Fantasy Friday

Don't you just marvel at the mysteries the woods carry in its leafy bosom? It never cease to amaze me—the woods.  And for reasons unknown and most incomprehensible to me, I feel it is a symbol of my spirit… of mankind’s spirit that is.  And it cannot be it any other way but of enchantment, and magic, and delight….

Each phenomenon transpired, all what goes there by way of wild creatures, birds and seeds and the ability of nature itself to carry out life forward in unperceivable, unimaginably amazing ways.  The woods forming open habitats where, sometimes sunlight dapples its floors in magical golden jewels… the stories taking forms in the understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants and tall grasses… it all amazes me, really. 

The woods are filled with mysteries, but sometimes the universe becomes transparent, secret unseen doors are unfastened by invisible hands and the light of higher laws shines through… then, almost inadvertently you are able to see and hear things that otherwise are to be concealed.  

Ah yes… unexplainable mysteries like what you see here in this photograph… 

Here it is again... a little bit brighter.  Can you see it?  What is it I ask—that wispy, foggy mist that seems to be rising upwards from the ground and hovering in front of the entrance to the dark woods?

You see, I wasn’t planning on saying anything, but being that someone had noticed it too and wondered what that was, I’ve decided to talk… to uncover a strange and spellbinding secret.  But that will have to be shared at the precise moment.  The only thing I can tell you is that in no way whatsoever was that photograph altered or retouched.  And that’s the truth. 

Would you be here with me then to hear the tales I must share?  Oh I do hope you will… but please do let me know that you are here, because if you come and don’t say a word I may think (as it often is the case) that I’m writing to empty air… sharing my mind with a vast and barren universe where only I, and my crazy imagination exist… ;) 

In the mean time, I would love to hear what you think… your thoughts, your imagination, what you see in your mind’s eye?  What could that mist be? 

I like to think it’s a letter written in between letters?  You know... in a subliminal manner?  A letter written in haze, instead of ink… from some alien from another planet?  But what does it say?  And why did whoever wrote it decided to have it revealed through my lenses?  Cause I tell you… as far as I can remember there was no haze there… odd, isn’t it! 

OK, it could be that my lenses were a little bit dirty, but no.  Your turn! ;)  Wouldn't you write your own little story and share it with me?…

Chasing shadows...

Wonderful, cooling breezes leading me on an early morning journey—through the garden.    

And once there…

Teasing shadows, scattering thoughts as I go round searching for clues...

Clues left behind by Nature’s workforce for me to discover…

A golden-blue feather here... there a tiny speck of a polished pebble incarcerated amongst roots, like a faultless fallen star in some emerald dream. A new flower, a tiny white flower like an unpolluted pearl sleeping in yielding green leaves of morning glories… is it supposed to be there?     

Wanderer of dreams, jotting down magical stories too, as I go about the garden proclaiming each happening in my little paradise a miracle.  Recognizant of the grandeur above and all round me… conscious, too, of all that’s new, the old, the good and the not so good… each new seed sprouting, each bud unfolding, each bug inhabiting my domain.  And from time to time, as I go about doing this, stopping to just look up and see…

See the unseen—evidences unseen... hidden treasures revealed only to those who really wants to see… the Seekers. “But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find Him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul” (Deuteronomy 4:29). 

What strength does she have? Does she own the wildness? Does she own the wild woods inside of her?  Her heart is like a singing bird... but only because she knows the music Maker.  And so can you!

Oh but we most go inside now... really, we should!  Do you hear it?  It has started raining again!  And it looks we're bound for a storm this time... a gale of thunder.  Would you like to come in and join me for some tea to warm us up while the storm succeeds?  No. I have a better idea! Well, come on in!...

"Una tasita de café" -  A demitasse cup of espresso

A mid-afternoon standard around here!

Traditionally taken without milk

Which is customarily preferred for either breakfast or late night fare

But you certainly can have yours as you please ;)

 Salud!

While searching through some old files this morning I found this little poem I made some years ago... a tribute to the magical gardens at the house in the roses on rainy days... it brought back such an array of wonderful nostalgic memories... 

 

RAIN

Here they come...

A tic-tic-tic, three rain fairies I see...

A-ramble ‘cross the garden

A-laughing-dancing on pea pebbles

I see them ‘midst yellow buttercups and happy daffodils...

Can you see them not? O'er there! Behind the bare grape vine...

They’re funny, they’re wispy, they’re green with butterfly wings....

