I planted the flowering shrubs under the tree that I love and that would grow nowhere else. They grew lush and beautiful. There was not a weed to be seen. This irritated me, because, since I was providing the plants and water, I figured they could help a little with the weeding in the rest of the garden. I told them this in no uncertain terms.

The next evening I was sitting at the edge of the tree when a huge spider on a single thread dropped within two inches of my face. You could practically hear them giggling I made it clear that I was not afraid of spiders and blew on her gently. The spider was promptly withdrawn back up into the canopy of the tree. Still, I find it hard to get really angry, since I have a similar sense of humor and love practical jokes. But a spider? Really!!

It was coming up on Yule and we were going to have our usual open house. We took advantage of having several experienced Pagans in the house to have a Circle under the Faery Tree. There were five of us, a good number for faeries, and we specifically invited them not INTO our Circle but to dance a Circle around our Circle. We chanted “We are a Circle, within a Circle”.

They have become downright neighborly. They don’t pull practical jokes on unsuspecting humans any more, and have even given me a lovely fig tree and an oak tree. The kids are now grown and gone, and so is the lawn. The backyard is a jungle – a paradise for dogs and faeries – and me.