The Toadstool House
I wish I lived in a toadstool house,
Beneath an old Oak tree,
With a tiny door and a chimney pot,
And windows – one, two, three.
I’d play with each wee squirrel,
Who chanced to come my way,
I’d get to know the woodland birds,
And feed them every day.
And if you’d ever wandered by,
I’d ask you in to tea,
Inside my little toadstool house,
Beneath the old Oak Tree.
I came across this 'toadstool' in a friend's frosty garden. I discovered later, after a bit of research, that it is actually a staddle stone, or steddle stone, originally used as a supporting base for granaries, hayricks, game larders, etc. Click here and here for pictures and to read more about them.
There's something magical about toadstools. My daughter was given a pottery toadstool nightlight as a child, with tiny woodland animals living inside. It provided a reassuring fairy glow in the darkness. I'm sad that it's long since been lost.
As a child in the 1960s I enjoyed being a Brownie, in the 57th Bradford East Pack. I was first in the Gnome six, then a sixer in the Elves. The focal point of our meetings was a plaster toadstool, rather like the one here.
(Picture courtesy of St Barnabas Brownies, Gloucester)
We danced around it at every meeting and, when it was time for me to move up into the Girl Guides, Brown Owl and Tawny Owl took an arm each and 'flew' me over the toadstool. A symbol of growing up, leaving the nest and moving on.
Q: Why do toadstools grow so close together?
A: Because they don't need mush-room!
Writing prompts:
- The stone toadstool is really a staddle stone. Do you think people look at you and think you are someone different from who you actually are? Write for a few minutes about other people's perceptions of you.
- Do you wish you lived in a toadstool house? Just for a few moments, imagine that you do. Write about it.
- Recall a childhood memory that fills you with warmth and relive it in your writing.
- When did you 'leave the nest'? Write about what happened and how you felt.
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