Grandma Peggy’s quiet suburban life took an unexpected turn when her sweet granddaughter gifted her a mischievous garden gnome. Peggy proudly placed it by her birdbath, but her nosy neighbor, Carol, who lived to enforce HOA rules, wasn’t pleased. She immediately reported Peggy’s new gnome for “ruining” the neighborhood’s aesthetic.
Instead of removing it, Peggy decided to play a little game. She dug through the HOA rulebook and found several violations at Carol’s house: a too-tall fence, the wrong-colored mailbox, and loud wind chimes. Peggy enlisted her friends to stage a “gnome invasion,” placing dozens of gnomes all over Carol’s yard under cover of night.
The next morning, Carol’s reaction was priceless. She shrieked in horror when she saw the gnomes and, to make matters worse, an HOA official showed up with two violation notices—one for the gnomes and one for her many yard infractions. By the end of the day, Carol was hauling gnomes off her lawn, looking exhausted.
Peggy, grinning, waved as she walked by. “Your lawn looks different, Carol. Redecorating?”
Carol’s glare said it all. Peggy’s gnome still grins proudly by the birdbath, victorious in the battle of the yard.
