for now

*

it has been much too long since thebelfry had a faery garden. once thehobbit outgrew his love of faeries & all things teensy (can you hear my heart breaking from there?) i stopped finding time to maintain ours.

now that elfling has discovered the world of the wee folk, i am yearning to make a new one with him. i have a lot going on right now, so all that is happening is a great deal of poking around the internet for inspiration. pinterest has loads of beautiful faery garden photos, as does my lovely friend over at the magic onions.


one thing i was able to do now was to pot a few bits of succulents for my kitchen window.

i used a bucket stolen from thehobbit's old borrowers' house, & a tiny wooden container that was missing its lid.

it may not be the faery garden of which i dream, but it is enough to satisfy. 


for now.


~peace.

it's raining pinterest

*

photo :: found on pinterest

all plans were cancelled on account of rain. i am taking advantage of not having to rush to get ready by poking around pinterest. thehobbit & i were looking at photos of other people's rain, instead of looking out the window at our own. (we had already ooh'd & ahh'd out the window this morn.) the above photo was my favorite from the collection.

here are a few more pinteresty (real word) things that have me swoony:

* a dandelion hot air balloon with chimney sweeps? yes, please! here.

* i want this party dress ever so badly.

* this out-of-doors bar is the prettiest i have seen.

* a diy jar of faeries!

* i cannot stop going back to stare at this tattoo. have i ever chatted with you about my alice in wonderland obsession?

there is so much more to share with you, but i am out of time. if you like the things i pinned, you are welcome to look at my boards. enjoy!

~peace.

i do believe in faeries,

*

i do, i do.

~peace.

in which she talks about books. again.

*

are you tired of listening to me babble about books yet? sorry. i did say that i had been thinking about them quite a bit. did you not believe me?

in searching through my books for some faerie images; elfling is currently mad for them; i realized that i had amassed a lovely collection of books containing faeries & their ilk.

i thought it would be fun to share some of them with you - so, in no particular order...

once upon a time


victorian color picture books

lady cottington's pressed fairy book

a field guide to the little people

care & feeding of sprites

gnomes

fantastic beasts & where to find them

fairy houses ... everywhere!

fairy houses & beyond!

filed guide to the fantastical world around you

the garden gnome book

this list does not include the books that thehobbit asked me to store in the garage, nor the eleventy billion books on dragons. still, it is quite enough to get you started on your own collection, should you be of a mind.

some things to note:
a) i did not append the authors, but you can find that information on each book's amazon page - just click on a title in the list.
2)many of my books were found at thrift shops & used book shops over the years. that said, i do not know if any of the prices quoted on amazon are reasonable.

are there any books on magical creatures that you would like to recommend? i am sure i can find room for a few more on my shelf ;)

~peace.

in the moments between the madness

*

this year thehobbit took a weekly middle school english class. they read many books, worked on poetry, essays, dialogues, & so much more. since september his love of reading & writing has flourished. i could go on & on about his extraordinary teacher, the fun he's had in the class, & how his writing has developed & matured. but this post isn't about any of that - it's about what i (in between bites of lunch) made for his teacher.

i haven't much time to create these days, between one bit of madness, & another. but i did manage to make this set. do you like them? they are shakespeareanificated (real word) clothespins! i used the same portion of a midsummer night's dream that i use on my shakespeare people. my plan had been to back them with magnets, so she could use them on the fridge, but i couldn't find them in my mess of a studio changed my mind. instead the backs are papered in more of the same.

 

they are more squat than the average pins; slightly thicker, & about half the length. i sealed both sides with a matte sealer. though they would have been fine left without.

i have one that i use to hold papers, to keep open a book with pesky pages, to hold back a curtain in my sewing nook, & once to hold back hair that was getting in my way. that last was not a fashion statement. i had been sewing & was too lazy to get up for a barrette.

here is mine, decorating the privet:

what about you? what would you use them for?

~peace.

sets will be available in theshop, um, eventually.

*

know you what it is to be a child? it is to believe in love, to believe in loveliness, to believe in belief; it is to be so little that the elves can reach to whisper in your ear, it is to turn pumpkins into coaches, & mice into horses, lowness into loftiness, & nothing into everything, for each child has its fairy godmother in its soul. ~ francis thompson

~peace.

thursday things - trees

*

the true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit. ~henderson

this collage displays but a snippet of my collection of tree photos. more specifically, photos taken from beneath trees, looking up. i don't know why, but i am forever taking pictures such as these. i believe we've chatted about this before, in fact.

i came across these, from 2008, when searching for picture of thehobbit. i never did find that photo, because the trees, they led me astray. lucky for you, because they inspired this week's thursday things, (she said, as if she wasn't forever forgetting to post on thursdays).


* this site is a great educational resource, as is this one. there are many things children can learn from trees, which are enhanced greatly should they learn about the trees first.

* you can find many faery doors doing a google search. this site sells plans to make your own! we have an 80+ year old pecan in the backyard in need of a tiny door. our front yard is home to a giant pine sporting its own magic. we chatted about it a few years ago.

* get involved! my favorite tree-sitter has a website that offers information & inspiration. on her front page she asks, what do you want your legacy to be?

* two books thehobbit loved when he was younger: the tree & tree spirits.

between every two pines is a doorway into another world. ~muir

go hug a tree!

~peace.

thursday things - 5

buy the mini mushroom set here!

it would seem i forgot to post my thursday things yesterday. are you surprised? no, you are not. but! you forgive my swiss cheese brain, because you, my one & only reader, are kind. & dazzlingly good looking to boot. :)

today's things are all about a favorite pastime of mine; playing make-believe.

look what i found on etsy!

* wooden catapult - long time readers will recall my thehobbit's love of toy catapults. this one is divine in its simplicity, & affordable. a must-have, if you ask me.

* fairy crown - all i can say is "wow".

* coffee to go - any child of a coffee addict should have this in his/her play food basket - can't emulate mama or daddy-o without it. i know i'll need one for elfling before too long.

* fairy kitchen set - i showed thehobbit, & he immediately ran off to tinker with his borrowers' house. you cannot get a better thumbs-up than that.

& now you must get yourself gone from here, ignore your chores & work, & spend the remainder of the day wallowing in make-believe. yep, i am that bossy.

~peace.