A friend recently gave me a bunch of flowers with a weird assortment of lilies, gerberas and chrysanthemums, none of which really went with each other. Aesthetically-speaking, I couldn't bear to put them in the same vase but thought I'd try floating these completely unmatching gerberas in a bowl. As I recently said about Swiss geraniums, I don't much like pink and red together; and I don't like orange at all, anywhere - I have no orange flowers in my garden. But somehow these three together almost work. I wouldn't like the combination in a cushion or curtains. But as a temporary vaseful - just about all right.
From which important announcement you may deduce that nothing much is happening around here.
Being the age we are, alas, we've been to a few funerals recently - and this must have been on my mind because last night I dreamt about going to another one. I'm not sure who the deceased was, but in the dream my attention was focused on the order of service. Nowadays, orders of service often have more than one photo of the person who's died, usually a younger and an older one. We did this for both of my parents - after all, what age is the real you? (as I've pondered before). The two most recent funerals we've attended have featured multiple photos with other family members in them too. So in my dream I went a bit further: the order of service had a link to click on which gave a message recorded for the purpose by the departed (prior to departure).
The congregation would all have to have tablets, or whatever, to download the document but I'm sure it's a matter of time. Should I patent the idea now? And what would you say in your message? And how emotional would that make the funeral?
I love those bright flowers - the colours are very tropical, aren't they! I don't want my family to have a funeral when I'm gone, or a 'celebration of my life' which seems to be the latest thing......I want them to have a jolly good farewell party for me.
ReplyDeleteIt would absolutely slay them wouldn't it - a heartfelt message from you direct to camera with some fabulous music slowly swelling in the background (I'm thinking violins) and then freezeframe on you laughing and looking slightly off to the side ... not a dry eye in the house. Not that I've thought about my funeral much :)
ReplyDelete70+ folk often record stories from their lives onto tape for their grandchildren to listen to - life in the "Old Days".
ReplyDeleteA few years ago I went to a funeral where, completely unannounced, the voice of the decesased was played, loud and clear, telling a particular tale.
It was a very odd experience indeed!
Love the picture, Lynley - and Veg - aaaaahhhhhggggg!
ReplyDeleteI love those colors together -- I just saw them all together (with other colors too) and some pretty quilts.
ReplyDeleteIt's common at funerals here, to have a big board with lots of photos of the deceased over the course of their lifetime. Or, in some funeral homes, they'll run a video of all the pictures. It only makes sense that it will eventually move to iPads. You're brilliant! (Do you think, perhaps someday, everyone will just tune into the funeral on their ipad and no one will really show up???)
I've come round more and more to all kinds of clashing reds and pinks and oranges, and if you're going to do it, it's better to have a whole load of different variants of the same colour together than just two, it seems to balance out the clash somehow. I usen't to like orange, having grown up in the seventies when very flat dull orange and brown were everywhere, and I think one tends to dislike the colours and fashions of one's early youth. Now though I rather like it, though I'd be careful about wearing it, there are some really good ones about, as well as English marigolds - how can you dislike those? Modern Latvian and Lithuanian knitting puts some really rich mustard yellows, orange, olive greens and deep pinks together on small items like mittens, rather like your gerberas, and they look stunning. I agree though that certain flowers really shouldn't go together, it's more about texture than colour I think.
ReplyDeleteNot sure about the pre-recorded message, sounds like it might be a bit sinister. At the funeral of an elderly friend here who died a little while ago there was a recording of her reading her poems playing in the church. I was used to hearing these, so it didn't seem strange, a bit like if she'd been a singer or musician and they were playing her recordings, it wasn't too direct. Her son said afterwards he'd found it a bit difficult though.
Sorry, I meant Latvian and Estonian, Lithuanians don't seem to knit as much...
ReplyDeleteOh dear, funerals. I think I'd like mine to be image-hyperlink free. No band or Powerpoint or coloured ties. I'd just like the quiet space of own thought. maybe I'd like a Quaker service, I have thought.
ReplyDeleteI do, however, adore that colour combination! I've long wanted to crochet something in hot pink, orange and red....