I just sent my garden faeries off to visit poor Be... She doesn't want any attention, but you can still wish her well (forgive me Be! ;^).

Anyways with all my local fae gone, something "wicked" came out of the Haunted Forest... She seemed very irritated with my taking her picture. I thought I heard her calling out to something called "Flying Monkees." I figured I'd better take off before they arrived.

A strange creature she was indeed!



To see her closer (How about a little fire, Scarecrow?) simply click on the image...

That's right, she left. I know this because I spotted her right here in the Northern California sea:

You can see her raising her head in the center as she loops back to the right, her rollercoaster body following along behind her...

(Alright, this is really a distorted image of the Sutter Buttes in a foggy Sacramento valley. Click on the image to see the real proportions. :^)

ElmaBree's son really liked that night sky pic I blogged yesterday, so I've uploaded several more night shots. Unfortunately, though I uploaded them to my "Nature" folder, they ended up in the "Public" one. (And once uploaded to a big folder, you can't delete them. Yeah, funky site.) Anyways here's a sampler pic. Can anyone guess what it is?

(Later...) Dreamdeer was right, it is the Moon. Some stars are also shining from behind a high thin curtain of clouds. The Moon shining through it creates the rainbow halo around it, and a very low layer (almost touching the ground here) of scattered clouds were being pushed rapidly by by a strong wind, creating the ghosting effect. Pretty neat eh? :^)

Thought you might enjoy a peek at our night sky here... :^)

I took this just after midnight today. That's Jupiter (I saw all 4 moons!) on the lower left. This is a small part of the Milky Way, stretching down to the horizon. The dark matter clouds outlined against it were what caught my eye. Usually they're not quite this sharp, but we've got hot, dry (fire warning) winds coming in from the North, plus no Moon at this time. So a good time to grab the skycam!

Here in Nevada County we've had our Celtic Festival for 11 years now, and last year we added something new: the FaeryWood. Tucked into a shady crescent underneath tall whispering pines, we created a very magical place last September. Here the sound of a waterfall cascaded gently while a border of Cedars scented the aire amongst pavilions manned by the League of Robin Goodfellow. Many wonderful performers were cheered by audiences upon our stage, while colorful burlaps sailed from the rigging behind and on up amongst crisscrossing streamers all about our little portal. Many visitors came too, to walk the twisted-Manzanita-lined paths of our sacred Labyrinth. Here they contemplated most sincere wishes, soon to be tucked into the craggy bark with reverence, of the wise old tree awaiting them in the very center.

Our FaeryWood "experiment" became the fair's biggest hit, and is going to be alive and well for this year's Celtic Festival. Come and join us... Come and Merry Meet!