Eloyn opens the GateEloyn hushed intently, finishing the incantation.Twigs and branches gathered and pulled from the surrounding forest underbrush.  Rising from where he had drawn glyphs in the dirt, Eloyn rubbed them out with the toe of his soft-leather boot.The tall, Elven man was a champion archer of the Faerie Court and today, a ranger.  As the fallen limbs magically assembled themselves, a free-standing doorway presented itself in the middle of the wood."This is where we leave the Silver Path, Ladies." A gruff voice objected, "germs - do I look like I'm in a dress to you?" It belonged to a fierce-looking Redcap by the name of Furybash the... » Read More

Entrancing the RatsI'm sure you're all familiar with the story of the Pied Piper of Hamlin.  It's all about a guy that lured the rats out of town by mesmerizing them with his trilling and piping, thus sparing the denizens of Hamlin from their infestation.In the case of our story however, it was more like the Fairy Flautist of Wenatchee.  The Royal Rat-catchers were doing an knock-out job of rounding up those rats and collecting tails but they needed a little help.  Reaching for her double-flute, Princess Lolly began to play an enchanting tune.The trilling fairy music was too much for the rats to resist.  Dazed, they began to follow the notes ... » Read More

Elsewhere around the faire, Princess Lolly was having a wonderful time blowing bubbles with all the colorful little spritelings who had come out to play.All the while, swarms of rats were making their way through the hamlet of Wenatchee.  They had come in on that rapscallion Sparrow's ship and were now running amok around town.These particular rats weren't hard to spot since they had grown quite large.  Sailing around on a pirate ship, food was easy to scavenge around the bulkhead when humans were sleeping.  Consequently, these fat rats were dawdling around town, swishing their tails and frisking whiskers on their search for scraps.Giant Rascal... » Read More

kbrenderphotography.comIt all began with a warm spring day and an inebriated pirate called Sparrow.  Mead will make you hear funny things.  For example, if you were a pirate named Sparrow, you might have heard that there was Wishing Well at the Wenatchee Faire.  And if you happened to be the sort that may know a fairytale (or tall tale) or two, you might know that Wishing Wells happen to be filled with Golden Plunder from all the coins that people toss in to make wishes.kbrenderphotography.comThis Wishing Well was not particularly different, except that Jack Sparrow didn't quite hear the details of this fairytale - specifically, he missed the p... » Read More

Today is the First day of Spring, otherwise known as the Vernal Equinox!  Happy flowers and sunshine everyone :)  In celebration, I decided to highlight one of my favorite trees associated with the Spring Season....MagnoliaElemental Association: EarthAstrological Signs: Capricorn, Taurus, VirgoRuling Planet: Sun, Venus Gender: FemaleMagnolia is an ancient genus of plant having evolved even before bees appeared on the timeline.  The giant blossoms on this tree developed to encourage pollination by beetles first.  Some fossilized specimens have been found to date back approximately twenty-million years!Various parts of this tree have found ... » Read More

The name sounds so strange, but I do like the lore that goes along with this tree - not to mention the tufts :)MonkeypodElemental Association: Water, AirAstrological Signs: Pisces, Cancer, Scorpio, Aquairius, Gemini, LibraRuling Planet: Neptune, PlutoGender: MaleMonkeypod - also commonly known as the Raintree - is a popular ornamental tree.  It is often used for shade and flourishes well in tropical climates with an impressive, spreading crown.  In Hawaii it can flower any time of year with spindly pink clusters that look like powder-puffs caught in the canopy of the tree.  This tree loves to be in the sun and its fruit is an edible nutri... » Read More

I have the grand fortune of knowing many a magical folk such as Gnerkgzorp the Goblin King, Wotan the Barbarian and the Troll King who lives in the Duchy of Lilac Fields (or Amethyst Brambles, depending on your perspective).The Troll King had occasion to recount the story of our meeting the other day, to some of the other fae residents in Lilac Fields, so I thought I would re-share the story of our meeting :)Once apon a time a fat man wandered into the world of fatherhood. He, being from a family of lesser parents, but good watchers of children was woefully unprepaired for this daunting task. Nonetheless, he grabbed the task with both hands and r... » Read More

