.The fairies have a cottage at the lake.  The fairies love to go there to relax and play.  The lake is for everyone and humans are welcome.  You merely have to cross the bridge from barrel two to get there.  It is a rickety bridge ( I know this because I made it), so unless you have dusted yourself with the fairy dust in barrel two, be careful not to fall!  It is a long way down!

At the end of the bridge there is a sign welcoming everyone to the lake.  A sandy beach surrounds the lake.  The lake was a big decision issue.  I had a nice irregular shaped lake but it took up way too much of the barrel.  I decided this little lake could be used more efficiently.  Imagination is all part of the fairy gardening.  Imagine that the lake is big.  I glued some sand around the edge of the dish that I used for the lake to make it look less like a dish.  The sand is just play sand and came from the lumber yard.   The blue glass gems give the impression of water.  The link to these gems is not exactly what I got, but the store has them in the floral department for about the same price.  It reminds me of the water color in the Caribbean.

There is a dock for swimming or going fishing.  A boat is there waiting to take you fishing or for a nice boat ride.  This boat is manually operated…sorry, no motor!  It is great arm strength building to row the boat.

Here you see a fairy dangling her toes in the water.  She had better be careful because there are some big fish in the lake as you might be able to see.  They might be attracted to toes and mistake them for something to eat!  My father always warned me about wearing nail polish on my toes and dangling them in the lake.  He said muskie and northern pike are attracted to that and might take a bite here and there.  They both have large, sharp teeth.  That would hurt!  I made the fish out of polymer clay.  I used silver clay and added some silver glitter to the clay to give it a really shiny effect.  It worked!

The lake is a relaxing place where you can sip tea or lemonade, swim, fish, and play in the sand.  The chairs and table were part of a fairy garden kit.  A dog is having fun standing on the dock and barking at the sea-gull sitting on the post and the giant snail.  Sometimes the fairies ride the snails for something fun to do.  The snails don’t mind at all.  I made the seagull, the snail, the leaf bird bath, and the tea set and the sand castles out of polymer clay.

A picket fence surrounds the back of the cottage.  There are two big rocks on either side of the cottage, again, from the Amethyst mine that we went to.  This amethyst mine is not how you would imagine it to be.  When I hear the word mine, I picture a cave. This was a large, deep pit that was out in the open in the forest.  You had to hike in to get to it.  It was great.  I have a hard time going into caves due to claustrophobia.  I was pleased to see the big, deep hole in the ground.  We just walked down the ramp that had been built for the big heavy equipment to drive down.  Using special rocks in your gardens is encouraged.  It makes the garden special.

I used a mix of ground cover for the plants behind the cottage and some Leptinella and Miniature Rush on the beach.   I was a bit worried about the Rush as it needs to be kept quite moist, but the sand seems to be doing the trick.  Both are spreading nicely.  The ground cover link was as close to what I bought as I could get online. I bought the plants in person and it was a mixed tray for about $16.  It was a sheet that you could cut into any shape you wanted which made it easier for in the fairy garden.  I was able to do all the fairy gardens with the one tray.  It spreads!

On the far right of the barrel, you will find another stick ladder and a sign, which I made, pointing to a camp ground.  The camp is a ways away.  Humans and fairies alike will have to either climb down the ladder and walk to the campground, or will have to fly. Hope you humans brought some fairy dust!  It’s a long walk!

Enjoy your time at the lake and look forward to your trip to the camp grounds!  Will see you there!

As a reminder, if you click on the images they will enlarge so that you can see the details.