England, Harry and St. George!

I have no knight for this St. George's day, but a very gentle pet dragon from the Peaceful Fairy Realms!

This year is the 175th anniversary of the St. George's Society of Toronto, the oldest charity in the city. To quote from their website:
"On April 23, 1834, a group of citizens celebrated St. George's Day over dinner at the British Coffee House at King and York streets and changed the future of the city.

They formed The St. George's Society of Toronto, named after the patron saint of England, which grew to provide crucial social services and a lively social life.

While originally founded to help immigrants of English and Welsh origin, the Society assisted anyone who qualified for assistance. It was famous right through the early 1900s for providing food, money and medical services to the city's poor and less fortunate."

The good works of the Society continue to this day, "bringing together men and women of all cultures with an interest in things British for good fun, good fellowship and good works – a tradition that has helped Toronto become the enviable place it is."

Happy St. George's Day to all.

All Around the Garden

A handful of sea shells in a bowl and some earthy garden gloves at the back door led to thumbnail sketches of gardens and gardeners, and the next advertisement from Hedge and Hogg came into focus:

with Hedge preparing the ground








and Hogg bringing in the materials




and a fairy garden under way.
The next Illustrated Fairy Gazette is also in progress, with sketches and notes to sort and refine. I think I can allow myself a little gardening time each day, for both inspiration and gratification.

"Hedge and Hogg's Garden Design" will be up on the Etsy Shop soon.

"Who loves a garden still his Eden keeps" -Amos Bronson Alcott

Gardens and Gardeners

Well fortified with Easter chocolate, I am tilling the soil and uprooting weeds this beautiful Easter weekend. There are beds to be raked, perennials to be divided and moved, planter pots to be emptied and refreshed, and seeds to be planted all over the garden. The gardening year has begun.

Who are Hedge & Hogg? "Specialists in the maintenance of Fairy Gardens" proclaims their advertisement in the Illustrated Fairy Gazette,

"Complete garden care. No job too small.
Lawns rolled, bulbs lifted, borders planted.
Molehills our speciality."

The Etsy shop is reopening for spring with Hedge & Hogg cards from the fairy realms,

and new fairy cards, all from the Fairy Gazettes.

Would that Hedge & Hogg were my gardeners. I would don a flowered shady hat and stroll the garden, nodding approvingly at their lively and expert ministrations to the lawn and flower beds.

"'Springs unlocks the flowers to paint the laughing soil"

Reginald Herber, 1783 -1826