That is really a pretty ball, I love the color. Obviously living in Aridzona, I have no clue about winter-izing stuff.
Just wanted to say how great it looks in that garden.

hugs, Karen

Kirk, that's a very pretty color! I have left mmine outside... but you get alot colder there than we do.

Kirk, WHAT is that critter on the right, a big lizard, or what??? Have a close up of it?

Your BB looks great there. I'm a bowling ball fanatic. Love 'em. Is that an eagle statue there beside it?

Looks great...like a big ball of marble!

Do you feed that eagle? It looks like it has a big piece of meat in front of it! lol

I have no advice on coating the BB. I leave some of mine out all winter, but they have marbles on them. The one plain one wasn't that shiny to begin with, but doesn't seem to be any worse for wear.

However, now that I think of it, maybe it would be good for you to put car wax on yours. I can't imagine why that wouldn't work. If it protects cars from the elements...it certainly ought to work on a BB!

~Sandy~

Hi Kirk!

I live in Ohio where we get winters that are wet with lots of freeze/thaw cycles. I take my BBs in. I just leave them on my sun porch where they have a chance to dry out before the freezing starts. They have done fine so far. Now if I could just figure out where to store the mosaic top from my patio table!

~~Mimi

Thanks for the good advice and nice complimants! I love my BB, and it was like finding a surprise present in my garage. That is an eagle on the right, a gift from a student whose family didn't want to take the eagle with them on their move to California. They asked me if I wanted it, and I said, "YES!!!!" :o) That is a piece of coral by his beak although he looks like he's eyeing my bowling ball! LOL Kirk

A close-up:

{{gwi:140430}}

Hello Kirk!

Love the color of that bowling ball! My compliments
on the wonderful items of interest in your photos,
very nice!

Here in zone 5, we have many bowling balls on
rebar sticks around the yard and garden. Some
of them survive the winters just fine while others
fade or develop a crusty oxidation of sorts.

One, of all the balls we have, cracked. It may be
due to the fact that it was made of cheap plastic -
a kid's ball, perhaps.

Because they are so freely found around the area,
I don't worry too much about them.

A naked bowling ball is a beautiful thing, LOL.

Karen Marie

Kirk, I really like the addition of that BB! It looks like it definitely belongs there. I had my DMIL's ball out in the garden since she passed, about 3 years ago, and it was fine. I have heard that they can crack in two though. I just brought her ball in a couple weeks ago, though, because I am afraid of the same thing happening! I love that eagle so much! Your gardens are just wonderful!

You know I love bowling balls(-: Yours fits perfectly in that spot!! The color is wonderful(-: Your eagle is really cool too(-: I leave mine out all winter etc, but it doesn't snow here usually. Not sure on that one. I would think it would dull the finish on it to leave it unprotected. Maybe the car wax would work.(-: Or you could spray it with a clear coat of sealer. Oh and to answer a previous question for you. The blog is free. You just go to blogspot.com and sign up. Its really easy to use. I thought it would be fun to try(-: Gives me something to do besides ebaying(-:lol

What a pretty BB !!! I get so many pearlized ,swirly glittery ones at the GW - I Hate to cover them with anything. They're pretty by themselves !

I LOVE that eagle ... !

Cool BB...I love the color. I did notice that some of my BBs have faded in the sun, so you may want to put a UV protectant on yours. I'd take it inside for the winter...especially if you really love it. I store mine in an unheated shed and they have been fine so far.

Oh my Kirk: the picture is lovely!!! the whole garden, eagle,etc... is like a park!!! I just love the COLOR of the BB.... I wish I would find one like that.... I'm still look'n for my 1St BB... never had one YET>>>>>>
I got soooooo tickled listen to all of US talking about our BB ..'s because it is SOOOOOOO true... our treasures are like little family members... ~~~~ we don't want them to get Cold... we don't want them to Get TOOOOOOO HOT... we might put UV protectant on them.... we want to take them IN when bad weather happens...
WE ALL UNDERSTAND THAT !!!! but some people think "What are they talking about...!!" --- well poor them..
we are the Blessed Ones.... loving and caring for the Treasure of Our Gardens.... we are the Life Givers and we are the Care Givers... of the TREASURES !!!!
Glad to know ALL of YOU loving and caring --- artsy people.... Cause I'm telling you... it is alot like when you see someone abuse a little animal, small child or even the elderly...... DON'T TRUST THEM!!!!
Keep up the Good Work!!!
Keep sharing the pictures... and let's ALL keep sharing the feelings and the Treasures of our hearts and our gardens!!!!
It's just Healthy !!! and like THE MARTHA says--- It's a Good Thing !!!
God Bless !
H * A* P * P * Y *** H*O*L*I*D*A*Y**S !!!!!
susiesunshine

