Shakespeare's Fairies

I'm working on a Shakespeare unit for the Little Ladies. Of course, being fairy lovers, A Midsummer Night's Dream is the perfect place to start!

Over hill, over dale,

Thorough bush, thorough brier,
Over park, over pale,

Thorough flood, thorough fire!

I do wander everywhere,

Swifter than the moon's sphere;

And I serve the Fairy Queen,

To dew her orbs upon the green;

The cowslips tall her pensioners be;

In their gold coats spots you see;

Those be rubies, fairy favours;

In those freckles live their savours;

I must go seek some dewdrops here,

And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear.

-William Shakespeare

I read a wonderful article about Shakespeare and the fairies, The Fairy Mythology of Shakespeare by Alfred Nutt. The article includes a list of characteristics of Shakespeare's fairies and elves, which Shakespeare considered one and the same. I found this list very entertaining and have a lot of the same views of the fairy folk. I find it so curious that a writer of the late 1500's still influences our view of fairies today.

a. They form a community under a king and queen.

b. They are exceedingly small.

c. They move with extreme swiftness.

d. They are elemental airy spirits; their brawls incense the wind and moon, and cause tempests; they take a share in the life of nature; live on fruit; deck the cowslips with dewdrops; war with noxious insects and reptiles; overcast the sky with fog.

e. They dance upon the green.

f. They sing hymns and carols to the moon.

g. They are invisible and apparently immortal.

h. They come forth mainly at night.

i. They fall in love with mortals.

j. They steal babies and leave changelings.

k. They come to bless the best bride-bed and make the increase therefore fortunate.

You spotted snakes with double tongue,

Thorny hedgehogs, be not seen;

Newts and blind-worms, do no wrong,

Come not near our fairy queen.

-William Shakespeare

Solar Eclipse

Our fascination with the moon continues this month with the solar eclipse that takes place tomorrow. I found some great sites to learn about the eclipse and some fascinating legends associated with a solar eclipse.

The Facts!
Solar Eclipses for Beginners- this is a fantastic site, with great illustrations, explaining how a solar eclipse works.

The Legends!
Something Is Eating the Moon and Sun! (From the Old Farmer's Almanac)
Before people understood the science of eclipses, myths and legends were rampant. Here are a few:

• Ancient Egyptians believed that a mythical pig swallowed the Moon.

• According to Mayan folklore, a jaguar swallowed the Moon.

• Today, in the Arctic, Eskimos, Aleuts, and Tlingits believe that an eclipse allows the Moon or Sun to leave the sky to see that things are all right on Earth.

Science-v-Superstition!

The Sun Eating Dragon and Other Ways to Think About an Eclipse-We LOVE this site, great thought provoking stories! The site quotes literature, science and legends of the solar eclipse, then leaves you this question, "What power does knowledge have over terror? Does knowing how something works diminish its beauty and mystery? Or is the beauty of the world deepened by understanding the things we see? As you watch the total solar eclipse along with us and learn more about eclipses, ask yourself how your perception of this unique event is affected by the things you're learning. "

Moon WIP

Enjoy!

Herbal Lore 2

Hens and chicks (Sempervivum). Gives protection from evil and lightning when grown in the garden. Has many folk names- Jupiter's Beard, old man and old woman, stonecrop, wall pepper, and my favorite- welcome-home-husband-though-never-so-drunk. Albertus Magnus, a 15th century German writer included it in an old charm to catch fish.

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare). "Fennel is for flatterers." In an earlier age it was said to restore lost vision. The symbol of success and discourage evil if hung in the home. It was used by sorcerers to conjure up evil spirits.

Feverfew (Chrysanthemum parthenium). Carries the folk name of bridesbutton. Our fore mothers carred it in their bridal bouquets. It will cleanse the air, ward off disease, and purge a siege of melancholy. Feverfew in the garden will entice fairies to dance there.

Borage (Borago officinalis). "I Borage give Courage," this herb gives courage to those who carry it or drink it as a tea. It also encourages cheerfulness. It was traditionally used to decorate houses for weddings.

Radish (Raphanus sativus). No snake will approach if you carry a radish in your pocket. Served before a meal to clean your palate.

*Lore from the book Mugworts in May by Linda Ours Rago

Sure Cures and Herbal Lore

For colds, drink chamomile or sage tea.

For strength, eat thyme with your meal. For easing sadness, sleep on a pillow stuffed with thyme.

For staying young, smell rosemary frequently. ;)

For attracting money, carry basil in your pockets.

For indigestion, chew parsley.

The Full Buck Moon

We love the moon around here and are fascinated with the lore and legends that have been passed from generation to generation, culture to culture. To honor tonight's Full Buck Moon here is a little moon lore for the other moonstruck people out there.

A fun little song the Little Ladies enjoy:

The moon's not made of cheese,

The moon's not made of cheese,

It's big and white and shines at night,

but it's not made of cheese.

Photo found at The Old Farmer's Almanac

The Full Buck Moon:

The Old Farmer's Almanac has a lot of moon lore to share. I love the Old Farmer's Almanac so much that I have subscribed to their monthly email newsletter. Today I received some fun moon lore and just had to share.

