Scarecrows and Roses

The third weekend in October brings a dilemma here. The small but fashionable village below us on our mountain holds its annual Scarecrow Festival while we are holding the last weekend of our Festival of Fragrance. We all juggle lunch times at Honeysuckle Cottage so that we can be part of both festivals. Kurrajong Village, which is an exceptionally photogenic village on the edge of the range, with antique shops, lolly shops, sensible shops and a real village feel, not to mention two great restaurants, is crowded for the weekend with traffic barely managing 5 km/hr and scarecrows sprout from everywhere including surrounding farms. We created scarecrows for several years including an exceedingly elegant colonial lady and a disreputable pumpkin headed man and arranged them at the entrance to the nursery. But so many passing drivers were startled into near accidents that we gave up.

The main event is in the village park. This time misty rain was falling for much of the day getting heavier as the afternoon wore on but no-one seemed deterred. A best dressed dog competition was not to be missed. A small poodle in a pink ballet dress performed a graceful little number, whirling around on neat paws and walked away with a prize. A large boxer dog looked suitably embarrassed in satin boxer shorts with a pair of boxing gloves slung around his neck, a Great Dane played horse to a scaled down scarecrow... but perhaps a discreet veil should be drawn on the rest. Between damp coats, dissolving makeup and dripping outfits I'm sure they would rather forget about the whole thing.

Meanwhile back at Honeysuckle Cottage we continued to dispense complimentary herb and cheese scones, coffees and teas, hand out welcoming tussie mussies, give talks, conduct garden walks, distribute newsletters and give garden advice until it was almost too dark to see and rain had set in. The fragrance of honeysuckle, heritage roses and thousands of herbs was still fresh and sweet on the air after weeks of totally unseasonal wind and heat. We retired to put our feet up with hot coffee and a batch of banana and honey muffins from the oven. We probably looked like the scarecrows with dripping hair and sagging shirts but on the whole I think the dogs, the scarecrows and their admirers, and the visitors to our fragrance festival all voted it a great day.

You may enjoy my book on medieval gardens and how to create them: 'In A Unicorn's Garden' (Murdoch Books). If so please check it out on Amazon.com or the UK Amazon site. Bye from Oz.