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Two more days until the official first day of autumn.
I can feel it in the evening air, can you?
This is a similar intro photo, as seen in the last post, only taken in the opposite direction.
Going up the little hill in the secret garden, and under the arbor, through the tunnel of flowers.
The blooms are loving the cooler nights, and the dahlias are right on cue.
A second spring begins in high desert days of autumn.
Magic.
Giant pumpkins, oh my!
Vines reach for the sky.
Varieties of fancy squash are all around.
Some cross-pollinated, others did their own thing.
Some went full Fairytale as planted, and other Fairytales made babies with Jack-o-Lanterns.
Does that make them Fairy Lanterns?
Pumpkins took over paths, and even climbed fences.
Some fell off the fences they climbed, and others crawled all over the chicken coop, plopping down into super tall wild verbena when they got too heavy.
I shall have to hunt for them when the time is right.
I squeeze through the overgrown Paradiso Perduto, a sort of Miss Havisham land, of my own making.
I did always find this incredibly unnatural pull towards her.
Treasures in old mansions, with ceilings caving in to allow the night stars to shine through.
And overgrown forgotten gardens, of wildest imaginings.
I suppose, in many ways you become what you love.
What you are drawn to as a child.
Take for instance, us fellow lovers of pumpkins.
The mere idea of the pumpkin patch would make me squeal as a child and into adulthood.
Until I started growing my own pumpkin patches at around 24 or 25.
Now they just take over my whole world from May to November.
I loved pumpkins so much, I became a pumpkin caretaker.
Mother Pumpkin :-)
This was once a path that went straight ahead.
But now it is completely sealed off by pumpkin vines and a wall of cosmos and zinnias.
It will be fun to see the garden paths again in winter, when I do my summer 2021 clean up.
Until then, I shall enjoy the wonderful chaos of wild growing things.
I sip my orange tea, as snippets of All Hallow's Eve begin to trickle in.
I've been ever soooooo busy adding sold out cards, new cards and Halloween cards to my shop.
Because as far as I am concerned, the first day of autumn means Halloween :-)
The butterflies are ready...
Costumes on point!
They know it is time.
And it seems, the pumpkins do too.
As they are changing color quickly.
We had the most unexpected rain for two days in a row this weekend.
It lasted only a little while, but it rained so hard, it made everyone in the garden extra happy.
They are all turning color, and soon will come inside to take part in the pumpkin holiday festivities.
I have been painting furniture...
Shipping out wonderfully fun orders.
And getting out all the magical stuff.
I am in full décor mood.
I want to get a head start on October.
But not too fast, because I will absorb every second of the last two days of summer.
How does it all happen so quickly?
I do not even know.
Last week was ever so busy.
My dad did well in his hip surgery and is at home recovering.
I made him an apple crisp, and now he waits the 6 weeks healing time, although he's already on his phone, doing this and that.
He's a very busy man, but I made him accounts in my Amazon and Netflix, so luckily he can watch all the things he didn't even know existed.
Because he must must take it easy.
We are both true crime lovers, and so we watch these shows and chat about it for hours on the phone.
I painted a piece of furniture and decorated for Halloween.
Then I decided that I didn't particularly love the shade.
So, I took down all my Halloween decor...
And ended up repainting the piece 4 more times (I mix my own paint colors).
Until finally, I arrived at the color I really wanted.
The color changes a lot in the room because the room goes from light to shady.
So, I wanted a color that worked with all the different times of day.
Then I decided to add stripes, and gold leaf, and make it two tone.
(Insert eye roll, just my own kind of therapy)
It's like a jewelry box now.
All decked out.
I honestly think I just got carried away with myself, with my nervous energy waiting for my dad to have surgery.
It feels so good to be able to breathe, now that he is home doing the very critical healing part.
Hopefully it continues to go well.
I have all my Halloween bins out, and I will redecorate the furniture I just painted.
(it's almost done actually)
You can see snippets of it above, right after it dried, but I will take better photos soon.
I love these cool nights that are upon us, it's so delightful to be able to go out walking in the evening again.
All the monsoon rain we had caused so many volunteer plants at the country house.
You wouldn't believe all the lantern plants that self-seeded, it's beyond words!
I think I took some photos, I'll look for them, or take more.
I honestly do so many things in a day, it's hard to document everything going on.
