Funeral Flowers

People do not die for us immediately, but remain bathed in a sort of aura of life which bears no relation to true immortality but through which they continue to occupy our thoughts in the same way as when they were alive. It is as though they were traveling abroad.
-Marcel Proust

An older man in the ward {LDS-speak for parish or congregation} passed away last weekend. His funeral was Wednesday. The ward always arranges for a luncheon after the funeral for the family of the deceased. This man's wife is the most amazing gardener. She spends 4 or 5 hours every day in her yarden {term for a beautifully landscaped yard}. So the committee chair wanted to put a few fresh flower arrangements on the tables for the luncheon. She called me to see if I could put something together. There isn't too much blooming right now, but I was happy to put together what I could. There were eight tables set up in two long rows. The committee covered the tables with pretty sherbet-colored {vinyl} table cloths in pink, peach and yellow. Someone else provided little vases with Black-Eyed Susans, so we alternated the jars of flowers with the other vases on the tables, so it turned out really pretty.

{Shasta Daisies, Black-Eyed Susans, Coconut Lime Coneflowers, Green Envy Coneflowers (the dark purle ones), Cotton Candy Coneflowers (far right jar), Pincushion Flowers (scabiosa), and Coreopsis}

LadyBug who is my constant shadow {which I absolutely adore}, helped me put the flowers together . I cut the flowers and she gave them a little shake to hopefully get any bugs off. Then she helped me trim the leaves away and put them in the jars. She was enamored with the little yellow coreopsis. She commented how soft the petals were. She told me that she wanted one of her own, so I sent her out to cut one for herself. When she came in, she said she wanted it in a vase. I suggested a little glass container, but it was too big. She found a little Tupperware cup and put the flower in it with some water. Then we decided it would be fun to make a little arrangement, so she went out and cut some more flowers, until her little 'vase' was all filled. Then she picked some ribbon to tie around it. It would have been fun to include her bouquet in the picture with the big jars, but we were in a hurry to get them over to the church, so I finished up her little arrangement with a bow when we got back and then we took some pictures of it.

LadyBug put her little arrangement on the windowsill in her room.