The Garden In Seasons.

In just over a week, I shall be moving to a new home.  A fresh start with new adventures and opportunities.  The garden I leave behind, created out of squalor, truly a legacy of what can be accomplished when your heart tells you so.

An autumn view.  Gazing out the living room window, I marvel at the trees, at the leaves, emblazoned in colourful splendour. 

Autumn and the remnants of summer, blend together in the harmony of change

Penny, beloved Jack Russell dog, watches over proceedings.  Leaves fly about the garden in resplendent whirlpools that whoosh from spot to spot.

The winter.  Layers of snow draped upon the trees.  Noises are muffled as the snow gently drifts and crunches underfoot.

Mr. Snowman smiles.  

The wee folks rejoice as glowing orbs of snow gently float around them.

Penny the snowplough.

Snow and ice-encrusted wind chimes.  Nature's music in the midst of winter.

Spring arrives.  Even the wee folks want to help hang up the laundry. 

The dawn of misty spring morn.

The wee folks getting ready to rake up the excess autumn leaves and mow the spring lawn

A sunny July morning.

A curious fox strolls across the garden.

A late summer's eve as the magical lights doth glow.

Night has descended.

Summer lights on the patio.

In amongst the night time flowers, behold Fidelina, the beautiful fairy princess, her husband, Geoffrey the garden gnome and their adorable son, Einahalk. 

With the radiance of a magical lamp, the wee folks gather round to sings songs of peace, of love.

A summer's afternoon.  Penny protects the wee folks.

All is good in Penny's world.

The summer moon.  Like a droplet of light from the leaves.

Looking towards the west.  I stare out into the heavens.  A sense of serenity.

There be wonder in the enchanted garden.  A garden, an oasis, a sanctuary for my thoughts.  Now I shall leave the garden behind.  Memories treasured of what I've done.  Inspiration for the now.  Inspiration for the new adventure in my new home.

I hope to see you there....

Good Morning, Rainbow.

It was just gone five on the Friday morn

A sprinkling of rain welcomed the dawn

The rising sun reflected the rain

The emotions I felt, hard to contain

Solar rays kissed the skies

Filled such colour in my eyes

A rainbow or two

A magical view.

Then came the dream

The rainbow stream

Of flowing thoughts

Of hopeful reports

A symbol of change

Time to arrange

That brand new start

That sings in my heart.

A New Adventure Trail.

I've been in the mood for exploring the local area.  I went to the major park in Leek, Staffordshire, named Brough Park.  I discovered a trail.  Where would the trail lead to?  What might I see?

For the first five minutes I was enclosed by trees and bushes. Then, to the left of me, a lush green landscape was revealed.  

Directly in front of me was the trail that leads to an adventure for another day.

Back to the view on the left.  The sun continues its westward journey.   

The adventure trail for another day.  A blue-tinged pathway of intrigue.

And beyond, way beyond the trees you see above the pond in the previous photos, to the north west, a gently whirling windmill.

I turned back.  Back to my car.  Back to the home that I shall be leaving in early August.  A new adventure trail for my son, for Penny, our beloved, cherished dog.  A new adventure trail for us all.  Each adventure trail, a definition of who we are.

Each of us has a trail, a pathway, that journey.  Sometimes the pathway will have potholes.  Yet, with each pothole, we climb out, we learn, we carry on.

Embraces Horizon.

A short stroll from home.  

A field to roam

The evening glow

Of wonder I know.

The remnants remain of the setting sun

Embraces horizon, emerges as one

The balance of nature speaks to me

I learn to see

Tomorrow

No sorrow

A revelation

A destination

The sun will return

A lesson I learn

Beyond the fears

Beyond the tears

There is hope

Together, we cope

The Wee Cup, 2014.

You may have noted that there's a bit of a sporting tournament going on in Brazil.  The World Cup is a celebration of what's been called, "the beautiful game".  I might call it, "football."  You you might call it, "soccer."

Folks who aren't that much into football or soccer, find themselves watching this spectacle with a mildly curious fascination.  I suppose it's somewhat like people who don't really follow baseball will watch the World Series. 

Living in Britain has given me full appreciation of just how much football means to them.  Football could be considered bordering on a tribal obsession.  It even seems to be to the point of irrational hatred for a certain team.  For instance, if you were to meet a Liverpool fan and told them you supported Manchester United, this can cause a heated debate as to which team is better.  I'm very careful in my discussions about football.

