Before starting our quest for the magic Faraway Tree we've been invited to go down to the greenhouse to pick out a blank seed packet from a box on the table there. Our task is now to ponder what sort of seeds are in the packet we choose and to make a graphic and label for the package. Then we are to plant them in the pots we find there in the greenhouse.

I slipped down there this morning after breakfast, the morning mist already burned away in the golden heat of the sun. The greenhouse is like any other, overly warm thanks to the glass roof that lets the sunlight in, and the air is wonderfully perfumed with the mixed scents of a myriad of flowers. Everywhere one looks there are flowers, all different kinds: daisies, foxglove, delphiniums, carnations, roses, snapdragons, you name it. They're in pots of varying sizes, in urns, on stands, on tables in cartons, in boxes. They're every color of the rainbow. One could easily imagine sprites or fairies here darting amongst them.

I went to the old weathered, yet still sturdy wooden table where the box of mystery seed packets lay. They were all a blank white. I picked one up and gently felt it between my thumbs and fingers, trying to acertain a recognizable shape. There were only two seeds in the packet I chose. They weren't tiny, tiny, like I expected, but were big enough to fit easily one in each palm. Upon further fingering I made out the shape of one seed, then the other. Blinking in surprise, my mouth forming a small "O," I realized what I had chosen. Acorns! Mystery acorns.

Opening the package, I tipped the contents into my right palm, looking at the golden brown seeds. Looking at them they looked like ordinary, everyday acorns, but knowing Sybil, the Enchantress, I knew they couldn't be. These were magic seeds. Following her wishes, I found two medium-sized pots, a trowel and began filling the two with the nutrient-rich soil I found in a sack nearby on the floor. Gently placing an acorn in each pot, I covered them with the dark soil and found a watering can which I filled, so that I could water my new seeds. Finding a spare box I gently placed my pots inside so I could carry them to my garret room in the Manor without mishap. Once inside my room, spacious enough and well-lit with a good window to serve my needs, I put the pots on the floor by the window, where the sun slants in for the better part of the day. Then I went to my desk and computer and got to work on my graphic.

This is what I came up with:

moon phase