Flowers And Birds

After dropping grand-daughter off at school this morning, I drove across town to visit Hamilton Gardens once again.  A new garden, the Picturesque Garden, was opened on Monday and I especially wanted to see it.  However, arriving early at the Gardens meant I was able to avoid the crowds and so I wandered around a lot more and thought I would write about what I saw today.  I will post about the new garden tomorrow.

There was a peacock making a dreadful noise in the Herb Garden.

The scarecrow in the Sustainable Backyard has been changed from the one I talked about a few days ago.  I don't think this one is nearly as nice.

There were frogs croaking in the waters of the Tropical Garden, but they were not visible.

White Fantail Pigeons were making reflections in the Japanese Garden Of Contemplation.

Delphiniums were flowering in the English Garden.

Foxgloves were under the trees on the edge of the Rhododendron Lawn.

Pink, white and yellow water-lilies are in full bloom on Turtle Lake.

Three different families of ducklings were taking an outing under Mama Duck’s chaperonage.

Altogether, I had a lovely morning strolling around the Gardens.  I hope your day has gone well too.

Back tomorrow,
Margaret.

Scarecrow Festival

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.

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! 

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.

"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!

"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.

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.

Calendar page for November 2019

Be kind to your birds,

Margaret.