Welcome Fairies!


     This fairy house sits outside in the garden during the summer. Outside the ants and squirrels wreak havoc with the fairies' home, so it's nice to have it inside where I can add the crystals and whimsical details that fairies love. The first summer that I had this house outside my granddaughter left Bluebell's sister, Buttercup, inside the house between visits. The next time she came to play we found the house full of ants and dirt. Buttercup was so filthy she could not be rejuvenated. 

    Instead of tending flowers, house fairies like to get into mischief and tease the human occupants. There is no evidence of fairy activity in our home, but an old friend told me there must have been at least one fairy in a lakeside cabin where Mark and I stayed for a week one summer. I had placed my sparkly green earrings on the nightstand before we went to bed and found one missing in the morning. I looked everywhere and couldn't find it, but later that evening it showed up again, right on the nightstand. My friend told me that this is the kind of thing fairies like to do. 

    The most magical object in the scene above is the rock that contains bits of amethyst. When my son, Peter, was a preschooler, he had a plastic bus that he liked to ride whenever we went for a walk. The bus had a seat that opened up so that he could put things inside. One day he found this beautiful amethyst-filled rock inside of his bus. Who would have put it there? Maybe fairies? Maybe a generous neighbor? It has remained a mystery to this day. 



    Very few modern people believe in fairies, but there are more believers than you might think there are. I know people who have seen them and they are not delusional. There are many books and articles written by people who have seen or communicated with fairies or other nature spirits. One of my favorites is The Real World of Fairies by Dora van Gelder. 

    Even people who don't believe in fairies enjoy making fairy gardens and providing fairy dolls for their grandchildren. It's just plain fun to imagine that there is a magical side to life, apart from the humdrum of our ordinary days.  


The summer fairy garden:





    

    

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