The Fairies from Newfoundland

One of my most visited blog posts is the Gnome Home, published in May 2008. The people who visit often ask how they can find a gnome/fairy door of their own. I myself wanted a fairy or gnome dwelling in our pine tree in the back yard. I wrote,

We have a pine tree in our back yard that would be a perfect residence for gnomes. We've sent out the word. The housing market is difficult right now, and so far, there have been no inquiries about the property. However, I feel confident that we shall have gnomes take up residence in our pine tree before the summer is over.

 However, it would be seven more years before our pine tree would finally have a door to signify the dwelling of magical creatures within. After I read  Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and winnowed the family possessions to a point where our little house was comfortable and welcoming, I turned to the outdoors. My garden beds were choked with buttercups and violets, and the back yard was ever the desperate Land of Weeds. I weeded, replanted, and had someone come in to prune the trees. My husband removed the decrepit shed in the back yard. And then, finally, the fairies from Newfoundland arrived:

You can find doors like this one, and other ones too, at Nothin' But Wood on Etsy.

Candy Cane Fairies

It's not yet Crafty Thursday, but I just completed two candy cane fairies and felt compelled to share them:



The snowy evergreen trees were made by Beccijo of The Enchanted Cupboard. Beccijo also sent me a host of other beautiful hand-painted creations to give as gifts. I made for her two playscapes: autumn and spring.

Your Personal Fairy

I am enjoying the comments on the Five Year Celebration and a Giveaway post. You still have time to leave a comment on that post for the giveaway, as it ends February 26, at 6 P.M. Pacific Standard Time.

I am rereading How to Ditch Your Fairy, by Justine Larbalestier. I have a signed paperback copy from when Larbalestier visited the Seattle area last winter. The main character lives in a region of the world called New Avalon (not-United States/ not-Australia) where everyone has a fairy. Some people have common loose-change finding fairies, while others are lucky enough to have never-have-bad-hair fairies or always-know-what-your-children-are-up-to fairies. Charlie is a 14 year old girl at a sports school who has a parking fairy. She hates having everyone make her ride along with them to find the best parking spots, and starts walking everywhere in the hopes of "ditching" her fairy.

Rereading the book just begs for a discussion about personal fairies. Larbalestier posted a few responses from different writer colleagues and there have been lots from readers. I've decided that if I have a personal fairy, it must be a gift-giving fairy. It's not a 100 percent reliable, but I have a high success rate for finding the right gift for a friend or family member. I cheat a little, too: I have a hidden box filled with things I've tucked away for when they're needed.

If you had a personal fairy, what would its specialty be?

Blue Fairy and Candle Maiden

Much of my stitching time has been focused upon custom orders, but I did have a chance to post the Blue Fairy in the shop last week:



Yesterday, I posted the Candle Maiden for Hanukkah:



In addition to everything else, I've promised to make three different doll sets for the school auction in March 2010. I'm going to have to pace myself. I used to work well under stress, but now I work best when I can get things done ahead of time. I love the feeling of having thwarted the Procrastination Imp.

Halloween Fairy

Have you heard of the Halloween Fairy? I first heard of her through my daughter's school. On Halloween night, after the fun of trick-or-treating is over, the child places all but a few desired pieces of candy in a basket or bowl for the Halloween Fairy to collect. In gratitude, the Halloween Fairy leaves a wonderful present (i.e. no socks or underwear unless they're on the child's wishlist).

Outside of school, most parents look at me with bemusement when I tell them about the Halloween Fairy. I can almost hear their thoughts:

Yeah, that's really cute. That may work in your Waldorf la-la land, but the Halloween Fairy would never fly with my kid.

These are the same parents whose kids faithfully put out stockings for Santa Claus long after they've discovered that there is no toe-monster, carrots do not make their hair curly and the Electoral College does not reflect the popular vote. They're gung-ho about the Easter Bunny and think the Tooth Fairy is great as long as the cash keeps coming. The Halloween Fairy deserves a chance, too.

