scarecrows

Hope I haven’t kept you awake at night wondering what could possibly have been an even better discovery at Green Animals Topiary Gardens than the privet elephant, lion, and giraffe (I did know, after all, to expect that menagerie). Lured by the impressive array of vegetables (artichokes in New England!!) I followed the garden path that wended its way through bean trellises and melon mounds when I spied–was it the gardener at work?

and his lovely family?

These splendiforous scarecrows were carved by that lovely son-in-law, George Mendonca, whom I mentioned in my last post. Now, this is a man for me! Were it not for the fact that I already have an excellent man for a husband and for the fact that Mr. Mendonca is deceased, I would definitely consider marrying him. I realize those two caveats are not trivial, but really–a skilled gardener AND scarecrow carving man is hard to find!

Alice Brayton, daughter of the original estate owner, Thomas Brayton, bequeathed the whole property, scarecrows and all, to the Preservation Society of Newport Country who is doing a darned good job keeping these garden folk in fresh clothing.

Well, purple and gray are not the most complimentary colors for her complexion but she is not one to complain.

A church going woman, if ever there was one. Do not use swear words around her or you’ll get your mouth washed out with soap.

The toupee is not fooling anyone, but still, hair loss at this young age is hard to accept.

This child is not popular at school, but he’s got a pure heart and adults love him.

OK, the real reason that I had to do a separate post for these scarecrows is that I have a couple images from random scarecrow sightings that I wanted to stick in a post.

This Shaker woman is in the lovely garden at the Enfield, NH Shaker Museum. Her arms are getting oh, so tired. I could not bear to show you her face–it was not a pretty sight.

And lastly, at the Campbell Folk School in the foothills of the Smokies, a mountain man who’s lost his trousers (another great approach for scaring the birds away)