"Self-sufficiency does not mean 'going back' to the acceptance of a lower standard of living. On the contrary, it is the striving for a higher standard of living, for food that is organically grown and good, for the good life in pleasant surroundings... and for the satisfaction that comes from doing difficult and intricate jobs well and successfully." John Seymour ~ Self Sufficiency 2003

Saturday 21 January 2012

Blockhead

Cleaning out cupboards towards the end of last year resulted in a bag of clothing past it's time.  Too scruffy to give away, too scruffy to wear - except for gardening.  But how many gardening outfits does one need...?  So, what to do with them?


Put them on a scarecrow :)  We had the clothes, we had schlepped along a couple of bales of straw from town (out in the country now, they mainly produce e-n-o-r-m-o-u-s round strawbales - finding normal, small rectangular ones was quite a search, but never tell me I can't do / make / try something...nothing I love more than a mission LOL) and Rman had the (recycled) wood from the auction to make the frame...


...RMan got busy making the frame - too busy, as he discovered.  Trying to put clothing on a rigid structure wasn't wasn't easy, so a couple of pieces temporarily got unscrewed to complete the task...


MKid also got involved clothing the object - and, trust me, it was a really hot day to be bothering with such things.  But they persisted.
Then MKid was tasked with drawing a face.  Not being tall enough yet to stand next to it to do the job, why not lie it down on the ground, and just sit on it's chest?
The red t-shirt was left loosely flapping in the breeze - to help scare away the birds which ate all our grapes...
When we asked MKid why the scarecrow had tears running down his face, he said, "Because he's too hot"!  Gotta love that kid!
And, why is he called blockhead?  Well, we did, initially, name him after our neighbour, CGuy, because their middle girth is about the same.  But RMan had constructed such a thick neck that his head and neck became one big square feature.  So, Blockhead he is!


Who cares - as long as he keeps the birds away :)

18 comments:

  1. How cute! Hope he does a good job. And the tears-what a good idea. I hate hot weather too!

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    1. Sue - Likewise. Gimme a nice winter's day anytime...

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  2. I hope he works for you. I have fearless birds here, they most likely would eat the scarecrow ;)

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  3. How fun!!

    We also save the tins from our canned goods and attach them around each garden bed, as the breezes cause the tins to clink like a door chime.


    I love using items that are often slated for the garbage for something else!

    Have a great day!
    Jennifer

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    1. Jennifer - LOL - If we strung tins up with the wind that we have constantly blowing on the farm I reckon we wouldn't get much sleep. I've tried hanging old CD's as well - we'll just have to wait and see...

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  4. Nice looking scarecrow. Hope it does the trick.

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  5. David - Time will tell, LOL - time will tell...

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  6. You don't see a good scarecrow anymore. I love that. Once I get our gardens up, I just might try my hand at a scarecrow of some sort. Keep us posted how it works, you might just inspire more "blockheads" around the world! :-)

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    1. Ist Man - LOLOLOL Blockheads of the world unite!

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  7. What a great use of those scrubby clothes! I'm on a quick trip to town .. need to use the internet for a bit .. our home one is DOWN and soon to be replaced. It's lonely without my blog friends! I'm keeping this idea for our summer garden :)

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    1. Mrs Mac - Be warned, making a scarecrow becomes a family event... LOL

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  8. Hi from the meet and greet! I adore your header image; where was it taken? Your scarecrow reminds me of something I learned the other day. We've just started keeping chickens and foxes can be a problem over here. Apparently if you make a scarecrow and dress it in clothes worn by, how shall we put it - ummm, a man who has been sweating a bit and perhaps not changed his clothes for a couple of days! then the smell of the guys clothes on the scarecrow tricks the fox into thinking there are people around, so they leave the chickens alone! Not sure if it's that simple to trick a fox but I thought it was a neat story to share :)

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  9. Mrs Green - Welcome :) The header image was taken on our smallholding last winter.

    Thankfully, we don't have a fox problem - but I would be very interested to hear if "sweaty" clothing works... :)

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  10. What a clever use for old, unwearable clothes! :-) Hopefully, Blockhead will do a fine job of protecting your harvest!

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  11. Love it! What a great way to reuse your old clothing!

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    1. Katie - Welcome - and thank you :) Yup, I reckon it's better than tossing them in the trash.

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