Big White Balls

My new big white balls. 

The tall cedar stakes, in case you're wondering, prevent my big red dog from napping - and thereby crushing - my luxurious hosta leaves. Don't worry - she has her own private hosta garden that she is allowed to crush with impunity.

Oh look! A flock of big white balls has roosted on my backyard fence, and appears to be settling in for the long haul. 

But never fear. Before you call animal control and report this strange invasion, let me tell you the truth. 

I put them there.

On purpose.

And they are actually old friends of mine.

My big red balls circa 2012.

For many years, these harmless spheres lived in the far corner of my front yard in a shady little space where nothing much else cared to grow. So I fetched these fellows from Home Depot (get all the DIY details here) and invited them to nest here indefinitely.

Well, the times are always a'changing and as the years flashed by, this cozy spot grew smaller and smaller. Thanks in particular to an incredibly enthusiastic azalea bush, my band of big red balls found themselves unceremoniously squeezed out of their space and this June, I began the hunt for a new nest.

The newly transplanted hostas are looking a bit bedraggled but never fear. 

By next June, they will be lush. Gracie, on the other hand, is peak lush at all times.

Around the same time, I was overhauling a corner of the back yard. I'd just removed a path that wandered uselessly along the back fence by filling out my patch of hostas when my eyeballs informed me that the horizontal space along the fence between the top of the freshly expanded hostas and the lower line of the Japanese maple leaves would be an ideal spot to run a bit of eye candy.

And yes, I do consider my big white balls to be eye candy.

At first, I thought about leaving the balls their signature red, but I decided to live on the edge and paint them white. I mean, for twenty bucks worth of spray paint and an afternoon's time, I can flirt with danger. So by mid-August, out came my drop cloth and suddenly my big red balls, who'd been languishing in the wheelbarrow for at least a month, found a new lease on life as big white balls. 

These little babies aren't going anywhere. 

Next, I mulled hanging options. I considered a number of complicated contraptions but in the end, just drilled a hole in the lip of each ball and dropped them onto cup hooks screwed into the cedar fence. 

So easy. 

So effective.

So cute. 

Do you notice that the pattern roughly represents a sine curve? Mhmm. Math teacher.

My first inclination was just to throw the cup hooks up, willy nilly, but my more sensible self shook me silly till I agreed to plan things out a bit more formally. Why, yes, I did create paper templates for the balls and tape them to the fence, arranging them this way and that until I was properly pleased with the effect. 

Gracie quickly adapted to her new friends, and they apparently have a peaceful effect on her. 

Even the stone bunny who lives nearby seems to welcome the new and improved big white balls to the backyard fence. I think we are all going to be very happy together.