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Sunday, September 3, 2017

THERE'S A LION IN THE GARDEN

Walk in through the gate into the front courtyard and you may be greeted by a roar from my recently acquired lion. I have named him Harvey, because he came into my life on Saturday, the day that hurricane Harvey crossed the Texas coastline and to begin its devastation.


On that day we happened to be 1500 miles away, having flown up to Canada to attend a Golden Wedding celebration in Hamilton, Ontario. The day after the celebration we drove along the Lakeshore Rd as far as Oakville, where we lived in the mid 70s. The lakeshore has some beautiful houses and outside one we saw the inevitable Saturday sign 'Garage Sale'. How could we resist?

When I saw the lion I knew immediately he would look perfect among the grasses in the front garden. But then thought about the fact we were not checking baggage. David felt sure we could carry the lion on the plane, one way or another. I wondered if security might be a problem. He's quite heavy, being cast from some kind of metal and his patina needs a little touch up. But we had no problems and no-one even queried the lion as it went though the scanner.


But that wasn't the only critter I found. A sweet little ceramic gecko reminded me of the one in our Air B&B house in France. All I need is a piece of driftwood.

French gecko
I might even let him stay in the house which is where geckos like to live, if the number of ones in our house is anything to go by. I am always shooing them outside but they always come back.


To round out our shopping experience a nice ceramic owl hanging and two lovely Indian scarves. The total came to $10. Now, that's what I call real garage sale prices.

13 comments:

  1. I can imagine you got some looks as you went through the airport! Totally worth it though.

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  2. I'm completely amazed that the airline let you carry the lion on board. It looks big!

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  3. Oh!!! I wish there was a photo of you two in the airport with Harvey...

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  4. Great finds and how nice to hear you had no problems getting your new pets to their new home.

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  5. What, the gecko doesn't get a name? ;)

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    1. Too funny! I shall have to put my thinking cap on.

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  6. So $10 for the garage sale and $1,000 for the airplane tickets? Still cheap!

    The lion is excellently placed. It is difficult to get a sculpture to look right in a garden setting but you have done it.

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    1. Thanks. I once saw a photo of a large cat sculpture among grasses. It stuck with me waiting for the right time. Yes, expensive anniversary trip but we have known them 48 of those 50 years.

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  7. You must be on their "good flier" list to get through with no questions asked and a big metal lion in your arms! I look forward to seeing him in his new habitat.

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    1. We were surprised too. It could have been stuffed with all kinds of things.

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  8. Fantastic and fun story...Look forward to meeting your new lion.

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  9. That's so funny, I can just see the determination. He's very cool and looks great there. The gecko is a nice touch too. We don't get them in the house here though they are all over outside.

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  10. Wow! He's much larger than I pictured!
    But, he looks great!!!

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