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"It is fairly obvious that Trendle’s Ohio is not Ohio at all, but Fairyland; colored with the blues of Chicory, the cream of Queen Anne’s Lace, the bright, honeyed sorcery of Marigold, all bunched together in Trendle’s gathering-skirt. Even Farmer Shaw believes in the Lady of the Ellwood," Edwina Peterson Cross, Poetry Editor, Welcome Home

Thank you Winnie for your support, it means a lot to me, having you here. And everyone else, Welcome! I would like to have an adventure, lets walk down a trail and see what magic we can find, want to? There may be portals between the hedgerows and the corn fields so keep a good eye open. Whichever path we take let's keep nature close by our side and our hearts tuned to the divine, shall we? I have a feeling it's going to be grand. I'll meet you here by the blue door.

Updates and Columns

Sunday, May 30, 2004

Beside Victoria 

by Trendle Ellwood
The other homesteaders at the farm market have all welcomed us with open arms. We already feel love towards several of the people there. They have won us over with their charming ways. So the day that Victoria came I was startled! There I was basking in the sunshine when suddenly I felt this cold chill to my back and I turn around and there is Victoria glaring, with her hands on her hips. Her stall next to ours had been empty. I had looked forward to meeting her because some of the homesteaders had been referring to her as,” That Crazy Lady”.

“ Crazy lady, you should get along with her real well,” Little one told me one day, with her lopsided grin. I grinned back at her and waved my eyes as she giggled. But Little One was not giggling now, because Victoria was telling us that our table was out too far out and that the tables had to be behind this line. I was like, well Ok Victoria, but we could have said Hello first! We apologized to her and told her that we didn’t realize and my, wasn’t it a beautiful day for market! But Victoria just shook her head and got busy unloading her stuff, and we had to unload ours too so Little One and I shrugged our shoulders at each other and got to work.

We had our usual Saturday morning chat with Farmer Bob on our other side and hollered our usual hellos to those around us. The farm market manager came by in his yellow shirt and we had our jokes with the easy to get along with man. He went by Victoria’s stall and gave her a hearty hello but she only kept her head down and would not respond. He looked back at us with the exaggerated wondering face and went on. Then the customers kept us busy for a while. I would look over from time to time towards Victoria with smiles and admiration for her healthy crop of tomatoes.


Little One had been beckoned by the Coffee Café lady,Mary, a beautiful soul on down the row. She wanted Little One to get the children drawing with chalk on the pavement. Soon, Little One had a beautiful artistic rendering going on, drawing what each homesteader was selling, in front of their booths. That was until they came to Victoria’s booth, then she told them not to draw anything in front of her booth. Little One was put out by her, so I told her that we had to be understanding, and to just do as she was asked, not to draw in front of Victoria’s, but to keep on having fun.


Soon there was a lull in the activity and suddenly Victoria was in our stall and she was telling Little One and I that she could not believe that they put two booths selling the same things right beside each other. Trying to grasp at what she meant, I listened as she told me that she was going to sell flowers too and we were both selling flowers. She wanted us to ask if we could be placed in some other spot at the market, I was like, what! Farmer Bob sells honey and we are right beside him, it doesn’t matter. Nobody thinks it matters, we all get customers; there is enough to go around. I tried to tell Victoria this and so did Farmer Bill and Hubby, as she continued to worry about it throughout the day.


At one point she asked Little One if her Mama was going to sell cut Zinnias, because she was going to have them for sale. I told Victoria that it would be Ok, our flowers would compliment each other, and all our flowers would draw in more flower customers. So then she wanted to know how much we were going to ask for them because she was going to charge 4/1.00. This is when hubby tried to lighten her up and he told her, “ Ah! Well then we will just wait until you sell all of yours, then we will sell ours. Victoria returned with, “ Well! Then you will charge more and make more then me!” This was the moment that I decided, my goodness the poor thing!


So for the rest of the week Little One talked about Victoria to us, and how mean she thought she was. We tried to explain to her that she probably could not help herself.
I got to thinking about Victoria and that maybe she was next to me at the farm market for a reason; perhaps we had more in common than just the flowers. Victoria is scared, Victoria has fears, and so do I. It is wild for me to see that one of the things that Victoria is afraid of is me! Through Victoria I can so plainly see how our fears create our realities. The other homesteaders and us would be her friends if she were not too scared of us to let us.


Victoria skipped a week and I wondered if maybe she had given up, but this Saturday she was back. She pulled in, the back of her pickup truck full of purple petunias and lettuce. Her petunias were really pretty, and you know I like purple and I told her so. But I could not help but wonder, why she would have planted all her seeds the same color. Yes, every basket of wave petunias was the same dark shade of purple, no variation or contrast.

Victoria did not attack us with any concerns this week. Her husband was with her, and he seemed kind of normal. But still she would not respond to the Market Manager when he came by and I would some times catch her glaring at me. I didn’t like the cold draft that was coming my way from her side of our stall. So I decided to pull out this old conjurers trick , be nice! I just went right over and admired Victoria’s purple petunias and I admired the style of pot that she had used to plant them in. And guess what! Victoria said that my flowers were pretty too! I thanked her, and told her that I sold them on Wednesday but today I had not sold a one.

A little later Victoria came over with some marketing advice for me, she said that it would be good to put the price of the bouquets out front, real plain where people could see it. So I did what she advised and I was sure to thank her for her good advice when I sold one! Perhaps I will win Victoria over, I have a feeling some days will be different from others. But all in all, perhaps we can find some balance. There was one moment when I glanced over at Victoria and I saw Merlin standing there. He was with Victoria too. I saw in that one instant that we were of the same soul family. And the Merlin in Victoria was telling the Merlin in me, that the woman might be a bit crazy but that she also contained magic, like we all do.



Copyright © 2004, by Trendle Ellwood. All Rights Reserved
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Sunday, May 16, 2004

Exploring May 

by Trendle Ellwood



Persia exploring nature as she touches her nose to a dandelion.

The Solomon’s seal is blooming with the Dame’s Rocket. The Dames Rocket has traveled all about the yard so that we are in a purple oasis. I have been thinking that perhaps next year I will add some bright orange Poppies and some purple-red Peonies that would bloom along with them but for this year I will just rest in my almost all purple May garden.

Merlin came by one day and he was wearing blue. I asked him what this could mean; always I have seen him in tan or brown before. He told me that he was dressed up to celebrate the coming out of the garden. This made me smile, you see he knows how fond I am of that color of blue and that I cannot help but paint it all around. It looks so good with the purple now too. The “Coming Out” of my garden, isn’t he a grand friend to celebrate what I love so?

I made 100 nosegays of flowers one day, and as I lay down to sleep that night, the Lily of the Valley fairies surrounded me. I was afraid that they would be angry with me as I had picked 100 of them times three that day, as I wanted each mother to have their beautiful scent and I put three of their pretty faces in each nosegay. But instead the Lily of the Valley fairies held me in their presence and they carried me and they loved me and they told me that they were glad that they had been taken from the garden and thrilled that their gladness would be spread to the hearts of so many the next day.

I have a couple of new friends who have moved in. They like the crevices that I fixed up for them from some of Windy’s old hollow logs.

I planted Windy’s base full of flowers.



Take a look into the apiary. The hives in the middle are the new swarm hives. The ones on the edges are getting tall.



Guess what that means! Yes! Honey! The locust trees are blooming now, their little white sprays of blossoms, wave all up and down these Ohio hills and the bees are happy with this pollen , plenty of rain and the warm days.

I am glad that I let nature wander about my yard, because if I did not I would have missed how delightful the little yellow mustard weeds look as they frame this Iris which was named Thick and Creamy and reminds me of butter.




Copyright © 2004, by Trendle Ellwood. All Rights Reserved.
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Sunday, May 09, 2004

May Apples in May 

by Trendle Ellwood



First it dawns on you, one day early in the month, hey it’s May! Then you walk past a May Apple patch and you wonder, are they blooming yet? So you quietly approach them and you get down low to the ground, even upon your very belly, where if you are lucky you will look up to see them smiling at you. White and yellow, steady and true every year in May.


My brother thought I was crazy when I carried some May Apple plants from the edge of the woods once and planted them in by the western side of my little pine grove. " What would you want to do that for?" he asked, " May Apples grow everywhere!"

Well perhaps he is right, they do. Perhaps I am crazy, but where else can I get down on my belly in the grass and get my head up under May Apples big glossy umbrella like leaves? Where else can I get my nose close enough to this darling flower that bears the name of May, so that I can inhale her scent? Sweet and lemony, fresh and green that is how May Apples smell. They smell like they are saying, " Yes! It really is spring for sure now! No more doubts!





I have read in books that May Apples have a nauseous smell. Perhaps the writers caught the May Apple smell after the flower had been pollinated. Bees know that a flowers first scent is the beautiful one, the one that intoxicates her pollinator. Then the sweet scent fades as she begins to fruit. I reach out to touch their flower petals and they are thick and sort of rubbery feeling, not delicate little things like the Spring Beauties, but sturdy and sure.

You don't just walk by May Apples and see that they are blooming. For these sturdy maidens are modest and not craving the spot light. They like to cluster in groups with other May Apples and stand around at the edge of the woods, congregated together as if in a meeting. And like the quiet part of a Quaker Meeting they have their heads bowed in respect and are listening to the silence. Yes I get the same kind of inner hush when I am with them in those stolen minutes with my belly on the grass that I get in a silent Meeting with the Quakers.





They are content to keep all of their charms to themselves and their secret admirers. You will know that you were blessed to peek in, to notice, to give a bow to the demure May Apples and their maidens. And your heart will be nourished by their reassuring stance. Don't forget to keep your vision half opened and half closed, and for a moment be still within the hush so that you can see through the mist.

You never know what elfin creatures or woodland magicians might be hanging about. For these sort are quite fond of little apples that are more like lemons, which will be the fruit of these flowers of white petals and deep yellow stamens. So these spirit ones often gather around about the May Apple patch to try steal some racoon lemons for themselves, when the hour is right.




Blessed be the May Apple and

May your May be beautiful.



Text and Photos, Copyright © 2004, by Trendle Ellwood. All Rights Reserved.

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