get much sleep last night."  Really? Why not??  "Because Mr Billy Bob BoFlex is afraid of EVERYTHING!! I had just fallen asleep and deer walked by.... Mr Billy Bob BoFlex screamed like a girl. I get him calmed down and fall asleep again, only to be awaken by another scream. A spider crawled across his foot and he jumped and almost fell out of the wheel barrow!" Mr Billy Bob BoFlex buts in.... "Oh, and what about you!! You were crying because your feet were cold!" Now I'm thinking.... it's not over after all :(

How can we make this work? Mr Pichonio suggested bark mulch over their feet, and Mr Billy Bob BoFlex suggested putting them in the plants in the "bull pen" at night so the deer can't get them..... he'll work on the spiders.

 

    

Good little gnomes....

So My talk with Mr Billy Bob BoFlex and Mr Pichonio must have worked! Last night when I got home from work they were still sitting on the counter where I left them..... of course I was kind of suspicious! I looked around the house, checked Kosmoe & Picabo, checked the back yard..... nothing! Hmmm, could I be so lucky? Mark & I were kicking back and relaxing, talking about our day and making plans for the "Picnic in the Park" we were going to on Wednesday night. As we were laying in bed I was thinking about how smart I am to "out smart" those silly little gnomes..... as I drift off to sleep with a smile on my face :)

Everything is still good when I climb out of bed in the morning.... ahhhh. I start my usual morning routine. I get in the shower while the coffee is brewing.... ok, I'm half awake now. I make my way out to the kitchen and pour myself a cup of coffee to finish waking up. I open the refrigerator and reach for the carton of creamer....EMPTY! And it's STILL in the refrigerator! Mark knows better than that, so the that only leaves the GNOMES!! Kosmoe and Picabo can't reach the handle to open the door, besides that, they would NEVER do that to their mom in the morning! I look over at them and they are both turned with their backs to me, they knew they were in trouble! BIG TROUBLE! I remained calm and totally ignored them.... I think that bothers them more than anything.....hehehe. I finish getting ready for work and head out to start my day, excited about the "Picnic in the Park" tonight.

Finally, my work day is over and it's time to kick back and listen to some music and have a picnic with Geoff, Brooke, Balei and Davis! Of course Mark and pups are going too, we can't forget them! I rush home to get wraps made for our dinner. All I can think about is hurrying and getting down to the park and getting a good spot! I grab the old wicker picnic basket, flip the lid open, and there sits 2 little Gnomes! What the heck!! I look over at the counter and no Gnomes! Obviously they were listening to Mark & I talk last night, and thought it would be fun to go! For a brief moment I had a soft spot and was going to let them go, but then I remembered the creamer that was missing this morning..... Nope, not going this time! Maybe next week if they're good. I told Balei about it while we were eating our dinner and she suggested that we make them their own picnic basket! Hmmmm, that might be a fun surprise for them if they're good. So, Mr Billy Bob BoFlex and Mr Pichonio, be good little Gnomes and you never know what might happen!

       

And then there were 2....

    July 31st, 2011..... that's when it all started! Balei & Davis, ages 8 & 5, decided I needed 2 little gnomes. What a surprise! I never thought I would have one of these adorable little guys, let alone 2 of them! Keep in mind, I've always thought fairies, gnomes, trolls, and such, were just "cute little guys". Boy was I wrong! I'm getting an education for sure! First of all I couldn't just name them, I had to wait for them to trust me enough to tell me their name. And you have to show them respect and use either Mr, Mrs, or Miss.
    Finally, early evening, Mr Pichonio softly speaks up as I'm playing on the computer. "I'm Mr Pichonio"...... this just like totally freaked me out! I slowly turn to the right to look at him sitting on my counter. Ummm, OK.... he just sits there looking blank. I slowly turn back to my computer thinking I'm totally crazy. Then in a little deeper voice, but still softly..... clears his throat, "Billy Bob BoFlex"...... Wow! I'm totally losing it!!!
I guess they figured I was just going to ignore them until I knew their names - Gnomes don't like to be ignored! They like to think they have the upper-hand, not in a mean way, they just want to be smarter than big people.
    Thinking they like to be out in the garden, I proudly set them out in the flowers and take their pictures. I leave them out there while I'm fixing dinner thinking they are happy little gnomes now. Well I look out the window and Mr Billy Bob BoFlex is up in the tree! The last thing I need to do is take a gnome to the hospital with a broken arm! I head outside to get him and that's when I noticed the ax on his shoulder..... "Are you try to chop down my tree?" Nothing.... then as I look away.... "No, I can see better up here!"
    I knew at that point my hands were going to be FULL!!