fairy houses (a re-post of an old story)

Being a stay at home mom used to involve more staying at home time when the kids were all younger. Now it is about trying to find the time to stay at home in between all the running here and there.
I admit I reminisce much too frequently over the good ol' days when we would spend a whole day out in the front yard under the tall, tall pines and "play fairy houses", as my girls always called it. They used the whole phrase as a verb instead of verb and nouns. Funny how a lot of their toddler language has stuck in our daily speech...to the point of me sometimes reminding them to not use our many, many little endearing phrases in front of the general public, lest we all be seen as some uneducated lot.

Click here for an old post about our wonderfully fun fairy houses, some of which are still standing today!!
We used to spend entire summer days out in the yard. Most days no place else we wanted to be and no place we had to be. Playing with no sense of the clocks of the world and dragging a blanket out in the soft grass under the cool cover of the shade trees. Piles of picture story books at our sides with many decisions to make over which one to read first or last.

Of course I remember that some days (all too many as I look back) the dynamic and mood of the day was lead along by E and her state of mind. Some days you could not win with her. The sky was green and the grass was blue and there was nothing anyone could do to change it.

We went to A2 as a spur of the moment road trip the other day and went to some of our favorite places and some news places too.

I was suddenly consciously struck by how many places we return to that remind me (no matter where we go in and around our town or out of town) of the specific melt down she was having that day. Believe me there are many! Yet, I am reminded that I never felt anger or loss of patience over the situation, but the pure agonizing heartbreak I felt for this smart, multi talented little child, little girl, young adult. My E.

I had no control over making the world right for her --or her siblings as their worlds were altered as a symptom of her symptoms.

Maybe today I will toss a blanket under the canopy of cooling leafed branches overhead and pile some picture books at my side and stack a few twigs to shelter a fairy or two and pretend that the clocks of the world do not exist--even if it is for a few ironic moments--and hope that the grass will be green and the sky blue for my E. today.

Fairy House Real Estate

At our house we believe in Woodland Fairies. We build estates for them. It has been a tradition for many years. We try to remain strictly organic with our builing materials (things from nature) but the kids sometimes give in to using other supplies. We have an area in the front yard under the tall, tall pines where the grass never grows. That is our Fairy Village. The structures change from time to time (by choice or mishap), although some have stood the test of time. E's friend built one of sticks and bark that stood for about a year. I built a house of sticks and moss that stood for almost 3 years, year 'round even through heavy Ohio snow drifts! We are known in the neighborhood by kids and adults alike as "the house with the Fairy Houses"!

Please click on all the images to see the wonderful detail!!

This is a shot from the Fairy Village looking upwards into the tall pine. Sometimes Fairies perch on the branches and watch the construction process below, anxious to move in to the newest shelter. That's an older photo of N. standing near the Village next to the tall pine.

This is a close up of one of N's houses. The next photo is A., N. and E. playing in the Village 2 summers ago.

These 2 photos were taken spring of 2007...N. with his stick, bark and shell house. A. with her Horse Stable and General Store.

Close ups of A's structures.

Close ups of my current Fairy Inn. I built this one in March and it is still the same today. Maybe this one will rival my last stick and moss house!

That's N's bark and flower pot shard house in the right side of the picture.

I think these are an extension of my bug and bird art I do in water color and colored pencil.

I have heard rumors that Fairies come from near and far to live in our Fairy Village.

10 Things I Like To Do Outside During Summer

Note: These two little pictures are my own drawings that I did in colored pencil. I matted them this morning with card stock.

1. I really enjoy digging in the compost pile in the backyard and finding lots of wiggly worms busy at work. I have wonderful rich soil under the surface of the compost and the worms are the reason!!

2. This kind of goes with the first one...I think it is fun to get really, really dirty while gardening and then shower all clean with some yummy smelling shower gel.

3. Have you ever just reclined in the grass and looked up into the tree tops? I think it is a very peaceful, almost meditation type, thing to do.

4. Can anyone ever grow out of the fun that is riding a bike? I hope not! It brings so much to your senses.

5. I get a thrill out of finding interesting dead wood branches that fall from our tall trees. Some of them are truly nature's art.

6. I like the smell of the wet dirt after a summer rain. I adore going out to jump in puddles with the kids.  (I just noticed that a lot of these thoughts include "dirt"!!)

7. On rare occasions I get the chance to sit in the shade and read. When I do get the chance, I wish I could change my name temporarily to something other than "MOM!". Sometimes in my lap it's decorating magazines or papercrafting/scrapbooking magazines. Sometimes a non-fiction book.

8. We go to the cemetery and feed the ducks in the big pond. It is a perfect way to clean out all the stale bits and crumbs of crackers, cereal and the like from the pantry. I also like to hang out in cemeteries cuz it's in my blood (read more cemetery posts for that info!)

9. Strangely enough, I like to wash windows. I don't do it as often as I should - but the sparkling satisfaction of clean glass makes me happy and seems to make the house almost smile!

10. The kids and I build "fairy houses" in the front yard in an area where the grass never grows. We use sticks, leaves, moss, ferns, pine needles, shells, stones and other nature things. We have done this for about 10 years. It is like a whole village!! Their friends love to come over and build too.