So, I just share a tinge of snippets, and hope you enjoy.
I shall return very soon.
Are you as excited as I am, about the first day of autumn?
Just as the sun is setting, candles are lit, with curious birdsong echoing.
Through the secret garden gate, into the wild.
A perfect evening for tales, as a storm teases.
Bubbles fizz, and stories told by my grandmother 30 years ago flutter about.
Tales of wild swans and magic flowers are retold.
Something is changing, something is shifting, something wonderful this way comes.
I can feel it in the underlying cool tinge in the air, and in the way the leaves rustle their secret language.
Another season, not too far away.
I grew up on endless fairy tales, some fantastical and others rather spooky.
I relished in them, I loved how my knees would knock under the table and my skin would shiver when my grandma would tell her stories.
Some because they were just so amazing, and others because they were downright terrifying.
I suppose that is why I have a fairy tale sensibility.
It was engrained quite early and then stayed with me always.
And so, as I sit under canopy of trees, which I arrived at by meandering through the very tall garden, I am delighted beyond compare with this moment in time.
Apples are ready, pumpkins are starting to be picked.
The roses have emerged from their summer slumber.
Why do I feel so young and free in my heart still?
Excited about seasons and what is to come.
Do you feel the same way?
I think about hiding up in my cottage, about crocheting all night, and shall I tell you?
I have been dreaming about another little being coming into my life (fur of course).
The whole thing could make me cry, and I don't want to mess up the feeling.
I'll tell you the story about how my heart might be ready tomorrow.
And some curious things that have happened regarding that.
But for now, we are in the hidden woods...
So hidden, you almost can not believe that they even exist.
Give me soil and a shovel, some seeds and a dream -
And I shall try with all my might to create some sort of magic.
It's actually not really a try feeling that comes over me, but more -
I am compelled outside of my own control.
I hope that if I live a very long time, that I will have the gusto to continue gardening into my 90's like my paternal grandmother did.
I think about these things as I type to you from my garden, right in this spot.
The cardinals swooping in, wondering why I am in their garden.
Out of nowhere a big cloud is forming above me, laden with little sparks of lightning glimmering like fireworks.
There is the most glorious breeze whipping around, teasing my candles.
I can hear thunder as the last glimmer of light disappears behind a violet cloud.
What is this enchantment that calls my name?
That breaths the most wonderful feeling into my soul?
I can't describe it, perhaps you feel it too.
A dreamy feeling that I can escape within.
Where pumpkins and fairy tales roam.
Where I am the me-est me.
The truest I can be.
Where I am always that girl with a dream.
Where the night garden has brought me, don't miss this moment Vanessa, it whispers in my ear.
Be here it says, and so I stay.
A gust of wind blows out some of my candles.
I look up, as a few light rain drops fall upon my face.
And all I can really say to them is, Thank you.
When I was around 19 years old I had this profound moment, where I all of a sudden knew myself so well.
I understood my path and my journey to come, and I entered it willingly and openly.
I let go of some things, and embraced others.
I created a space deep in my thoughts, where I could always come back to me if I lost my way.
It is the paths under trees, the books by candle light, the garden growing -
These sort of things bring me to that place.
That place that I felt that one day, all those years ago.
It's different, but the same.
I am still me, but I have greater wisdom that grows with each passing year.
Of course, I don't know a lot.
When you are younger you think you know everything, and as you get older your realize, you don't know so much.
And it is comforting and okay, and you let go.
But I do feel that perhaps these fairy tale moments, like being in the night garden, are just like children pretending.
Playing out in the back of their grand parents' house.
Down the garden path and through the stream.
And maybe that, that is what keeps it all alive.
Maybe the map back to yourself is always down those paths of dreams.
I think, yes, it must be.
And then, poof...
The candles are out and it is time for me to go.
But at least, now I know.
Until tomorrow...
See you then, xoxo
Love, Vanessa
ps: I am here a bit late today because I spent all day cooking for Mister Lovee and his childhood friend who came to visit.
Hello, my name is Vanessa Valencia and I am an artist living in a lovely part of Arizona. I make all kinds of art, from painting to clay sculpting. I love tending my gardens and cuddling my dogs. This blog is about art, lifestyle, gardening, cooking, crafting & every single little magical thing in between ♥