Great Scarecrow Adventure of 2012

For the past two years, I've given you a tour of the stuffed shirts in my hometown.   

While some of the previous scarecrows have made a reappearance, some of them have a different look this year. This year, folks were given another option for inspiration. 

They could choose to decorate with their personal heroes. 

You've already seen Susan B. Scarecrow,

 the female voter.

Here are a few more new ones that you haven't seen. 

It wasn't difficult for the newlywed niece to choose the hero for the bank. 

She just looked across the breakfast table. 

It's Lt. McNephew, her favorite American soldier. 

The bank next door had a different idea. 

 They decided to go with a little school spirit.

And speaking of school spirit, here's a teacher.  

Is it just me, or does anyone else feel like sitting up straight and paying attention? 

This one's kind of tongue in cheek since it's for a local timber buyer. 

It's a tree hugger. 

A reader from the local library. 

And one of my favorite ones of all.

A survivor. 

And that's about all I've got this morning.
 I'll just end with this little gal in front of a local florist.  

I'm not exactly sure what hero she represents.

So I have chosen to name her Debbie,

the meandering motormouth. 

 

Scarecrow  on Wheels

*****
Sharing with  Seasonal Sunday

The Santa Express

I visited the Duchess yesterday 

and took pictures of this year's outdoor decorations.

(That's my mother for those who have asked. 

What? You didn't know I was royalty?)

As I've said, 

her themes are always whimsical

 and designed for children.

This year's theme is 

Santa's Express

The focal point of her decorating is always on her front porch.

 That's were most of the action is.

With a little schedule to make sure 

Santa stops for the family members across the globe.

The porch is the focal point, 

but if you pay close attention, 

the elves on the shelves 

will tell a little story, too.

Apparently, something has happened up above...

Can you tell what it is? 

psst... look at the paint can

And then the hapless elf on the left

More elves on the shelves

The side entrance to the kitchen is the door to Santa's workshop 

where an elf keeps tabs on her grandchildren.

Looks like they've all been pretty good so far.

At night, she adds just enough light.

And yes, I did deliberately capture the blue hour.

 You might recall that I have a blue hour obsession.

So there you have it.  

Merry Whimsical Christmas
from the Duchess

The Great Scarecrow Adventure 2011

Last year at this time, I brought you pictures of the scarecrow invasion in my little  hometown. 

The local downtown development asked folks to 

make scarecrows

representative of

  their businesses.

We had a pretty good sampling. 

You can see more about them HERE...

Out they came,
from an artist at the local gallery
to Freddie Krueger the timber buyer... 

A retired teacher turned shop owner came with a book,
and my niece the  banker brought a pocketful of cash. 

The Scare Mayor welcomed folks to City Hall 

and 

random muppet shoppers lounged on benches.

There was so much more, but you get the drift. And this year, they're all back.  Well, all except the Scare Mayor. This year, the City Manager brought his stuffed shirt to City Hall instead.

Changes and improvements were made elsewhere, too.  

The local market  last year...

and

this year

There were a few additions as well.

Like this aging cowgirl. 

I can't tell if  Granny Oakley is in front of the thrift store
 or just hanging on the street corner.

I hope she's not waiting for this dude. Is is just me, or
 does he sort of look like a scarepimp?

Not to worry, though. This is the Bible Belt.
There's a church on every corner, too.

A gift store

A Pharmacy

A tire store

Now, I happen to know that this man doesn't really look one bit 
like Mr. Potato Head.


However...
 this fresh faced young lawyer really does look like Archie.

And his partner the judge might possibly resemble the Devil...

                                    ...depending on where you're standing at the time.


And that's just about it for now. If you want to read more about it, well...
you'll have to subscribe to the hometown paper. 

What about your hometown? Does it celebrate the season?

*****
I'll be sharing this with The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sunday.

Older Than Dirt

Three cheers for Miss Daisy who figured out the first stop on our great family adventure. Yes indeed, that beach is off the east coast of Florida near the beautiful little city of St. Augustine. 

There was method to the madness, too.  You might recall that both the husband and I are celebrating the Big 5-0 this year. (Actually, he’s already there. I’m planning to be fashionably late…) 

So, we set our sails in search of the Fountain of Youth.  Just call us Mr. and Mrs. Ponce de Leon.

