A Humanesque Canon Ball

At the school house

Buffalo Bill's wild west and rough riders

Up at the tipis, anyone can ride bareback.

A Spectacular Strong Man

The strong man at Mill Cottage

Juggling and plate spinning and smiling up at corranbeg

A seal performing outside the village shop

A glamorous stilt walker

The Trapeze Artist

The fantabulous trapeze artist at Moine Ruadh. If you want to hang out with this guy, you'll need to look hard.  This one is for the serious scarecrow bagger. There are two routes  to get there. 1) go to craobh road end and head towards craobh haven. Take the second left and head up the track about half a mile all the way past the barn to the house at the edge of the woods.
Or
2) from Ardfern, head up the lunga track and cut off to the right through the felled forest area. Keep going Straight on for about two miles, head through a little woodland until you get to the house.

He's a masterpiece waiting to be discovered.

Sergei The Incredible

Sergei The Incredible.
Follow the signs from the bin near the red telephone box  opposite The Galley if you want to visit him in his caravan. Be warned, though, don't say 'da,' if he challenges you to an arm wrestling or a vodka drinking competition

You can be anything you want to be.........

Reaching the village, turning the corner, our friend discovered something he had not been looking for. Scarecrow love is that special kind that sneaks up on you from behind and makes you believe you can be anything you want to be.

And so ........

Rest and be thankful

Roads, like ambition, can creep as well as soar. As he reached the top of the Rest, by the long low road, the runner noticed the higher road was blocked with traffic lights, lorries, caravans....... and sheep. Little stubborn, filthy sheep who insisted on hanging about in the verges of that miserable highway, content it seemed to eke out a living among the oil soiled grasses, and the petrol fumes, rather than head downhill where the air was clear and the grass safe.
How curious it was, then, that both roads led to exactly the same place anyway.
And in that place, our friend stopped to rest. He was still heading west, just like the heavy horse told him, but  there was no sign, yet, of the particular kind of circus he had hoped for.

Glasgow

 

On the far bank of the river, a shipyard pretended to be a carnival. The runner stopped and, with the sun in his eyes, he listened to the hammer and the hum. In the dark  fire-work scented pavillions, air craft carriers were being built. Some  people still found work and worried about finding work tomorrow.
"... And there will be no hooliganism," he thought he heard some one say, " there will be no vandalism, there will be no bevvying"
The runner turned around to look for the source of the voice but there was no-one. 
"Who said that?"
But there was no-one there to answer.
A rat ran across the paved walkway and slipped into the water.
A cloud moved in front of the sun and the runner knew it was time get going if he wanted to hit the open road before night fall.

Bracken Surfing - Everyone is doing it!. If you want a demonstration of the latest Argyll craze , head for Ach Na Caltainn. From Ardfern, head along the loch and turn up at the Goose Farm. Through two cattle grids and you're just about there. If you fancy trying you're hand at this extreme sport you'll need to supply your own board and find the best surf spot - Craignish Coastline is perfect for this new pastime - Forget Machrihanish - From now on, surfing on waves is like hot beer (totally not cool).

The Queen of Hearts she made some tarts all on a summer's day;
The Knave of Hearts he stole the tarts and took them clean away.
The King of Hearts called for the tarts and beat the Knave full sore
The Knave of Hearts brought back the tarts and vowed he'd steal no more.

Saturday - first day of the trail. Over on the Lunga side of the peninsula there seems to be a shortage of scarecrows. Down at Phil and Becky's Walled Garden, the mystery is solved. Like a scene from tales of the unexpected, on the gravel pile, between the forsaken cars, a queen conceals itself. Seemingly trapped by those striped legs, anchored by the honeycomb, is an unwitting scarecrow - whose scarecrow is he and what is to become of him? Lets hope the creature doesn't make its way across to Ardfern or down to Buidhe Island or we're all doomed! Are the bees revolting and giving us a taste of our own medicine - frankly who would blame them?

Friday - The relay - worth running home for - A beautiful day, a beautiful village full of beautiful people.

The naked runner took a deep, happy breath, his race was over and now there was nothing left to do but to pass his blog baton on to all the other magnificent scarecrows that were gathered around him.

Late Thursday, as darkness fell on this the eve of the relay race, no doubt, in warm bathrooms and bedrooms all over the peninsula final preparations were taking place. Muscles need massaging, skin needs oiled, fig leaves need checking for size, tans need topped up, beauty needs sleep. The naked runner felt completely alone in the cold and dark of the Argyll night. He found solace in one thought: if he could just keep going, in fifteen short hours, he would tie up with these heroes of the beaten track. He would set his foot in line with their proud strides, he would share their wind.

They're coming! Marching to the beat of the drum!

Gradually all over the peninsula from Craobh to the Castle at Craignish and back the scarecrows are rising and standing proud as if they are hearing the call of a distant drum or thinking of the taste of the amber nectar.  I tried catching Clare's naked runner today but he was having none of it.  Running away down the side of the loch, looking like a man on a mission.  I still think he must be Hermes.

Hermes in the distance

A wander up to Mandy Hamptons and there I was met by the wonderful sight of a group of bees buzzing happily in the corner of her garden.  The Queen (Greek Gods and Queens the poster said) surrounded by her workers.  You can tell which one is the queen because she is wearing her crown.  Mandy is a little worried about them because she is going away for a week and so they will be a little neglected family.  She was thinking that perhaps they could be looked after as a community project.  Anyone going past Mandy's could have a quick look to make sure they're OK on their way past if they don't mind.

