Yesterday I gave a talk, and at the end of it showed off  pictures of  the fairy houses Faith and I have made.  When you think about it, humans have an odd attraction to things in miniature (babies, puppies, shots..well maybe I shouldn’t count miniature alcoholic beverages..but given the fact that I could use one after my 5 hour drive yesterday through biblical rain and flooding,closed roads and a punctured tire , I will include them anyway)… but I digress..

Little tiny mini houses and their coresponding gardens and decorations are just a smile waiting to happen upon those who find them.

Here in the burrow, we have many fairy houses hidden  under bushes and plants in the dogs garden. There are little colonials , a treehouse, and a few farmhouses. Miniature thrift is used for hedging around a number of them and dwarf conifers adorn their little yards. Fences, arbors and walkways help define their “lots”, and each yard has an assortment of garden tools, birdbaths, and benches.

In late fall they are all collected up and placed inside in the cellar to minimze the destruction, but also because in the spring time we like to re-locate them to a new area -where they remain hidden unless looked for.

Fairy House purists(if you will) will tell you that the house should be assembled using only twigs, shells, and bark etc. But here they are made of pine boards, or other similar construction because a fairy house made of bark will be carried off by the local wildlife (dogs included) in an instant. As it is every spring the house are stripped of all their twigs and moss roofs by the birds building their nests and every pinecone, acorn or other natural ornament will be promptly stolen by chipmunks and other critters. First to dissappear  are always the twig chairs, followed by the gazing balls made using marbles, then the treehouse ladder. Some happy mouse family must have some rockin digs furnished with it all.

Before all the houses get put away, some are assembled in to containers for fall decorating. This one is bejeweled with winterberry berries and even has it’s own corgi dog.