 In full disclosure, we didn’t actually see the mythical fountain.  Oh, we considered it; it just didn’t make the cut. I decided to spend the $40.00 admission price on some really good face cream and vitamins instead.

We were more interested in visiting the old city.  

When I say old, I really mean it.

St. Augustine is the oldest European settlement in the US. It was founded as a Spanish mission in 1565

There’s so much to see!  Every family has its own peculiar taste, and ours leans to the historical, especially in the form of living history.

  That’s why we headed into the old Spanish Quarter.

It was here that we encountered this fellow. He was busy with the militia, preparing the defense against the most dreaded of invaders...

…those Protestants from Georgia.

uh- oh…
mums the word

He was among the best historical interpreters I’ve ever seen, entertaining us on the origin of phrases like and going off half cocked and flash in the pan.  

I love stuff like that. I’m a word person ya know. 

We ventured from spot to spot and house to house, and I’m proud to report that I can still embarrass my daughters by wearing a dopey delighted smile and asking twenty questions.

Go, Mom...

One house was Spanish. 

Another was the oldest English home in the area.

Here, interpreters played the roles of a married couple who bantered back and forth throughout the house. I laughed all the way through the tour.

Which means that either I'm very easily amused 

or they were very amusing 

I think it’s both.

I highly recommend it.  

There was so much more, but let's face it. As far as vacation pictures go, a little goes a long way. I may be blonde, but I'm not dumb. You're just going to have to visit St. Augustine for yourselves.

OK, just one more. Anyone want to guess what this is? 

On to the next leg of our Florida adventure. So long, St. Augustine. Time to venture forth in the quest for the fountain of youth.  Now, where in the world could that be?

Sharing this with Decor To Adore for
Wayfaring Wednesday

Which, by the way, is a great idea for a party. 

Don't Blink!

Or you'll miss the pink.

That's how it feels, anyway,  for pink lovers who live in the Land of the Ten Day Spring. You see, for about two weeks around this time of year, the south turns into a Pink Paradise. Azaleas of every shade imaginable burst into bloom in perfect concert with the flowering dogwoods.

It. is. beautiful.
 It's also fleeting.

And this year, I nearly missed it.

Meaning, of course, that I almost missed capturing it with the shiny red Kodak.

We had an early spring in these parts. The pear trees bloomed two full weeks earlier than usual, and it looked as if our dogwoods and azaleas were on the same fast track.  I had the Kodak poised and ready, but then... it started to rain.

                 And it rained...
                                              and rained...
                                                                     and rained some more.

Any days that weren't rainy were cold and gloomy.  I tried to capture it anyway, but the pink exposion just doesn't pop against gloomy gray.

See?

I was about to give up hope, when I woke up this morning, and the sun was shining, just in the nick of time. Too bad the drama in the above photo was already gone. As I said, don't blink.

Never fear, though. There are plenty more yet blooming around here.

Since you've already seen the pear tree view from my front porch, I thought you might want to see  the pink explosion in the piney stick forest.

I'd like to see a pink explosion in the piney stick forest too. Unfortunately, that's not our piney stick forest. Ours has exactly one azalea, and it's already droopy. Who wants to see a droopy azalea?

Instead, I took a little tour around town
stopping traffic and crouching in bushes at will
to bring you the azaleas of 2011.


That hot pink azalea is my favorite shade of all,

but it's certainly not the only shade.

There's a purply pink magenta

And this varigated one

And this medium pink, 
which isn't even the lightest shade of azalea.

 There's a pastel one that hasn't fully bloomed yet.

It has huge blossoms, just like those white ones.

The lighter the color, the bigger the blossoms seem to be.

White azaleas flank the lawn of the local botantical garden.

There's a wedding here today. Won't it be lovely?

Here they have native azaleas, too...

Kind of freaky looking, aren't they?

I think I prefer the more common  kind.

As for the dogwoods, I'm just the opposite.

While I love the lacey white ones,

my favorite ones are the less common pinks.

Have you ever seen anything more lovely?

I don't think I have.
I think the pink dogwood gets the grand prize.

*****
I'm sharing this with the gals at Pink Saturday.
And since pink azaleas and dogwoods are some of  my favorite things,
I'm bopping on over to Bargain Hunting and Chatting with Laurie
  for her  Favorite Things party as well.

Just call me a party girl today.