The rain blurs my vision... now I see them now I don’t...

They hide, they play, they leap and dance...

See how they dip and dive? Is a dream is a game!

I don’t know what’s in the rain –magic?— for every time that it rains I shout and sing

and fairies come out to play...

If you ask them they'll give you a silver ring of morning glory to clasp round your neck a star...

Is magic this I know!

LINKING TO:

WHAT'S IT WEDNESDAY"

TUESDAY GARDEN PARTY

My morning...

Soothing, refreshing, enchanting sound… Rain.  We woke up to that—to the sinuous and magical heaviness hanging gently from musky skies; the smell of wetness, all-embracing and wonderful renewing wetness, and marigold scents wafting from the earth as the music of rain entered the soul, calming it, sweeping away any dullness left by the darkness of night.      

And inside—that extraordinary coziness and sense of comfort only true to rainy days… little lights twinkling here, drawing magical forms on walls over there…. always lifting up the spirit; scattering away any despondencies left untamed… like glimmering imps dancing in the ghostly light of morning…

I go around the house listening to the sound of rain.  “Tú eres la luz que alumbró las tinieblas”—sings the voice in my CD player. “And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not” (John 1:5).  

Kitty hasn’t discovered his way to me yet… I’m still trying.

I am but a speck of dust drifting in the storms of this world.  No.  I am a raindrop resonating in the silent, like little bells of hope and tiny lights of faith…

How could I look at anything in this world
and tremble, and grip my hands over my heart?
What should I fear?

One morning
in the leafy green ocean
the honeycomb of the corn's beautiful body
is sure to be there. 

(Little Summer Poem Touching The Subject Of Faith by Mary Oliver)

 

LINKING TO:

GARDEN PARTY
 

Teal tumblers and white sofas

The new garden path I was working on is all done and looking marvelous.  Went and got a full truck load of pea pebbles and downloaded it all onto the newly cleaned path, and beyond… all by myself. Phew!

I talked to my dad this morning and mentioned what I had done... I had to laugh when he exclaimed “ay hija!”.  He could hardly believe I did all that work by myself.  “That’s a man’s job”—he said.  Yeah yeah…  ;)

 

I want to believe that whatever I’ve been digging out on that “old dump” part in my garden most likely it is some type of shaggy rug remnants or something that never really got burned in its entirety… whatever it was, it is outrageous and a most disgusting thing.... which by the way, had me so grossed out that I finally had to remove and trashed away all the tomato plants that my poor husband had planted there, including every single one of the tomatoes, because, well, I just couldn’t imagine us eating something that had grown out of that unspeakable pit of…. whatever those people had buried there.  I just couldn’t.  You can still see the coal on the ground along with all that witch's hair... fur? Ew yucky!

Summer is also for some lovely flower bouquets… I’m excited because as much as I miss the abundance of roses and lovely rose bouquets I used to have around my house, now I have some other type of flower embellishing my spaces…. Yes, hydrangeas! 

When we lived in the house in the roses I tried to grow hydrangeas on several occasions, but we don’t have the appropriate climate tolerance up there and I never succeeded.  But now I’m dancing under the Southern sunshine and this is hydrangea country indeed.  I feel optimistic and as hopeful and eager as a little girl waiting on some hidden treasures to be uncovered before her expecting eyes, as they grow and put up blooms…

I have planted several hydrangea plants around our property… the front porch is embellished with several “Blue Endless Summer” hydrangeas; gorgeous blue full blooms and super green leaves.  And on the flower beds along the pond and back porch are the pink hydrangeas… deep, gorgeous orbs of pinks. Those varieties are somewhat slow growing, but the two green lime hydrangeas I planted on the back garden, several months ago are doing marvelous.  I brought some of its blooms inside.

Blooms look lovely in these teal tumblers…. only $0.50 at Big Lots

Love them!

Life changes.  Things changes.  Every minute.  Every day.  And perhaps my formal ‘silent’ title, “Queen of Roses” is inevitably fading on the horizon of yesterdays, only to emerge as the future “Hydrangea Queen" of somewhere?  ;)

This morning I wanted to imagine what my living room would look like with white furniture, but because I am an experiential type of a learner, which means I have to make meaning from direct experience, I decided to slip covered my sofa with a white blanket so as to have a 'real' idea before committing to buying…

With black and white pillows

More whites, less black...

Cute?

Add some color? 

Still not sure.  Should I keep the camel color sofas?

