What I Received From the Brown Paper Bag Swap

Sorry I know I'm a late posting this, but I left the charger to my camera in Maine and was waiting for it to get mailed back to me.  Now if I could just get all the beach sand out of it so it won't be tempermental.

I received this gorgeous and super creative art piece from Ellen. 

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Ellen came up with a wonderful idea....I would have never thought of doing this in a million years.  Check out the people sitting under the tree.  So cute!!  Ellen you did an amazing job and I really want to thank you for participating in the Brown Paper Bag Swap and for being my partner.

A Piece of Art or Just an Old Stump??? That is the Question....

Much to my dissappointment our new house has no flowers or flowerbeds already here and waiting for me to play in.  So.....I am having to start from scratch and make my own.  I had Earl till in front of the house and around this tree stump for my big flower bed.  I figured I could decorate the stump somehow and it would be fine there.  It is fine, but as I started digging to plant some flowers, I found lots of really big roots that were attached to the stump.

Here's what the stump looked like before I started.

and here's what it looks like after hours of digging around the roots.  The picture doesn't look as cool as it looks in person, but I think this stump and roots are going to look so cool when I get done.  I still have a lot more digging to do!  I am going to clean off the roots and hopefully find some beautiful rocks down at the creek to put in and around the stump.  Earl looked at me really strange and I think that the people that are driving by probably think I'm some nut case that thinks she's actually going to get that stump dug out of the ground with her little hand shovel.  I think I am going to have a unique and beautiful piece of yard art though.  I'll keep you updated with pictures as I progress this week.  I'm so excited to see how it turns out!



What do you think?

We Found A Fairy House and A Fairy!

When I was a little girl I loved to hear stories about fairies. I can remember being little and my mom telling me about Thumbelina and the tooth fairy. I always imagined tiny little glittery fairies flying around at night with the fireflies. Then when I was in Brownies there was a camp, Little House, that we would go to. Across the street was some sort of woods and the counselors would tell us about the fairies that lived in the woods. Then one of my very favorite movies, remember the movie the Gnome Mobile? The fairies in the Gnome Mobile is how I pretty much always pictured fairies. The Elves and the Shoemaker has always been one of my favorite fairy tales. I could just imagine the little elves sneaking in and helping the old shoemaker at night. Such fun memories of my childhood!!

So today when Ezie, Jace and I were walking Mallory home from the bus stop I noticed something I had never noticed before. We have lived here for 2 years and right across the street there is a tree with a hole in the trunk. When I saw the hole I immediately thought of the fairy stories I had heard when I was little. I told the kids that it was a fairy house. Ezie and Mallory's eyes got bright and they said, "Really?" They were amazed! They were full of questions. I told them whenever you see a tree with a hole in the bottom like that it is a fairy house and that's why we see the fireflies over there at night. I told them that usually if you see fireflies there are fairies close behind.

Our Fairy House

A Close Up of Our Fairy House Entrance

After we got in the house Ezie decided to go investigate and see if he could find any fairies. I told him not to bother them but he could take a picture of the doorway. On one of the roots next to the fairy door was a piece of loose bark. Ezie pulled it off and came running home so excited. He found proof that we really had fairies living in the tree. I was so shocked and amazed by what he found. Check this out!!

Ezie's proof that we have fairies.

Seriously now, can you see a fairy shadow in this piece of bark? There is even glitter where her wings were. They are kind of scaly looking things and they are right around the wing area and then sprinkled behind it. Can you see the image??

Anyway, we have had so much fun today talking about fairies and how lucky we are to have a fairy house right across the street from us. The kids are planning on going out tonight to try to see the fairies. It reminded me about the innocence of children and how much fun it can be to use my imagination again! I can't wait until tonight!!