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| Scarecrows in Hamilton Gardens |
Today it has felt like summer has arrived. Our temperature is in the early 20s (Celsius)
with only a light breeze and a smattering of fuzzy cloud. After enjoying this morning, when I went to
the Scarecrow Festival at Hamilton Gardens, I had to have a “nana-nap” after
lunch to make up for the lack of sleep last night.
Son and I stayed up to watch the Rugby World Cup final and
see South Africa win against England, and then to watch the cup presentation afterwards. The Springboks were so happy to win! It was a good game, nice and clean, and
exciting to watch. Well done both teams.
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| At the Scarecrow Festival today |
As I said, this morning I visited Hamilton Gardens to see
the Scarecrow Festival. This is only the
third year it has been going, and there were about 35 entries in the
competition. Some of them were very
imaginative!
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| These were in the adult-made section |
I was there before the Festival was officially opened at
11am, but there were still plenty of people around. After 11am the families were arriving in
droves, so I was glad I had gone early as car parking can be an issue
sometimes. As it was, the officials had
opened up a nearby area of parkland to allow vehicles in to park.
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| "The Strawman" |
This scarecrow is a permanent fixture in the Kitchen Garden
(where the Festival was held) and is titled “The Strawman.” It was sculpted by Lloyd Le Blanc of
Leicestershire, England and is made with a fantail sitting on his arm. Scarecrows were not always very good at
scaring birds away!
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| "The Strawman" in summer 2018 |
In 2016 this stick scarecrow used to live in the Sustainable
Backyard garden but I am not sure if he still lives there as I have not recently visited that area of Hamilton Gardens.
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| The scarecrow in the Sustainable Backyard garden |
I like scarecrows. I would much prefer to see one chasing some birds away, than see chemicals being used to "discourage" all bird life in the area. But then I am not a commercial farmer and my livelihood does not depend on being able to harvest 100% of my crop.
Coincidentally, my calendar for this month also features a
scarecrow. I like what is written beside
it – “Be grateful for your life, every detail of it, and your face will come to
shine like a sun, and everyone who sees it will be made glad and peaceful.” It
is a quote from Rumi, a thirteenth-century Persian poet.
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| Calendar page for November 2019 |
Be kind to your birds,
Margaret.