I had never used slip covers before and I don’t know how they will look, or if they will fit my furniture, etc.  Custom Fit has some wonderful slip covers, but not a great selection on T-cushions, like my sofas are…  IKEA’s white sofas were the best of alternatives.  Nice, and fair prices… the cover is easy to keep clean as it is removable and can be machine washed, and they have a range of coordinated covers that makes it easy to give the furniture a new look whenever I get tired of it.

What do you all think?

In the summer garden

This is summer alright… delightful summer time.  And I’m learning to love those Southern summers just as they come… with their levels of humidity and all.  Except, perhaps, for the mosquitoes and those awful awful chiggers—my most ferocious enemies in my lovely jungle after the weeds, I’m truly loving the South…  

I guess I will have to learn how to live with chigger bites and the painful welts and persistent need to scratch they leave in your skin for days and days… I have learn that taking a warm bath right after I’ve been outside and using plenty of soap really helps.  So I’m taking lots and lots of warm bubble baths during my days… something I’ve always truly enjoyed anyways.   Yippee! ;)

I’m a mellow person by nature… an easy going free spirit type of a girl who hardly ever almost never gets infuriated, or angry at anything, or anybody… but this morning while working in the garden I felt preposterously out of myself…  I did.  Annoyed at previous owners of our precious little white cottage whom instead of using a regular garbage service for the removal of their trash, like everyone else does, had for a custom to burn it—burn all of their trash right here in my precious dear garden.  I cannot understand this concept and would never ever accept it. 

And thus, I have started digging again and removing sod… and trash… lots of it, on the other side of the garden, because I want to open another path there and then add pea gravel—lovely river pebbles that shine when touched by the sun, as I have done on the other side of the garden… but this had certainly proven a most arduous and revolting task...  

  

I have been finding and removing all sorts of things since the day I started gardening our lot… from broken glass to odd objects and strange stuff to dozens and dozens of cans of beer.  But today… remains of a dead person?  Some type of an animal buried there?  Perhaps relics of some old witch secretly buried there?   Something very odd buried there for sure, for I have been discovering some thick strands of something white like hair attached to something… skin?  Like the smoldered fur of some type of an animal… or like if someone had cut their white hair and decided to bury it among a concoction of other creepy things… and then, for some added horror, this afternoon I also discovered several big pieces of decomposed wood buried in the same place… perhaps parts of a very old coffin?  Ohh!

I’m sure I’m standing right on the epicenter where those zombies used to burn their stuff... and tried to cover up something unspeakable… something far more appalling?  Do you suppose?

Oh and have I ever mentioned that these were lands of the Cherokee Nation years and years ago?  One of the most significant Cherokee Indian sites in the nation, by the way… and our little white cottage is standing right on it.  Can you imagine?  Oh I do hope I hadn’t disturbed an ancient Indian grave instead… can you not see it… oh can you not?   

I can surely write an entire mystery book on this stuff might I want to… but better not share my version. Imagination can be a dangerous thing… Oh it's the woods... that dark, mysterious kingdom right at the edge of the garden... that's what gets my imagination all fired up...  don't you just love it!  It is indeed a most glorious place at all times of day... and I love it.

I love to go outside in the darkness of night and see whatever transpire there when no one is watching… if you dare go outside sometime you will see how trees would change into their night-time forms and transform into guardsmen and wizards and creatures untold…  It's creepy out there really, but amazingly wonderful too...

 Dream on... dreamer!

Come on my friend...

Yes yes you and you and you too!

It's summer

Let's all dream together!

Love ya all!

Cielo

Today... August 10

Finally home from another of our trips.  And on our way back all the fountains of the great deep burst forth and the windows of the heavens were opened... and all day and all night Saturday the white arc of our vehicle was cast deep into the shadowy curtains of thundery rain, and drifted away in the flooded southern roads.

Did it rain so here at home?  I have to wonder.  The earth is so dry I can almost hear the cracking of bones underground.  Without taking my eyes from off the floors I walk the garden almost feeling sorry for myself… for how the wild southern landscape laughs at me, at all my efforts as it throws upon my face all its waste—how can one prevent the growing of weeds in such undisciplined and untamed expanse? Nature is prevailing. 

The wildflower seeds I planted in the shade garden at the beginning of spring have expanded and grown into a rowdy, messy beauty—a manner of beauty which tires the eye and fails to differentiate the real meaning of magnificence.  I had finally taken them all out.     

