Very unusual weather this winter with much warmer temperatures than we normally experience. No snow anywhere when a few days ago everything was covered in white. Several days ago I met a night crawler wiggling slowly but with determination across the semi solid ground…from where did he come and where was he intending to go? He could not say so I scooped him up and carefully brought him down into the pit greenhouse where the ground never freezes and greenery all winter grows.

Today the granddaughters and cousins found a frog! Now that was a surprise, groggy but sitting upon solid ground in a clump of withered leaves.

Later when I hiked  down to the waterfalls I was not too surprised to see that the Home Place Fairies had left their cozy winter quarters to flutter and  dance in the warmth of a late December Day. This is highly unusual for them to do this time of the year. To my knowledge this has only happened a few times ever before.

The forest bordering my farm is enchanted and deep within in very secret places there are two sacred waterfalls where fairies fly.

For believers anything is possible.

Dream

Adventure out into nature.

The possibilities are endless.

Two little Fairies left the forest with their wands hoping to meet and wondered

As they wandered …

How simply wander-fully wonderful wandering with wands can be!

On the north side of a small mountain not far from the sea sits a fine little farmhouse as happy as can be.

Surrounded by meadows of hay, orchards of fruit, gardens of flowers, vegetables and herbs.

Old Horse is Guardian of the Home Place Fairy Folk who reside in the Enchanted Forest that borders this farm.

Our Foxy Friend and Fairy Companion, Caspian rests at the edge of the Enchanted Forrest as he contemplates the events of his day.

Fairy Lee checks that the greenhouse has been properly dusted with just the right amount of fairy dust as day begins to slip into dusk.

She double checks that all of the Toadstools have been sprinkled with precisely the correct amount of magical dust in preparation for the Cricket Band who will perform their symphony while standing upon them beginning at dawn.

The very first evening of each October, right at dusk the Fairies will venture from the hills where the little farmhouse rests and fly to the shore where they will sing goodbye for the season to their Selkie cousins who spend their winters further out at sea.

Later the the fairies will return to the meadow here at the farm and dance in the twilight of autumns cooling moon.

Magic happens in every garden.

By August the Home Place Fairies and I have been faithfully tending the gardens here at the farm since early spring. Late summer days in Maine can be hot and heavy and traditionally it is a time when I pause from my daily gardening chores to sit or wander soaking in the loveliness and bounty all around me. The fairies are playful little sprites who always find time to play and be merry.

Being fair little beings their fairy skin is tender to the bright sunlight of an August summer day so they tend to the gardens now only at dawns early light or just before the sun sets and a soft gentle chill sets in.

By mid day most of the fairy folk head for the enchanted forest and bask in the shade. Those few who venture out to the gardens take parasols creating their own protective shade.

Delphinia and La Rosa soar through the kiwi arbor as Nightingale approaches  suggesting they return to the forest to wait until the sun sets lower on the horizon.

A breeze picks up and Nightingale joins the other fairies frolicking beneath the shade of the kiwi arbor heavy with fruit. She  cheerfully sprinkles fairy dust everywhere she goes.

Delphinia is next as she glides to a landing.

Last is La Rosa with her wand all a glimmer.

“To the enchanted forest and the shade”,  she says. And so the fairies head to the forest and I am left alone in my garden with visions of fairy folk in my head.

August is a month of great beauty in my garden.

Here are some images taken right before dusk, a time when birds nest in for the evening; when butterflies stop fluttering and our honeybees have returned to their hives

During the quiet morning hours, or right before dusk, I like to sit or meander about in my garden, soaking in the sounds and natural beauty abundant all around me. 

When darkness falls the fairies are snug and cozy in their chambers relaxing after their busy day spent tending vegetables, flowers, herbs and seeds. 

Come twilight they will sing and dance among the flowers with the wildlings, not to work but to play.

Every garden is a paradise, a source of beauty, harvest and inspiration.

Where gardens grow fairies reside.

If you are among those fortunate enough to find yourself deep within the heart of a wild garden during the days of August you may encounter Fairy Folk when they are most playful.

Take time to stop; smell flowers and listen to birds as they sing with their entire beings.

There is so much magic in the natural world.

Fairies ask that we take time out each and everyday to notice and contemplate the beauty that surrounds us.

In August on the north side of a small mountain in Maine

Where the Elfswort blooms golden and 6 feet tall,

Home Place Fairy Folk dance the Midsummer Waltz of the Fairies.

Amid Scarlet Monarda, Red Astillbe; beneath Joe Pye Weed and Phlox, all shades of white and pinks of every hue, Fairy Folk whirl and twirl as they usher out the heat of summer and welcome the cooler temperatures of Autumn.

Within the heart of my garden there is a special place for just being and thinking.

Birds congregate with butterflies; Fairy Folk and a special child or two.

Dreams and secrets are shared here.

A place where for an hour or two you can be anything or anyone you dream your self to be.

You can even ask a bird how she sings!

Tiny wonders, everywhere.