Fairies sprinkle fairy dust at dawn.

Two little Home Place Fairies arrived at dawn sprinkling fairy dust on the spring gardens.

This little blue fairy fluttered into the garden with her red cowgirls boots on.

Old Horse was delighted to see them as he awoke from his sleep.

When the sun rose full one little fairy piped out a tune welcoming in this new and glorious morning. What’s happening in your garden on this fine spring day?

After the rain the fairies come out cheerfully sprinkling fairy dust throughout my gardens, encouraging hummingbirds, moths and bees.

Whirling and twirling, they sing and they dance.

They twirl right, they spin left, waving their wands, fluttering with ease.

Lovely Luna

Luna Moth Actias 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.

Magic Happens in Every Garden

Home Place Fairy Folk are busy working the gardens here at my farm.

This morning I invited this sweet little shape shifting fairy inside for honey sweetened biscuits, fruit and cheese….

She happily accepted my invitation and brought me a brilliant bouquet of forsythia.

Happy Spring!

Winter has finally passed.

The gardens are awakening and the Fairies are too.

Oh, such magical wonders of nature.

Magic happens in every garden, all you have to do is look.

NINA ENCHANTED

Little Nina was in a predicament, she did not know what to do. All the other fairies were leaving the forest and heading as they always did towards the bright sunlight of their well tended gardens.

“As much as I enjoy tending these beautiful gardens day after day, I would like one morning where things were, well, different”, thought Nina, when suddenly one little fairy departed from the group and veered left instead of right, heading down a path Nina had not noticed before. Far in the distance a tiny beacon glowed. Nina could not decide what to do, as she had always followed the rest of the troop, never once had she ventured off alone. Suddenly very curious, Nina wondered how different her day might be if she too were to travel down this new path instead.

After much contemplation Nina adventurously set out alone. Instead of turning right like the fairies have always done, she turned left, stepping onto a path much less traveled. Nina walked for what seemed like a very long time, going deeper into the forest, further than she had ever gone before. The trees seemed much taller here and it was darker; less sunlight and lots of toadstools, but Nina was not scared. After a while she found herself in a small clearing, the fairy she had been following was nowhere to be seen. Surrounding her were common woodland ferns and mosses, lichen and assorted mushrooms all muted in pale greens and grays; lots of shadowy places, not the brilliant colors of the gardens she generally tended. “Why this is not so special”, she thought, wishing she had taken the path to the gardens instead. Disappointed, she turned back toward where she had come from, when she noticed a tiny flickering orb of light.

Nina gazed at the bright little orb in wonder and the little light politely asked that she step closer, and so she did.

The little orb said, “Look deeper Nina, not a me, but at what lays before you.” And so Nina did look around herself into what she had thought was just an ordinary wooded glen.

And what she saw was beautiful. While Nina had thought she was surrounded by common woodland ferns and mosses, upon closer inspection she discovered that they weren’t so common after all. They were extraordinary and tucked in among them were hundreds of tiny flowers of a soft blue hue, the likes of which Nina had never seen before. These flowers whispered softly to her,”Please take us with you so we may cast our seeds far and wide.”

So Nina gathered the flowers together, wrapping them with ferns and mosses. As she did this the little flowers began to shimmer with happiness and the dark woodland glen became illuminated with a soft golden glow, a radiant light, created by the joy of flowers who have waited so long to be seen.

Nina hurried back to the garden of sunlight, eager to share her adventure with the fairy folk and as she left that secret hidden woodland glen, the little blue flowers whispered “forget me not, forget me not”.

Somewhere far away in New England on the north side of a mountain in a village of hope, a small troop of Home Place Fairies gather together in the deepest hours of twilight. On this evening each year they have the ability to shape shift, increasing their size to that of mortal children. In order to do so they must shed their wings and leave them behind closeted deep within their chambers of an old oak tree.

While a human child slumbers in a farmhouse nearby the fairies happily gather stardust to grind into powder, precious and fine.

Filling finely woven willow baskets the fairies look high and they look low.  Sensing the sleeping child they enter her dream. All the while an old horse stands watching , he’s waited many years for this day.

They are the Wand Makers and this is their hour . These fairies have no time to waste as they march across the meadow through the forest to the Stream of Dreams.

Here stands La Rosa, she is the Wand Keeper .

It is during these twilight hours of enchantment that stars reflections drop from the sky. Floating down the Stream of Dreams they are captured by the fairies on twigs of apple, ash and oak, creating powerful wands.

The Wand Makers must work together in tandem capturing enough starlight to empower all of their wands for one full year. Only on this day early each spring, before the buds turn green can they work this magic.

The Fairies work hard and in silence, with great concentration. They must not miss one starlight’s reflection as each represents a mortal child ‘s dream.

“Old Horse is waiting and time is running short. ” La Rosa tells the Wand Makers .

Nightingale and Lula Belle join Old Horse who has been watching and waiting near by.

Old Horse follows Nightingale. He’s been through this before and he knows what must be done.

To the edge of the meadow where the ancient orchard grows they take him, while in the farmhouse a girl child lays dreaming of starlight, and wands.

Old Horse bows his head as the fairies work their magic. He is re-enchanted with everlasting time. Though he ages he never grows old.

Into the little girl’s dream the fairies enter. “Come with us.” they whisper to the sleeping child.

And so the girl follows the fairies and Old Horse follows them, deeper into her dream they go.

To this girl, like mother before her, Old Horse will be sent as guardian, a gift from the fairies. He will be this child’s protector and her sister’s too. He will watch over them for always. Horse has done this before and he will do this again and again.

As darkness begins to fade and dawn is on the rise the fairies gather their wands and stardust. Quickly they must head back to their chambers. At the entrance they will shape shift back to their wee size, adorn their wings and into the garden take flight.

In the morning when the little girl awakens, she walks  far into the meadow where the orchard grows.  She sees an old horse standing, waiting and she knows he is there for her; she recognizes him from her dreams. Together they walk as she leads him out of his past and into their future.

There is a place when

there becomes a time,

in which it is possible

to cross over to where dreams reside.

Horses dreaming deep.

There is a place,

where water becomes snow

and returns back again.

Horses dreaming deep.

A place of dreams where stories reside,

where horses step through and cross over.

Where music,

glorious music

has always

just begun.

Horses dreaming deep.

Fairy Fine wishes for the New Year from Old Horse and the Home Place Fairies to the Horses of Vieques.

Happy New Year from Old Horse and the Seamstress to the Fairies!

Happy New Year from the Home Place Fairies!