Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Faeries In My Garden

The Fairy Song

"White coral bells
Upon a slender stalk;
Lilies-of-the-Valley
Deck my garden walk.

Oh, don't you wish
That you could
Hear them ring?
That can happen only
When the faeries sing!"

I used to think it was silly to believe in faeries.  That was before I stumbled across a sweet little booklet self-published by Sharon Lovejoy called Faeries In My Garden.  Here was a perfectly sane (and very talented I might add) adult who not only believed in faeries but planted gardens for them.  If you've ever been fortunate enough to visit Heart's Ease in Cambria, CA, the shop once owned by Lovejoy, you will have experienced the magical gardens she planted there.  Sharon inspired me to create my own fairy gardens and to make my yard a wonderland. 

Due to a few years of upheavel in my family's life, all of the fairy garden implements were packed away until they could be set out to delight the faeries once again.  Now that we are finally settled, my daugthers and I have had so much fun picking the spot and planning the perfect fairy garden.  An ancient tree on our property was the perfect backdrop.  The girls unpacked the box of fairy furniture while I painted the windows and door that Daddy cut out for us.  The last time we had a fairy garden we had to purchase moss from the garden store.  Living in Oregon, we have moss growing under every bush free for the taking (although we did ask permission from the moss faeries).  We put the finishing touches on and snapped some pictures.  As is often the case in Oregon, the sun did not cooperate for the pictures but the faeries are happy and so are we!


















Welcome to my garden.  Come up the path and have a seat.


Almost there...
Is that a fairy peeking out of the window?























Bunny is popping her head out of the clover.
























Have a seat by the birdbath and enjoy the view.










































Time to say goodbye for now...

































Until the faeries come tonight to play.


FAERIES BY MOONLIGHT

By the moon we sport and play,
With the night begins our day;
As we dance the dew doth fall---
Trip it, little urchins all,
Lightly as the lttle bee,
Two by two, and three by three;
And about go we, go we,
And about go we.

(The Maydes Metamorphosis of Lylie, 1600)