Scarecrows

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.

Mrs Goggins and her sock hair do!

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.