I am humbled, touched, surprised and in awe of this poem written by a friend, a confidant and a true leader. You have always been filled with surprises and amazing talents, who knew you could write poetry as well? I will treasure this poem forever. Thank you Trish. 

THE RIVER FAIRY

While walking through a forest grove down beside the river,

I saw the ferns along the canopy's edge suddenly begin to quiver.

But there was no breeze or other force causing them to wiggle.

And as I paused to ponder that, I thought I heard a giggle.

Then a small figure appeared out from behind an old fir tree.

And a voice whispered in my ear; 'Rejoice, for it is she.'

Black hair flowed over her shoulders, wisps framed her lovely face,

Around each delicate wrist were silver ribbons of spiderweb lace.

Her flowing blue robe rippled at her feet, like waves upon the shore,

Woven petals with sparkling dew drops formed the necklace that she wore.

A kaleidoscope encircling her head made a delightful spinning crown,

The forest birds singing in harmony was the most enchanting sound.

I watched as the beauty, the butterflies and birds of a feather,

Danced in joy and celebration of this joining together.

To give loving thanks to the river for its gifts never-ending,

And embrace the peaceful vibrations the river was sending.

By now the sun had reached the very west edge of the sky,

Pink light let them know that it was time to say good-bye.

But before the birds and the butterflies would set off to go,

Each presented before her and bowed their head low.

As she returned to her tree home, she faded from sight,

And the forest became still as it welcomed the night.

Who invites winged treasures to galas so merry?

Emmanuelle, the River Fairy.

By Trish Curtin

Book Review: Sweetheart Fairies -- Daisy's Rainbow Picnic by Katie Peters

Book Review ...

Sweetheart Fairies -- Daisy's Rainbow Picnic

Author: Katie Peters
Illustrations: Sanja Rescek

Published in 2008 by Scholastic Children's Books
ISBN10: 0439944767       ISBN13: 9789439944762

This book is about Fairy Daisy and her friends baking goodies for their afternoon picnic.

Each page features a different sparkly fruit flip-up flap that hides beneath it a special dessert that each of her friends is bringing along. Daisy used raspberries, Jasmine a peach, Rosies cherries and Lily  blueberries. Doesn't each sounds so delicious and yummy. A story about friendship, hope and love.

It was a nice surprise to find out what had been freshly made and even though it was a secret written under the flap most were easy to guess. 

I found the graphics very pretty and the storyline is super cute that keeps the reader engaged right to the last page.

Each Sweetheart Fairy is dressed in little dresses matching the colour of the fruit that they used for their dessert. They each have a sparkly set of leaf wings, shoes and lacy trims on their gowns. Plus, each page features wee critters from butterflies to ants to caterpillars to dragonflies too! Each of these are just as sparkly as their Fairy friend. 

The graphics by Sanja is definitely the reason why I purchased this 6 paged hardcovered picture book. The raised sparkles makes this book fall within my guidelines under the touch and feel category. 

You can purchase this book through your local bookstore. I did take a look through most of the larger on-line bookstores but either they were all very expensive or out-of-stock.

Daisy's Rainbow Picnic is just one of four in this set of board books. The other titles being Jasmine's Sparkly Surprise, Rosie's Magical Hide-and-Seek and Lily's Twinkle Bedtime. Be sure to check out these other books in this series. 

Christmas Wreaths of 2020

Each year the Nursery makes fresh Christmas Wreaths to give away and donate to friends and the local community. 

This time around, I made 12, including one for our own door. That means I had a MASSIVE sparkle party in my own kitchen. Usually I can do this project all in one evening but 12 was just a few too many so it took me a whole 2 evenings to decorate them all. I did however learn a few things from the past few years, like how to contain as many sparkles in one area and how NOT to spread them all throughout the house. So, I came up with an ingenious plan to tape plastic tablecloths onto the kitchen cupboards. This worked perfectly as we have a galley shaped kitchen. Mind you, with two woof woofs, a Hubby Dearest, myself and the FAERIES we still did an amazing job of making the house all glittery. 

 

Each year I make our wreath just a bit different than the rest. I decided to go with a rose-gold theme and I think it was one of the best ones I've ever made and we were really happy with how it turned out.

So between shades of reds, cream, white, gold, green and silver these wreaths went beyond me expectations. Each wreath had Christmas scented pinecones that would waif into the air and of course wee bells that would ring each time a door was opened or closed. One thing that I did add in this year were lights!! Either pinecones or mesh wired balls in gold or silver made the sparkles dance in the evening light. It was so beautiful to drive down the street and see all of the wreaths I had made lit up. 

It was just this past weekend that I had all of the wreaths returned to me so it was time to cover up the kitchen and take them all apart to save the flowers and decorations for next year. As each wreath was dropped off or picked up, the recipients had nothing but praise, amazement and a glitter in their eye. It took me a full two evenings to make all twelve wreaths and only one afternoon to store everything away.

Now it wouldn't be right if I didn't take orders for next year. Surprisingly enough, the most asked for colour was BLUE! Yes, blue. Second would be metallics and then follows all of the regular traditional colours of reds, greens creams and whites. So, I have already ordered over 200 blue silk poinsettia flowers and now almost daily there seems to be a parcel or two waiting for us at the post box. It's like getting a present everyday! Mind you, my shopping doesn't stop now as I'll be busy looking for sparkly decorations all throughout the year.

So, which one was your favourite? Do you prefer the traditional look of reds and greens or are you a bit more daring and you like pinks, purples and blues?