Reasons to love Rien Poortvliet?

Gnomes! Oh those darling books, with worlds to discover!

Delightful, fun and sooo inventive!

~~*~~

~~*~~

Garden gnomes have inspired an enthusiastic and devoted cult following, both in the real world and in cyberspace. Perhaps nowhere is the garden gnome's cult status more apparent than in North Devon, England at The Gnome Reserve and Wildflower Garden.

This unique attraction is fun for everyone, with a reserve where garden gnomes can run free, a wildflower meadow, a stream and pond and woodlands. The natural beauty of the English countryside can only be enhanced in one way, gnomes! This unique park does it best, with over 1,000 gentle gnomes in residence. Non-conformists are discouraged, so tall, pointy hats and fishing poles are handed out to visitors so they'll feel more at home with the gnomes.

Special exhibits walk the visitor through the manufacture and painting of gnomes, and a gnome museum documents the history of this fascinating race. It is rumored that at night, the small army of gnomes on site plants and tends the wildflower reserve and fishes in the pond.

While the Gnome Reserve is perhaps the largest gnome home in the world, garden gnomes are celebrated elsewhere as well, especially on the web. A very cute site called nigelthegnome.com chronicles a Florida gnome's travels across the United States in pictures. Websites selling garden gnomes abound, most selling traditional gnomes and others selling specialty gnomes.

One of the most interesting gnome websites is a storefront that sells garden gnomes who look suspiciously like George W. Bush! We aren't sure if they're illegitimate offspring or relatives, but the resemblance is uncanny. See for yourself at www.bushgnome.com. Another gnome place in cyberspace is thenaughtygnome.com, a specialty site that features gnomes with a special appreciation for the moon.

Of course, gnome sites also espouse political causes. A multinational movement, called freethegnomes.com in the United States sponsors a site filled with information about the garden gnome liberation movement. These militant gnome nationalists support life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for gnomes everywhere. Information about gnomes who have made it to a new life free from oppression is available at http://www.barganews.com/gnomes.

As with any minority population, garden gnomes are not accepted and loved by everyone. There are a lot of gnome hate sites out there with a lot of really negative, hateful postings. We can only hope that someday, garden gnomes can also make their dream of a better world where they can live free from prejudice a reality. Certainly garden gnome cult following is a sign that the times, they are a'changing.

"LIVE LINK BELOW FOR JOHN IN THE GNOME LINKS LIST"

http://gardenslawns.com Everything you need to know about lawn mowers and cutting your grass.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Francis

Kitsch is defined by several dictionaries as relating to poor quality or gaudy art objects that appeal to "low-brow" taste. But in the garden, kitsch categorizes folksy or commercial art that's viewed condescendingly by some, and with irony by others. It's this irony (this stuff is so bad it's good) that has made items such as pink flamingos and garden gnomes more widely popular in recent years.

Garden gnomes have long been popular in Europe, especially in the middle European countries of Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia. In fact, the city of Usti nad Labem in the Czech Republic has declared 2004 to be the Year of the Gnome.

Worldwide popularity of these dwarvish creatures was given a boost after the release of the French film Amelie in 2001. The title character in that movie, frustrated by her father's refusal to travel in his retirement, abducts his garden gnome and sends it around the world with a flight attendant friend.

But from where did these garden creatures spring? The word "gnome" comes from the same root word as the verb "to know."

It is thought that gnomes were named by Paracelsus, a 16th century physician and alchemist. Paracelsus authored a theory of the elements that included the belief that gnomes had occult knowledge of the earth.

From that theory sprang folklore tales that established a mythical society for gnomes. People said that gnomes expressed greetings, farewells and goodnights by rubbing noses. They developed stories that the creatures lived to 400 years, with the male gnomes greying very early in life and indulging in pipe-smoking.

Gnomes were divided by folklore into different types, with the house gnome and the garden gnome being the most represented. People believed that gnomes were a good luck charm, a symbol that the forces of nature were on their side. In parts of Europe, statues of garden gnomes have been, and still are, considered status symbols of success.

So much have gnomes captured the popular imagination, that in July 2003 Australia saw "Take your garden gnome to work" day, and recently the BBC urged listeners to hunt out "gnome-infested" gardens in central England. Although tongue-in-cheek, the BBC's disclaimer to take no risks because they "believe (gnomes) are still a potential source of harm" carries on the folklore legends.

