Straw flowers and lavender

This post will have a little about these two plants but then will be an appreciation of two special people.

The lavender has amazing long stalks this year with longer flower spikes than usual and the straw flowers grown from fresh seed are producing fine numbers of flowers. Both these plants need maximum sun exposure and both like good dranage and less to moderate fertile soil. It is good to see them in the garden together.

Now for the two people these bright colours reminded me of. The one was Scottish the other English both were my seniors, probably my Mother’s age when I started teaching.

Their kindness was a given for both of them as was their love for colourful exotic clothes but from there they were very different. One had studied art they other did it. The one I remember took two of us younger teachers with our nine and ten year old children to London with her. Where did we go? The National Gallery and to see what ? How hands were painted. She told stories about the paintings to our two and made them laugh then said her goodbyes and quietly went. She often went to London and then Paris, too. She was quiet about what her and her husband were really doing but they were amongst the first activists for clean air in pubs and then public buildings. I heard it said that when her transport came to take her to the hospice she stood outside and said: ‘ It’s a beautiful world!’ She helped to make it better.

The other, the English lady, she had ‘perfect’ pronunciation and a real nack of keeping students engaged and interested in her communication classes. The times I stood outside waiting to take the class after her was so predictable that I knew my lesson would only need to cover ten minutes less. She had a kiln in her garden. She once said I really like the shape of his head and I believe she sculptured it. Then there were bowls she made of fine china with delicate edging. Three little holes through a triangular shape. One of these she sold me as a gift for the friends we went skiing with. She made clothes and pottery buttons with a nifty way to remove them and place them on another garment.

Her life had shocks. The story goes that her husband an author had experienced excessive tiredness and had gone to the country for a rest. Then one day while watching TV there was an interview with an author about an upcoming book. There was a homely interview in a very homely setting with a fine woman. Yes, it is what you are thinking. She had no idea it would end this way.

Time went on and then she was proud to tell me that her daughter was presenting at a conference. I was happy to be there and appreciated what she said and told her so. Then this happened, if I remember correctly, the very next week. She had been struggling with a tooth abscess but that night the grading of papers had to be done. She was found the next day slumped over her books. I thought when I heard the name that it was the aged mother but it wasn’t, it was her daughter. My colleague continued with her teaching and potterey and a few years after this shock she said to me: ‘Sometimes as I work with the clay I feel real joy and then I feel ‘ you can’t be happy for she has gone. ‘

‘ Future shock is the shattering stress and disorientation that we induce in individuals by subjecting them to too much change in too short a time.’

Alvin Toffler

‘ Truth makes many appeals, not the least of which is its power to shock.’

Jukes Renard

And here is a little about an abscessed tooth. This type of infection poses a major risk to your cardiovascular health. Bacteria from the abscess can enter the bloodstream and travel to the heart. This significantly increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and a dangerous infection of the heart valves.

The bright, beautiful colours of straw flowers and long spears of lavender remind me of two beautiful people who lived long ago.

Take care,

Sandy 🙂

With you God is the fountain of life: in Your light will we see light.

Psalm 36:8