In which the tree comes down and Scaramouche needs to start telling me stuff....

Not the usual view from the window this morning....

Along with the dead tree, the other trees in the front yard needed some attention. Dead branches removed, a couple of limbs overhanging the house trimmed back, that sort of thing.

Not fun for a deva who works with plants to watch, though, even though it was all needed for the health of the trees.

"It's like watching surgery," Aura said. "But you can tell they're feeling better." She looked around. "I warned them what to expect, so it's not as bad. But still not pleasant."

Here's what it looks like without that tree. There's still a nasty tangle of brush to contend with - this looks like a wilderness, but it's actually where the hedge overgrew into the old lily garden.

"Aura, you're going to have to show me what to do with this. I don't want to just go in and start cutting stuff," Maddy said.

"Why is there so much barberry?" Aura said, looking around.

"It spreads. I think they've classified it as invasive."

"No, I mean, why so much barberry in the first place?" (For those not familiar with barberry, it's attractive, but it gets out of control. And it has thorns. Lots and lots of thorns....)

"My father planted it. Remember, ninety-nine percent of what grows in the yard was his doing. And he didn't always have good judgement in matters of the garden."

"It's a nice plant, but it doesn't really belong here. And it's not very welcoming with all the thorns."

"That was why he planted it. He used to say it was to keep people out. What people, I don't know."

~*~

Aura was happy to see the twin oaks doing well after their trimming.

"Solid and healthy," she said. "You don't usually see that in trees like these."

"Trees? So it is two?" Maddy said.

Aura nodded. "They're two separate trees that, instead of one choking out the other, grew together. If you really look closely at the base, you can see they have two separate trunks instead of a fork. An oak that forked this far down would never have survived."

This is the bottom of the trunk, by the way.

And this is looking up.

















~*~

These are more my style, for obvious reasons.

"If it weren't for al the noise from the trucks, you'd think this was Bearsville," Scaramouche said.

"You were up there?" I said.

"Yeah. I went up there with the New York Dolls when they recorded up there. First time I'd been out of the city. I can see why your guy fell so hard for it."

"My guy?"

"Yeah, John Ashton." She looked around. "I was hanging around there when they were recording Forever Now. They were so cute. I don't think any of them had ever been out of London for any length of time and here they were out in the country."

"You met them?" She really needs to, like TELL me stuff like this.

"Yeah. They're all really nice, although I don't think poor John realized he wasn't seeing me because he was drunk. He was kind of a mess in those days. Sweet, but kind of a mess. He got it together, though. They all did. I have to show you a picture one of their friends took of John and Charlotte, my salamander."

Okay, I need to get some stories out of this girl. Like, a lot of stories.....

In which it's a quiet day.....

The butterfly bush is making a comeback.

It's nowhere near its former glory, but it's coming back, at least. The butterflies and hummingbirds are happy.

And both Maddy (my person) and Aura are glad that this eyesore will be going away tomorrow. We have tree trimmers coming to trim up some trees, remove some dead and overhanging branches - and remove this dead pink dogwood. You'd think I'd like this thing, being that it's pink and all, but it hardly bloomed when it was alive. According to Aura, it should have been taken down a long time ago.

"I don't know why your father was so bent on saving it," she said. "It was diseased. Even a deva could see it had to come down, for the sake of the trees around it - not to mention that it's growing into your electric line going to the house."

"I think it was just to spite my mother. She wanted it to come down, too," Maddy said. "He was like that."

"You warned the tree trimmer about all the concrete and steel pins he put in it?" She looked around.

Maddy nodded. "I told him to watch out for all the junk in the trunk and he laughed and said he'd make a note of it."





"I thought we were supposed to save every tree we could," Daisy said.

"Within reason. Sometimes they need to come down not only because they can't be healed, they could infect other trees around them. At the very least, the energy sent out by an ill plant isn't good for the ones surrounding it. Once they're weakened, they attract all sorts of insects that do further damage - things healthy plants can ward off with ease." Aura looked around. "Most times, if you correct the conditions that are stressing the plant, the insect problem will be resolved without the use of poisons."

Ask a deva. They know.

~*~

Speaking of devas, Paisley is trying out the blonde look. Kind of cool to be able to change your look on a whim like that. I think it makes her and Aura look even more alike, but I don't know. It kind of makes her look like one of the Olsen twins. I don't want to tell her that because I'm not sure I mean it as a compliment....






