Eddie the Eagle (shhh, don't tell him he's really a duck!) has had a rough time recently.
Firstly the squirrels took a fancy to him and ate his tail. Then the birds pecked off his varnish and left little holes all over his back. And finally he performed a poor ski jump, fell of the roof of the summer house and broke his leg:
He's a family favourite so we didn't want to lose him. Instead I decided to give him a complete makeover. First I filled up all the peck marks and re-built his tail with wood filler, then sanded it smooth:
Then I painted him with Cuprinol Garden Shades:
A bit of woodglue repaired his broken leg, and he's now happily skiing down the summerhouse roof again:
I have sprayed him with "squirrel stop" (a harmless but unpleasant mix of water and hot pepper) and I'm hoping the paint will prove less attractive to birds than the varnish did, so that he can enjoy a few years of skiing before I have to fix him again.