they were plastered everywhere else in rigorous order on the walls and the ceiling : laughing children , tender-eyed dogs , pine-rimmed lakes , starry skies , piled-up clouds , fondled cats , snow-capped mountains , smiling helena on her swing , russet forests , blue skies , flower-spangled meadows , vineyards , surf on the beach where helena strolled , sailing-boats with pregnant sails , geometric gardens , patchworks of tilled fields , hand-in-hand couples in the forest , sea gulls , roses , wheat fields , birds on flowered boughs , herds of zebras , old bridges , celebrated towers , weddings , blue bays .