NightinGale

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wren

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lilah Blue Fae

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gemma

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

La Rosa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Starlight

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lullah Jay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ina Enchanted

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Delphinia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Olympia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tiny G

 

Little Lu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fawn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beryl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes if a community is lucky they might have an individual or two who stands out for their selfless acts of giving. Here in mid coast Maine generations of children have been fortunate enough to have been acquainted with an entire family of such individuals whose hearts overflow with generosity and love. A big shout out to Miss. Bette, Miss. Angie, Miss. Jo, Mr. Jerry and Miss. Suzanne!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Wizard and I have hosted many annual end of the school year Grand Fairy Tea Parties for one of the most dynamic preschools we know of. Lovely Annie, a fairy fine wandering minstrel delights us with her music, she is beautiful to behold.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adults and children dance and prance as we parade through gardens with shy little fairies glimmering beside us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the assistance of parents and friends wishes are collected from all of the children and deposited within a tiny wicker basket. This basket is dusted with magical fairy dust, carefully attached to environmentally safe balloons and carried by the currents of the wind to Fairyland. What fun on a brilliant day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s a little movie/ slideshow of our wonderful morning of celebration. Click on the link below…enjoy.

Grand Fairy Tea Party

I wonder what kinds of wishes the fairies received?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the north side of a small mountain in Maine there grows a very large and fluid garden, a Story Garden.

 

 

 

 

 

Every garden has a story.

 

 

 

 

 

What secrets do you think this garden might tell?

 

 

 

 

 

 

When the Seamstress to the Fairies created this garden she knew that it would not truly blossom into it’s full potential until children arrived, only then would the stories of this garden unfold and be “seen” and felt for the very first time.

Nothing quite like the sound of children’s laughter in a garden, running,laughing, singing … stories all around, all around.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If all of your life were a fairytale, if all your dreams came true.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What would you wish for?

What would you most like to come true?

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Fairies say, “Live your life like the blessing and gift that it is.”

‘The thoughts you dream today are the seeds of all your tomorrows.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Whether you dream large, whether you dream small, it really doesn’t matter so long as you dream.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Somewhere in a faraway forest fairies might hear you;and if they do  they will collect your dreams as you dream them and they will help nourish them so they grow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everywhere around us there is so much beauty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Don’t you know, everyone’s got a Fairyland inside…”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Magic happens in every garden, all one has to do is look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have a Fairy Happy Day!,

And keep on Dreaming!

With Much Love from the Home Place Fairies!

 

 

 

 

Lovely Luna

While working in the Garden of the Wizard by the Sea I came upon this dear sweet Luna Moth in the full bright light of a very sunny day. Having fulfilled her life’s duty to lay some 200 eggs she was quite weary and spent . Softly she was trying her best to expire while blending into what little shade the flora around her offered in a rather public and busy location with much noise. Too tired to make it back to the dense shade of the forest she found herself captive to the sun, for Luna Moths only fly at night. I kept my eye on her as I tended the gardens,weeding and planting and after 5 hours I noticed she was no longer so firmly holding onto a daisy’s stem. She was fading as the human sounds around her grew harsher. I pondered her predicament, taking in the loud noise of the passing traffic and the sunlight harsh on her midnight loving wings. I consulted with the fairy folk and it was determined that I should transport her to the woodland garden of the fairies and let her pass from this life in peace. Gently I snipped the stem she now so weakly held on to, resting her on my gardeners scarf beside a branch of lilac as I transported her to the gentle cover of the forest. Once there I set her in the woodland and as night fell the fairies came to sing as she ever so quietly, ever so gently, departed from this world. 

