She Dreams of the Sea

Moon Garden

 

I've always had a deep connection to Mother Earth and her creatures. But lately I've been feeling a need to connect with her even more. The way I've been connecting recently is through gardening. To continue where I left off from my last post, I am going to talk about gardening in harmony with the phases of the moon. There are scientific reasons and spiritual reasons for gardening this way. Scientifically speaking it is believed that the moon influences ocean levels, tides and water, the moon pulls water upward bringing moisture to seeds. On a spiritual level, gardening in line with the phases of the moon is like writing a love letter to Mother Earth letting her know that you now desire to live more in harmony and balance with her.

Gardening in line with the phases of the moon is beautiful and simple. On the day of the new moon or the day of the full moon you would not plant anything. The day after the new moon to the full moon, the waxing phase, is the time to plant above ground plants such as tomatoes, greens, herbs, peppers and cabbage. On the day and week after the full moon, the beginning of the waning phase, is the time to plant below ground plants such as, garlic, onions, radishes, parsnips and carrots.

The last quarter of the moon phase (the week before the new moon) is not the time to plant but to harvest.

Reconnecting

 

If you feel disconnected from mother earth,

if you feel disconnected from your heart,

if you feel disconnected from your joy,

plant a garden.

I haven't gardened much in the past couple years. I've always loved having a garden and always gardened the typical way or container gardened. This year I have done some research and am experimenting with a “no dig,” “no till” garden. Some people call it lasagna gardening. It's a gentle way to garden, there is no disturbing of soil and it is pretty simple.

So how do you create a no dig garden?

To put it very simply, you make layers.

In composting there are materials called green material

and brown material.

In no dig gardening you make layers of green material and brown material.

Green material is something such as fresh grass clippings, brown material is something such as dried leaves or straw.

 

There are lots of ways to create a no dig garden,

here is the way I did mine.

 

First I decided on the size I wanted. I decided on 9ft by 3ft.

Then I created a border (this is optional) I put stakes and chicken wire around the garden. I did this to discourage the neighbor's dogs from running through the garden. (Well actually the sweet hubster did this part:) Some people use large stones as a border.

Then I started to build the layers. I just alternated green layers with brown layers. You are supposed to use a little more brown than green.

Before starting the layers I put down card board as the base layer, cut in pieces and soaked in water. Some organic gardeners like card board because the worms like it, some organic gardeners don't like it. So this part is also optional.

Then I began the layering process.

A brown layer-Autumn leaves

A green layer-fresh grass clippings

A brown layer-straw

A green layer- mushroom compost

 I repeated this until it was about two feet high.

If you are going to do this in the Fall you would let it sit until Spring. If you are going to do this in the Spring then the top layer should be soil so you can plant right away. Well this is the beginning of my experiment. The photo is about halfway through the layering process.  (The garden looks a little lopsided in the photo for some reason)

I am also planting in harmony with the phases of the moon.

I'll tell you about that next time.

xo

A Land Between

 

somewhere between heartbreak and joy

somewhere between confusion and understanding

somewhere between darkness and light

there is a land of grace

there is a land of calm

there is a land of peace

there is a land between

A Springtime Walk

Spring's sweet gifts

A bunny in hiding

Streams

Dandelion love

A splash of color

Now Mother Earth is really showing off!

 

I hope you enjoyed this Spring walk with me.

  

I love peeking into the sketch books of others,

so I thought I would share one of my pages with you.

Enchanted Garden

 

Is it really the first day of Spring already?

The days seem to be flying by.

Today is a wonderful day to walk in an enchanted garden

and have a chat with fairies, the fae love Springtime!

Love, beauty and magic

xo,

Julie

A Land Without a Queen

 

Today's Tale . . .

A Land Without a Queen

The land is quiet

the land is still

the land has no Queen

she's gone

on a mission

to bring enchantment

to the dark world

the world that lost its enchantment

that forgot

now she is lost

lost in the dark world

now she's forgotten

what enchantment is

but

slowly

she is remembering

finding her way in the dark

sharing the gifts she brought

the enchantment

one day she will go home

a land without a Queen

waits . . .

Fairy Map

 

Sometimes we need a map from the fairies

 to remind us that there is delight, mystery and hidden secrets

in this world and other worlds.

If you travel the paths of the fairies,

you might just find delight, mystery and hidden secrets . . .

