Our young visitor

Ken and I always enjoyed having nieces and nephews visit us overnight when they were young. We tried to fill their visits with special activities they would remember when they grew older.

Now those nieces and nephews have children of their own. One nephew said he particularly wanted his daughter to visit us for an overnighter because he had such good memories of doing so when he was a child.

I have a great photo of one of his visits, but darned if I can put my finger on it today.

Anyway, little Violet arrived in a blaze of glory on Friday morning. We had a full schedule of activities planned, the first being to build a fairy house in my rock garden. As I mentioned in an earlier post, fairies have been leaving jewels in my garden just before Violet's brief visits, so we figured it might be a good idea to build a house for them in the garden, as a thank-you for the jewels and maybe even encouraging them to leave more.

So Violet and I set out for the garden with supplies in hand: sea shells, sea glass, acorns, "loose moss" for a soft carpet, etc.

We needed help in getting the project started because neither she nor I am all that knowledgeable about house construction. We called on Uncle Ken to give us a hand. He was a bit reluctant at first, not fully understanding what Violet and I had in mind, but once he got into the swing of it, he actually suggested a second fairy house, to be used as a guest cottage, positioned to the right of the first house. He was sawing a tree that had come down during last Wednesday's bad storm (including tornadoes nearby), and one section of the tree had a fine knothole, perfect as an entrance for fairies. So he brought that section of the tree to us in the garden, and we now had ourselves not one, but two fairy houses.

All of this talk of fairies put Violet in the mood to become a fairy herself, which was entirely understandable, so before I knew it I was fashioning fairy wings out of construction paper. To add to the effect, I gave her a fairy's magic wand, which had been waiting for an appropriate home since I came into possession of it last spring. She used it to spread fairy magic on her uncle and me.

I was a little nervous about nightfall, fearing a certain someone might get homesick and want her mom and dad. I needn't have worried. She and I slept together, and she chattered away for at least an hour after we'd gone to bed and I'd read two books to her. She tried to trick me a couple of times, telling me there was a skunk on the ceiling. I didn't fall for it, though. I'm onto her. Just before she fell asleep she sighed deeply and said, "I'm so happy to be here, Aunt Jean." The kid knows how to melt my heart.

At 2:45 a.m. I felt a light tap on my shoulder and a whisper, "Aunt Jean, Is it wake-up-time yet?" I assured her we needed to sleep a little longer, so she promptly settled down again. I tried to sneak out of bed at 5:30, but before I knew it, little feet were trotting along behind me and our day was underway.

The big event for Saturday was taking in the Dorcas Fair, an annual crafts fair in a nearby town. Violet was quite enthralled with the jewelry vendors. She chose two 50¢ bracelets and a 50¢ ring for herself. Soon she was bedecked with her purchases.

Once we returned home, I decided Molly the dog needed a good brushing. I've never seen a time when Molly doesn't need a good brushing. Violet collected the fur as I removed it from Molly and said she was going to make a poodle from it.

When her dad came to take her home, Violet announced she'd like to stay one more day. I wish she could have, but Uncle Ken and I had a busy weekend ahead of us. I promised her she could come back soon, though, and I'm sure she will. Uncle Ken and I both had a lot of fun with Miss V. as a guest.