Kirk,
I live in WI , we get extremes,hot summers,cold winters with snow, I have a BB thats been out for 3 years, summer and winter , with no changes to it , as long as it is placed with holes to the bottom,so it doesn't hold water in it, you shouldn't have a problem .Your BB is mighty "purty"
Suzy

ditto,to all,! very nice!!! I also have a plain BB spray painted silver that has survived the NJ winters for several years. Maybe I am just lucky, I never paid attention to where the holes are either! Though now, I suppose that I just jinxed myself !!
Lori

that bowling ball looks like a pumpkin to me. i like the eagle.

What a cool BB! It's "The Golden Egg" & Mr.Eagle is peeking around the tall grass with his eyes on the prize!
You've laid out your garden in a very artistic manner with an eye for detail and depth. Fantastic! I could lose myself in your garden.
I'm not qualified to answer your over-wintering the BB question. North Cental Texas isn't very cold. But, I'd definitely keep it buffed to keep that shine! Oh! and keep your eye on Mr. Eagle while you're sitting out there polishing your golden egg.
akup_a ----- advice

Kirk, you have such an awesome yard! You never fail to amaze me with pictures of things I haven't seen before. lol! The bowling ball looks awesome next to the ornamental grass. The colors compliment each other so well. And I like it on the "copper" rebar. I love your eagle too! Now why don't I have wonderful neighbors like that?

Cool color. I need to take pics of one of mine that cracked (have two that did). Here in So CA we rarely have freezes except that 5 plus days last winter. I kept saying I am gona put some car wax on them...it is here ready to put on...but nope I did not and now they are cracked. I was gona fill the cracks and then cover it with something. So today I moved it and one of the pieces came off. It looks like the moon inside, lol. Maybe it is fiberglass or something like that. I will take pics tomorrow cause I am gona finish taking outside off and cover the inside. I did see where someone made jewelry with the outside plastic part. They treated it just like a rock or gem.

Beautiful gardens and the addition of the BB is perfect.
Twomonths, here's a link for BB cabs that are just beautiful. Wish I could figure out how to make them, because they are a bit pricey. Enjoy the eye candy.

http://www.fordite.blogspot.com/

Kirk,
Oh, the LOVE of BB's! You did find a really cool one. Those swirly marbelized/glitter ones are the neatest! I had one that was a burnt orange/red swirly so I left it as is in the garden. It WAS shiny too. Eventually the shine lost it's lustre and it did crack. I was so dissappointed but didn;t know what else to do. SO, #1 son, Sean, and I took a chisel and a hammer to it! I wanted to see it's insides. Did you know that a BB will bounce on concrete? It took some effort but we did crack the egg open! :-) The top layers were a polyethylene plastic material. The inside had a composite plastic/light concrete/foam like center shaped like a barbell. From expereince the older balls are made with rubber and wood. I had my FIL drill a hole through the center of two balls. One is still sitting in the garage. The other became a fountain bubbler in my bathroom. Getting back to care---you may want to avoid the extreme temps with your BB. Ours would get the 100 and teens plus temps in the summer and down to the teen temps in the winter. Whatever bowlers use to put a nice shine on their balls would be what I would use to keep it shiny. If you ignore it it will eventually lose it's shine....
You had some NICE neighbors to give you that wonderful eagle! The BB is it's golden pearl!
BTW, we need to see your rain chain! :-)
Hope you have an excellent weekend. Three day weekend for you? Yep, us too! It's nice to NOT be a banana sandwich on a weekeday!
TTYL
Love, Jules

Here is a link that might be useful: BB in the garden

Ok, couldn't resist. Here's a photo of my original BB bubbler. It is no longer in that pot. I did not like having to fill it up with water everyday because of evaporation....Got the idea from a guy that runs the St. vincent de Paul thrift store in the Eugene, Or. area. HE takes things and finds good uses for them. He then makes an example and puts in the store. He also takes broken glass/porcelain/pottery and tumbles it to make polished rocks. He also brings English furniture over here to sell in his stores so they don't end up in the landfill across the pond.I guess there is a good market for it here.
Enjoy!
Love, Jules

Here is a link that might be useful: Julie's BB Bubbler