Saturday Visit to the Nursery and the Skate Park

On Saturday we took a trip to local nursery, Stowe's. It is only about 10 minutes from our house and such a nice place it visit. There's a lake with a floating dock and swings, cows and a donkey, and lots of beautiful old farm buildings.

The girls playing in the labyrinth of Sun-loving plants.



Lela running toward one of the partial shade houses.


Mike with Liv while Laurel stops to smell a flower.


Their prices are so good and the plants are extremely healthy, so we picked up a few for our yard. We're sticking to perennials for now since they are a better investment, and less work! For under $25 I picked up 7 large plants: 3 herbaceous Salvia (hummingbirds!), 2 lavenders, 1 rosemary, 1 Echinacea.

The Echinacea now looks beautiful in the front bed, and 2 of the partial shade Salvias and the rosemary went in the kids' garden in the backyard. One Salvia and one lavender found homes in the faery garden.

It is going to look so beautiful back there!

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And the latest on our Skate Park:

Mike found this big piece of iron and a 6x6 in a trash pile, and it is now a perfect grinding rail.

A Faery Garden

Yesterday afternoon we started on a little faery garden. We decided to put it in the section of the girls' backyard garden pictured here. After cleaning away debris, settling stones back in their places and smoothing the dirt clean, the construction began.

We used pieces of cedar, small sections of the limbs and cookies, to make two houses. A large cockle shell (from Gran) was selected to become a faery lake. Large sticks were planted at the back of the garden as trees for hanging wreathes, flowers and garlands. A teeny tiny blue vase (from GG and GP) held cut flowers from our front yard beds. I buried it down into the ground to keep it from being knocked over constantly.

This morning the girls ran outside while I was making blueberry pancakes (again!) to poke around. With the foundation for the garden already in place, the fun of decorating could begin!

Lela settled some miniature flag stones into the ground for the faeries to walk on. These are actually tiles that our neighbor gave us after she tiled her kitchen. A tiny ear of corn is inside the house - Lela found it while shucking corn for last night's dinner, and put it out there last night.

Liv uses her trowel (from GG and GP as well) to "dug out a place" for a stone. Pictured is one of the three faery doors that we made during co-op. Small stones were added to make a path from one of the houses to the lake. More stones ringed the vase of flowers. Liv took extra care to put a few choice beads into a small scallop shell for the faeries.


When the mosquitoes were too bad, we went inside and made pinwheels. They were so simple - I used origami paper which had a slight waxiness to it. After being cut, the paper was pushed onto a bent paperclip. The paperclip was stuck down into a straw, and a bamboo skewer was pushed into the straw some stability. A little bit of hot glue secured a bead onto the end of the paperclip to keep the pinwheel on. All the girls could help with some part of the craft, minus the hot glue.


Lela and I used extra skewers to thread leaves on, and topped them with gum balls. These, she decided, were trees that the faeries could climb. Laurel and Liv skipped this in favor of the swings.


After lunch Liv and Lela snipped marigold leaves and scattered them over the ground of the garden. "To get the faeries to come," Lela said. As added incentive, a tiny blue faery that Mike made sat in the middle of the area of dancing.


It is finished, for now!





What faery wouldn't want to play here! I hope to get some close up shots of the individual aspects. They all put a lot of time and love into their creation. I had a lot of fun too! We sat in front of the garden and read _In the Land of Fairies_ by Daniela Drescher. A gift from Aunt Bec.

After cutting the grass, I walked by the faery garden and noticed three necklaces hanging from the stick trees! It also appeared in the darkness that there were tiny glittering baubles all over. The faeries had already come to dance and apparently appreciated their new home.

Musings on Stars

I'm feeling introspective tonight - and Mike suggested that I share my thoughts here rather than with him and his skateboarding magazine. A wise man.

It is an inward-turning time. The Moon is waning. And although the days decidedly Summery around here, they are growing shorter as we wobble and spin toward Winter.


Stars in the dome of the Earth as I'm walking this evening. Stars are deep metaphors as well - tonight they represented bright flashes of insight.

Humans must have always marveled at the Stars. I still do, though it is through a haze of smog and the glare of light pollution. Street lights and the airplane headlights creating unpleasant, hard linear strokes. I grumble inwardly at how only the brightest can shine through anymore.

However, there is a Star, a bright spot, in that event. I suddenly see people on those airplanes - mothers, fathers, children, friends, lovers - speeding to and from their loved ones. I feel thankful for the airplanes that connect people in faraway places. Connection births understanding, and understanding births peace.


Liv captured a Star in this picture. Seeing it at the end of a long day brought a rush of insight. My tiny little daughter, who looks up to door handles. How her world is so different! Certainly an in-sight.

The Stars shining down on my world. Three little girls sleep while banjos and mandolins serenade us. The willingly and peacefully laid down on that blanket for us, trusting that we would watch over them. In that Star moment, I closed my eyes and thanked them.