The Economic loss?

How to... Home-made is the best right? But there are times it is the only thing one can do because it is not for sale what you have in mind or... too expensive. Could be it's an economic loss to you but not for me.

We're not crazy about gnomes.

Sometimes you see statues of gnomes standing with several in a garden.

If they exist, they have never done a job for me.

Rien Poortvliet, who made a great book with beautiful drawings about the life and work of gnomes, certainly described the life of the forest gnome.

I do not see them. They never lifted a hand here, not even in the dead of night. How nice would it be to wake up and notice someone washed the dishes, unclogged the sink or toilet, pulled all the weeds, swept the sidewalk, chopped the large logs into pieces and even did the laundry?

There is no gnome to be found here. Not in the house and not in the garden. Would a house elf be more trustworthy?

It started with a joke, the purchase of that one gnome. A Saint Nicholas gift and surprise, handmade, home-made. The gnome never arrived at its destination and remained next to the bed of its maker, my son. Closed borders threw a spanner in the works. Instead of the surprise, a purchased copy was ordered online and sent.

A few years passed and indeed it took a while.

The gnomes, one is actually taking a selfie, are still in front of the window, but they will soon go outside.

Garden gnomes do not belong in the house, the front garden is still free. That will be their final resting place, complete with a gravestone.

Making your own tombstone is cheaper than buying it.