Across the other side of the peninsula to Craobh water sports and the first of the scarecrows over this side.  Apparently there is a hidden gem on Craignish, hadn't met him before but he is a nice man and his input to the two scarecrows here seems fantastic.  They have two scarecrows.  One which represents Poseidon is to go and stand at the road end in his boat.  With his trident and string beard he is the imposing figure that I imagine Poseidon to be.

But perhaps the creature I like the best (family failing) from Greek Mythology is Kobalos.  Not a god but a sprite.  Mischievous and dedicated to tricking and deceiving mortals Greek myths depict the kobaloi as "impudent, thieving, droll, idle, mischievous, gnome-dwarfs"  Helen and Mark have got one, and he's going on their roof, probably one of the highest set scarecrow of any.  He's just little but I like him.

Surfing Kobalos

 This is getting to be such good fun. I think the scarecrows listened to me yesterday.  All we need now is for the gods to keep smiling on Ardfern and allow us to have fantastic weather for a little while. 

OR MAYBE I SHOULDN'T TEMPT FATE.

Come out, come out wherever you are

My dog is getting so fed up with me.  He used to love to walk in the rain, particularly if it was relatively warm rain, but now he's getting old.  He much prefers to stay at home but I need him to come with me on my scarecrow hunts.  I think I found something hiding today. 

Down towards Barfad behind a gate is a dolphin.  Greeks liked dolphins, they had statues and drawings of them all over the place and they always thought that they were the helpers of mankind.  Dionysus turned a group of Etruscan pirates into dolphins so that they could help sailors when they were needed.  I don't know if the dolphin behind the gate is an Etruscan pirate or if he is even going to be a scarecrow, I'll keep an eye on him and let you know.  He is definitely rather lovely.

 

So I hunted all day to try and find evidence of more scarecrow building, without success.  Later on in the evening I headed for Kilmartin and joy of joys what should I find but a wonderful scarecrow at the hall.  Dressed in blue, speedo helmet and triathlon medal.  Neptune diving into the ocean surrounded by shells and seaweed, who else could have built it than our resident athletes who live at the top of the hill.  It's great.  

On my way to Kilmartin I tried to see Hermes, but he was wet and miserable so he asked me not to take his photo until tomorrow night when Clare has taken him to dry out and feel more comfortable.  Winged feet aren't any comparison to wellies.

The whole village is beginning to feel the build of excitement coming up to the festival.  The hall is dressed with bunting and looking really festive.  

Heading towards the festival everyone is working really hard I have been told.  I just wish I could find some naked scarecrows.  

Come out, come out wherever you are!

I didn't lurk very successfully

Well I wandered round the village all day.  I found one gorgeous scarecrow, but I don't know who she is meant to be and I can't speak to her builder until later.  This is she.  You can't see her head, but it is there and she has a gorgeous red flower on it.  She is wearing jewels and a green scarf.  No prizes for guesses but do you know who she could be?

 I also found Demeter (or Ceres as she was called by the Romans) who is the Goddess of Agriculture and she was standing in the rain clutching her representative cornucopia of grasses.  She is wearing a crown of wheat and corn too. She has a very smiley face, and she seems to be gazing into the distance towards the harvest time.  Perhaps she could be looking for Persephone (her daughter) who she was often pictured with.   

I went on a hunt for Clair's naked runner, but the dog decided I was too wet and he wasn't going any further.  I am sure he is getting nearer to the village, I think he must be Hermes.  The wings on his feet will ensure he gets here when he needs to, to find his small running partner near the yacht centre.  By the way, did you know that Hermes is responsible for inventing the alphabet?  I like that, but he also invented numbers.  Schoolchildren may have quite a few reasons to dislike him.

I will need to try and lurk again tomorrow and hope I find a few more.  I'm having fun being nosy hope you don't mind.

I'm going to be lurking.

In the village the workers toiled to make their scarecrows.  Greek Gods and Queens the poster which was the invitation to this years scarecrow trail trumpeted.  OK, I thought, I can do that, I can put clothes on an inanimate object and turn it into a scarecrow.  

Greek Gods are easy, there’s so many of them.  There are Titans and Olympians who are the main Gods and Goddesses and then lots of minor ones.   Greek Queens? Well perhaps the most notable of these was Helen of Troy – not properly Greek, but you could do a scarecrow surrounded by a thousand ships, especially in Ardfern.

 The more I thought about it the more I panicked.   I have as much artistic ability as a bull in a china shop and very little imagination.  I can’t build anything, but I can say what I see

 So, I thought, I know, I’m going to chase around the scarecrow trail and take a nosy at all the scarecrows being built and put photos of them on here at build stages.  What’s going to be interesting is if we can guess what they are going to be.  

The most obvious one for all at the moment is the one outside Julie’s.  She has dressed a tree in a white chiton.  It has arms but no head yet, she says she is going to be a beautiful Goddess.  As one of the higher echelons of the Olympians it is likely that she could be Hera or Athena, but she doesn’t have a name yet.

The chiton has a lacy top and is  going to have a gold belt.  Wearing gold accessories all she lacks is the sandals, but at least she is firmly planted on the ground.

Bruce has started to build the most amazing creature ever.  I’m not going to tell you what it is yet though, it will spoil the surprise.  Suffice it to say it’s got lots of necks and five people work in the shop.  It promises to be quite a heady monster. 

Clare’s naked runner keeps on going and his story is unique and descriptive .  I will catch him at some point and interview him about his history and why he is running  Til then I know chiton sounds rude but it was definitely a form of greek dress.  I hope you don’t mind  me turning up at your scarecrow you will be within your rights to tell me to leave

HAVE FUN ALL YOU CLEVER TALENTED PEOPLE!