Mysterious Friends

Let me show you a few new friends that have been hanging around my house a lot lately!

Can you see her right outside my window?

This sweet adorable doe has been lingering around my house and my neighbors for weeks.  She must really like us because she is venturing closer and closer all the time.

Here she is again!  It seems every time I look out the window there she is!

And here she is making her way across the street to the neighbors.  She even wags her tail at me now when I go outside and speak to her.   So sweet!  I wonder if she is the young one I almost stepped on near the wood pile quite a while back.  I think so! 

She must be spreading the word about our friendliness because I've seen these young ones around several times too.

Look closely!  Do you see them?  I think they all really like us!  Or maybe, there's something else going on here.

Have you ever seen one of these?  Do you know what they are called?  It just appeared in our yard this year.

It is called a fairy ring!  Isn't that neat?  I think so!

Legend has it that a circle of mushrooms is formed where fairies gather to perform ceremonies.

Warnings are given about venturing deep into the woods alone at night.

Or else you might find yourself right in the middle of a fairy ring.  

Stepping into the middle of a fairy ring can send you straight through a port hole into another world.

 Or if the fairies are feeling kind, I understand you may only be given over to rituals of wild dancing.  LOL!

Fairy rings have apparently been around for ages and the legends come from all over the world with all sorts of interesting stories.  

I even found this book on the internet.  It think it might prove to be a fun and fanciful summer read, suitable for children and adults.  It is illustrated by Susanna Lockheart, and holds a delightful variety of poems by authors such as William Shakespeare and Laura Ingalls Wilder on the subject of fairies.

The reality is that fairy rings typically look like this.  They are caused by a fungus in the soil that causes mushrooms to grow and kill the grass on top.  Typically they are often found in woodlands.   Since our yard used to be woodlands and this area infected is near the back of yard near the woods I am not surprised.

I have been watching our ring for several months now and still no mushrooms, and no fairies!

Perhaps it's been abandoned by the fairies because we are on to them.  Me and the deer!

Thanks for stopping by today for a Take a Look Tuesday.

The previous images above other then my own, above are from the following artists or websites.

1. victorianweb.org

2.  by Angela Barnett

3. redemptiosehnsucht.blogspot.com

4. Fairy Ring Oracle

Illustrator Paul Mason

5. jasmoonbutterfly.blogspot.com

6.. book by Susanna Lockheart

7. genexpest.com

If you google fairy rings you will learn all sorts

 of interesting folklore.   I was thrilled to see so

 many beautiful artistic illustrations as well! 

Truth be told, I always knew our backyard was

 

a magical place!

Have a great day everyone!

Mary