Formal funeral in Clare

 

Formal funeral in Clare

Taking the dogs for their daily walk in Clare yesterday, I spotted a traditional funeral cortege. It was just leaving Martin's the undertakers, carrying the coffin to the church where the vicar came out to escort the coffin to its central place in the aisle. I did not learn who had died, but clearly someone who wished for a traditional send off. Formal horse drawn funerals are rare in Clare, although I did see one a while before, when the horses and carriage were brought together in the park prior to their journey to collect the coffin.

Ann and I have been working hard to repair the damaged decking at the back of the house, ripping up the old decking and placed it in the skip. Then, following Ann's idea, we filled the far half with gravel. That was a job and a half, because of the depth of the wooden surround. Lacking hardcore to fill the base, we had to buy bags of gravel before getting the top layer of smooth Scottish pebbles. We estimate that we moved a ton and a half of stone between us, from the garden centre to the car, then the car to the site. We were glad to sit down after the last bag was in place.

Next, we have ordered the new decking boards delivered yesterday, and spent the morning shifting them to the site in readiness for screwing down. In the evening, our friends Rae and Malcolm came to share a takeaway supper from the Rose and Crown, our local pub. Malcolm is in his 80's, but has already volunteered himself to help fix the boards in place at the weekend (weather allowing). We prepared ourselves with a good lubrication of wine.

I have now finished two more portraits, the one of Ann in her natural pose, the other of one of our granddaughters, but I regret I cannot publish either. Modesty forbids in one case, and in the other, MA likes to protect her children by not publishing photos of them on line. However, we see them and I am quite pleased with the results.