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 very 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.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nina gathered these little blue flowers together, wrapping them with tender ferns and soft spongy 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”.

 

Every garden has a story and mine in large part began here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every gardener hears and answers to their own song, has their own vision and every garden is unique.

A long time ago on the south side of a small mountain in a woodland glen I cleared a bit of land bit by selective bit and built a small sunlit house. I gathered together divisions of old plantings from the tiny house I had been living in which sat nestled at the foot of a blueberry hill bordered by a stream, an enchanted forest and one large Apple Tree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I dug divisions of Bearded Iris, Monkshood, Monarda and Primrose; Old Roses and Solomon’s Seal, Feverfew, Hostas and Rue. My goal was to rescue as much of this garden as I possibly could as the tiny house was to be demolished, the apple tree cut down and the site leveled. I worked long days into the night to better my woodland soil for transplanting and seeds. I wandered deep into the surrounding woodlands filling and gathering together buckets of old composting tree stumps, which I used to lighten and enrich my future garden beds according to what fairy folk say.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I planted flower seeds, Delphiniums, Cosmos, Bells of Ireland. I transplanted Ferns ,Violets, Forget me knots and Bluebells. I planted Arctic Hardy Kiwi, a gift from a Lonely Magician who lived by the Sea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Grandmother Catharine ; gardener extraordinaire, traveled a great distance to come view this garden that had always lived inside of me. She came to me one midsummer and shared her secrets of gardening, she whispered to me, “It takes courage to plant roses.., that which you have…”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes someone comes along who visits my gardens and becomes so moved by the flora, the peace and the strength that a creative spark begins to seed itself deep inside of them and a vision of their own internal garden begins to take form, to sprout to blossom and eventually grow.

 

 

Have you ever hugged a fairy horse?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Perhaps you have at some time in your life

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

but did not realize that you were in the presence of a magical being.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have been fortunate to have  encountered numerous fairy horses in my lifetime.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Home Place Fairy Folk  honor horses, they share many secrets with them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some people believe fairy horses are sent from the fairies to be protectors and guardians of special children and that such children may be enchanted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have reason to suspect some of this might be true.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A long, long time ago I met  a child so full of magical thoughts that other children found her rather peculiar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Her dreams and wishes were not ordinary childhood thoughts of make believe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They were extra ordinary thoughts of Believe Making.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Fairy Horse that entered her dreams was as real as any daytime companion and together they explored curious and rather exquisite places that only children in dreams on fairy horses can go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This little girl knew that if she believed long and hard enough in her Fairy Horse, that endless possibilities would come their way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each night without exception the little girl was grateful when this beautiful fairy horse galloped into her dreams.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She believed this nighttime companion truly existed even when during her waking hours others laughed and said it could not be so.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each and every night while the little girl slept she and her fairy horse explored a unique expression of another world together,  sharing secrets, future hopes and dreams.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are fairy horses and special children all around us though not everyone has a willingness to see the magic that lays before them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes extra ordinary Believe Makers meet other dreamers like themselves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When this happens everything is twice as much fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fairy Horses come in all shapes and sizes just like children and fairies do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When you go to bed tonight know that somewhere, some place a  child may be dreaming,  an extra ordinary Believer, riding an extraordinary fairy horse of his or her own.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If your heart and mind remain open you will never loose the power of magical thinking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Childhood is filled with unlimited possibilities; the days can seem endless.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In time we out grow our younger selves and a larger person we become.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Children grow older and some forget about their dreamtime fairy horses.

 

 

 

 

 

Other children never forget and remain believers of magical possibilities their entire lives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As parents they will teach their own children about fairies,  extra ordinary thinking and Believe Making.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are the children that though they age, never grow old, remaining hopeful dreamers for all of their days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fairies never leave these extra ordinary Believe Makers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and though you cannot see them there is always a fairy by their side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Believe Making and extra ordinary thinking does not have to end with the passing of childhood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One can retain extra ordinary thinking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

True believers have the ability to soar high in a world of endless possibilities, remaining forever enchanted with hopefulness, faith and goodwill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have you hugged your fairy horse today whomever and whatever you perceive him to be?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enchanted by the fairies and blessed with the love of children, fairy horses age but they never grow old.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hold on to your dreams they will become the beacons that guide you into your future.

