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

dandelion face paint

okay, it's the big day!

the faeries are putting on an amazing celebration party

everyone is dancing away to the music

(many a few have had to sit down from being too dizzy)

chasing bumblebees and butterflies

(please note that the butterflies don't sting as much when you get too close)

yellow coloured face painting

(dandelions are the terrible powder to wipe off)

pretty ribbons twisted around the silliest of things

(except for the long curly hair that it was supposed to be twirled around)

socks strewn all about

(strange as it be but somehow they managed to still keep their shoes on)

garden chases where the snails are the ones to beat

(i sure am glad that it wasn't raining or else could you imagine what wet soggy mud would be to crawl through)

it seems that singing off key is the best way to sing

(not too sure if that would be nice to the ears though)

i'm sure that these are just a few of the happenings that i could spot just by peeking around a daisy

(before being spotted)

what a wonderful day

Happy International Faerie Day

oh, and how could i forget...

did you know that faerie dust comes in every colour of the rainbow?

i've seen it myself, yes, in every colour

the windblown look

to this day i recall my mother saying to me that her hair had the 'windblown look' to it. it took me a long time to figure out exactly what that saying meant. mind you, looking back, it actually did refer to when she was out and about on a windy day.

now when looking at myself, at my hair, i must admit i LOVE the 'windblown look'. mind you, i think that i might love to use different adjectives to describe this picture.

how about using some of these ones...

bouncy ~ wild ~ crazy ~ free ~ gusty ~ windy ~ airy ~  messy ~ beehive ~ swirly ~ ruffly ~ tangly ~ tousled ~ frowzy (yes, i really did look it up to see if it was a word or not -- frowzy {frowz*y  adj  scruffy in appearance}) ~ .. and i'm sure that there is an infinite descriptive words out there (mind you, i will need help with my handy-dandy thesaurus (and yes, i did actually have to look up the spelling of thesaurus {and yes, i still got it wrong and a kudos to spell check to fixing it again for me}) to come up with more.

okay, figuring that some of the above words probably got so off topic that they weren't windblown after all.

and, again off topic..i know that i have been very inconsistence with my 'random quotes' (hoping that some of my Instagram postings might make up for one or two but, but but....well my little nursery is kinda looking a bit 'windblown' right now...with boxes and containers everywhere with these next two seasons sneaking up way to quickly...

so here is a thank you to Jimi Hendrix for letting  me daydream...

"Butterflies and zebras

Moonbeams and fairytales

That's all she ever thinks about

Riding with the wind."

.. all the while ... riding with the wind.

A Care Package from Home??

I have been trying to decide if I can really call this parcel a 'care package from home' as isn't the definition of home....like from your Mom?? Well this parcel today came from my beautiful daughter and her family.

All the great goodies in there were a wonderful surprise. I received chocolates of all sorts...including a container of After 8 sticks which I might add are already in my tummy :)   A superb selection of hot chocolates including some weird tube of 'stuff' from Second Cup called 'frrrrozen hot chocolate'. Now I must admit I am a wee bit curious on this one but Brandi says I will fall in love with it. But for now, I chose to have a cup of hot chocolate flavoured french vanilla and chocolate in the mug I bought myself just the other day. It is like she knew I had a new mug.......

Also in my box were 13 of my wooden trinket chests. I was a bit surprised though that these ones are bit smaller then the ones I normally purchase through the same store?? Either I will have to learn how to pack all the miniatures in a bit better or I am thinking that these ones will work perfectly for the smaller the doors and my other chests will be used for the larger doors. Thinking business like....shouldn't that be the way it is?? I won't compromise the 'idea' of the trinket chest but I will put in a few of the smaller things instead of the larger trinkets. Yes....good thinking :)

And she also sent me up my bestest and most favourite paint brushes. Now yes, these brushes come from 'Dollarama' but they are the only ones that I love to use. Not only are they the most coolest looking paint brushes I have ever scene...but they paint really well too!!

And some of the prettiest stick-on butterflies ever!!

And finally....we come to the best part of the whole package....my 23 bottles of paint picked out by my granddaughter Rebecca who will be 2 in September. I am going to put a big 'R' on each of the lids so that when I go to use a bottle of paint and I happen to pick one that she personally took off the shelf for me....I will smile and all of the wee little faeries in the nursery will smile along with me. Thank you Rebecca :)

Jewelled Wings

With more on the way....the nursery is now surrounded by sparkly, jewelled delicate butterfly wings. My only wish is that they were real but these will do. As I mentioned previously, I want to have the feel of the Teacup Nurseries to be whimsical and very exaggerated. So your teacup will have the tiniest of a wee little faerie house and it will be surrounded by trees and flowers and bugs and mushrooms and butterflies and....well the list can just go on and on and on....and on as far as my imagination can take it actually.

So here they are.....90 of the prettiest little butterflies that are no bigger than an inch.....

Teacup Nurseries

Well I attempted my first Teacup Nursery today and there were many lessons learned.

1. Need to learn how to eyeball the amount of floral foam that it takes to fill a teacup!
2. Loose moss goes everywhere!
3. Need things to add to the nursery!

Things I have bought today for the nurseries:

1. More houses.
2. More moss.
3. Railroad moss.
4. Mulberry flowers.
5. Butterflies.
6. Polymer flowers.
7. Polymer faeries.
8. Railroad trees.

These were definitely fun and easy. Definitely need to do a few things differently the next time around that's for sure. The moss needs to be adhered somehow. Thinking that I will pre-glue it onto a piece of regular copy paper that way all the wires for the decorations can easily poke through it. I would like to have different critters then just bunnies but at the moment can't think what else? Can't wait to see the little faeries. Depending on how they look will completely change the look as I will no longer be adding the little houses and it will just be a wee little faerie in a flower garden (technically still a nursery though).