Saturday 30 August 2014

The magic of a woodland garden.......

   When I was a child my parents would take us to the woods every Sunday afternoon, during the school holidays.
 When we moved to the farmhouse, I decided that a woodland area would be my first project.
 I have to say, it is the one area that has been a real success.
 Why?    Because the rabbits tend to leave it alone, so everything just gets better and better.
 There is a faerie garden in the wood.   Poppi and I started this when she was two.    I treasure this, for it holds so many beautiful memories.
 This little faerie was a gift from my father...........she is weathered and worn but has a quality that is so enchanting.
 Ted the gnome, guards the wood..........he has been with me for forty years.   I do not like garden gnomes but Ted is different, a bit special and he is very much part of the garden.
My mother made a remark the other day, that started me thinking.
'You do realise dear, that in a few years you will be living in a wood'   The words came with a smile.............I have to say she is right.  

The Robins breeding season has been extremely good.    There are many juveniles in the garden.   The parents have been trying their hardest to chase them away from the garden and some have left.   The little chap in the image is reluctant to leave, I think they may have a fight on their hands with this one :)

17 comments:

  1. I love your faerie garden, so magical. We had a common at the end of our road when I was a child and I loved it there, so many happy memories were made playing in that area. Lovely little robin, he's lost his spots and has now got his beautiful red breast. There's always one which doesn't want to fly the nest, isn't there?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jo,

      I think we all keep special childhood memories in our hearts, especially us woman.

      Little Robin still has a new speckles near his throat but they are slowly disappearing.

      My Son was like the Robin :)

      Delete
  2. Ted looks like a friendly handsome dude. No wonder you accept him. The little fairy is a sweetie too. Great memories in the woods. I am so amazed at your cyclamen. I think mine succumbed to the drought we had two years in a row. I love this plant and hate that it disappeared. I was hopeful for a few years. We are having an absolutely marvelous rain day here at the end of August. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Lisa,

      Cyclamen absolutely thrive in this garden. I planted around a dozen plants five years ago and sometimes I buy a plant here and there. They have spread beyond my wildest dreams.............along with hellebores they top my favourites chart, so I am more than happy :)

      Glad you have some welcome rain............

      Delete
  3. Hi cheryl , it dose look lovely especially the flowers, I too love woods but my heart would be in big open places, I love open sky's and land as far as the eye can see. I would live in a little old farm house with the wind blowing on top of a hill with a pet sheep :)
    Amanda xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I understand big open places Amanda, my father felt like that about the sea.

      Ha! So cute.............you never know, one day you may get that farmhouse and the sheep :)

      Delete
  4. I have a wood just the other side of the fence and it is trying to take over the garden for ours is not a pretty fairy wood like yours but has blackberry brambles and stinging nettles taller than I am but for all that I love it as it is green to look out on from the house and the birds and squirrels and even badgers live there. Maybe I will put a little fairy through the fence and see what happens! But like Amanda I love open places with distant views as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jane,

      Blackberries and nettles, what a wonderful habitat for wildlife..............to have badgers so close to your home is, for me, a dream. I realise they are not garden friendly but at the end of the day, they are only doing what comes naturally.

      So funny...........love the fairy through the fence :)

      Open spaces are beautiful, and I agree with you distant views captivate.
      I suppose my love of woods and forests goes back to childhood, they hold a sense of mystery. UK was once covered with forests, and I can imagine the mystical magical things that went on there...........and if I am honest I am a tad reclusive :)

      Delete
  5. Hi Cheryl
    To have a garden large enough to include a woodland garden would be a dream come true but sadly now will never happen. It must give you great pleasure I know it would me - woodlands are magical places that I have always been attracted to. I have always fancied living in a cottage in the woods living a simple life - but that's me - a bit of a dreamer.

    Have a lovely week - I hear the weather is going to get a bit better - we are off to the coast in a weeks time - I hope the weather holds till then.
    Elaine

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. To be honest Elaine, I live such a busy life, the woodland is where I find solace. Time for me, time to be quiet.............I need that time.
      I hope to end my days here, the old lady in the wood:) Who knows?
      I am also a dreamer..............such is the Pisces woman.

      How lovely, I hope the weather stays fine for you and you have an absolutely fabulous time.

      Delete
  6. We gave up distant mountain views to build in the woods. And I haven't regretted it for a minute. So much to appreciate as the seasons change.

    Kudos to the plucky little Robin. He knows a good thing when he sees it. Love the photographs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can imagine that your home is a wonderful retreat, a sanctuary in the woods....beautiful. Trees in their autumn glory are, for me, the most beautiful scenery there is.

      A plucky little robin indeed, he is still around, his siblings gone. I have a feeling this little bird will stay.........

      Delete
  7. You've created such a beautiful, magical place, Cheryl! Ted the gnome is quite interesting; I, too, like him much better than the typical garden gnome. Living in the middle of acres of flat farmland, I've always enjoyed trips to the woods. When I was young, we would occasionally go to a small virgin wood near our home to gather hickory nuts. It was like being in a whole other world.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Rose,

      I shall have to google hickory nuts.........I am not familiar with them.

      Ted was given to us as a practical joke. A friend who knew I had a dislike for gnomes left him on the doorstep one day. Somehow, he stayed............and now forty years later, he is still part of a garden.

      Woods, for me, are the most magical of places. My mother would write stories for us when we were very small......two little mice, (Tippet and Toppit) who lived in the woods with the fairies. The stories have been passed down from generation to generation................

      Delete
  8. I have done some research...now I know what hickory nuts are :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh Cheryl, I remember a post about Poppi's faerie garden - such a long time ago! That would be my favourite garden too. The faerie gift from your father is sweet and charming. Looks like she's holding a butterfly in her hands.

    I grew up in woods. We moved into a housing development when I was 4 and were surrounded by woods. My best memories are of climbing trees, catching toads or pollywogs, picking wildflowers (and getting scolded by my mother for not leaving them alone for everyone to enjoy) and spending the whole day outdoors. Nobody worried about us in those days. We often packed a picnic lunch and didn't come home until dark.

    Nice to have cyclamen in your garden. I think they would freeze here as we buy them for indoor plants in winter.

    Your mother sounds like my favourite author Enid Blyton - such wonderful stories.

    ReplyDelete