Aha! Sheer Delight and Magic!

Last night, when the sky was illuminated with moonlight and the stars found their way through the darkness ~ I put my head on the pillow and thought tomorrow will be a magical day!

And what a beautiful day it was! I checked out the front and back garden, surprising a robin who was having a morning bath. It quickly flew into the Pink Dogwood tree, turned its back to me, and fluffed its feathers.

I found some new growth on various plants:

What a great opportunity to walk down to the woodland garden, renew my annual membership and see what magic was springing up there.

This couple were heading into the gardens as well...I wondered if they frequented the same hair salon ;) Well coiffed in a sleek and shiny way!

I stood on the footpath bridge crossing the marsh and marvelled at the Skunk Cabbage in all of its glory. Swamp Lantern does sound preferable!

In previous years, a pair of Mallards has nested here.

There were other little birds hopping through the marsh weaving amongst the grasses.



They were Song Sparrows, the same kind of bird I see in the thicket beside Harzel.

Beautiful Camellia flowers in all shades were visible ~

and a few Rhodos were flowering ~

Just like in the Rose Fyleman poem,

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 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 merrymaking there,
Well, they do!

And once past the Gardener's shed, there's is a path that leads into a magical place in the woodland garden...

...but this is what I saw:

The gardens were holding a sale of plants they had grown, and I bought two. One for my friend who had admired a certain flowering currant the other day, and the other a rose that I have been hoping for since I first saw it cascading over a gateway. It is difficult to propagate and apparently the rose knows no bounds once it gets going, so I may eventually be held captive in a rose briar ;) With one pot in each hand, I made my way home.

You'd think that was enough magic for one day, wouldn't you?


But who was there to greet me when I got home? Are you ready for this????? He was looking very handsome in his elegant black dinner jacket... (I think this is my favorite photo ever)

What a delightful surprise to see my elusive Yellow-Rumped Warbler!

Later on, I drove to buy some groceries and saw a display of red tulips blooming by the sea :)