Last summer Poppiholla decided to grow a gourd. She grew the plants from seed which were tended with great care until eventually, after sun and rain, we were rewarded with some beautiful bright yellow trumpet flowers. Poppi tickled the flowers with a tiny feather to make sure that the fruit would set and then we waited. After more sun and rain the plants grew curly and strong - soon the fruit began to swell. We discovered that tiny gourds need lots of coaxing to grow, as well as a comfy straw bed to rest on, so Poppiholla spent lots of time telling them stories of great and small things, of happy times, enchanted lands and sun and rain. She sang plump songs and green curly songs and played juicy tunes on her violin full of bright sun and warm wet rain. They grew and grew until they measured a mighty 4 inches round !
(Now I know what u are thinkin that that is very small - but when u are only 4 inches tall like Poppi it's actually very big.)

On a warm glowing day at the end of August two gourds, one a beautiful buttery yellow the other with stripes of lime, were carefully picked and loaded onto Poppihollas cart just in time for the fairy garden show. Moonflower awarded the prizes and not surprisingly Poppihollas stripey gourd came first in the decorative gourd section!

 I keep the gourds on my kitchen windowsill to remind me of Poppis newly found green fingers and her big acheivement in the world of fairy gardening!
^_^

Up the airy mountain,
Down the rushy glen,
We daren't go a-hunting
For fear of little men;
Wee folk, good folk,
Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap,
And white owl's feather!

William Allingham

Pip is happy to welcome his wee cousins from Fairyland to Moonflowers Garden.
Poppiholla on the left, and on the right her brother Piccolo.
Their mother is Pip's Aunt Violet.
Parma Violet (her stage name) is famous for her fabulous singing voice and has led the Dawn Chorus on many a special occasion. Both her children have inherited her musical talent - Poppiholla plays the violin and Piccolo plays the flute.

I'm having a problem with Piccolo's hair tho'. With a wig like this he looks like he should be playing guitar in an 80's rock band.
I think it has to go...

You can't help but smile - he is just so cute and such a terrible flirt too.
^_^

A while ago Merrie and I did a little swap. Her gift to me was a handfull of beautiful Bluejay feathers found while checking round her garden. She also thoughtfully included some small fairy images - fae scraps to include in my craft projects.

The picture below shows one of the pretty scraps from Merrie. I picked it out and just slipped it under the corner of my candle cupboard in the kitchen. It has been there ever since.

It's the perfect picture to compliment the poems written by Tommy and Alibear

Till your return Lady Trillium, I will miss you.
xx

Quick, show us who u really are !

What a trickster, it's Pip the pixie :D

Come on Mr Pumpkin Head it's time for bed...

hist wist
Little ghost things
tip-toe
twinkle-toe

little twitchy
witches and tingling
goblins
hob-a-nob   hob-a-nob

little hoppy happy
toad in tweeds
tweeds
little itchy mousies

with scuttling
eyes rustle and run
and
hidehidehide

green
dancing
devil
devil

devil
devil

wheeEEE

(extract from a poem by e.e.c)

Play along and pretend to be scared !
Can u guess who this is ?
All will be revealed 12 midnight on Halloween.
^_^

This morning Moonflower looked out on the garden only to find that the clouds had come right down and cast a million diamond drops of glistening beauty far and wide.

Taken from the inside, a perfect lace curtain of drops strung together with the finest thread ever.

Raindrops on roses.

Roses not noses !

Oh I see - whiskers on kittens !

^_^

It feels like a year and a day since I visited Moonflowers Garden.

It is true that the path to the garden sometimes eludes me, but in the gloomy shadows her presence is always there - bright as the sun in Spring and as comforting as a warm hearth during Winter.

Today, in the time between times, I found the garden overgrown and tinged with more than a little Autumn decay. Gossamer webs hung in dewy disarray over hundreds of papery seed pods.
A smell of bonfire tinged the air with a hint of damp and musty undergrowth.
Beautiful pink and peach roses punctuate the borders, dark red dahlias soldiering on till the first frosts and soft lilac Michaelmas daisies touched by powdery mildew turn their faces to the sun. Bright blue Gentian trumpets tooting a tune in the rock garden, red butterflies flitting to and fro while Jackdaws chatter on a chimney pot.
Plump pumpkins sitting in a row on the patio and bags of spring bulbs waiting to be planted into the warm, wet earth.
I saw the fairies too. Playing amongst the fallen leaves and napping with the cat in a favourite sunny spot. They were stealing honey and quite drunk on ripe fruit, riding on low golden rays and skipping across the lawn. Tonight they will dance on beams from the Shedding Moon and begin to weave a spell or two for Halloween.

Moonflowers Garden - just up the road a bit and always welcoming.  

Today I just lazed around, it was such a lovely Autumn day. I took the opportunity to look around the yard a bit and found some interesting things to take photos of. This Tortoiseshell butterfly landed on my shoulder, then fluttered off to rest in the sun beside the window.

I didn't notice at the time, probably due to the fact I was balancing on a garden chair and peering through me sungeps, but later Tony pointed out to me the butterfly's true form ! It's shadow has revealed a beautiful fairy figure.

How Luvly!

^_^

Now where do u think these two mischief makers are going ?

I took these photos just 3 months ago at the beginning of Summer when the garden was full of luscious promise.

Two cranesbill cosying up together in a ray of sunlight

Cornflower bursting out of its perfectly patched together jacket

Delicate papery Harebell with baby sprigs of Lavender.

And Geranium Macrorrhizum with her rasberry roots, rising up and casting a spell of Summer love over the whole garden.