Things continued nicely over the following months as I added bits and pieces of pottery and plant life. The girls were still fascinating me particularly at night with the lights reflecting on them, and all the ugliness of necessary backyard evils such as fences and clothes lines, hidden under the cloak of darkness. Some plants thrived and grew, others didn't tolerate things at all and died. It wasn't long before I found myself accidentally driving by the naked lady store again. On one such occasion I discovered the shop had expanded into the building next door. Purely for storage, this large windowed room revealed a veritable bevy of 'naked lady life', all seductively staring out of the window towards the pub across the road. What nights some of the hotel patrons must have had as they were continually under the gaze of all this naked beauty. What drunken conversations were held at the window after closing time as the patrons staggered past them on their journey home. 

From the window I too looked in at all the statues to see if there was one more 'Siren' amongst them. There was only one but she was much bigger than my other girls and a lot more expensive so I conceded defeat on that one. I asked Paula, the owner of the shop, what other statues were available to her. She showed me the catalogue and, lo and behold, there was another one begging me to buy her. This one was so much like a picture I had of Rose, Norman's wife, dressed as Cleopatra. I put an order in for her and the following week, home came another statue. 

Cleopatra

I had also managed to secure the discarded roman styled cement planter stand from my friend. A coat of paint and it came up like new. Things were certainly progressing nicely,  but the plant life still left a lot to be desired as it struggled amongst the pre-existing palms and other 'out of roman place' trees we had originally  planted around the pool (during my 'tropical island in the backyard' phase, some years previous).

Still, all looked well in Little Springwood. On cool winter days the water in the pool looked an icy aqua blue, on sunny days more a creek coloured green. And the immense joy it gave me never ceased. 

Driving home from mums place one day I past a nursery I had never been to before. I pulled in to see if they had any plants that might help with the sparse foliage situation. They had a few statues as well, mostly the same as I had but a bit smaller. However one of these smaller ones I had seen before and as she was a little cheaper here I bought her. This was around the time that Princess Diana died, a tragic tale and one that touched the whole world despite their views on royalty. So I named this one Diana, although in retrospect I don't think she is very deserving of such an identity as she hasn't been made quite as well as Paula's statues are and is my least favourite. 

 
Diana and the columned planter in the background

And the scene so far..

As you can see, they move around quite often!

Next up, Christmas with the girls, Melbourne Cup purchase 
and a serendipitous meeting ends with the whole thing being painted!

The next installment

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