Football has all sorts of strange terms to describe the game.  Here are a few things I have noted from listening to football commentary.  The goalie is commanding in the box and the opposition are having trouble penetrating his box due to the fact that the sweeper is dribbling the ball off the line.  From there, the sweeper dummies his opponent and back heels the ball to the goalie who lobs it out to the attacking midfielder who nutmegs the other team's right back and makes a slide rule pass to the striker who thinks of taking a chip shot but decides to dink the goalie who ends up letting in a howler.  The referee disallows the goal because the winger was in an offside position.

Yes indeed, I've heard the commentators talk about man-to man marking and zonal marking.  They talk about yellow cards and red cards.  Heck, they even mention free kicks, bicycle kicks and scissor kicks.  So I sit there very confused listening to all this weird and puzzling football terminology.  Here are a couple of often used observations made by the commentators. "They played them off the park!" Oh really?  So they played them off the park, proceeded to go down the back streets outside the stadium with the eventual outcome, a rip-roaring time and a sing-along with a group of wandering minstrels at The White Lion pub. "They're scoring goals for fun!"  What?!  Like they would be scoring goals for sadness. 

It seems like just about everybody is caught up in World Cup 'fever'.  The wee folks even wanted to have their own football event, The Wee Cup, 2014.  One of the wee folks had heard that there was someone called a "sweeper'"on the football field and took the meaning quite literally. You may note that in the top photograph. 

 Penny, our beautiful Jack Russell, fancied a go at football, the beautiful game.  Of course, she would call it 'pawsball'.   Maybe she can get one of her doggy friends to play in goal and let in a howler.

The Wee Folks Wedding. The Fourth Anniversary.

Saturday, June 21, 2014, marks the fourth anniversary of the Wee Folks Wedding.  A wedding that demonstrated a kind, caring, compassionate world where no stigma is attached, no judgements made.  A world that teaches lessons to us big folks.  If only we would listen to the lessons.

Below are the photos of the wedding of Fidelina, the beautiful fairy princess and Geoffrey the garden gnome.  The wedding of wonder, photographed exclusively by me in the enchanted garden.  A garden of hopeful symbolism   A playground of positive possibilities.  

Can you hear those sounds?   Open your heart and listen.   The wee folks are singing to you, to me.  Sweet songs of their understanding of harmony within nature's balance.  

Four years on, I'm delighted to tell you their love is as strong, as poignant, as powerful as ever.  Here's that story in words and the pictures, retold. 

Here is a picture of the beautiful fairy princess bride, Fidelina, posing with her bridesmaid sister, Venetia.

Pictured here are,  Teagan, the best gnome and Geoffrey the groom.

Just one hour before the wedding.  Venetia and Fidelina take a few moments to think about the enchanting day ahead of them.

"Scarecat" is ready to watch over the wedding proceedings.

A few of the wee folks and friends, waiting for the magical ceremony to begin.

All united in joy.  There is much excitement as the magical wedding draws ever closer.

Just minutes before the wee folks wedding.  Scarecat watches over the celebration with comforting reassurance.

It's nearly time for the wedding to begin.   In the middle of the photograph, to the left side, is Teagan, the best gnome.   In the centre, is the, "Justice of the Pixie", Walden, who will conduct proceedings.  To the right in the photograph is, of course, the happy groom, Geoffrey, dressed in a green robe.

The anticipation and excitement is gathering momentum.

Off in the distance...they see a vision of great beauty.

Teagan, Walden and Geoffrey, look on in awe, as Fidelina and her bridesmaid sister, Venetia, stroll towards the ceremony.

Fidelina and Venetia move closer.

The gathered wee folks and friends fall into a hushed silence.

The magic of the moment grows stronger.

Almost there.

It's nearly time.

Geoffrey looks on with great joy, great expectation as Fidelina gets ever closer.

Teagan and Walden share in the joy of this very special moment.

Venetia and Fidelina stand before Teagan, Walden and Geoffrey.

Venetia and Teagan step off to one side as the ceremony is about to commence.  The wedding rings have been passed to Walden.

Note the look of love on their faces.

Fidelina and Geoffrey exchange their solemn vows.

They exchange rings.

The rings of magic, symbolic of their undying love.

Venetia and Teagan went for a walk amongst the greenery.  Who knows?  This may be another tale of love in the magical world of the wee folks.

Thus, this magical and wondrous tale of, The Wee Folks Wedding, is nearly over.  They've demonstrated that in their world and our world, true love knows no boundaries.  They thank you and I thank you, for taking the time to feel the magic of the Wee Folks Wedding.

Four years on.  The message of love knowing no boundaries is just as profound.