 

If you have ever encountered a Luna Moth you know how unforgettable they are. Effervescent green, they are magical in appearance with a wingspan of 4 and 1/2 inches. Their hind wings have “eyespots” and 2 long tails. Their bodies are white and their legs are pinkish. Males and females look the same though males antennae are bushier. Luna Moths are among the largest moths in North America . They come out at dusk flying only at night in spring and early summer. These moths have a very short life span, in which they have just one quest and that is to find a mate and breed . During her short life the female moths lays eggs, 200 of them in small groups of 7 or so . Once laid it will take 10 days for these eggs to hatch into caterpillars. Here in Maine the eggs are laid on the bottom sides of the leaves of Red Maple, White Oak, White Birch,Smooth Sumac, American Chestnuts, Willows and Beech. As soon as the caterpillars hatch they begin eating the leaves of their host tree. The caterpillars will eat and grow, molting (shedding) their skins 5 times over a 4 week period. This molting/shedding process is called instar. Each instar increases the size of the caterpillar as well as changes it’s appearance somewhat . In all stages of instar the caterpillars are green however the hairs on their backs change in color and volume, as well they increase in size.When the caterpillar is 2 1/2 inches long it is fully grown and will spin silk from near it’s mouth wrapping itself into a leaf. It is now called a pupa and is inside a cocoon. Pupa stay in their cocoon about 3 to 4 weeks and then hatch. If  late in the season and close to winter they will remain in their cocoon and hatch in the spring. The leaf with cocoon will drop from the tree in autumn, becoming sheltered by falling leaves. When Adult Luna Moths emerge from their cocoon they are very tired. Though weary, they climb high up into the treetops hanging so their wings are upside down. This allows the wings to inflate with blood. After completing this process the moths wait until darkness falls to take flight. During the twilight hours of darkness female Luna Moths secrete a chemical scent that guides the males to them. After the female Luna Moth lays her eggs the male and female moths fly to a protected woodland glade to gently and quietly pass from this life. Adult Luna Moths live for only 7 days, they have no mouths and cannot and do not ever eat! The lovely Luna Moth I found in the Wizard’s garden for whatever reason had lost her way back to the forest and found herself caught in the bright light of day. I was happy to escort Luna back to the forest of kindhearted fairy folk who honored and blessed her with their kindness, then released her spirit to the wind and let her go.

The fairies sang to dear Luna.

 

Lilac season here on the north side of a small mountain in Maine begins during the last weeks of May and if weather permits it can last well until the end of June.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A hedgerow of common Lilacs both white and shades of purplish pink welcomes quests to our farm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very early in the morning Home Place Fairies arrive and begin to sprinkle the gardens here with fairy dust, which encourages plants to vibrantly sprout, blossom and grow.

Each and every morning I like to do a walk about the farm greeting the wildlings as they awaken and the fairies as they arrive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brunhilde Toad is a good friend of mine, she along with her sister Trixie are magical toads and they live in Madeline’s Enchanted Boarding House. Brunhilde seemed awake rather bright and early this morning, saying, “Deep in the garden lays a wonderful surprise.” Then she casually hopped past on her way to tell her sister what she’d seen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Being magical Toads Brunhilde and Trixie have pretty much everything they wish for.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I noticed Robin had laid one perfect egg in her sweet little nest which the fairy folk have already sprinkled with magical dust for protection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I met Old Horse as he was just returning from his morning walk with a group of twinkling fairy folk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Fairy Wardrobe Chamber sat quietly waiting for when human children might arrive. She holds many secrets and all sorts of possibilities.

As a  Fairy Magical Chamber she is filled with garments created by the Seamstress to the Fairies and enchanted with fairy dust.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just as the sun began her morning rise fairies began to sprinkle the garden with fairy dust ground precious and fine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each morning is different, no day is ever exactly the same.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today as I walked about I thought something seemed different somehow, the birds were chirping louder, and Old Horse had returned from his walk earlier than is usual.

And so I looked about the garden searching for a clue.

I came upon Eugene Troll’s large sturdy wooden chair, nothing seemed amiss, but where in fact was Eugene Troll, I wondered ?