Last year was the first time Lucia went trick-or-treating with friends. She enjoyed the pageantry of the costumes, liked the idea of getting lots of sweets, but was fine with putting out her stash for the Halloween Fairy. The next morning, she received a rhinestone tiara and the Halloween Fairy received a stomachache. This year, who knows what gift the Halloween Fairy will bring? Whatever Lucia receives in exchange for her candy will be worth the trade.

November 2, 2009 update: Here is a photo that has the wooden mushrooms and doll made by MrsBeccijo of theenchantedcupboard along with a hand-dyed silk by BeneathTheRowanTree that the Halloween Fairy left for my daughter in exchange for her candy:



Other items pictured from the NaturalKids team are the needle-felted mushroom girl by Nushkie, a wooden squirrel and crow by Mamakopp, and stitched dolls by me, Alkelda.

Santa Fe 2009

Greetings from Santa Fe, New Mexico! The first few days we spent in recovery mode: recovery from sickness, financial stress, the long lists of things we have to do, plus the long months of soggy coldness that have pervaded Seattle (though the last week of school was quite warm). We've gone to a birthday party and a potluck. Sunday, we went to Mass at the beautiful St. Francis Cathedral, which so far is the only Catholic church I've visited that rings bells during the Consecration of the Eucharist. (Last year, I had to ask Lucia not to sing along with the bells.) Yesterday, we visited with two of my mom's colleagues and worked with clay. I created a small fairy house with a removable roof, which I had been planning ever since I found out that we were going to have Clay Day. I'll post a photo after we return to Seattle.

Today, we walked two miles in a nature conservancy and tomorrow we're going to Canyon Road to look at art galleries and visit the Tea House. For Canyon Road, Bede and I are planning to leave Lucia with her grandma while we explore.

I've worked on some dolls while I'm here. I finished the Night Queen with her Star Child, and made a Cloud Child for the Day King. I've also stitched my first saint doll: St. Rose of Lima, patron of embroiderers, needleworkers and gardeners. In the St. Francis Cathedral, I noted that Rose of Lima was depicted holding a guitar. It turns out that in addition to her other talents, she was noted for composing mystical poetry and playing it on her guitar. Take a look at this photo, and you'll see the icon. It's second from the left on the top row.

Elementals and Pegacorns

Yesterday was sunny, so I sat in the park and sewed while my daughter was in her Atrium class. At one point, a young boy with his father walked up to me and asked me what I was doing. I told him that I was making a "wind child" (an air elemental) and showed him the "fire child" with the salamander on the cape that I had already made.

"Who is that doll for?" he asked. I told him that it was for some child somewhere in the world.

"Will you make a doll for me?" he asked. I inquired what sort of a doll would I make for him, and he said, "A doll with wings, and a pegacorn. Do you know what a pegacorn is?" He described a flying unicorn with many colors and said the pegacorn would come with him to school.

I told him that I had always wondered what a flying unicorn was called, and wondered what they ate. The boy thought for a moment, and then said, "Hay!" He talked for a few more moments about the pegacorn (all the while I reassured the father that this was okay, that the boy was not bothering me, etc.), and then ran off to play in the park.

While I'm not unveiling the elementals for my Etsy shop until May 1, you may view the elementals I've already posted in my gallery here. I'm currently working on a number of elemental dolls: wind (bird themed), sand (i.e. earth), fog (i.e. water) and aether.

***
Minh Le has illustrated another honorable mention for our contest: Wet Dog, Wet Dog, What Do You Smell? submitted by Yat-Yee Chong.

Loss and Life in Books and Beyond

This day has come around again. Thanks to Elaine Magliaro for introducing me to Sherman Alexie's Grief Calls Us to the Things Of This World, for that is the poem that comes to mind today on this breezy sunny day in Seattle.

For the past three days, I have been reading aloud E. B. White's Charlotte's Web to Lucia. Thanks to both my husband and Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast for alerting me to this NPR piece about the book. I thought of E. B. White having to do seventeen takes when reading the sad parts for the audio recording after Lucia said, "Stop talking in that funny voice!" as I cried during the key moments. The final paragraphs are what always get me: the paen to friendship and good writing is as fine an epitaph as any I've ever read.

