Fairy Houses... Everywhere!...

Do you love flower fairies and fairy houses as much as I do?... I am totally infatuated with them!... during our long, cold winters here in Utah, I spend alot of time reading... one of the best books I bought and read is called "Fairy Houses... Everywhere!" by Barry and Tracy Kane...

It is one of the most delightfully enchanting books I have ever owned!... each page features beautiful little fairy houses... all made out of Natures findings... according to the book, the tradition of building fairy houses has it's roots off of the coast of Maine... where for years now families have built these captivating little homes in the hopes of enticing the fairies to dwell in them...

I was soo excited to begin constructing one of my very own... I knew I would have most everything I needed right within my own gardens, for you see, when Jack and I take our daily Nature walks (which I will be back to doing as soon as this darn foot heals!)... I gather what I call "treasures from the trail" all along our paths... bark and moss... feathers and pinecones... twigs and stones... acorns and seedpods... what more could one need to create a humble little fairy abode?... I had just the perfect old log out in a back garden... I took another old piece of bark and voila!... a fairy house roof!... I chose to place it in front of my delicate pink rose appropriately named "The Fairy" Rose which shall begin blooming in May... and next to it is my little path through my purple Delphiniums and pink Foxgloves... I'll be sure to post another photo of it when everything is in bloom...

I thought this old cut off part look like a little fairy door... so I just added a handle made of twigs... and a tiny twig ladder for the elusive little sprites to climb up to their door on should they choose not to fly...

A heart made of teensy pebbles hangs on the gable... with some moss and grass tucked in for good measure...

This old cut off branch makes a wonderful chimney!...

Pinecones purely for decorative reasons... fairies love their homes adorned with Natures treasures... yes... they told me so... really... they did...

A petite birdnest tucked in amongst the rafters...

And now...

I shall just wait for the little fairies to move in... what do you think of my little all~natural fairy house?... will the fairies be as delighted with it as I am???... I shall wish that they are... xoxo...

Linking this post today, May 10th, to Cottage Garden Party and Share Your Cup Thursday...

Layin' It On the Line...

Recently, a new blogger friend and I were chatting by email about our blogs... why we started them, what we like to post about, what we never post about... blogs we love and some not so much... she told me she had noticed alot (certainly not all) of the really big blogs were totally about how "perfect" their lives were... how rich they were, how many things they owned, how perfect their kids were (give me a break, NO kid is perfect! I got my rear end whacked more than once as a child... and I deserved it)... etc, etc, etc...hmmm... I had been having the same thoughts lately too about some of them... I also wonder WHY some women do not want to admit their age?... they either hide it or lie about it... WHY?... one of my favorite sayings is "you aren't just the age you are, you are all the ages you ever have been"... many days, I am ten years old again... women are beautiful at ANY age... some of the most beautiful ladies I know are in their late 80's and early 90's... and they are not trying to look 20 or 30 or 50... with age comes wisdom... life's lessons learned... mistakes not to make again... and confidence... why is it that our country for the most part portrays anyone over the age of 30 as "old" and basically worthless?... this infuriates me so... in Japan and many other countries, as well as our own Native Americans, "elders" are respected and sought after for advice and counseling... looked up to as role models... I love talking with a "vintage" lady or gentleman, and I never ever call anyone old... I will turn 63 in two weeks... and don't mind telling you so...

(Can you tell how much this dog and I love each other???)...

I took a few minutes to sit and think about my own blog... how it started (almost three years ago now in June of 2009)... where I've been on it... where I am now... and where I want to go with it... I actually started it to journal my gardens and my love of Nature, and pretty much have stuck with that... I also post about family (my number one priority in life!), friends, thrift~store treasures, a few recipes, you know, day to day events... I am not rich by any means... not in the literal sense of the word... but rich in so many other ways... the love of my family, my sweet Tessy who was Heaven sent to me, and gives me big sloppy kisses on the face to tell me how much she loves me... our beautiful countryside, the gentle cooing of a Mourning Dove nearby, the antics of our resident Blue Jay as he grabs his peanuts from our back porch... the first blooms on my transplanted red roses, an early morning stroll in my gardens, with coffee in my favorite old cup... a glorious morning sunrise above the mountains just east of us... a breathtaking sunset as the sun dips into the Great Salt Lake to the west of us... Jack's smile when I do something silly (yep, he smiles alot every day!)... laughter... cupcakes... simple things... yes, I love beautiful things as much as the next person... but beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder... and the beauty I see in Nature maybe someone else may not... I love even the teeniest ladybug...

