Not Artistic, Just Eccentric

A garden isn't just about plants and grass; vegetables and fruit; birds and wildlife; chooks and chores. It's also about whimsy. It's my garden and I can be as silly as I like. It's OK that other people (including Ruprecht) think I'm weird.

At our front gate, we have 3 metal magpies sitting on posts to welcome our visitors. When we moved from the mainland we didn't get the magpie visits and magpie antics anymore. There is a family down the street but they don't visit us. So my metal ones are my nod of respect to the magnificent magpie, such a delightful bird to have in the garden.

The 3 magpies were quickly followed up with 3 galahs (once referred to as public servants by a boy in my preschool, oh so many years ago) and more recently 3 fairy wrens. They are all dressed up for Christmas. They are great metal art work by the talented Kim Gibbs.

I have also let myself go with colours. The deck is a feast of furniture and furnishings with all the colours of the rainbow, everything purposefully mismatched. When the tradies turned up to put in our 'sunroom' they asked Ruprecht if I was an artist. He soon put them straight - not artistic, just eccentric. I'm sure Ruprecht dreads it when another bright idea pops into my head - "how about we.........."

Nearly every garden area has gone through the process of being developed, adding a sitting area, giving it a name and a signpost and then the whimsy. The cottage garden has a bed post, a bicycle and a cement mixer to add to its character. Maru has our Barong (Ruprecht's whimsy), Budleigh and Salterton. The fernery has the Balinese orchestra and the paving out the back has my own art work to reflect how making our own cobbled paving was very much a bridge too far. And we mustn't forget the TARDIS.

My daughter and her family buy fantastic pieces to add to my eccentric garden. Always a thrill.

Recently I completed some wall 'art' or should I say 'eccentricity'. A big bare wall on the south side of the house was crying out for some colour. (Yes I heard it sobbing.) I created a grid of circles - one side Fibonacci, one side prime numbers (Euclid) - in the colours of the rainbow (Newton). The Rainbow surname is a part of my heritage. Part of me wishes I still had this cool name. The white chairs below (another place to sit) reflect that white is a combination of all colours. (Newton again.)

Yes, I know, commit me now. But it has taken me 65 years to be comfortable with my weirdness and I'm quite enjoying it.

My next 'eccentric' work is another garden wall. This one will be in Uluru. Uluru is so named because we inherited a big mound of dirt, sticking up out of nowhere, from when we had a carport built before we moved here. It will again be circles, this time in Indigenous colours, and celebrating square numbers. Stay tuned!