Thursday, September 9, 2010

FAIRIES, FORGIVE ME

Now, Y'all know my fondness for Fairies and all their world. They're scattered all over the house, on shelves and sitting on bookstacks, guarding and flirting with all the sleeping-baby pictures on the Fairy Shelf, and around the garden in little nooks, on posts, peeping from trees and from beneath the hostas. This is the original one in the garden, named for the wonderful artist in England who illustrated some of my writing years ago:


Do overlook the dreadful state of my flowerbeds; I plead busy, I plead Long Hot Summer for the neglected state of the garden. But DO have a look at her sweet Fairy Feet, in their cunning little shoes:


I'm very careful of those little feet and shoes, for I have twice committed heinous ruin on our own Fairies. A sylph of a nymph lived in this same garden, tall and porcelain white, and one day I noticed a great clump of mud which had adhered to the base she stood on. I picked her up, and not thinking of her fragile materials, gave her a little thwack on the wooden surround.
And I knocked her feet off. They were in several pieces, and I was just appalled at my hasty, careless action. Since they couldn't be re-attached, she lived on for years, supported by two long sparkler-wires, which fit neatly up into her hollow legs. She valiantly thrived, keeping guard over the violet glen, whilst lesser-anchored folk were occasionally blown off their sound feet.
THEN, when time had passed and I grew placid in the haze of Summer, I again picked up a small Fairy girl in an impudent hat, and thinking I'd just knock the dirt from her stone base gently upon the other surround, I gave her a teensy whack, with devastating results:

There was no fixing these, and since she was already so comfortably seated, we forbore the Bang-Dades and let her be, with many apologies.
Later-acquired Fairy Friends have fared much better, witness the china Lady and her pet butterfly, sitting on a stone cast out from the Alabama hills during blasting for Highway I-65.


And the beautiful, shining Venus-type Fairy brought home by Chris just the other day:



But, just in case, the one brought back from Florida from Caro's beach vacation is prepared for anything. She sits on a flowerpot, casually conversing with the small bird perched on her foot, unheeding of the danger of falls and careless humans. And perhaps the rusty spots are the result of all that salty sea air of her former home, but she's ready to live in our garden.



Yep. CAST IRON.

9 comments:

  1. Gotta love cast iron fairies, Rachel ... but my favorite is the first one with the precious little fairy shoes and flower petal hat. She's adorable!

    And speaking of fairies, I discovered a wonderful old tree on our newly-acquired land that is the "best-ever fairy tree." I have exciting plans for a fairy door and, perhaps, even a fairy or two to call it home. I hope to share it in an upcoming post on Southern Lagniappe, and owe the inspiration to you and your delightful post about "Fairy Doors."

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gots us a garden troll. Clearly needs us some garden fairies (with or without feets).
    How sweet they are!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love them all, but especially the first one with her cute little shoes...and the last one with the bird on her toes.

    Hugs,
    Kat

    ReplyDelete
  4. My chair's wet.... tee hee!

    ReplyDelete
  5. And the first fairy, is 2' tall.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lost another one! I got 'service unavailable' this time, so at least I knew it didn't post and can remember what I wanted to say.

    I love the footless fairies! I sometimes love the damaged better than the perfect. I have a chipped cooky jar that was my grandmother's and dented silver cups and porringers that were used by family babies that I'd never trade for new. I love the shabby and used.

    I promise that I will answer your lovely email and send a message to Chesapeake this weekend. I have a million things to do today and my heinie is draggin' this afternoon, but I had to get some Lawn Tea and Cheap and Cheerful refreshment before getting busy. Off to Miss Maggie's! Love and...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks for the tour of your garden! My sympathies to your poor footless fairies -- but as my home and office are also inhabited by quite a number of them (as was my garden wedding in March) I am confident that when your back is turned, they rise on delicate wings and fly quite undamaged throughout your gardens. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thank you to all you Fairy Friends everywhere!!

    I couldn't believe I did such a careless thing---and then, to do it TWICE!

    I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend---the weather has been so wonderful, and you can just FEEL the turn of the Season.

    And seeker: You're quite welcome, anytime, though I DO wish the garden were in better repair. I thought later that I COULD at least have transferred the Wee Folk to a grassy spot for the pictures, rather than the ratty accommodations they've been inhabiting since this ghastly Heat Wave came along.

    I've given things a Lick and a Promise, but there's no stopping the debris and weeds.

    Y'all come again!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Rachel, We do have a love of fairies in common. I love your charming wee folk and I am sure they do not care if the weeds are winning the battle. Winter will soon do them in. Just think, the footless ones will not have cold feet. My mother had a love of fairies and told us many stories about them. I did the same for my grands. If ever we see a patch of pretty moss they knew that fairies danced there all night. Smile. One time my granddaughter Molly was appalled at the debris on top of a very large patch of moss. She insisted she had to clean off the leaves etc. so the fairies could dance. That's when I knew I was a convincing story teller. Love your fairies and your text.
    Hugs, Jeanne

    ReplyDelete