Unveiling The Giant Mushroom House

In an earler blog post… I stated that I may have to repaint the giant mushroom house after I had a good look at it.  And while I loved the size, the features, the shape, etc. — I simply thought that the paint job ruined the whole thing.  It looked “cheesy” to me.  I am forever telling my fellow gnomers to make sure their gnomescapes blend well with their surroundings.

There is no way this shroom house would have passed the “blend test” before — it was just too — well — cheesy.  LOL

Mushroom House Before

Mushroom House After

In my opinion — NO comparison!

Unveiling The Giant Mushroom House

Harley Biker Gnome Arrives!

Woooo Hooooo!  My new Harley Gnome arrived today~ he’s a handsome fellow!  I have named him “GHarley”.  My husband and I took him on vacation with us and here he is riding on the beach — lovin the sand and sunshine!

It also seems that as a result of my mushroom house ordeal — I have made a new friend on the internet!  Rick and I have exchanged many emails about living in South Dakota and Florida, Harley’s — you know — riding stories, etc.  It’s always nice to talk to someone from “back home”.

Although I did ask him straight up if he was related to the Kimmels in Sturgis who had the secret Kimmel gnome factory — he never would give me a straight answer.  *Sigh* those mysterious biker types… I guess I may never know the truth.

Harley Biker Gnome Arrives!

Gnew Gnome House Please?

I am a bit skeptical when I write my email to the Seller.  When I really think about it –perhaps he is not one of “THE” Kimmels.  Afterall his eBay ID “lowriderghost” tells me he is a biker.  And I know from experience that bikers from Sturgis are some of the best people around.  After all, I should know — I too am a biker — and spent many, many hours on a Harley Davidson when I lived in Rapid City, South Dakota. 

I send my email — and am pleasantly surprised to see it is answered promptly. This is what he sent me:

DEAR MARY, TERRIBLY SORRY ON THIS! WE TRY VERY HARD, BUT VERY LITTLE WE CAN DO ABOUT THE SHIPPERS IN BETWEEN. IF YOUR GOING TO KEEP THE PIECE, I’D RECOMMEND TRYING A GLUE SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED FOR USE WITH RESIN. I SUSPECT THAT A PRODUCT SUCH AS ‘GORRILA GRIP’ MIGHT BE VERY SUITABLE, BUT COULD NOT CONFIRM THIS. ON OUR CLAY GNOMES LINE WE RECOMMEND USING ‘TITEBOND II’ - THIS CERTAINLY WOULD SEAL THE CRACK ALSO, AS WELL AS SILICONE COULD BE USED. PLEASE ADVISE AS WHAT YOU WISH TO DO ON THIS? UNFORTUNATELY THIS WAS A VERY LIMITED ITEM THAT WAS MANUFACTURED JUST FOR US, AND I’M AFRAID THERE MOST LIKELY WILL BE NO MORE OF THESE, AND OUR INVENTORY IS NOW DEPLETED (WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO REPLACE). IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO KEEP THE PIECE I WILL NEED TO NOTIFY UPS IMMEDIATELY. PLEASE LET ME KNOW? AGAIN, VERY SORRY FOR THE DIFFICULTIES. BEST REGARDS, RICK

*Sigh* — there isn’t another one to replace mine.  So I email him back — tell him I would like to keep it and would he be willing to compensate me a little for the damage?

Within the hour — I hear right back from him!  He would like to send me a garden gnome for my trouble — and he gives me three different ones to choose from.  At this point I am positive they are not “Kimmel Gnomes” — they look NOTHING like any Kimmel I had ever seen.  I choose of course the “Biker Gnome” and you guessed it - he is riding a Harley.

Gnew Gnome House Please…

Mushroom House Arrives Broken!

Today a huge box arrives and I’m thinking WOW!  That was super fast shipping.  The toadstool house is massively bigger than I thought it would be and I am very excited to get it out of the box.

I absolutely love the shroom house but unfortunately the bottom of it is cracked in several place that will allow moisture to seep in.  While it may does not affect the display of the piece right now — my fear is that over time — it will deteriorate.  So because I loved it so — I decided to send an email to the Seller and see I could get it replaced. 

Since the mushroom house was shipped via UPS — there would be no worries about claiming damages as insurance is automatic with UPS.  And for the life of me — I can not figure out how it was damaged in the first place.  The box was intact and it was more than properly padded!  Perhaps it had been dropped prior to packaging?

And so I set off to email the Seller… and when I saw the return address on the box I’m sure my face went white.  It said ”Rick Kimmel” — South Dakota.  Could this be the same Kimmel Gnomes manufacturer that I had had so much trouble with on my previous rant?  The one that I believed “dissed me” and I swore I would never have anything to do with? I sure as hell hoped not. 

Mushroom House Arrives Broken!

Giant Mushroom House

I finally found it!  The mother of all shroom houses!  And it’s a beauty of a Toadstool I must say!  I found it on eBay and it’s a huge 14″high x 16″ diameter.  You know how I am about “scale”!  One can not possibly have a 6″ tall gnome and expect him to live in a tiny little 6″ house.  When I saw this one — I knew I had to have it.  It was on eBay as a Buy It Now… and that is just what I did!

Although I am not too keen on the colors used to paint it and may have to repaint it myself (which I LOVE to do!); I can’t wait until it arrives.  Sometimes thing look better than their pictures — sometimes not.  It will still go just perfectly in my Gnome Sanctuary.

Giant Mushroom House