Only to remember trolls always return to their underground chambers at the first sign of morning’s light.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fairy folk had already dusted the arbor of arctic hardy kiwi and all seemed as it should be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Continuing on my merry way I looked high and I looked low seeing nothing unusual, when I spied well into the garden’s center, the most charming little mailbox I ever did see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This turned out to be the delightful Miss. Millicent Mae Mailbox. Millicent Mae glistened and glowed; greeting me with a twinkle and a flutter. She had wings! And she spoke!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Millicent Mae told me she had been made by Eugene the Troll from the Knoll out of fine metals mined by trolls from the hills, far beyond the Enchanted Forest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She said Fairies enchanted her, gifting her wings, the powers of invisibility and when and if she so chose it, the ability to fly! Oh, and yes…she was a shape shifter, meaning she can enlarge or decrease her size as it suits her.

No ordinary mailbox is Miss. Millicent Mae, but a fairy special one indeed. Her purpose is to receive hopes, dreams and wishes from children and grown ups and deliver them to Fairyland.

She was on a mission looking for a fairy special location in which to offer her services.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I never met this little mailbox before and I am so happy to know her name for she did not stay, she chatted with me only briefly as she brightly twinkled, glistened, glimmered and glowed. Cheerfully saying she would be back in 6 days time when the sun shined bright, then she twinkled one last time and poof!

She was gone!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remarkable really, what you might find in a garden if only you look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is said that at the end of every Rainbow there rests a pot of Leprechaun Gold.

I cannot confirm nor deny this possibility and the Fairies themselves remain very secretive, revealing nothing.

One thing I know for certain is that Rainbows are spectacular visions and many legends surround them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since Fairies are infamous for not revealing secrets I thought I would do a little scientific research of my own regarding Rainbows.

This is what I learned:

In order for a Rainbow to be formed it must be raining and the sun must be shinning.

Sunlight appears white although it’s actually made up of many wavelengths (colors) of light.

Some of these wavelengths (colors) bend more than others when sunlight enters water droplets because water is denser than air.

When white sunlight passes through and exits rain droplets, the droplets act like tiny prisms separating and bending the different wave lengths into a band of colors which is then reflected back to us as a Rainbow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Violet has the shortest wave length of visible light (color), so she bends the most.

Meanwhile Red has the largest wave length of visible light so she bends the least.

 

 

 

I am still not sure about the Leprechaun Gold, but I do know for certain that someday, somewhere, over some rainbow, your dreams really will come true!

For the Fairies told me so…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old friends are as important as new friends. One is silver and the other is gold.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The day Dory Anna came to visit she told stories from her own childhood as fairy folk happily fluttered all about.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dory Anna shared one of her favorite childhood tales about a delightful spider and a charming pig.

Some very special pig in fact. Do you know the name of this story and who this pig and his spider friend might b

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every garden, no matter what size is a place for the telling of tales, for sharing, thinking, reading and savoring the natural world all around.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Springtime Lilacs; early summer Lilacs and Lupines too,  oh what a sight!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Home Place Fairy Folk have been very busy this spring and early summer tending the lilacs and lupines as well as countless other plants here at the farm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fairies spent a long and very cold winter confined to their cozy chambers hidden deep within the Enchanted Forest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a good long slumber they awoke to a slow spring, much rain and lingering cold. The skies were often gray; flora was slow to green and because of this the fairies could not leave their chambers for more than a few minutes at a time, until much later in the season than ever before.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Being well rested from a long winters sleep they occupied their time by grinding what became an abundance of fairy dust for sprinkling on springtime flora.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fairy Dust is enchanted of course with that extra special something that encourages each plant it is sprinkled upon to sprout, blossom and GLOW as well as grow!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fairies happily and efficiently work together in pairs, side by side grinding precious stones and minerals, chanting and singing spells as stones turn into magical dust. Then  out into the gardens the fairy folk fly, sprinkling fairy dust as they flutter way up high and way down  low.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Their exuberance and hard work shows for the woodland, meadows and gardens here at the farm have never looked more vibrant and happy.

 

 

 

 

Thank you Home Place Fairies and all my Fairy Friends far and wide.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remember , magic happens in EVERY garden, all one has to do is look.