Midnight is a mysterious hour filled with enchantments.

When the sun has set for the day; when evening stars shine bright, Fairy Folk enjoy the coolness of twilight on a midsummer night.

It’s finally raining here on the north side of a small mountain in Maine and the garden is filled with poppies much to the Fairies delight.

Papaver somniferum is a beautiful poppy and adds a burst of color on an overcast day.

Old Horse walks among the poppies communing with his Fairy friends.

Poppies come in a variety of colors, all shades of whites, reds, pinks, and lavenders too.

Fairy Folk are responsible for coloring the poppies here in my garden. This year they selected a palate of red and shades of pink. I  love surprises and long ago decided I was more than happy to let the Fairy Folk  do as they please and paint the petals whatever colors they wish.

After the rains pass the Poppy petals will fall exposing  large seed “heads” which the sun will dry. Inside each Poppy head thousands of teeny seeds will form.

Later when the time is right you can shake the Poppy’s heads and hear the little dried seeds rattle within. Now is the time to tip the heads and collect these tiny dark seeds which you can store in paper envelopes for planting early next spring, or sprinkle that very moment onto the soil where you want them just like the plants themselves do. Each little seed has her own internal time clock and she will rest on top of the soil gradually being worked in by the rains and later the snows that will come. The seeds will rest beneath the soil this way slumbering until spring when the weather is just right and the Fairies awaken them to once again sprout, blossom and grow. Poppies with the Fairies assistance and a gentle human gardener lending a hand will repeat this cycle over and over, year after year.

Sometimes if you look closely into the heart of a flower’s center you just might see a mischievous fairy face smiling back at you.

Bald Eagle whose Latin name Haliaeetus leucoephalus means “white headed sea eagle”.

Totem:  A natural object or animal believed to have great power and spiritual significance, often used as a symbol. Eagle as Totem: Acknowledged by Native Americans in their Medicine Wheel as a Spirit Keeper, a power animal who represents the East where the sun rises.They believe eagle is a visionary who brings the ability to stay focused and that those graced with meeting an eagle are said to receive the gifts of clarity, insight, wisdom and new beginnings. Eagle has keen vision, possessing a strong connection between earth and sky.

On the first day of June this handsome Bald Eagle swooped down upon two family members, a father and daughter as they stood in their dooryard. Startled they called to older sister and mother to come see this magnificent bird who after breezing past them calmly perched in a maple tree not far from where they stood. A short while later the Wizard and I arrived to find the two children sitting very still on a wood pile beneath this tree, their parents standing beside them, looking up in awe. The children frantically pointed upwards, too excited to speak. There calmly sat a proud Bald Eagle, unperturbed by our gathering. As we watched he quietly left his perch, swooped down low before us, then gracefully soared skyward, far above to the places all hopes and dreams go .

Bald Eagles are birds of prey also called raptors. They have excellent eyesight and can see for up to a mile. These birds have large hooked beaks and sharp talons on the ends of their toes designed for catching, holding and lifting prey as well as for defense. Their voices are high pitched and shrill, often described as twittering. Diet consists primarily of fish and small mammals, including dead and decaying ones. Bald Eagles fly up to 30 miles per hour and can dive at speeds close to 100 mph. With an average body length of 37 inches and weighing 10 to 14 pounds the females are slightly larger than the males and can have a 7 foot plus wingspan.

Bald Eagles live near coastal waterways, lakes and rivers as fish make up 60 to 90 percent of their diet. They mate for life, building nests together high in the tops of large trees. Nests can measure 10 feet across and may take over 2 weeks to build. Eagles are territorial and a mated pair may return to the same nest for several years. Females lay 1 to 3 eggs in early spring, usually 2, which incubate for 35 days and hatch in late May or early June here in Maine. Both male and females sit on the eggs and raise their young eaglets together until the juvenile eagles leave the nest after about 13 weeks. Young Bald Eagles are mottled brownish and white in color and it takes 5 years for their head and tail feathers to turn white. Mature eagles are dark brown with a pure white head and tail feathers. Bald Eagles are found throughout the continent of North America with the largest populations found in the Pacific Northwest. They migrate in winter to places where the water does not freeze over so they can continue to catch fish their favorite food source.

On June 20, 1782 the Bald Eagle became the official emblem of the United States, a living symbol representing our nations freedom and strength. Bald Eagles have been a protected species since 1940 and it is against the law for humans to hunt or capture them. These majestic eagles can live up to 35 years.