 

 

 

 

 

And always,  remember  “Fairy Horses” come in all shapes and sizes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And everyone is unique, just like you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a late winter wind swirls through the hills and among my now dormant gardens there is a sense of timelessness

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

no separation between the here and now and the before now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All the children and fairy horses from the past dance with those of the present

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

their laughter forever echoes among the dried and dormant foliage woven together through the ages like vines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I see them all

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All the children and the child I once was playing together like the fairies do,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As one Old Horse stands forever and always, facing west, watching, as old as time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our friend, our sentry, our guardian; Old Horse.

 

 

 

 

 

The Home Place Fairy Folk say that Fairy Horses never age; they never grow old and they never ever truly leave you, not really.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The gifts these guardian have given, the love they have bestowed will forever and always reside within your heart.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From this day forward every step the little girl takes,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

every step her sister takes ;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

will forever and always will be in the light cast from Old Horse, their protector, guardian, beacon; their forever shining light.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a full fledged Fairy Horse, Old Horse walks with the fairies now, he’s galloped on before us into Fairyland.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He has returned to the place of all magic and all childhood beginnings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We know that the love he benevolently bestowed upon us  has no limits, no restrictions, no bounds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Live your own Great Story out loud.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Godspeed Old Horse…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

June is a time of jubilation as the gardens have awakened,  alive and abundant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Foxgloves are a favorite flower of the fairy folk.  Sprinkled with fairy dust they sparkle and glow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old Horse in the meadows looks over the Poppies and Fairies alike. He is friend and Guardian of all the Home Place Faires.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fairy Folk gather, they sing and they dance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Magic happens in every garden

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All one has to do is look…

 

 

 

Every garden is a Fairyland.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Live your own great story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The possibilities are endless.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sydney rests under the arbor of arctic kiwi.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A lovely little Fairy prepares to sprinkle this mornings ration of fairy dust.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each morning  at sunrise I wander through the Children’s Garden of Earthly Delight to see what the fairies are up to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day break is a magical hour; this is when the Home Place Fairy Folk leave their secret chambers hidden deep within the Enchanted Forest and fly into our gardens sprinkling fairy dust.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This morning I came upon a bed of broad leaf and common chives whose buds the fairies were dusting. Not wanting to disturb them I nodded in greeting and continued on my way wondering what I would discover in the garden on this particular day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I decided to pay a visit to my friend Ms. Sparrow who recently constructed a tidy little ground nest hidden beneath a clump of Witch Grass. Sparrow had quickly filled her nest with 5 tiny speckled eggs which hatched during my last visit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each and every morning considerate Fairies have been sprinkling the hatch-lings with fairy dust for protection. This is how the hatch-lings looked just 4 days ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this is how they looked this morning. I cannot help but feel a bit of wonder and awe at how these fledglings have transformed. They are now all feathered and grown almost double in size.

Isn’t it marvelous the magic of nature?

A garden no matter how small if full of secrets, all one has to do is look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring greenery has begun, flowers have begun to blossom and fairies take delight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Magic happens everywhere, all one has to do is look!

 

 

 

Our farm in the springtime is a haven for Fairies.

 

 

 

 

 

Each spring the Home Place Fairies leave the shelter of their winter chambers and soar high above our farm singing in the breeze.

 

 

 

 

 

Singing and playing, whirling and twirling they are busy pollinating lupine, lilac, blue bells, daisies, iris and rue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ralphie has been enchanted by the fairies, he is Guardian of the Garden and watches over the fairies they say.