In a Vase on Monday: For Ali

Alison Mary Lyon
1959-2019
Today’s vase is a tribute to my younger sister who passed away this week.

It seemed fitting to pick my biggest and brightest dahlias, and pick them in abundance – and so big, so bright and so abundant were they that it took many attempts to find a suitable vase. I would have liked to use a Caithness Glass vase as she was particularly fond of their original 1960s earthy colours, but none of mine were big or heavy enough and a fairly plain green jug had to do to hold ‘Dorothy Rose’, ‘Top Totty’ and ‘Geoffrey Kent’.

By the time I came to place them in the jug, I realised that many of the blooms were not at their freshest, some fading at the edges of their blowsiness and with odd petals dropping as I worked. However, it struck me that life is like that – we just carry on as normal whilst we get progressively older and bits of us start to fail, sooner for some than for others. Likewise, although the dahlias may be big and bright they are not arranged in any cohesive way but nevertheless the overall effect is still pleasing – and indeed most of us live very ordinary lives, cramming as much into them as we can, and the overall effect is most pleasing to those who know and care about us.

So goodbye Ali, you have left family and friends with many fond memories of a busy life ended too soon.

Our Monday vases are created for so many reasons – for our own pleasure, as a gift, as a tribute, or just because…whatever the reason, picking flowers or foliage from our own gardens is a joy in itself. If you are able to create your own vase today then we would be delighted if you chose to share it with the rest of us on IAVOM by leaving the usual links.