I am just a simple country girl... no fancy Nancy here... I don't buy designer jeans... I don't care whose name is on my butt... mine come from LL Bean and cost $19.99... I wait till Reeboks go on sale before I buy a new pair... I shop at Ross and TJ Maxx and never pay full price for anything... if the price of tomatoes is off the scale, we don't have a tomato in the salad that night... I am not a tightwad nor cheap... just trying to be a smart shopper... (and most of those high priced tomatoes this time of year taste yucky anyway!)... I don't have a maid, or a gardener, or a cook... not putting down those of you who do... I just prefer doing these things myself... I actually like to do housework, and I fix a homecooked meal every night of the week...

I am a nice lady... I say thank you and please... and treat everyone the way I would like to be treated myself... I speak up and fight for the underdog... and those who cannot fight for themselves, like all of God's precious little creatures... if someone hurts an animal, or a child, or an elderly person... or anyone for that matter, I become their worst nightmare... I am not intimidated by some big "tough guy" doing any of those things... he may knock me on my non~designer jeans butt for getting in his face... but I will know I went down fighting to protect others... my parents raised me to stand up for what I believe in... and to this day I do... I have posted before about how painfully shy I was as a child... and was constantly taunted and teased because of that... I only felt comfortable around my family and very closest friends... so have been pretty much a loner... that is why it is so incredible to me to have so many wonderful friends through blogging, like YOU!... if I EVER come across as pompous... someone please knock me down a notch or two... for I shall have deserved it... xoxo...

A Kewpie Doll for Mattie... .

Today I was feeling sorry for myself... something I rarely do as I have been blessed with so many good things in my life... however, the past month or so, I have been in alot of pain with some problems in my feet from all of the walking I do every day, which I love by the way... (the walking, not the pain!)... anyhow... today I found out I have a stress fracture in one of my toes and a pinched nerve and can't take my two mile Nature walk Jack and I take every morning for several weeks until this hopefully heals... if you follow my blog at all, you know what a Nature lover I am and how I love our walks, along with walking my sweet Tessy another mile and a half or so every day as well... so... I drove to my little "secret spot" I post about often... the little old store my daddy used to take us to when I was a child... the store is abandoned now... where Roses and Lilacs bloom in wild profusion, despite the fact that no one is around to tend to them... or are they?...


This little place comforts me... I come here often to think... sometimes to reminisce... as the Heavenly scent of the Lilacs embraced me, my thoughts turned to my little neighbor lady named Mattie... and I quickly forgot about feeling sorry for myself... and thought only of her...

I remembered my chat several days ago with our sweet little neighbor ... Mattie is a widow who lives alone... she will be 85 years young on Saturday, and we were talking about childhood memories and suddenly she got all teary eyed... she told me how as a child she had grown up in a small rural town and like most folks back then, money was tight for her family and times were often quite tough... she was only about seven or eight when a carnival came to town... she had saved her dimes that she had worked hard doing odd jobs to earn so she could go to the carnival... Mattie had wanted so badly to win a Kewpie doll at the carnival... I don't recall what she had to do to win the Kewpie doll, but the carnival employees were con artists, and had it rigged so no one would win... she lost all her dimes and the scammer kept telling her he just knew she would win if she kept paying more and trying again... she lost all her money and never won a Kewpie doll... my heart ached for her... knowing how much this must have hurt her to remember each and every detail all these years later... I was telling Jack what Mattie had told me that brought her to tears, and an idea popped into my mind... wouldn't it be wonderful if we could find a Kewpie doll and give it to her for her birthday!... I immediately got on Ebay and brought up "Kewpie Dolls"... many were reproductions, many were fakes, some were brand new... and the old carnival original ones were going for a mint... I simply could not afford to pay the exorbitant prices they were commanding and my hopes dwindled... then, Jack said he did not remember exactly what a Kewpie doll looked like... so, I googled "Kewpie Doll" on Google Images and up came a beautiful one that said it was on Ebay buy it now for about twenty dollars... I thought it was probably an old listing, but clicked anyway... as if by pure magic... or my wishing soo hard... it was JUST then listed... with free shipping even... I bought it right away and was sooo excited!... Jack and I could not believe what had just happened... almost too good to be true... the seller sent my treasure right out... and she is in near perfect condition.... stamped "Made in Japan" on her back, which puts her between 1920~1941... just the right time frame for when Mattie was a child... on Sunday, Mattie's grown son came over to introduce himself to us... he lives out of state and had come to visit her a few days before her birthday... I was telling him about the Kewpie doll we were going to give his mother, and he said she had just told him the story again... he had heard it often throughout his life and he knew it had pained her as a child... he was so excited about what we were planning to do...

I drove right home from my secret place, and told Jack I wanted to give Mattie her present today... all of the sudden my sore foot didn't matter as much... we took a little piece of cake and Mattie's present all wrapped up and went over to her house.... dear Mattie finally getting the little Kewpie doll she so wanted as a child... so many years ago... to say she was overwhelmed would be an understatement...


Yes, we took Mattie a present... but Jack and I received the gift... just look at the smile on her face... oh and my foot?... gee... I guess I forgot all about that for now ... xoxo... Linking this post to Vintage Inspiration Fridays with Debra at Common Ground!...