In addition, several gnome "liberation" groups profess to free the statues from enslavement in gardens across America and Europe.

According to legend, house and garden gnomes help with chores around the home, like sweeping the floor or planting. This is the reason many statues of gnomes hold hammers, axes or shovels, or are pushing wheelbarrows.

Many contemporary statues depict gnomes sunbathing, swinging and otherwise relaxing. Several modern artists have specialized in creating statues and painting of gnomes, and many people are avid collectors. Others have opted out of the gnome movement, based on the gnomes' legendary association to spirits and the occult.

Will there be a gnome in your garden?

About The Author

Debbie Rodgers owns and operates Paradise Porch, and is dedicated to helping people create outdoor living spaces that nurture and enrich them. Visit her on the web at http://www.paradiseporch.com and get a free report on "Eight easy ways to create privacy in your outdoor space". Mail to debbie@paradiseporch.com

"LIVE LINK BELOW FOR DEBBIE IN THE GNOME LINKS LIST"

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Debbie_Rodgers

Greeted by a garden gnome people often grimace in horror and mutter some displeasure while thinking how anyone could anyone have one of those in their back garden. But we're also told ( from people in the know) that there are approaching four million of them in southern Germany and if you know where to look there's quite a few in the US aswell.

Well it doesn't surprise me about the Germans, since the first gnomes graced us with their appearance about 160 years ago. The first logged appearance was in the UK about 1840 in Lamport Hall. According to local myths gnomes are very lucky. It is documented in the 1870's that manufacture began on a large scale. Apparantly they are meant to help around the house and garden, and in more isolated areas were meant to guard over produce and livestock.

Eventually, the European gnome creators became experts and masters of their work. During it's most popular period a gnome factory in Griebel, Germany produced over 300 different characters. In 1989, after the collapse of the iron curtain, savvy businessmen entered the market in the Czech Republic and started to produce cheap imitations of the original characters. At first they were stopped from entering Germany by a law customs officers confiscate those gnomes who were infringing copyright laws. Unfortunately, it is all now all quite slack on the German border. The grandson of the founder, Reinhard Griebel, now has just one workshop and the gnome museum.

The first gnomes were always characterised as gardeners carrying out daily country tasks, but this grew to fishermen, sportsmen, musicians and many more. Then they started to model ones from people still living out of clay or stoneware.

In North Devon, in the southwest of England, there is a gnome reserve. There are over one thousand pixies and gnomes in the four acre reserve. Gnome fishing equipment and hats are given out so the gnomes feel at ease.

They are others that have a very different opinion about them. FreeTheGnomes.com provides Garden Gnome Liberation information and urges people to take action. They proclaim that " Thousands of gnomes are enslaved across America. For too long we have let are neighbours usurp the rights of these gentle woodland creatures. Join the boycott. Organise a picket demonstration. Write to congress. Free a gnome. We'll show you how."

Some groups have even crossed to the wrong side of the law. In April 2000 the Garden Gnome Liberation Front in a nighttime raid on a Paris convention stole 20 gnomes.

By the way, if you're thinking of selling your home, a study made in 2003 concluded that a gnome in your front garden would lower the price of your house by about £400.

For more info: A house is not a home without a gnome.

Jan Money is the owner of GardeningSupply.info and is from Poole in Dorset in the UK and has been writing gardening articles since 2005.

Gardening Supply Info - Providing information and resources about gardening and gardening supplies.

"LIVE LINK BELOW FOR JAN IN THE GNOME LINKS LIST"

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jan_Money

~~*~~

TAKE A VISUAL TOUR OF MY HOUSE FOR SALE IN HAWAII! HOW FUN!

ONLY $230,000. House in Pahoa, Big Island of Hawaii

http://rtvpix.com/RE-0732-M5IR3S-01

Contact my realtor Trudy about my house:

Trudy Tom, Realtor (S)
4% Realty Hawaii
SAVINGS SERVICE SATISFACTION
(808) 443-7083 Direct
(877) 399-2328 Direct toll free

The Virtual Tour was done by photographer extraordinaire Brent Williams of Hawaiian Virtual Tours who can be reached at (808) 640-7349 on the Big Island of Hawaii.

ALOHA!