Winter at ShadowGrove is a majestic time. Sometimes it's difficult to get into or out of the Grove, however; this is our driveway after an enthusiastic snowfall.

The bank of the Great River (just a small creek, actually, but to the Fae who live along its bank, we're sure it must seem pretty large). In the background, you can see the section of our fallen Father Oak, that was the altar at Truthsong and SpiritHawk's wedding, and is the altar in our Circle to this day.

The path into the Fae realm. Many people, upon first visiting ShadowGrove, have told us that they can feel the energy of the place surrounding them as they descend this 60-step flight of stairs toward the Sacred Space of the Grove.

One summer day, SpiritHawk (because he's this sort of person) decided to calculate the exact geographic center of the Grove. He did so, and then went outside to locate the spot. And what did he find? A circular patch of Carpet Bugle, a plant associated with protection. So we did the only thing we could do: we built a stone circle around it.

It has been said that a possum will eat...more or less anything at all. This is true. We have seen it.

In the spring, when the rains come, even the lesser of the two creeks at ShadowGrove becomes a rushing torrent. Stone steps that bore merely a trickle become roaring falls.

On Samhain 2004, ShadowGrove was officially dedicated. This is that first stone circle, with the cardinal points clearly marked. You are standing just east of the northern marker, looking south-southwest.

When we moved the sacred circle for Samhain 2005, it became necessary to build a bridge, lest we get all muddy going to and from. In the winter time, the bridge is not to be crossed without care.

All too often we forget to look at the world from a different perspective. These are Bluette flowers, seen as the Fae would see them: from below. Each of these flowers is no more than two inches tall, and but a quarter inch across.

We do not share ShadowGrove with the creatures; they share it with us, and we are their guests. This fellow makes his home near the greater creek, and we have seen him playing in the water on more than one occasion.

The Fae need places to live, and one of the things that we have done at ShadowGrove on Beltanes past is build houses for them in the woods.

When an ice storm comes to the Grove, it covers everything with a thin layer of crystal. These berries got caught in the storm.

This lady guards the threshold of the Grove; a gateway between two protective dogwood trees, at the top of the Never-ending Stair.

There are many entrances to under-hill to be found in and around the Grove. This is one of them.

He doesn't have much in the way of camouflage, but what he lacks in that area, this little fellow makes up for in sheer cheekiness. He waits out near our front path most mornings, to greet Truthsong at the beginning of the day.

One cannot build a stairway in the woods without expecting every vine within creeping distance to crawl over to it and begin climbing. Here you can see Virginia Creeper taking hold of one of the supports.

Two creeks come together in the woods at ShadowGrove, and thence flow onward to the Occoquan River. The watershed nature of the Grove is part of what protects it, and the lands around it, from further development.

Even a close-knit community like ours has the occasional thief.