Kelly Blair has a mystery on his hands.
Who took his weathered garden gnomes? And then returned them, freshly painted?
The Kelowna, B.C., resident has a clue, but just a scant one: A paper cutout of a gnome, with ‘The Gnome Restoration Society’ written in pen on the back.
No name, no phone number.
In a nod to The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, let’s call it: The Case of the Painted Gnomes.
On Facebook, Blair wrote about the strange, yet heartwarming, incident — which came shortly after he had a variety of items stolen from his backyard following a garage sale.
“This morning, a lady knocks on my back door, says she is ‘just the delivery person,’ admits ‘this might seem odd,’ hands me an envelope and asks me to follow her to her vehicle. This was in her car!
“The gnomes came home! And all spiffed up in bright new colours. I had gnome idea (pardon the pun) the society existed.”
Blair said he didn’t notice seven of his eight gnomes were missing until he realized they weren’t there.
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“I’m in the midst of a move and I’ve been giving away a lot of stuff and selling things,” he said.
“There was a nice lady who had a yard that was conducive (to gnomes). They were weathered and what-not, but she was welcome to them.
“I came out to take pictures to send to her and that’s when I realized they were gone as well.”
At first, Blair thought they had been taken by the same thief who pilfered his canoe, table saw, wheelbarrow and portable workbenches the day after his garage sale.
He now highly doubts that the thief who stole from him belongs to the secret society, “unless my canoe comes back with a fresh paint job.”
Though he may not know who temporarily purloined his good-luck garden charms, Blair said he was impressed by the unknown painter’s incredible skills. Plus the fact they gifted him with two extra gnomes.
“So a big shout out to The Gnome Restoration Society,” said Blair. “Whoever you are, you made my day!”
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