Finally, I remember when Lucia's first tooth came in. Now, that tooth has popped out, and Lucia is a big girl now, just like Peter Sis' Madlenka. "How wise I am!" Lucia exclaimed yesterday. Here she is, displaying her sagacity:


Not too long ago, Yorkshire Pudding introduced me to Miranda the Fairy, who used to leave his children little notes. Miranda the Fairy has a new job in the dental department of fairyland She left Lucia a little note with two books by Elsa Beskow in minature: Pelle's New Suit and Peter in Blueberry Land. I suspect that future tooth presents will be more modest.

Fairies and Luncheon Baskets

Root children dolls from Silken Sky

Bedtime stories these days consist of the Snowdrop Fairy and the Crocus Fairy running outside to prepare the way for Lady Spring. Often, the Snowdrop Fairy and the Crocus Fairy meet up with their friends, Shy Violet, Jonquil and Grape Hyacinth. The rest of the story goes one of two ways:

1) They meet up with Iris, the Rainbow Fairy, who lets them climb the rainbow bridge and slide down the other side until it's time to go home for supper and bed

2) A picnic with long descriptions of what they ate followed by going home to bed

I do not deny that The Story of the Root Children by Sibylle von Olfershas played a large role in these stories that Lucia requests. By the way, Lucia was looking at the pictures one day, and asked, "Why are the Root Children all blonde?"

"That's a good question," I replied. "I think it's because the author was German." (To be exact, she was East Prussian.)


As far as the second item, it's obvious what influences my food descriptions. I am indebted to The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Graham. Notable examples:

From chapter one, a description of what's in Rat's luncheon basket

`There's cold chicken inside it,' replied the Rat briefly; `coldtonguecoldhamcoldbeefpickledgherkinssaladfrenchrolls
cresssandwichespottedmeatgingerbeerlemonadesodawater -- -- '

`O stop, stop,' cried the Mole in ecstacies: `This is too much!'

`Do you really think so?' enquired the Rat seriously. `It's only what I always take on these little excursions; and the other animals are always telling me that I'm a mean beast and cut it very fine!'

From chapter eight, a description of Toad's prison food

When the girl returned, some hours later, she carried a tray, with a cup of fragrant tea steaming on it; and a plate piled up with very hot buttered toast, cut thick, very brown on both sides, with the butter running through the holes in it in great golden drops, like honey from the honeycomb. The smell of that buttered toast simply talked to Toad, and with no uncertain voice...

From chapter nine, the contents of Rat's luncheon-basket once again

There he got out the luncheon-basket and packed a simple meal, in which, remembering the stranger's origin and preferences, he took care to include a yard of long French bread, a sausage out of which the garlic sang, some cheese which lay down and cried, and a long-necked straw-covered flask wherein lay bottled sunshine shed and garnered on far Southern slopes.

Really, it is all too much. If I had paws, I'd be waving them in ecstacies. I shall leave you with a new photo of my garden. Today, I edged the sidewalk with decorative bricks that hold up the dirt and make the garden spot look tidier. Now that there's a definite border, some of the hardy succulents can trail over the sides. With all of the digging and delving I've done to remove roots (but not root children!) from the soil, I have reasonable hopes that the shade plants will actually grow in the part of ground that has been inhospitable to my offerings in years past.


May you all have a relaxing weekend. Happy Leap Day!

The Sidhe in the Cairns

Photograph of a cairn by Tinelot Wittermans

One of my professors in college lead a bi-annual 3-week bicycling trip through Ireland. I would have loved to have gone, but the timing was never right when I plotted out my schedule for the required spring term classes. I enjoyed hearing his stories about the travels, though. He told me that once, he talked with a farmer who carefully mowed around the cairns on his land. The farmer said he mowed around the cairns so as not to disturb the Sidhe who lived within. "Do you believe in the Sidhe?" my professor asked.

"No!" the farmer scoffed. Then, he leaned toward my professor and said quietly, "But that doesn't mean they don't exist."