The long journey of creating a Fairy Forest

Mar 04, 2023

Happy springy Saturday friends!

I always say spring is my favorite season of the year but then fall rolls around and I say the same thing 😜But there is something special about spring, a feeling of being able to do anything. In coaching there is an exercise that is often done at the end of the calendar year into the beginning of the new year—one where you look back at all that happened: the good, the bad, the ugly. Then you start looking into the new year: what you want to happen. It's powerful and a great way to keep your focus on the things you want to have, do, be.

But I never want to do it at the end of the year/beginning of the next. I want to do it in the spring. That's when I'm excited for the next chapter, not in the middle of winter. Does anyone else feel like that too? Or maybe your "New Year" begins in the fall, winter, or summer? No seriously, who has a new year that begins in the summer? I wonder where you would live if your summer was absolutely stunning and the perfect temperature...Oregon? Washington State maybe? My friend Laura says the summer in Oregon is fabulous. I will have to visit someday.

Here in North Carolina we are still working on outdoor projects. Fall through spring is the best time for those, we just have to dodge the rain. Last Sunday I started my Fairy Forest fencing project! Brad pounded in the rebar:

And while he said they just slid in, you'll notice that he is using a t-post pounder. That thing weighs 30 pounds. I asked if he was just letting it fall on the rebar and he said no, he was picking it up and slamming it down, with muscle. Okay, so no, that won't be something I will be doing. Ever since this event, I don't do things like sling 30 pounds around over my head 🙄

This is the eventual plan, but using rebar instead of wood posts:

I used the itty bitty chain saw with the 6 inch blade and started cutting side shoots off of branches to begin the process of creating this fence:

Needless to say, it's going to be a loooooong process! This is a section that is 15 feet long and 6 feet high. It may need more rebar, but it's the first one, so we're feeling it out. It's on the southwest part of our property which is where our line meets up with the big white barn property. If you're new here, that property is being sold to a developer. Our little neighborhood of 4 farms is being told that nothing will happen over there for at least 5 years, maybe longer. That gives us time to start planting holly along our southern border to block the view of whatever they decide to do:

Did you know they can get to be 30 feet tall and 20 feet around? And can grow 3 feet a year! Wow! We would just leave them completely natural. Now, I know some of my neighbors read this 👋🏽 so don't worry, we will discuss it with you. We won't just start planting willy nilly 😁

Also last weekend my aunt and I went to Juniper Level Gardens, south of Garner. If you haven't been, check it out! We were lucky enough to happen to run into a very knowledgeable "volunteer" who turned out to be the owner. I learned so much and got some great ideas in creating my huge hedge and also my Fairy Forest.

And speaking of Fairy Forests, the Fairy House Workshop dates are up and you can sign up here:

Saturday, March 25, 11am—3pm

Wednesday, March 29, 9am—1pm

Are you excited? I am!

JoJo, a new friend, scored 6 sturdy card tables for me this week, for free! Happy dance! So those, along with what I have will work great for the workshop. I found some folding chairs but am still looking for 10 more. Keep an eye out for me!

If you want to be added to the Fairy House Workshop emails, which are separate from my Saturday newsletter, please click here.

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Sweetness has somehow talked Wynter into dropping a mouthful of food for him. Not great for the little guy's tummy but what am I going to do?

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We had the craziest storm the other night. I had no idea that we were expecting thunder loud enough to shake the house and bolts of lightning. Darn it. The Polar Bear was out with the goats (not actually outside, they have a snug barn.) I could hear her barking 😢 I will start keeping an eye on the radar when I see that it's going to rain. I like her inside for weather like that. I took this photo the next morning when I was chatting with a friend on the front patio. You can see she's completely asleep, a rare thing when I'm outside with her. She was exhausted:

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Some beautiful views from the week:

I looked outside one morning and said, "Oh wow, look at that soft pink!"

This is one of the perks (maybe the only?) for getting up early to get ManChild to high school. And how is ManChild you ask? Well, he learned something about laundry this week:

For some reason we haven't found anything else with ink on it...

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I follow Wendy Price on Facebook and she just painted a beautiful cardinal. These were my Mom's favorite birds and whenever I see one, I like to think she's giving me a little wave:

Which brings me to a Donna Ashworth poem—she writes a lot about grief and loss:

This week I had a weird first. I went to my first acupuncture appointment where both my Aunt Katy and my Mom have gotten it in the past. We were chatting about this and that and she asked me about Katy and then...she asked me how my Mom was doing...

I told her that she had crossed. I didn't cry. On the outside at least.

I came home and couldn't concentrate on work so I made gluten free peasant bread and added in handfuls of Pecorino Romano cheese. Somehow that made life a little bit better. I finally put the recipe here: