It's been a quiet couple weeks here as we acclimatize to life in France. We've landed in a tiny village nestled in the Rhône-Alpes. There are no shops, just a small stretch of road lined with a handful of lovely ivy covered houses. Behind the village is a little stream (where you can sometimes spy faeries at play), and a few winding trails that lead up through rolling green hills to other tiny villages. We're staying with friends in a beautiful old hotel that's been converted into a house until we find our own place in a neighbouring (slightly larger) town. It's a busy household to say the least, with my two children bringing the total number of little ones running around to eight. Somehow I've still managed to find some time to sneak up to my temporary studio in the attic to work.
I would like to introduce you to Ottilie, Aimée & Eulalie (the twins), and little Anaïs, the first faeries to make our acquaintance here in France.
~ Aimée & Eulalie ~
~ Ottilie ~
~ Anaïs ~
If you want to find them the stream is always a good place to look, especially at 4pm when the heat has died down a little and the sun is still shining through the trees in dappled beams. Whenever we see them there I'm always reminded of the first bit of that poem by Rose Fyleman, The Fairies.
The Fairies
There are fairies at the bottom of our garden!
It's not so very, very far away;
You pass the gardener's shed and you just keep straight ahead-
I do so hope they've really come to stay.
There's a little wood, with moss in it and beetles,
And a little stream that quietly runs through;
You wouldn't think they'd dare to come merry-making there-
Well, they do.
There are fairies at the bottom of our garden!
They often have a dance on summer nights;
The butterflies and bees make a lovely little breeze,
And the rabbits stand about and hold the lights.
Did you know that they could sit upon the moonbeams
And pick a little star to make a fan,
And dance away up there in the middle of the air?
Well, they can.
--From 'The Fairies' by Rose Fyleman
Lovely Ottilie
Ottilie, Aimée, Eulalie, and Anaïs will be available in my shop tomorrow, September 11th, at 2PM (PDT/GMT-7).
The price for each will be $275 USD, plus $30 postage (worldwide).
