The day, the swallows are leaving ...

Next stop maybe North Africa ....

The last few mornings I knew something is going to happen soon .... the swallows are leaving.

It is always an exciting day in spring - usually early/mid April when one of us spots the first swallow. 

It feels like greeting old friends or visitors: 'they are back - did you see the swallows'? Sure everybody was seeing that first swallow before anybody else. 

During the summer they keep very busy. In all three sheds they maintain their nests, Renovations going on first and then after a while you see that bit of little head and tail sticking out and you know they are hatching - great news!

To be honest I don't know, why they decide to rare their offsprings in our sheds, because the cats are a permanent thread to them. But we had years without cats, which seems to be like an open invitation for rats. 

Throughout the summer we develop a close relationship - the swallows and the two permanent human residents.We hear ( they are very chatty little birds ) and see them flying in and out and we have to make sure not to close them out of the shed over night. Even with poultry we have to take the risk that there is some window that far open that they can fly in and out comfortably.  There is some form of communication evident, because whenever the cats are near or they feel in danger they start attacking them and giving out to them in such a manner, that we become aware of it and check it out. Often we find the culprit high on a timber beam trying to 'fly' or just starring onto the nest, which surely cant be reached. The parent birds are usually flying around them in an attacking mood and with  a bit of imagination you can hear them shouting ' will you just get the fuck out of here' - excuse the language, Anton, our red young Ginger, tried to be very clever and took his chance to reach the nest over the open door. Once left opened after letting out the goats he got very near of their fragile muddy home-place. But once more the transfer of important information seemed to work, as I just found out in time and from that moment it was high priority to keep that door shut. One year there were to many youngsters in the nest and just before they had their first flying lessons, they seemed to pushed each other out. So we kept the ladder near and  had to check regularly a few to make sure we were faster then any predator or a goats-foot stepping on them. 

This year was a very productive season, as they had two rounds and rared so many young swallow like never before. 

my camera cant catch enough of the excitement

So today is the day - the summer is over and those precious visitors leave their oval shaped clay home at the shed walls and seem to reward me with an spectacular display of their flying skills. More and more swallows gather and the airshow takes off. It seems like they had chosen the Telephone wire between Pat's cottage and our home as a gathering point.

it seems like the swallow collection hot-spot

I have to admit that it is a touching moment when they all had fled their nest and are now ready to leave ( any comparison with two members of our family is pure accidental). 

Just while writing this blog I come to the conclusion that there are advantages by living a bit on the remote side. Especially when you find yourself standing in your yard, waving at the sky and shouting 'good bye - have a safe journey! Cant wait to see you next spring again.!'

Even though my neighbors wouldn't be to surprised by now anyway.

Look who is in the 'Good Bye Waving Delegation' - Anton and Lucy

So tell me, when are your swallows leaving?   

In loving memory

Loosing some loved one is a very sad experience.

a selection of wilderness from around my home, which will be soon in Germany ... they loved our heather 

Funerals, anniversaries of  loved ones and sympathy flowers for grieving relatives are a core business of every florist. Over those last 35 years I had to deal with a lot of sad and distressed people on a very regular base. You are never really prepared for it and often it just breaks your heart to witness so much pain. There are moments where all what you can do is just shed a tear with your customer, hold or hug them and it can be hard to stay 'professional'. A funeral is only the beginning of a long process of trying to find a way of living without that loved person.

Even if you try to understand that pain, it only hits you fully when you loose a close family member yourself. Exactly a year ago  I found myself together with my sisters once more on the other side of the counter in our floristshop in our hometown of Dinkelscherben. We tried to order something appropriate for our beautiful Mama. We just wanted something special for her, something which reflected her love of Nature and flowers .... .

'unserer lieben Mama' - a large variation of sesonal flowers

The 6 Grandchildren's planted wreath

 

beautiful planted arrangement from my friends in Ireland

Like for my Dad I had the desire to do something very authentic for her funeral. My experience over the years was, that you get great consolation and even healing out of the fact that you arrange something very personal  yourself for your deceased family member. A lot of memory-stirring would be involved in that ... what person was your Mum or Dad or brother or sister, child or husband and wife .... . What love or passion did they have, what was their favorite place in the garden, their preferred color, their most loved flower. Memories might hurt, when you bring them up, but they also might put a smile on your face every now and then.
Over decades coffin sprays have been arranged in whites, creams and greens. Lilies and Roses, carnations and chrysanthemums .... .
My Mum wasn't the type of a person and so wasn't my Dad. They were country people, who didn't grow that type of flowers. To get some ideas going, I did go down memory lane, as I strolled for hours all along those forest paths, over fields and meadows, where they brought us when we were little and where we brought them when their hairs had gone grey. My Mum had a great passion for hedgerows - as you do - mainly because they provided a home to much wildlife. All those berries were food for birds and those thorny bushes shelters for their nests. But also mammals could use them as a safe corridor without being exposed to any predators.
Soon I had a picture of the coffin spray established in my mind, which could have done justice to reflect her spirit.
It involved sunflowers, lots of sunflowers, which I harvested on a field nearby, along with some colorful gladioli... and berries of all kinds ... but mainly rosehips, as she liked her rosehip tea infusion and I loved their flowing movement from a florists point of view. Combined with some foliage from her garden, which might even act as a small personal message, and the wild greenery and twigs from my walk I created a happy and lively looking coffinspray.

the parents favorite place - under the apple trees at the back of the house

preparing the coffinspary

berries .... lots of berries

the finished product - a reflection of a nature loving life

It is one year now, but that smile lasts forever....

smiles last forever - RIP Mama

'In loving memory' workshops will be offered throughout the year - the first one about mid October. During those 2 - 3 hours I will introduce you to a range of possibilities how to arrange something special, personal and seasonal for your loved one.