Meanwhile, Scaramouche got our resident stylist. John-John, to blow her hair out straight. The humidity the past few days was turning it into something resembling a Brillo pad.

Val and I.....














Scaramouche and JT apparently know each other from back in the city. From what Val gathered, she knew him when he was still  - not sure if "alive" is the right word - maybe "corporeal?" - and in a band. She didn't say which band, though.

Interesting.....






We haven't heard back from Azalea yet about the whole Tori thing. She did promise to let us know, though.

In which we're summoned to a meeting....

So - yesterday we received a message by Sparrow Post (I didn't think they were still around - I thought they'd been taken over by Airborne Express!) requesting our presence at a meeting with a member of the Faeire Court in regards to the "incident" on the 31st.

We arrived at the rock on the verge of the woods a little ahead of time. Scaramouche was a little suspicious, but said she didn't think they'd try anything funny in the presence of the devas.

"Pixies and fairies never have gotten along well," she explained. "And we devas have our own problems with them."

"Why?" I said.

"One of the few absolute rules devas have is that you never harm an innocent third party to get back at someone else," she said. "If we have a problem with you, we'll take it up with you directly. We won't harm your animals or your family to make our point. But fairies  - well, some of them won't hesitate to do stuff like lead all your sheep off a cliff to their death or chase your horse into a bog and cause it to break a leg in order to strand you. And then there's the whole business with changelings. If you're going to take another into your care, that means you care for it - you don't just forget about it when you get bored with the joke and abandon it - whatever it is. You take responsibility for your actions and don't harm others."

"Not all of them are like that. Not at all," Aura said. "It's just a few. But you can't always be sure who you're dealing with."

"Like the Firefly fairies. They're good fae," Scaramouche added. "Plus they're a blast to hang out with. Never met one of them I didn't like...."

"Somebody's coming!" Paisley said.

"I'm Azalea, Adjunctator of the High Faeire Court. Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice."

She sat down with us. "First, I want to apologize on behalf of the Court for Toriena's actions. She's been placed in custody and will be charged with assault and violation of an Order of Restriction. I needed to get a victim's statement from Daisy and witness statements from each of you regarding what happened."







"Not to start an argument with you, but Tori did start it." Aura said. "We were just minding our own business when she came up and started with all her garbage...."

"She did. And your actions were entirely justified," Azalea said. "In fact, Scaramouche showed more restraint than I would have under those circumstances."

She took statements from each of us, but said we would not need to be present at the sentencing. She also said she would keep us updated on the outcome.

Paisley said that sounded like it would be the end of that, but Aura and Scaramouche weren't so sure.

"I think we can trust Azalea," Aura concluded after she left.

"She's cousins with the firefly fairies," Scaramouche agreed. "She's fine. If I'd known it was her, I wouldn't have been so concerned. But Tori's family is from those old-school backwoods fairies you just can't trust. I doubt we're heard the last from her...."

Note: Azalea is a Resinsoul Mei in Light Tan. She's been part of the doll family for about two and a half months, but only recently revealed her name and character to me.

In which Scaramouche makes someone else do the fandango......

So anyway....

We were hanging out getting some fresh air and talking when....

This happened.

"IT'S ME, LOSERS!!!!"

"Look at all you little loser babies playing with humans! You think you're so hot---"

"Tori, go away. You're not welcome here. The Faeire Council even said..."

*SMACK*

""I don't think so, you stupid little pixie punk! Nobody tells me what to do..."

"Oh?"

Mind you, this all happened in about half a minute at most....

"Uh - Scaramouche! How long have you been...?"













"Long. Enough."

"All right, all right, I'm going, I'm going! Don't tell the Council on me...."

"You're going, all right. And if you ever show your ugly little face around here again, you're going to wish it was the Council you were dealing with. Now get out of here!"

"You okay, girlfriend? Nobody messes with a New York devas friends. No-freaking-body."

Daisy was fine. Mad more than anything. I think if she'd had a chance to get to her feet before Scaramouche arrived, Tori would have been the one who needed saving.

"Missed you guys so much...."

"I don't usually make that kind of an entrance. But she shouldn't be back. She knows she's not supposed to leave the Seelie Court unescorted. It's that bad."

One New York doll to another - I like this deva. A lot.

New York dolls - and devas -  always know how to make an entrance.

