July 7 is the Full Buck Moon, so named because bucks begin to grow antlers at this time. See our Moon Phase Calendar for the exact time of the full Moon in your area.

The full Moon names originated from the Native Americans who kept track of the seasons by observing the Moon. They gave each full Moon a name to describe conditions related to weather or seasonal activities, such as planting, harvesting, hunting, and fishing.
The name of July’s Full Buck Moon was used by the Algonquin tribes. This full Moon was also known as the Thunder Moon.
The Zuni called it “Moon When Limbs of Trees Are Broken by Fruit.”
The Ponca called it “Middle of Summer Moon.”

Illusions in the moon:

We are also fascinated with the legends of the things people see in the moon, the Little Ladies and I spend many nights observing the full moon. Here is the rabbit in the moon and the man in the moon.

Photos by Moon Illusions

Tonight we are going to a program at a local park called Moths and Moons! I can't wait to see all the nocturnal and nightly fun this event will have! Enjoy the tonight's Full Buck Moon!

To Remove Freckles....

If you have even a single freckle you will probably relate to this post. If you have red hair or fair skin, I know you will REALLY relate to this post. As a red head, fair skin and freckles come with the territory, there is no way around it. As a young person I was called "freckle face" or people would say, "Can I play connect the dots on your face?" These comments made me ashamed of my freckles (very sensitive person). My mom (fair skinned blonde) told me the story of how she tried to rid of her freckles with lemon juice when she was a teenager. Of course it didn't work, but as a stubborn teenager I still had great faith in the lemon juice and just knew it would fade my freckles away. Well, once again the lemon juice didn't work; but now that I am 39 years old I love my freckles and my red hair!

I haven't thought about my freckles for a long time until just today. I received this very fun book "The Herb and Spice Book for Kids" by Alice Siegel and Margo McLoone. It's an old library book from 1978 which I found through one of Amazon's private sellers. I kid you not, the first recipe I opened to was titled "To Remove Freckles." I read it to my mom and we both had a good laugh; I guess we were missing some important ingredients to mix with the lemon juice!

Here's exactly what it says:

Ingredients

1/2 C watercress leaves

1 pint white vinegar

juice of 1 lemon

lots of freckles

Tools

large bowl

strainer

wide-mouth jar

What You Do

1. Mix all ingredients in bowl.

2. Set bowl uncovered in the sun for 3 days.

3. Pour mixture through strainer into jar.

4. Wash freckled area with mixture daily. Keep out of eyes.

5. Hope for freckles to disappear in 5 days. If not, try something else. (HA! Love it!)

Well, this is a little on the crazy side and I would never in the world want the freckles on my lovely Fauna's face to disappear. I cherish each and every "chocolate pixie kiss" she has received! So I don't think we will be trying this recipe anytime soon. We'll stick with the sunscreen and try to prevent more from appearing. But just in case she wants a freckle removal recipe when she is a teenager, she will know the book to get it from. ;)

Freckles are called many different things all over the world, here's a few: (from cafebabel.com): France: taches (stains); Germany: sommersprossen (summer stains); Spanish: pecas from picar (to make holes); Polish: piegi (delicately sprinkled by chocolate drops); Italy: lentiggini (lentils)

Freckles By Amber Peacock

Freckles, freckles everywhere,

Tannish brownish spots,

Some people don't have any freckles.

I have lots of dots!

I used to scrub with lemon juice,

Wishing them away.

What a silly waste of time,

These pals are here to stay.

Though they never say good-bye,

In winter they may fade.

But in the yellow summer sun,

They come back out to play.

My freckles are like favorite friends.

They make me look like me.

They're pretty, fun, and unique,

The way I want to be!

I will leave you with a very sweet story from frecklecheek.com:
An elderly woman and her little grandson, whose face was sprinkled with bright freckles, spent the day at the zoo. Lots of children were waiting in line to get their cheeks painted by a local artist who was decorating them with tiger paws.“You’ve got so many freckles, there’s no place to paint!” A girl in the line said to the little fella. Embarrassed, the little boy dropped his head. His grandmother knelt down next to him. “I love your freckles. When I was a little girl I always wanted freckles,” she said, while tracing her finger across the child’s cheek. “Freckles are beautiful!”
The boy looked up, “Really?”
“Of course,” said the grandmother. “Why, just name me one thing that’s prettier than freckles.”
The little boy thought for a moment, peered intensely into his grandma’s face, and softly whispered, “Wrinkles.”

And if you have a freckle story or call freckles something else, I would love for you to leave a comment telling me. Have a lovely weekend!

100 Species #2 Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)

Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) is also known as spotted touch-me-not. This incredible plant is usually found near posion ivy and stinging nettle. This is very important to know because the juice from jewelweed's crushed leaves can stop posion ivy itch and stinging nettle burn. Also, it can be used as a preventitive to posion ivy; should you touch poision ivy, crush up a jewelweed leaf and apply it to the area.

