I Spy In My Little Yard

We received an unusual amount of rain in the spring and because our lot is graded so poorly, the rain has a tendency to wash the topsoil downhill. 

The bad news is this is a problem as much of the water has collected over 125 years on the north end of the house causing it to sink about 5 inches.

The good news is

• every rain uncovers a layer of buried treasures - broken bits of old pottery and crockery, buttons, rusted toys and tools, and
• because hubby has been digging out under the house, there is also an additional mountain of dirt to sift through for these treasures.

So we get to play I spy every week with the gifts left to us by four generations of the Allen family who owned this property since at least the 1880s. It seems they were happy to use the backyard as a dump for broken dishes although some of the pattern points to a more creative use. 

Did you see the little 1960s baby and the 1930s button? The rusted lock and broken scissors intrigue me. I want to know their stories.

It looks like some of the glass and pottery might have been purposefully placed in the flower beds. There are also bits of modern embellishments like colored vase-filler flat marbles and larger seashells. 

Was there a loose mosaic by design in that yard at some point?

One of my favorite early finds was an old metal Slinky. Does anyone else think this should be paired with the other metal items found for a found object garden mobile/chime? 

We also have lots of bulbs growing and these just came up in the last few days. It makes me happy to have Naked Ladies flaunting themselves in this conservative Kansas town. Just a little of the old lady rebel in me, I guess.

Okay geology buffs! If any of you can tell me what these are, I'd love to know. We've started finding tooth-like rocks in the last week. We have no idea how a rock can look like that naturally. Any explanations would be most welcome.