Right Here on our Street!

Some of the residents in Meaford really get into the spirit of the scarecrow festival too.  Right here on our own street we have a number of bright sparks that have led the way!

Right at the end of the street, in the cul-de-sac, is an entire family.

Next door are a couple of the small commercial scarecrows, but they're done up in a nice display.

Another home got really creative with a wheelbarrow, the handles done up in boots, and a pumpkin for a head.

A pair of big pumpkin-heads.

A life-size figure outside another.

And this couple was my favourite; it's right next door.

A

Hanging by the Harbour

 One of the favourite places to post some scarecrows is along the edge of the hargour, hanging from the light standards.  Here it must be both a lot of work and a lot of fun for the people hanging them up!  These don't need much explanation. 

Once you get down to the museum and beyond, the light standards only have one light, so the scarecrows hang a little differently.

Here against the backdrop of the stored sailboats.

And since I was sown at the harbour, with the very blue waters of Georgian Bay in the background, I took a selfie.  I obviously need to get a selfie stick so these are not just close-ups of my head!

si

More Scarecrows!

Here is round two of the scarecrows in downtown Meaford.  I'll just comment on a couple of these.

There was a sign beside this one that said he was Gordon Lightfoot, the famous Canadian troubadour, who has sung in Meaford Hall in the past.

And this wasn't a scarecrow at all, but a pet stuffed goose that a photographer had along to pose in pictures!

More in the next post!

The Scarecrow Invasion is Here!

Every year Meaford has a fall Scarecrow Festival, and it's here now.  Scarecrows dot the downtown and are clustered in groups, large and small.  Here's the first group of photos, enjoy them and imagine the number of volunteer hours that go into creating them!

I came upon volunteers putting some of the scarecrows in place, with two still lying on the ground.  I couldn't help myself, I blurted "are they dead!"

This fellow in intended to be Gordon Lightfoot, who played in the Meaford Hall several times in the past.

And at the corner of Sykes and Collingwood St. is the big party!

More to come.  But sorry I'm having enormous difficulty with my computer which has clogged up and is operasting VERY slowly most of the time!

Colour in the Garden un September

 Even though it's now October, we have plenty of colourful flowers in the garden at this time of year.  Here's a collection for your enjoyment.  There seems to be an orange and pink thing going on here.

This is a bright orange Calendula, sometimes known as a pot marigold.

This Mexican Sunflower just keeps on blooming.  For a couple of weeks it was favoured by our Monarch butterflies.

Just a Marigold of sorts, but its bright orange blooms have ben looking great for at least two months now.

We have a big patch of white and pink Cosmos.

And one of my favourites, the Fall Anemones.

Finally, I just love the seedheads of this Clematis.  The flowers on this one are very small, so these seedheads are better than the flowers!

J

September Days

 We've had glorious days here in late September, and I've been out and about as a result, both at home and further afield.  That is until today!  It's raining and I'm stuck inside.

Down in the harbour it was looking sunny and bright.

The sailing school was getting packed up for another season.  All the boats have been stored inside, soon the docks will coe out.

Beyond the harbour I had a good view of Cape Rich across the blue waters of the bay.

In the spaces where it could, New England Aster was blooming, the last of the summer wildflowers., and one I look for every year.

Here at home the past several weeks have been devoted to canning and seed gathering.  These red peppers were canned shortly after the picture.

The garden, at least the view out the living room window, is turning green again, with the spreading hosta leaves dominating.

But a few flowers still disrupt the green, among them some Canna Lilies.  Can you spot this yellow one in the picture above?

A few red Zinnias and a white Phlox are new to the back garden this year.  And that's an overview of our lives these September days.

In Memory of the Children.

Today we stop and remember those indigenous children who were forced to attend residential schools here in Canada.  For over 100 years children were removed from scattered indigenous communities (forcibly if necessary) so they could be stripped of the culture and language, 'beatting the Indian out of the child'.  Several thousand died in the process and were buried in unmarked graves.

The story I remember, the story that makes today 'Orange Shirt Day', came from Phyllis Webstad, of the Dog Creek reserve in northern B.C.  Like many 6 year olds, she was excited to attend her first day of school, and her grandmother had purchased a bright orange shirt for her to wear.  But when she arrived at the school she was stripped, bathed, and her long hair shaved off.  She was not allowed to speak her own language.  Presumably all the clothing was burned.

It took Phyllis 40 years and years of therapy before she spoke out about this, which she did at a gathering in 2013.  The image immediately caught on, and the orange shirt became a symbol, while 'Every Child Matters' became the slogan.  I have loved this image since I first saw it.  The federal government formalized this as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation/

 So take a moment to remember, not only the children who died, but the thousands more who lost their culture, language and connections to family.because of the residential school system.