Plant Type: This is a herbaceous plant, it is a annual which can reach 60 inches in height. The stem is somewhat translucent.
Leaves: The leaves are alternate. Leaves can reach 3.5 inches in length. Each leaf is toothed, thin, glaucous on the underside and may be partly ciliate.
Flowers: The flowers are irregular in shape and are about 1 inch long. They are orange and yellow with darker splotches. Blooms first appear in early summer and continue into late summer. The flowers have a wet, delicate appearance. The sack like back of the flower is actually the larger of three sepals which has a turned down spur to 0.4" long.
Fruit: A dehiscent capsule that pops open at maturity dispersing the seeds.
Habitat: Low or moist openings in woods and bottom lands.
Range: From the Rocky Mountains east and in the Pacific Northwest.
Medical Uses: Juice used to treat many types of skin eruptions and injuries and is especially touted as a cure and even a preventative for poison ivy. The Cherokees would rub "the juice of seven blossoms" on the rash. They also used the plant as an ingredient in an aid in childbirth and as a tea to treat measles.
-From 2bn The Wild.com


Fun Stuff: Children LOVE the seeds of jewelweed. Pick the seed capsule off the plant, rub it between your fingers and POP! The seeds should shoot out. Depending on the ripeness of the capsule, the seeds could shoot out with just a brush of your hand; hence the name "Touch-me-not." Also, if you are by a creek, pick off a leaf and put it under the water (bottom side up); the oils of the jewelweed produce a very pretty, silver shimmery color that glistens in the water.

Here is a sonnet by Sir Thomas Wyatt, about his beloved untouchable Anne Boleyn. The latin term "Noli me tangere" translates into "Touch-me-not."

'Whoso List to Hunt, I Know Where Is An Hind'
By Sir Thomas Wyatt

Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind,

But as for me, hélas, I may no more.

The vain travail hath wearied me so sore,

I am of them that farthest cometh behind.

Yet may I by no means my wearied mind

Draw from the deer, but as she fleeth afore

Fainting I follow. I leave off therefore,

Sithens in a net I seek to hold the wind.

Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubt,

As well as I may spend his time in vain.

And graven with diamonds in letters plain

There is written, her fair neck round about:

Noli me tangere, for Caesar's I am,

And wild for to hold, though I seem tame.

The Best Gifts are Influenced by Literature (Spiderwick Field Bag)

We celebrated Natalie's (a favorite friend) 8th birthday yesterday. Fauna and Natalie really enjoy the Spiderwick Chronicles, especially "Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You." The field guide tells you everything you need to know about the habits and habitats of the fantastical world.


When the ladies get together it's all about hobgoblins, pixies and gargoyles. We knew the most appropriate gift from us would be a Spiderwick field bag for Natalie to take with her everywhere. We used the book's suggestions of things you need to lure, obeserve and protect yourself from fantastical creatures; we also included some of our own ideas.

Here is the field bag full of goodies that we gave her.

A water bottle for lukewarm milk for appesing and luring faeries.

A twig each of Ash, Hawthorne, and Oak bound by red thread to protect against faerie folk.

A magnifiying glass for studying small creatures.

A bag of salt to dispell magical illusions.

*A homemade journal to record all her findings.

A flashlight for hunting nocturnal creatures and seeing into dark corners.

A bag of oatmeal to feed the house brownies.

A bag of goblin teeth (little sharp pebbles).

A small spray bottle of lavender floral water for protection.

A glass crystal to hang in her window.

*A homemade flower press.

A National Geographic Rocks and Minerals field guide and some rocks (her new hobby).

And a camera to take pictures of the creatures she sees (she saw a gargoyle on the top of a building and is hoping it shows up after the pictures are developed).

We gave her the field bag at our favorite Village Ice Cream Parlor and Restaurant. The girls each got a yummy sugar cone.

Emma got chocolate chip.

Araina got mint chocolate chip.

Natalie and Fauna both got pink peppermint.

After the ice cream we went outside to hunt for the mystical creatures and gather flowers for the flower press. Fauna and Natalie each found a gargoyle hair. They said this is proof that gargoyles exist! See the hair on the magnifiying glass? I'm a little frightened now, good thing Natalie now travels with a bag of salt!

Happy 8th Birthday Natalie! I'm so proud of the lovely young lady you are and greatful for the wonderful friend you are to Fauna and Araina! I must run now because Fauna is setting a griffin trap outside (to protect the dog) and Araina is sprinkling salt all over the house and asking, "Do goblins eat turtles? Do I need to salt them?"

** Later this week I'll show you how to make the portable flower and leaf press and our homemade journals.

The King of the Forest...The Great Oak!

We have twin oak trees in our front yard that my parents planted when I was 8 years old; wow, was that really 30 years ago? They were just sticks when they were planted and now they tower over our house! These beautiful trees inspire me in so many ways!

Did you know that if you wear or carry an acorn in your pocket it brings you good luck? They are symbols of immortality, protection, healing, fertility, strength, wisdom, money and longevity. Acorns placed in the window keep your home safe from harm and from being struck by lightning.

Also, did you know that if you catch a falling oak leaf you will be free from colds all winter?


Knowing this inspired me to make little acorn pendants and oak leaf hair pins for my family and friends. Doesn't everybody need a little luck, protection and longevity in their lives?