VINTAGE ST. FRANCIS GARDEN STATUE

 

In my father's garden stood a white china statue of St. Francis perched in a small covered house on top of  a pole.  Here St. Francis guarded the entrance to his tilled soil.

 

The house itself looked rather weathered and worn.  Moss had collected on the roof lines.

 

The roof itself was constructed of roof shingles that gave the appearance of a shabby abode.

The statue itself sat on the dowel rod at the base of the house.  Trim work around the base had fallen off and needed to be repaired too.

 

I like the roughness of the house and thought it lent itself to the austere history of St. Francis.

 



With a few minor repairs, this sanctuary could prove to be useful once again.  The broken Plexiglas trim needed to be removed.

Even though the screws were pretty well rusted, a strong arm loosened them.

A bit of wood glue was used around the wooden dowel to make it strong again.  The trim piece on the front was re-nailed.

 

   Upon pulling the statue out, I noticed that there was a bird broken off part of the statue.  Mr. Thrifty was ready to repair the break.

 

He pulled out his adhesive of choice.

With the bird secured in its place, I was ready to proceed.  Strange that it seems that St. Francis' hand is giving the bird a blessing.

 

That was until I saw the chip on the statue's shoulder.  It turns out that the bird belonged on the shoulder, not in the place of the missing hand.  It was too late to remove the newly glued bird because the glue had already dried.  Since the missing hand was unavailable, I would forge ahead and leave the statue as is.  St. Francis loved animals anyway.

 

Before the house was repaired, I placed St. Francis under a glass dome to sit on the foyer table.

 

 

Now that the house was fixed, St. Francis was ready to be placed in the perennial bed.

 

 

St. Francis will now be a permanent fixture in my garden overseeing the flowers and birds.  I am thrilled to be able to keep this fixture at my house as a memory of the past.

When Mr. Thrifty came home from work, I told him about putting the St. Francis outside in the flower bed.  It then came to me.  If the house sits in the soil, it will deteriorate faster.
He suggested using a leftover paver from building the retaining wall.

After taking the paver outside, I dug a hole underneath the house.  I laid the paver in the dirt and set the St. Francis house on top.  Now, the house will be safe.

When I look out the back window every morning, this will be what I see.  How delightful!

 

That is a good thing.