I’ve seen Kitty wandering around here almost every day, but as much as I beg he won’t come to me.  Was he a dweller of the Privet before I even came to be here, or has he only been entranced by my newly established gardens?  Either way, like the dead, he lives here, yet never really here…

The recliner where my legs live at the end of the day, and sometimes during the middle of the day too, whilst I write a page or two, has just snapped broken again.  No body is fixing it this time.   

I talked to Ilva this morning, and coincidentally also talked to Nelida—both of them my friend, both of them past 70 and an example of unquestionable optimism and faith and hopefulness; regardless their age and their circumstances.  They're vivid examples of what I'd like to see in my own life.   And perhaps that is why I undoubtedly prefer the company of the old to the often emptied company of the younger? 

I am multiplied… a very old woman and a young child cohabit in my soul…

This morning there was a moment when my husband and I looked deep into each other’s eyes—forgetting, remembering, discovering… perhaps seeing a new heaven to us reflected there?  In his eyes.  In our eyes.  And only late this evening, we remembered that today was a very special day—so many years together, such deep sentiments, a sacred union made of blood binding us for life… and what does forgetting our anniversary means?  Does that make an enormous difference on a summer day stretched wide and open before such deep love?

We’re home… rain or sun day or night… this is our story—written on each other.

Evening seen through my eyes...

The heavens were gifting us promises the other evening…

Real, glorious promises...

There was something magical all around me... 

beneath me and above me 

which corresponded to feelings harbored deep in the spirit...

Magic carried by evening breezes
...if you want to hear
A message stirring up in goldenrod clouds
...if you want to see

A pink glow illuminating the woods at the edge of the garden

The pink part of twilight… 

A brief butterfly of a moment quickly disappearing to shadows… 

A brief moment when all the whites brighten and glow

As darkness seems to creep out of the forest before your eyes….

Always enticing you to it...

"Come... come"

No matter how old I grow, I am always a little girl on warm summer nights… 

begging to go outside, arms stretch to the night in full surrender, 

mouth open in a big round O to taste the thick air, 

and ears ready to listen… 

to listen to the songs in which the new night wraps itself with…

Ah yes...
"The beating heart of the universe is holy joy"
(Martin Buber)

Love

LINKING TO:

FISHTAIL COTTAGE GARDEN PARTY

Of a little tree and a tarnished silver tray

Pine boughs collected during my wanderings through gypsy trails…

Now made into a pine cone little tree…

The old tarnished silver tray was the perfect receptacle where to showcase my little pine cone tree… but of course, first it needed a makeover…

So I gave it a more modern look…

to match with the overall decor of 

our little white cottage
Pretty!

The following day I decided I should add some sparkle and bling girly-girl thingies to
my pine cone tree and make it into a chandelier of a thing… hehe!

I love how the tray turned out... what I did?  I spray-painted it in white, and once it was dried I glued a  scrapbooking stencil I had purchased at Michael's onto it using Mod Podge.  The lightweight paper is perfect for any project. You can use it to create a scrapbook page, fold it into a flower, for a picture frame, or like I did, use it on your decoupage project. Before I glued the paper stencil onto the tray, I painted it with some leftovers paint I had in the same color I’m painting almost everything in my home…  "Primitive", from Americana Décor, but you can paint yours in whatever color you want, or leave it white, which was the original color.   And voilà…

Over the years I have collected a few pieces of tarnished silverware… trays, and teapots and such, but it had never occurred to me then I could paint them… I used to love the patina that old silverware gets and that dark lovely finish.  And I still do, but they were kind of a sacred thing to me back then when we were living at the house in the roses and used them everywhere round the house… as flower vases and kitchen utensils organizers and bathrooms bins.  But now that I’m in my little white cottage things have changed… I have changed. For once, I’m provoke to take risks and I’m painting everything I see fit without a bit of remorse or guilt… it is almost a catharsis, really.  So freeing.  

My little pine cone tree is now embellishing my favorite girly room, but the white tray has remain in the kitchen… still looking lovely. I like the idea of using wire baskets and trays to corral things on counters and cabinets.   This not only helps with clutter, but it also makes everything look prettier…

Thanks for stopping by everyone!

Cielo

 

LINKING TO:

 BE INSPIRED

LAVENDER GARDEN COTTAGE

KNICK OF TIME INTERIORS

NIFTY THRIFTY TUESDAY

IVY AND ELEPHANTS