Yesterday I went out for the day with some friends to a
scarecrow festival. Each one had a pig theme and we walked around the village
working out which pig fitted the names on the sheet.
There were scarecrow pigs on bikes, Olympian cyclists Laura
Trotter and Bradley Piggins, a very tall bearded giant of a pig called Hogrid
and Boarglar Bill, complete with swag bag, who appears annually in different
locations.
We had fun working out the cryptic clues and rewarded
ourselves with a delicious pub lunch when we had finished.
Scarecrows seem to be the “in” thing at the moment because last
weekend I visited my brother-in-law and sister-in-law and their village was
staging its inaugural scarecrow day.
As my in-laws live in The Old Post Office they decided to
make Postman Pat, Mrs Goggins and Ted Glen.
My brother-in-law had made wooden frames providing the basic
shape; my sister-in-law had found some clothes, including a proper postman’s
jacket and bag on loan from an undisclosed source!
All that needed doing when I arrived was making the heads
and the finishing touches.
“I’m so glad you’ve come to help.” Said Sister-in-Law with a cheeky
grin.
She knows I’m never one to turn down a creative challenge. I
had a look at the materials to hand and set to work on my project.
Pat and Ted have very long heads so I made pillowcase style
shapes to stuff with newspaper. I sewed some long noses into place and made
some felt eyes.
Pat’s spectacles had already been constructed from pipe
cleaners, an old postman’s hat last seen worn by my nephew when he was three
was taped on the head with straw for hair.
Ted Glen, the village handyman, has a black moustache and eyebrows stuck on and
hair that I made from fabric stitched to his flat cap.
Mrs Goggins, the post mistress, has a different shaped head,
perfectly round.
“I’ve found some old socks, are they any use?”
They were the right grey colour for her hair, when cut in
half and placed over a basketball it looked perfect. The ball was an old one so
it was skewered and the socks were fixed with glue, I added a few stiches here and
there to keep her tightly pulled back hair style and bun in place. A ping pong
ball nose inserted under the fabric of her face gave her the bulbous nose just
right to balance her specs on!
Here’s the finished trio complete with Jess the Cat.
I’ve been thinking all week of some profound words of wisdom
to add to the pictures on my blog which is why I’ve not posted something
earlier.
A scarecrow according to Wikipedia is “traditionally a human
figure dressed in old clothes and placed in fields by farmers to discourage
birds such as crows or sparrows from disturbing and feeding on recently cast
seed and growing crops.”
The scarecrows I have seen and helped create over the past
few weeks have served a very different purpose.
These mannequins have raised a chuckle, made people smile in
wonder at the ingenuity of their creators.
They have banished the blues, discouraging the doom and
gloom from stealing away our laughter.
Scaring off the depression that steals our hope.
Frightening the grief from stealing our future.
Am I being too fanciful?
I don’t usually put photos of me on the blog, trying to keep
my anonymity, but today I will make an exception. These are the happiest photos
I have seen of me in a long while. My eyes are once more sparkling and you can clearly
see my delight.
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| Mrs Goggins and her sock hair do! |
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| Ted Glen - the new man in my life? haha |
Maybe I am just in a better place emotionally, the grief and
sadness is no longer as raw as it once was. It eases over time but only if you
unclench your fist and let go of the pain. Slowly, bit by bit the hurt subsides
and looking back you see it is a myriad of tiny happy, proud and hopeful
moments that have got you here.
At last the smile is natural and the joy very real.
