Mouse Piss Reborn

This post is about a couple of things. First of all, Sammy decided that our gardens/landscaping areas don't have enough "character"... we don't have statues of angels or ceramic toads or frogs or turtles... or much of anything else. I like those things when I see them in my sisters' or friends' gardens, and I have a couple of things myself... but mostly I'd have to say that it's just not my style. Today, anyway. That could change at any time.

So I have found myself checking out homes and businesses, etc. in town when I drive by them to see what kind of statuary others have decided to plant in their front lawns and gardens. I've seen a few truly unique pieces that are very cool. And probably cost a small fortune.

And the other day, I forget exactly why, I was out in our small, red polebarn. This is the polebarn that used to hold all the hay, feed and tack when I had my 2 horses, Candy & Angel. Now it holds Kevin's Kubota and a variety of stuff, outside-type stuff, and some pots and other garden stuff.

When Candy & Angel were still alive, we were out in that red barn twice a day at least. There were always mice, I'm sure, but the barn was an active spot. It always smelled like hay and horses... a very, very good smell.

Now that it's basically a tractor garage and storage facility, with a sand floor, it is a mice haven. It seems that anything that has been out there for more than a short time smells like mouse piss.

So anyway, I'm out there, thinking to myself, as I always do, how much it stinks there, and I see some things I haven't thought of in a good long while. A stack of square ceramic tiles that I believe are antiques, or at least really, really old. My mom gave them to me years ago. I've kept them because they're pretty; I like how old-fashioned they seem. I also saw a stack of old, rusty saw blades. Round ones, like for a table saw. Plus some other "stuff" (Kev would say "junk").

And those things kept niggling at my mind. So I made myself a statue. The plan was to have Sammy help me, and he did, at first... but then it kind of became a one-person job. Sammy helped a lot with cleaning stuff and moving stuff. Boy oh boy, did that stuff stink.

I finished it this afternoon. I'm still not sure about it. I had Kev cut 3 of the saw blades in half to use them at the top, but the only adhesive I could find strong enough was white... I would have preferred clear. I like the colors... but I haven't decided if it's a keeper or not. I wanted to love it. But so far, I simply like it. Maybe.

I call it "Mouse Piss Reborn"...







Right now, it's sitting among hostas, but Kev suggested moving it to the middle of the grasses. He thought it would look pretty with the grasses billowing around it. I think that's a good idea, but I think we need to wait about a week for all the adhesive to cure well before we attempt moving it. It is quite stable, and quite heavy. And though it perhaps doesn't look it... it is completely level (because I used a level when I assembled it). I put a crystal at the top; here's a closeup.

I like that little detail. And I love the blue pots with those old-fashioned tiles. And I also like the contrast between the dainty ceramics and the rusty blades.

Up close, it stills smells like mouse piss. And after working with that stuff, I feel like I can still smell it. It's in my nose memory. Lovely.