It's a steal! No need to spend all day hunting for the gold at the end of the rainbow.  Being a Fairy Princess and what not, and in celebration of the wee folk, Ireland and St. Patrick's Day, I've decided to host a fun contest. Between March 1st - 10th, you can enter to win a Silver Dollar Money Quill free! To help draw money and resources into one's life, this pen has been decorated with silver, fairy 'coins' from the commonly known "money tree plant". It is wrapped around the base with a leafy 'dollar'. The base is over-wrapped with cream colored ribbon. The nib is brass, for use with dipping ink.Éirinn go Brách!a  giveaway... » Read More

Tir Nan ÓgThe Tuatha Dé Danann were spoken of as having come from islands in the north of the world or (Tir Nan Óg, "Land of Youth"), in other sources, from the sky.  They became the Sidhe (people of the mound), also thought of as Faeries, known to love music, dance, games and hunts.Today I smile at "the overlap" or, the place where subjects coincide such as science and religion, life and art, or imagination and reality, bad luck or new opportunity.  The Overlap is that between place where things seem one way but might be another; it's where anything is possible.I look for the overlap every day for that is the place where we have the power t... » Read More

Every good Fairy Princess attends to her studies.  My course in Tree Lore here at the Fairy Academy has proven to be quite intensive!  Just to share the wealth of knowledge that I'm learning, and to lighten the homework some, I put a poll on my Facebook site asking about which tree I should elaborate on this week.  The winner was Greenheart, and this is what I've learned in my research :)GreenheartElemental Association: Earth, WaterAstrological Signs: Capricorn, Taurus, Pisces, Cancer, ScorpioRuling Planet: Moon, NeptuneGender: Male, FemaleGreenheart is quite the temperamental wood.  This is a tropical wood and verges on the smaller side... » Read More

Winter has been a crazily busy time.  It has been quite some time since any new residents have come to live at the Castle. Over the season, as I've been walking around and holding congress with the other residents here, I kept thinking it was time for someone new.That's when I heard that old Gundersnack was going to be in town.  Gundersnack runs the Orphaned Goblin Relocation Experiment (O.G.R.E.) and I've adopted 3 Goblins from him over the years.I set an appointment to meet with him straight away, and soon thereafter had set my gaze upon a horde of the little buggers.  One by one I met them, picked them up, turned them roundabout but one ye... » Read More

I will never forget the first time I saw a hummingbird land, I was half-convinced they never did so!  I knew then that I had a special connection to the little aviator.Yesterday I woke up, had a glass of sparkling water and was looking out the window watching the birds.  Finches  and red-breasted robins swooped in the sunlight.  Out among them all, one tiny green hummingbird darted into sight and alighted on a branch.There was my little bird :)  Bringing me a delicate smile and visions of a land that inhabits this world just beyond our mundane sight.  This, combined with my dream of the Hummingbird King left me feeling the urge to recognize ... » Read More

For some time now, I have been editing my book on the myth and magic of trees (faeries love trees, as I am sure you know :).  It is a tedious process, there are a lot of trees and I've researched over 100!  I thought perhaps I might share a little bit of what I've learned along the way.  Today I begin editing with the Fig tree.Elemental Association: AllAstrological Signs: AllRuling Planet: Saturn, Pluto Gender: MaleFig trees are steeped in history and lore from Ancient Egypt to Mesopotamia to Asia and Near Eastern cultures.  In Indian culture, it was underneath the Bodhi Tree - which was an ancient and revered Fig - that Siddhartha Gauta... » Read More

The world wrapped sleeping under sheets of iceWith blankets of snow, dreaming Cthulhu lies.Need I explain that it snowed mightily last night and today?  I was getting my peppermint cocoa last night when I looked out the back archway.There he was, standing sentinel and I thought how beautiful a white-on-white picture of snowy Cthulhu would be.This morning, I took one.  Now I believe that a roaring fire, port-wine cheese, crackers and soup sound utterly delicious - nom!... » Read More