My Favorite Garden Center...

Hi there!... I took a trip recently down the back roads, along the fields and pastures bordering the Great Salt Lake to the west of me, and drove north about 20 miles to my favorite garden center... it's a Spring ritual that I do every year... (you can see my post from last year here)... besides acres and acres of annuals, perennials, trees, shrubs, you name it... they have the most fabulous garden gift shop inside... I am going back to get this sweet fairy if she is still there when I get there... she has been calling my name ever since I came home...

A fairy lovers paradise!...




"Bird Watchers"...

I'll just let you browse... lots of pics!...















These froggies want to come live in my garden too!... hmmm... do we eat or do I spend all my money on garden statues?... xoxo...

My Petite Fairy Garden...

The word fairy derives from Middle English "Faierie", a direct borrowing of the Old French word Faerie, meaning land, realm or enchantment of legendary people of folklore and romance called Faie in Old French, Fee in Modern French... other derivatives are faery, fayerye, feire, and fairie... whatever you choose to call them, I am sure you are as enchanted by these elusive little sprites as I am... I have fairy gardens in my yard, which I will post soon, when more of their beautiful flowers are blooming... not that the fairies stay within the flowerbeds I have created for them... Heavens no... they flit and fly to and fro'... wherever the gentle Spring breeze may carry them... for the fairies are mischievous little creatures with minds of their own... but I love them so much that I let them do as they please... I step lightly along my garden paths as one never knows where a newborn flower fairy may be sleeping... I can hardly wait to take you with me along the stepping stones...past the towering purple Delphiniums and pink Foxgloves... showing you all of the secret spots where my elusive little fairies like to hide... soon... when the moon is almost full once more and the scent of roses fills the nighttime air... then, it shall be time... for the fairy dances will have begun... I may even share a special poem I wrote... many, many years ago... when I was but a little girl myself... about the fairies that lived amongst the old~fashioned flowers in my mama's gardens... she knew they were there too... and loved them as much as I did... but for now, I want to show you my petite little fairy garden I've created for inside...

I have seen so many delightful ones everywhere... on some of your blogs, and at all of my favorite garden centers... but the prices were quite overwhelming... so I decided it would be more fun to create my own anyway, with a little help from the flower fairies, of course!... I found this darling little planter that looks like a little picket fence surrounding what will become the little fairies indoor garden...

I filled the bottom with pea gravel for drainage... (fairies don't like soggy wet feet, but of course you already knew that... silly me)...

Then I added my favorite potting soil, Black Gold... not sure if you all have this brand available, but I have found it to be the best, indoors and out... it's light and airy and smells Heavenly... the fairies will thank me as it is oh~so~soft on their tiny fairy feet...

The fairies chose tender angel vine and baby tears for their little haven... so delicate and sweet... just like the little fairies themselves ...

Then the fun began!... a teeny little garden bench, just the right size for a pretty little fairy to daydream on while chatting with a sweet little bunny friend... of course God's precious little creatures inhabit this garden as well...

A teensie birdie watches over the garden from the picket fence... she calls out "good morning" to the little turtle in the cool damp soil below...

Another little fairy sits beside the butterfly arbor and the birdies house and makes a wish as she blows you gentle fairy kisses...

A precious little turtle watches over this side of the garden...

And another little bunny rests beside the little flower cart...


A pretty little butterfly rests her wings in the shade beneath the baby tears...

While her sister prefers the sunlight on her delicate wings...

Fairies love to tease!... so they have scattered "fools gold" amongst their garden... concocting tall tales of it being real gold they spirited away from across the meadow and down the lane... from the banks of the softly babbling creek they like to sit at and dangle their little toes in the cool, clear water... (I do that too!)... but then... whose to say... perhaps it is real gold... the fairies will never tell!...

Their tiny watering can sits by the garden path made of stones... an itty bitty flowerpot waiting to be planted... or perhaps it shall become a shady place to curl up in to keep cool when Summer comes in and the days become too hot...

Another little feathered friend watches over their fairy dust, which they keep a jar of on their garden table... just a sprinkle of this and the most magical things begin to appear!... but you must promise me one thing... you must BELIEVE... you don't have to see them to believe in them, you have to BELIEVE in them to see them... I believe... I believe... do you?...

A touch of warmth from the glorious morning sun...

A sprinkle of fairy dust, an angel's kiss and some daydreams... and my petite fairy garden is complete... and now, the winner of the pretty garden~inspired gifts and darling book "A Blessing of Toads" by Sharon Lovejoy in my Spring Lovin' Giveaway is Donna at Conghaile Cottage... Please email me your mailing address Donna and I will send your gifts right out to you... this was so much fun, thank you all for entering!... I want to do another one again real soon!... wishing you all a beautifully enchanted April day... xoxo...