Fairies arrive at day break, sprinkling fairy dust all over and across the gardens. Every plant sparkles and the early morning air is thick with the sweet fragrance of Lilacs and the lovely Dame’s Rocket Phlox.

This morning I met two little Home Place Fairies down by the tower at the lake. I was there to measure them for the very special dresses they will wear when attending the upcoming Grand Fairy Spring Ball.  More and more the fairy folk are requesting that their “regular day” clothing resemble those of mortal children. However I am happy to report they still desire that I sew only the absolute fairy finest of dresses for their grand fairy balls.

Two fairies gather fairy dust as they wait to be measured for their dresses.

When I am finished measuring them for their garments, they politely thank me and then skip and flutter away into the woodland where they will tend to the forget-me-nots and ferns for the rest of the day.

Spring is  the busiest time of year for all inhabitants of the Fairy Kingdom.

Home Place Fairy Folk  have the pleasant task of sprinkling fairy dust throughout the flower and woodland gardens here at the farm.

Little Delphinia Fairy sprinkles particles of magic dust throughout the woodland gardens among azaleas and rhododendrons who bow with graditude.

Fairy dust is composed of secret organic ingredients ground precious and fine which when sprinkled onto plants encourages them to sprout, blossom and grow.

Fairy Dust has many magical applications besides encouraging flora to flourish and grow.

Each spring Fairy Folk leave me, as Seamstress to the Fairies a bottle of dust that has been specially ground. Just a wee pinch of dust sprinkled on an article of clothing I have sewn allows fairies who wear them to shape shift and change in size from fairy tiny to that of a mortal child.

Here is a fairy dress that has just been sprinkled with fairy dust to reduce it to a wee small size.

There is magic all around, all you have to do is look.

Happy Spring!

May is a very busy month in the gardens here at the farm. The greenhouse is filled with trays of seedlings and the trees in the orchards are full of buds just waiting for a bit of sun to nudge them into full bloom. Both the bees and the fairy folk are all a flutter pollinating the newly awakening flowers for the fruit we will harvest come fall. I attached unbreakable shimmery ornaments from apple, peach and pear tree branches while fairy folk adorned the boughs with tinsel they had recycled from Christmas trees. These things are fairy fanciful yet serve a second gentle purpose which is to startle and keep the deer from nibbling all the tender new buds away.

Lady Ann spied this Robin’s nest on the steps to the tower by the lake. It has been enchanted by the fairies to protect this young nestling and her yet unhatched mate.

Flower Moon is the name given to the full moon of May because this is generally when flowers begin to bloom in profusion in North America.

A “Blood Moon” happens when the Earth’s moon is in a total lunar eclipse and will not appear again until May 0f 2022.

Last night’s full moon entered Earth’s shadow on May 26th 2021. When the Moon is not in our planets shade it appears larger and brighter than it usually does. A lunar eclipse happens when the Sun and Moon occupy precise positions on opposite sides of the Earth. When this alignment happens the Earth blocks some of the Sun’s light from reaching the full moon. Our atmosphere filters the light as it passes softening the edge of our planets shadow and giving the moon a deep rose glow.

The blood moon, otherwise known as a total lunar eclipse, typically occurs during a supermoon  On any other night, the moon receives direct light from the sun, but on this special night, the moon shifts into the Earth’s darkest and most central part of its shadow. At this point, the sun, Earth, and moon are almost completely aligned. You might think that this would cause the moon to go completely dark, but instead it is illuminated by indirect sunlight, which results in an eerie red color.

Due to a welcome, much need rain we were unable to see this month’s Red Blood Flower Moon, however we were delighted to see this magnificent, glorious prelude of a red and wonderous sunset sky!

Newly completed fairy dress all alight with fairy dust.

As Seamstress to the Fairies I have just completed the finishing touches on this little dress, which I promptly dusted with fairy dust and hung from antlers of stag. This is tradition and increases the magical powers of the dress for it’s wearer. I am on the lookout now; awaiting the arrival of the sweet little shape shifting Home Place Fairy who plans to wear this dress at The Grand Fairy Spring Ball.

Ahh…yes…she has just arrived!

In the Fairy Glen we wander and we seek.

Gathering tiny blue Forget me nots is a springtime Home Place Fairy tradition.