Note: Scaramouche is a Pukifee Shiwoo in Beautiful White. And she was totally worth the wait. She's even more stunning in real life.

In which everyone's back and then some.....

A partial family portrait - clockwise (sort of) from 8 PM, it's Emmaline, Shel, John-John, Fawn, Paisley, Aura, Daisy, Hawthorne, John Ashton Smith and yours truly.

Aura got back just before noon yesterday, along with her little sister Paisley and the aforementioned Hawthorne. They had to come up from the city and just missed all the horrible weather. We were on the very edge of it here - we got some thunder, some lightning, a LOT of rain, but not the high winds and hail. Actually, we've had nothing but rain and humidity and murk since Saturday, which is why you see laundry in the back of some of the photos. Maddy doesn't have a dryer and has almost five days worth of laundry to contend with. It's better than no rain at all, though.

Like Aura, Paisley started out as a Larkspur Deva in the Findhorn Caravan Park, which is now the Findhorn Garden. She told me the most important thing for any deva is following his or her heart. Although they're brought into existence to care for a particular plant or animal, not all of them stay with their first charge. Aura became a Lettuce Deva and Paisley was a Rose Deva for awhile before she started working with sheep.

By the way, Aura is now a Highlands Deva (more or less a general nature spirit) and Paisley is an Animal Deva. She had to ask a young squirrel to leave and not mess with the laundry -twice.

Aura said she doesn't think she's going to travel by land like that again - at least, not overseas.

"I'll never get used to those airplanes humans have," she said.

If poor Emmie was expecting a quiet little Missouri pixie, she was in for a bit of a surprise.

Hawthorne is really super sweet, but she's also got the energy of your average EF-5 tornado.

Daisy's a lot quieter, but they hit it off well right away. Hawthorne, like Daisy, was training with a Rain Deva to learn to read the weather.

Speaking of tornadoes, Aura said she has to agree with one famous movie starring one - "there's no place like home!"











(Note - Paisley is a PukiFee Mio and Hawthorne is a PukiPuki Flora. And don't ask me why Aura's hair looks so blue in some of those photos.)

In which we await Aura and a pixie....

Weirdest radar signature ever, IMHO. It went from nothing to this in about five minutes last night. And it was every bit as nasty as it looks. We were lucky not to lose power.

Today is not so bad, although we still have a severe thunderstorm watch until 10 PM.

















Emmaline joined us for a little fresh air. I don't say sun because sun isn't any better for us dolls than it is for humans.










Daisy came out a few minutes later. "I just talked to Aura."

"Is she coming back soon?" Fawn said. Our favorite purple-haired deva is back at Findhorn temporarily.

"She said late this week or early next, she hopes. She can't travel by thought because she's bringing someone with her."

"Scaramouche?" I said.

"No, a pixie." Daisy sounded excited. "She told me her name is Hawthorne and she's from Missouri."

"Did she say from where?" Emmie said.

"Kansas City, I think. Aura said she - Hawthorne, I mean - used to hang out a lot with a band called the Rainmakers. Kind of appropriate, really, because she's been training with a weather deva named Tempest."

"Oh." I think Emmie was hoping Hawthorne was from somewhere closer to where she lived, which was near a place called Warrington, I think. "Devas control the weather?"

"Not really. They read it and warn the plants and animals in their care so they can prepare. Tempest is one of the best. I trained with her, too." Daisy is very good. She warned Maddy not to plug everything back in and hook up the router and WiFi when it looked like the storms were going to miss us last night. Which was a good thing with all the lightning.

"How do you know what's coming?" Emmie said.

"We can feel it. Pixies are more sensitive to changes in the atmosphere than most humans or dolls. It took humans a long time to figure out how to predict a tornado, for example, because they just can't feel it the way we can. We can feel the electric charge in the air and the pressure falls within the storm, and feel the wind turning in the cloud. But we're like humans with their Doppler radar - we can't tell if the tornado is on the ground until we see it. All we can really sense is the vortex in the cloud."

(BTW, it was actually illegal to try to predict tornadoes at one point - read the story here. Of course, to be fair, at that time, they really couldn't. I found a book from around 1978 called "Marvels and Mysteries of the World Around Us" that talked about tornadoes, but even then they had no idea how they formed.)

And Daisy's little dragon is a Deb Canham original from Norm's Dollhouse. The link is on the sidebar of the blog.