Midsummer

I and Nicholas started our day very early...as it's Midsummers day and there are lots of festivities going on around the island, we headed to a tiny Isle that is adjacent to St Francis, where I knew we could sit and observe without being disturbed.  I wish I had time to draw the anemones, that are native only to that specific area, but alas the birds won again, and I spent most of the day observing and taking notes on the glorious Cerulean Plover and the cheeky Anemone Honey Eater. Nicholas found a beautiful lace stone which he placed in his pocket carefully as it's very fragile...

Meeting Nicholas

Nicholas was not at all how I expected...I had envisaged a short, bald, aging man with spectacles with possibly a hint of a hump, clutching notes and other technical paraphernalia, but to my surprise at midday precisely,  I came face to face with a tall, cherub faced young man, barely out of his teens, wearing a bright smile and curious gaze.
Conversation was at first minimal, the lad seemed completely absorbed by his surroundings, that I d aren't utter a sentence longer than three words, afraid I'd disturb his studying  the birds and other wild life. But as afternoon snuggly settled around the garden, I felt the need to at least make an effort at a proper conversation. After serving him some honey-mint and lime tea, he felt obliged to take a break and give me some attention. I talked to him about the aviary and how I had come to be its keeper and he talked to me of his passion for observation and his ambition to travel the Isles and create a proper collection of the natural history of the Imaginary World...Feeling brave, I showed him some of my own drawings, observations I had made the passing months while taking breaks from my chores...He was so kind and made me blush...After studying the drawings meticulously he made me a proposition that startled and excited me: he proposed that I could do some drawings that would compliment his own scientific findings...a partnership as it were! I told him that I'd think about it and let him know....Two hours later I attached a note to one of my swiftest messenger birds with a simple phrase scribbled hastily saying: "Hell yes!"

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