After the grey

The long winter is now over and with the sweet scent of Spring in the air, the Aviary looks more alive and vibrant than ever. The once grey, bare branches are now full of bloom and melodic, occasionally quirky bird songs...It was a wild and difficult winter.. While walking through the grounds assessing what needed to be done I decided doing everything myself would be impossible to say the least, so I sent an sos to my neighbors at St Francis chapel, via one of my eager messenger birds.
The sister in charge sent a very sweet letter in reply, saying that she would send me some helpers once they have finished tending to the chapel's gardens needs...adding if it were possible to do her a favor in return: an important (?) Naturalist is currently a guest of hers and is eager to see more of the island and especially the Aviary.... In her words "He is conducting a study of the island's flora and fauna and he has titled the said study thus "The Natural History of the Imaginary World". I hope you don't mind dear...you never know, he may know a bird or two you have never even heard about!"
I doubt that would be the case...I think I have the bird world covered here. Oh dear, I do sound full of myself...anyway I shall be meeting him tomorrow midday... I'll keep you posted!

In The Beginning....

Legends of how the isles were first inhabited are many and have been tainted no doubt by the passing of time. The most popular legend however, is the story of Noah's Ark and its little known sister boat.
Legend has it that Noah's boat was not alone in rescuing fauna and setting sail on the wild seas of a drowning world. Another boat, smaller in size that took onboard many of the fauna that Noah could not fit on to the Ark sailed beside it but did not reach the same destination.
The reason for this is unclear. One version of the legend talks of heavy storms and unforgiving winds that drove the boats apart. Another version tells how Noah and Leanna, the smaller Arks captain spent days quarreling about their philosophy of how the New World should be like and decided that it would be for the best to take their separate ways. That is how the two worlds came to be, Noah the father of the world of reality and Leanna the mother of the imaginary world.
In this day and age not many remember Leanna's legacy and Noah's world has become the norm and accepted version of how the world should be.
But few, the dreamers and the misfits who cannot find their place in this world we live in, still seek refuge in Leanna's, an imaginary world where they are warmly and truly welcomed.

excerpt from "Legends of All Saints Isles" 1444

The end of one year..

..and soon the beginning of another...many good wishes to all the friends of the Aviary for the New Year. May it bring joy and beautiful moments to all ..

xx
Lea

About Libraries

The journeys I have made are few, so my good friend Noa, who is a passionate traveler constantly surprises me with information about the unknown places he has visited. Today we walked together, conversing about the Library's new keeper. (Old miss Philomena Biblio had stepped down as Librarian due to her failing eyesight, poor dear kept storing the Deadliest Poisons in the Dearest Possessions section, which upset many an old lady when looking for old beloved pie recipes)
Anyway, Noa talked about libraries he had visited that were very different to ours, where the books that were stored were not personal journal entries of the inhabitants of the place, but were written by a few select people! I was dumbfounded! How could a handful of people possibly know what the world is about?...as it looks so different to each individual human being! How much knowledge would be lost! Our Library stored all the personal journals of every single person who ever lived or visited St Francis...above is one of my entries to such a journal that is now stored hopefully under the right section, in the Library.

Alone I write and paint...

Nefrine and Jana brighten up the darkest skies with their luminous feathers

  

Sometimes the world can seem a huge scary place to live in...even on my small Island...Within my garden and myself I find my sanctuary, where I am safe to dream and write and paint...