 

Minimalist

 

 

 Minimalist

 

Today I watched the birds at the feeder

cardinals, morning doves, sparrows

a cardinal took one seed

flew off

sat in the bare branches

when she desired another seed

she flew back to the feeder

so simple

so perfect

Heart Land

Heart Land

 

There is a beautiful land

a beautiful land awaits you

it is hidden

it is secret

you can go there

there you will be queen

or king

it is a place

where there are no rules

except the ones you create

there are no guides to this place

no teachers

no mentors

but there is a path to this place

you will be given a compass

the compass is found in your heart

the compass is found in your joy

many fear to walk this path

they prefer familiar ground

but . . .

There is a beautiful land

a beautiful land awaits you

She and The Healing Woods

 

She

She'd been sitting alone

I hardly noticed her at all

One day I began to cry

I didn't know why

She heard me

curled up

and sighed

Days dissolved

months

years

Her sighs turned into moans

then she began to scream

and she didn't stop

I could no longer ignore her

I turned to her

Finally I saw her

I recognized her

I knew exactly who she was

She showed me her talons

they were weak and brittle

She showed me her wings

they were weak and brittle

I watched as she shed her skin

I was no longer me

She was no longer she

we were one

 

I walked into the moist

the muddy

woods

I remembered the song of the rain

I sharpened my talons

I caressed my wings

What If and A Wild Place

A Wild Place

 

  What If?

what if today

I awoke at sunrise

flew with the ravens

played with the wolves

what if today

I sang at moonrise

howled at the stars

what if today

I slept in the forest

no worries

no cares

what if today

I floated in the river

no worries

no cares

what if today

I chatted with the cedars

chanted with the clover

what if today

I stopped fighting

repressing

silencing

my wild

my free

my true

nature

What if?

From the Heart

 

 2012 is here!

And I have many magical ideas dancing around in my mind, spirit and heart.

There are several projects that I want to work on/play with this year.

One project is to create a series of little magical painted

dream worlds/realms/lands.

I am going to paint at least one for each month

(but I'm sure there will be more).

Here is my first one for 2012.

I call it “From the Heart”.

I imagine angels and fairies pouring love and joy down from the sky

and up from the earth to the little village.

Have you ever felt that you were being showered with love and joy

from divine unseen realms?

I hope you have.

xo

Magic,  Joy and Beauty,

Julie

(ps... prints of “From the Heart” are available HERE )

(pss... the watermark (name and blog site) will not be on the print you receive)

The Magic of Snow

 

The last few years instead of New Year's resolutions,

 I set intentions and picked a word for the year.

Sometimes I pick a word for each season in the year.

This year my word is:

magical!

Yes my intention is that 2012

will be a magical, beautiful, wild and joyful year.

 

Have you chosen a word for 2012?

May the Winter Solstice bring more light into your life

May your heart be filled with love

May your home be filled with warmth

May your celebrations be filled with laughter

Merry Christmas

Joyful Yule

Happy Holidays

Love,

Light,

Beauty,

Joy,

Peace 

and

magic,

 

Julie

xo

Snow Date

 

Every snowflake is a gift from Winter . . .

A Winter Day

 

branches shimmer

white fields sleep

peace

Tiny Tea Fairy

 

I love tea, hot cups of tea on a cold morning, tea houses, tea pots.

I made this little tea pot a while ago, when I used to throw pots.

 

 

I thought it would be fun to use a tea bag to paint on.

I opened the tea bag and soaked it in tea for a while

to get a nice background color.

 

 

Then I painted The Tiny Tea Fairy with gouache and watercolor.

I then sealed it with a thin layer of gloss varnish.

 

And that was that!

Art Every Day Month, Day 30

Jes

 

It's the last day of November and the last day of "art every day month".

The last day of "art every day month" last year

I looked back through all my paintings.

I realized that I was given messages and words of wisdom for myself

and anyone else who wanted them.

You can see that post here

This year as I look back on my paintings this month,

I realize that instead of wisdom there are questions . . .

Do you ever feel like you're being watched? Do you have any thoughts about 11-11-11? Is there such a thing as a unicorn pegasus? Do you think you will continue after November? Where would you love to be today? Which one do you like better? What color is your day today? Has anything surprised you lately? Has anything magical shown up in your life? What's been showing up in your life lately? Do you somethings feel like you've forgotten something important? Is he son of green man perhaps? Are you ready to say goodbye to November?

So many questions.

Maybe I am not a year wiser but

a year more questioning, seeking, maybe more carefree.

So maybe carefree is a wiser way to to be.

 

I send a big thank you to Leah  for creating " art every day month"

and to all my bloggy friends, old and new.

And I hope we will continue the journey together.

 

Xo

Love and Light,

Julie

Art Every Day Month, Day 29

 

This woodland fairy spirit only comes out in November.

When November is gone, so is she.

 

Are you ready to say goodbye to November?