Headless or extinct -- take your pick

Given the devastation to so many areas of our neighborhood, Nellie chose to take a route we haven't taken for several months. She was fairly certain the neighborhood was intact so we went that way. Things were looking normal. A few roofs with tarps from the fierce winds blowing off shingles, but otherwise, looking good. Turns out, Nellie was spot on for knowing things that would bring a smile. Since the last three days dealing with the attic insulation drama have been taxing, she knew cheering up was in the cards. One of my favorite Little Libraries now has a resident pterodactyl. This yard is known for its T. Rex, so it's not surprising he has been joined by a friend.

A couple of steps farther down the same street, we ran across this sad/funny sight. Two statues greet visitors and one poor bloke has lost his head! Well, not lost exactly, as it is in pieces in front of him. Clearly this statue, though made to look as if stone or metal, is neither. Hope he gets appropriate medical care soon.

  

After all the sad news, some cheer

There's nothing like someone in the neighborhood who makes a fun way of adding joy. This was on my walk with Nellie on a street that has seen disaster. Bright, cheerful, and makes you smile. Hand crocheted no less.

Our garden, pretty much decimated by the winds, which I am trying to consider an opportunity to be creative in new ways (when not crying in frustration of years of work down the tubes), is happily creating arches for bees and hummingbirds to enjoy. Not to mention passersby.

Being forced to deep clean every nook and cranny in the house to rid it of soot and ash residue has brought to light long forgotten items. We were VERY lucky in that our windows are super tight so we didn't get much in the way of smoke damage. Washing textiles made the huge difference immediately. But being the worry wart I am, cleaning behind everything, wiping down every surface somehow made sense. That's when I re-discovered a mosaic table top done in the dark ages of the 1990s. It was hidden under another piece of furniture (don't ask). 

I'm sure there are more hidden gems around, though I'm also taking this opportunity to ditch some stuff that simply sits around to gather dust. Sometimes it take a fire to get me to do what is right!

Street of fairy gardens

On a street a mere two blocks away, the neighbors got together and decided to have fun making fairy house scenes. This is the same street that was highlighted in a previous post with the gnomes in a tree. At the time, I didn't realize the extent of the project. Some of the displays are not exactly in the true fairy house genre, but the decorations are fun nonetheless. Alas, the shadows from the trees made it difficult to get the kind of clear pictures to truly show off some of the work, but if you enlarge the photo by clicking on it, it will show you more detail.

These first two intrigued me because they are made from twigs and small pebbles: 

Apparently, even fairies shop at country stores:

I think the old man is a gnome, but don't quote me:

Gotta love the frogs:

A mushroom house is a wonderful idea:

Not sure what's supposed to be going on here, but it's colorful:

A charming fairy inn:

And last, but definitely going for the gold, an entire village: