I love this little garden. It’s a very small bright blue bonsai garden, with the land and water feature….simple, with a fairy on a leaf, with the garden’s treasure, a hanging candle for night light, and Timothy, the Toad, is sitting on a boulder in the bonsai pond. Sweet garden! xoxo
She was so relaxed, as she leaned back and went back and forth and back and forth and back and…wait! There was no forth! Oak went back on the swing and stayed there! Since she was in a “laid back” position anyway on the swing, she looked up and there was Sam…all 23 eyes of him…looking back at her! “Hi, Oak! Good to see ya again! Don’t be afraid, but you’re stuck in my web.” Sam kinda hung there, sheepishly looking back and forth, as Oak tried to get her bearings, as she wriggled around on the swing (which wasn’t easy, being hung up in the air like that). “Sam! What?” “Shhhhh,” Sam suddenly grabbed her hands and pulled her off the swing, onto a giant strand of web, which went from one end of the area (she still wasn’t sure what it was) to the other. Somehow, he literally put her on his back and wrapped a quick silk rope around her so she wouldn’t fall. and off they went, scurrying across the strand and then Sam threw (really) webs out of his hands so they could catch hold of each one and swing from one to the other, until they were up and over the gate. Oak could barely catch her breath because Sam flew so quickly. It really was like flying…from silken strand to the next.
Oak must have fallen asleep, because she suddenly found herself in a cave; a cave filled with webs of all colors…gold, silver, red, orange, white, black and on and on. Rather than spiders, there were fairies! Real fairies who were spinning the webs and placing them throughout the cave. Putting her little fists to her eyes to wipe the sleep away, Oak’s eyes opened as big as she could make them. Yes, the webs and the fairies were still there. “Oak!” “Thank goodness, Sam. You’re still with me,” she said as she went to hug him. His hugs were pretty snug because he had so many legs/arms with which to hug. “Of course, Oak, of course I’m with you!” With that, Sam swept her up again and they glided up on a golden strand of silk; the most beautiful golden she had ever seen. Up up up they went until they reached what appeared to be the upper floor of the cave, which really looked like a castle. Sam helped her down off the silken strand, and they walked toward a bright light that was shining from in front of them. The light was glowing and bright, yet not so bright one couldn’t look into it. It was amazing. As they approached the light, Oak could make out the form of a woman. There was something about this woman that seemed sweetly familiar. But, she had a silk veil of butterflies over most of her face and Oak could only see her eyes.
The woman stepped out from the light and just stood still and gazed about her surroundings. Oak noticed that everything was quiet and that the lady was looking over Oak’s head, so Oak turned around and almost gasped with awe, for the cave was now a soft gold and white. The little ledges up and down the walls of the cave had lovely fairies kneeling and facing this woman. Candles and torches were lit and lined the walls and pathways; stars that looked like they came down from the heavens were hanging from above and inside the frame of each star was a fairy playing a harp. The music from these harps was mesmerizing and dreamy. Oak could not stop looking around for in every direction she looked was a new surprise, a new delight. Tree frogs and lizards were dressed in light cotton robes and each had a special hat on that had tiny fireflies circling the brims of the hats. The frogs and lizards were bringing goblets of freshly mined golden grape juice. She knew this because she heard a baby girl fairy telling her friends.
Turning back to the woman, there was now a nest on the ground; or should I say on the “cloud”? First, it was a nest, but a big nest – big enough for a grown up fairy. The nest was made of beautiful twigs of cedar, birch, oak, and pine. Blended into the twigs were stems and leaves from herbs and flowers: lavender, roses petals, sage, rosemary and some marigold. The nest was lined with gardenia and plumeria blossoms. Now, although she thought it was on the floor, it was actually sitting upon a lavender colored cloud that had drifted down from the opening at the top of the cave. When the woman turned to walk toward the nest, that is when Oak saw the woman had wings! She had fairy wings! Not only did she have beautiful fairy wings, she also had hair just like Oak’s mother! It was long and wavy and reddish yellow…such a beautiful color. The woman still had her face veil on, as she went to step into the nest. But then butterflies flew from her veil to lift her long skirt so she would not trip. After she stepped into the nest and sat down, the butterflies then flew into the woman’s hair and became still, like beautiful hair pins.
Everyone in the cave knelt and then slowly rose. As they rose to their feet, the woman began speaking in a soft melodic voice (Oak was thinking it sounded like her mother). Now that she was facing everyone, it could be seen that her eyes were emerald green and soft, as soft as her voice. “My loved ones,” she began. Without warning, a fiery red smoke descended from the opening in the cave (at the top) and began circling the room, almost in the shape of pointing fingers; each poking at a fairy, or a lizard or a frog. The stench was horrific! The smoke seemed to take on the odor of a dead ogre. (Of course, Oak had never seen an ogre, much less smelled a live or dead one, but the smoke smelled like what she thought one would smell like). The ground began to shake and the little ledges that fairies were sitting on began breaking and falling to the earth like shards of glass, trying to stab and cut as they hit the ground. Thunder filled the chamber and was so loud that the fairies had to put their hands over their ears. But the thunder could not disguise or extinguish what Oak heard. It was her mother again, calling, “Oak, Oak, come home. You’re in danger. Come home.”
Turning to ask the fairy lady for help to get to her mother, Oak discovered she was gone! In her place, where the nest was, sat a giant dragon, who was looking straight at Oak, as smoked poured out of his nose. (to be continued)
“Oak, Oak, come home; please come home!” Oak heard her mother’s frantic cry for her, but she was falling so quickly it was all she could do to breathe. For that matter, it was all she could do to really hear her mother’s words, for the chimes, mixed with the thunder were sounding like a giant was stomping and with every stomp, the Earth shook and at the same time it sounded like massive windows of heavy glass were being blown out into a million pieces by an iron ball being directed by a madman driving a crane. Rather than trying to listen to everything, Oak open her eyes in an effort to see if there was something she could grab onto as she was falling. She kept trying to concentrate on not being afraid and to try to figure out what was going on and where she was falling. She thought it was a good thing that she had her pajamas on, rather than a nightgown; but then…maybe not. Perhaps the nightgown would actually have been like a parachute and slow the fall down a little; just a little. Oak started looking at her whereabouts, to try to identify landmarks, like you learn in Brownies. She remembered her leader saying, “When you’re on a trail, always look for things that will stick in your mind so if you get lost, you can maybe backtrack and find your way out”. She was doing that. A birdhouse was on the right. It was painted purple, pink, yellow and white. “I have to remember this birdhouse,” Oak said to herself. “I can do this.” But before she knew it, she passed the same birdhouse again. Or was it? All of a sudden, there were so many birdhouses of all different colors that she became confused. Shutting her eyes tightly, then reopening them did not help.
Then, Oak seemed to feel like she was no longer falling, but was jumping! This was so strange. She could not stop jumping, but as she was, Oak realized something. All this time, she had not been falling down; she was falling up! Up? Can you fall up? “Oh my,” was all Oak could say as she was jumping. Every jump seemed higher than the other or the one before it. Oak was really good at jumping rope; she never ever missed a beat. But now, Oak felt sick to her stomach…really sick. That’s when it happened.
A breeze seemed to be lifting her gingerly up and out of whatever it was that she had been in. It wasn’t a hole; it wasn’t a cup and it sure wasn’t a river, for she wasn’t wet! This breeze made her feel better. Oak was able to get her wits gathered. I mean, for a ten year old girl, the gathering of wits was a feat, but then Oak never backed down from achieving a goal or completing a task. Now I know this all sounds a bit odd. Well, of course it does. Here this little girl encountered a fairy, tons of wild wind chimes, thunder out of nowhere, falling down or falling up and now riding on a breeze. There are more odd things in this world than that.
Oops! Oak fell! Not far, but enough to shake her up a little. Looking up, she saw the breeze had been distracted by a pretty little blue cloud and it decided to head over that way. “This is so strange,” Oak muttered to herself, as she stood up and brushed off her pajamas and set them straight. “What’s strange?” Oak stopped and looked around for the person who said that. There was no one. “Yikes, I must be so tired. I’m hungry too and now I’m hearing things” Oak thought. “Hello? What’s wrong with you? Why don’t you answer?” Oak quickly scanned where she was. It was only now that she realized the breeze had brought her to a sweet little garden; not too big and not too little. It had a cedar tree in the back, pretty purple flowers, and all sorts of plants and such.
Do you ever get the feeling that someone is looking at you? Well, as Oak was looking around this garden, she suddenly felt someone’s eyes on her. Oh, it was strange. She slowly turned around, but no one was there! There was only a little spider hanging from a branch of the cedar tree. Oak generally didn’t care for spiders, but this one was different. It had clothes on or at least it looked like that. She got a little closer and then the spider yelled, “Are you deaf?” Startled, Oak jumped back. She said nothing, just stared and stared. The spider was a creature of action. It sort of pulled itself up by its belt – yes, that’s right, its belt. It then jumped on a silver strand of its web and the strand began swinging. It went back and forth and on one of its forths, the spider leapt onto a leaf very close to Oak. It was pretty obvious the spider was a boy because of his belt, his jeans and his boots. He also had a shirt on with the buttons on the side of the shirt, you know, like boys. I have to add that jeans for spiders are, well, multi-legged. Oak just stared at him and he stared right back at her with 23 eyes! In the background, Oak heard her mother calling for her again. This time it sounded like her mother was crying. Oak felt so sad and the spider could see this.
“Who is that calling” Is it your mother?” By this time, reality set in and Oak realized that she was far far away from home and her mother; she was so lonely and scared. Nodding, Oak began to cry. This made the spider feel badly and he sat down on the leaf. “I’m Sam Spider, Jr.” Sam put out two of his arms to shake her hand, but then decided against it, knowing she was already distraught. She looked up and Sam winked at her. Although Sam had 23 eyes, he was very coordinated and winked with 17 of them. “Oh”, said Oak. “That’s really neat!” “Aw.” Sam said as he bashfully looked down – well, 12 of his eyes looked down, the others crossed. “Sam, I miss my mother. I miss her so much. I worry about her too. She must think something horrible happened to me.” Sam cocked his head and said, “No, Oak. Believe me, she has a good idea where you are. That’s not to say she’s not worried, for she knows what a strange land this place is.” Just as he finished is, a giant mushroom suddenly appeared right next to Oak. It was giant, as I said, and was brown and purple. It smiled too! Actually it grinned at both Sam and Oak. This was all so odd; so very odd for Oak. She began to feel lightheaded and woozy again. Oak thought she might fall against the Mushroom because the garden began moving – not spinning, just moving. The flowers were walking, the trees were swaying and the grass began moving, much like a river.
Within a moment of a dream, it was dark! Oak found herself in a swing in the garden and Sam and the Mushroom were nowhere to be found. She began to feel sad and scared and went to slow the swing down, but it kept lazily swinging – back and forth and back and forth. Actually the swinging made her feel better. The moon was so big! It was huge and the clouds were almost dancing in the sky. Lightning bugs were darting here and there and she could hear tree frogs chirping. Oh, she loved tree frogs. So did her mother. From the time Oak was a little girl, her mother taught her that frogs, especially tree frogs, could be her best friends. She would say, “Oak, if it storms really badly and you’re frightened by the thunder, just listen for the tree frogs to start singing; for they sing a lullaby to the thunder, which helps to calm and quiet it down. Also, if there should be a flood, tree frogs are famous for helping little girls and boys climb trees to get away from the flood waters.” Oak would listen to her mother for hours and hours talk about nature and all the wonderful things that most people don’t even know about or see.
Just thinking about her mother’s stories made her feel so much better. Oak leaned back on the swing to look straight up at that full moon. It’s here that Oak’s story begins to reveal a secret. (to be continued)
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This garden was created for a friend of a friend. He is in the hospital and my friend wanted something special to take him. The friend/patient is a Christian and so the garden is created around his faith. Rather than a fairy, I used a little boy angel, who is riding on top of a turtle. The turtle’s name is Tommy the Turtle. Also along for the ride is a ladybug. Timothy the Toad is sitting upon a rock in the pond. You’ll see the “treasure” in this garden is a silver cross. Also, a String of Pearls is growing in the garden.
This garden is in a bonsai pot, with the land and water features. I hope the patient loves it and I hope you do too! xoxo
Greetings! I have been so excited about getting bonsai pots in which to create fairy gardens. My first one was beautiful and the second one? Well, it was too busy looking. I thought it was great the day I created it, but by the next morning, I was mortified! Somehow, I had gotten off the path of just “creating” for the love of the earth and started, oh I don’t know what you would call it; let’s just say I was getting crazy! Anyway, I’m posting two gardens that are in the making now…I never know until I know!
Here are photos of the “Fairy of The Bonsai Wood” garden. The light green plant in the garden is ground cover, which will grow quickly. The fairy is “in the wood” – actually a clearing. I did sneak a turtle in for one photo and then the “rock people” or “rock fairies” came in and did their thing where the turtle once was. The treasure is in one photo and is a small garnet set in silver. The fairies found it at an estate sale. You’ll see that Timothy the Toad is in the garden in one picture and in the pond in another.
The next garden is called “Fairy of the Pearls Bonsai”. In the pond, there are oyster shells and a large shell also filled with them. Somehow, it seemed right to bring in the word pearls. Actually, this garden isn’t “right”. When I create a garden it can take an hour or four hours. It just depends. I sometimes think I must look like the Jackson Pollock of fairy gardens, as I put in and pull out plants, fairies…I can really make a mess until I’m happy with a garden. So, when this one is “done”, I’ll be sure to post it! As the fairies say, “Please and thank you!” xoxo
This is my favorite garden so far. It is in a bonsai pot (land and water). I love it for a number of reasons, mainly because of the lines and the combination of land and water, which I think is sometimes important in a fairy garden. The stones along the pond are fairy river stones and the pond itself has stones and plants. I am going to be ordering miniature (live) lily pads for these gardens and asking the new owners to please keep the ponds filled. (The fairies will be watching for me). Another reason I love the bonsai pots is that they are low in height and easier to ship; regardless of width or shapes.
I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I loved creating the garden. More professional photos will be taken of all gardens very soon! Thank you all for reading this and Happy New Year’s Eve!!!! Fly safely!! xoxo
P.S. You know each garden has an unearthed treasure in it; an item that someone one cared for but has since discarded. Our fairies search the Earth for these! Do you see this garden’s treasure?
Helene was just a young little girl…maybe around 8 or 9 years old. Her parents, Harold and Veronica could always spot their little girl from a distance; her halo of white/blonde curls seemed to radiate a wee golden cloud above her head. This is not to say they ever let her wander from them, but should they pass by her school playground, that gold cloud was always glowing like a yellow diamond dust mist. Helene, aside from being so pretty, was a very good girl who loved nature and animals; after all they’re all the same she would say. Often, her mother would find her petting a garden snail or talking to a lizard. Their gardens were full of these wonderful creatures of nature and you can be sure that Helene had given a name to every single one. She did have a favorite, Geoffrey. Actually, his full name was Geoffrey of Greenwood, since they lived in the village called Greenwood. He was a frog and a mighty handsome one! Helene and Geoffrey would spend many happy hours playing side by side, alongside the creek that ran next to the edge of the forest.
One day, Helene was lying on her back, counting all the tiny little clouds that were passing by. Today they were like little puffs of cotton, so there were many to count! Geoffrey was on his back too – counting flying bugs. “Helene, do you believe in fairies?” Helene turned her head and grinned. “Geoffrey! Everyone knows there’s no such thing as fairies. Don’t you know that?” Geoffrey looked up at the sky and continued the counting of the bugs. A minute or two went by, and Geoffrey jumped up and looked down at Helene. “Come! Follow me! I want to show you something in the forest.” “Hmmmmm”, Helene murmured. She wasn’t allowed in the forest, but she just knew if her parents knew Geoffrey, it would be OK. He was the nicest and sweetest person…uh…frog she had ever met! “Oh…OK, but only for a minute!” “Yay!” said Geoffrey. “Let’s go!”.
The woods were sort of dark, with just a little sunlight slipping through the spindly branches that had woven together. It seemed like she had walked forever, while Geoffrey jumped forever. Yet, he never jumped too far ahead of Helene, for fear she would become frightened. He knew there was nothing to be feared in this forest, for it was The Forest of Fairies and this family of fairies loved humans and nature just as much as Helene did. They just needed to guard their secret with a dark entrance to the forest because so many humans thought fairies were bad and did bad things. Well, that may be of some, but not these. Geoffrey prided himself on associating only with the best of the best; whether it be man, beast, flowers or bees!
“We’re here”, he proclaimed, as he jumped and plopped himself (Indian style) in the middle of a beautiful, yet small, enchanting meadow that appeared to have a spotlight on it, straight from the sun! Sweet little flowers of every color imaginable were everywhere! “Oh Geoffrey!” Helene squealed with delight, “It is perfect!” Helene skipped over to Geoffrey and, being the little lady she was, sat down and fluffed out her dress, like she had been taught. “What is this place?” Geoffrey leaned towards her and winked. “It’s The Forest of The Fairies.” Her eyes grew big and her mouth opened, but nothing came out; for approaching her was a beyond belief fairy, atop a pink cloud that had somehow dropped from the sky above and become a cloud something or other. Helene couldn’t speak and just stared. The fairy was in lavender, which perfectly matched the pink cloud. It was a lady fairy and she was about 4 inches tall, with flowing black hair and the bluest eyes anyone ever saw! “Whoa, ” said the fairy in a teensy tiny voice to the cloud. Stopping right at Helene’s feet, the fairy said, “I’m so happy to finally meet you after all this time.” Helene just sat there staring. She knew she should curtsy, or say something, but she couldn’t move. The fairy just smiled and said, “I know you’re a little surprised. It’s perfectly normal! You haven’t believed in fairies, but you do believe in something far more wonderful.” Helene finally found her voice. “What’s that?” Stepping a little closer, the fairy said, “You believe in and care about animals…all of nature!” Gently placing her hand on Helene’s cheek (it was so tiny it felt like a little feather), the fairy said, “I am the Queen of The Forest of Fairies. Ever since Geoffrey was barely still a tadpole, he would swim back to us and tell about you and your friends of the Earth. If Geoffrey approved of you, we knew you were special indeed.” Then she flitted down onto Helene’s knee and curtsied. “I am Queen Lavender Lily”. Helene giggled, “I’m Helene.” Queen Lavender smiled and said, “Helene, from this day forward you shall be known as Helene of The Clouds.” Stepping aside, Queen Lavender introduced Helene to the pink cloud. She said, “This is Pink of The Sky and he shall be your companion from this day forward. Should you ever need to move quickly from one place to another, all you have to do is clap your hands three times and he will be at your side.”
Helene was just so excited! Geoffrey was very touched by the Queen’s gestures and words extended to Helene. In a distance, Helene heard her mother calling for her. “Oh, I have to go! I am so pleased to have met you, Queen Lavender!” “I am as well, my dear. Please take Pink of The Sky with you and he’ll see you get to your mother quickly.” “TaTa my dear Helene – we will see each other again.” With those words, the Queen floated upwards and disappeared.
“Oh my”, exclaimed Helene as she found herself walking up to her mother in the kitchen of their house! (Gosh, Pink of The Sky is fast!) She ran to the window just in time to see Pink disappear. (Pink for short).
“Did you have a good day, Helene? I was worried when I didn’t see you in the back yard. But I’m happy to see you. Where did you go for those five minutes?” “Five minutes?” Helene looked at her mother. She thought to herself it had to be more than five minutes. “Yes, Honey. It was 4:00 when you went out and it’s 4:05 now”. Helene looked at her mother and said, “Dear Mother, I was thinking about how wonderful this world really is.” Helene’s mother looked at her and said, “Yes, darling it is.” Then they both looked through the window at the sky.
Fairies of The Earth 