AofA's Hot To Trot Talking Points
Every Friday
From extraordinary knitted headwear to a brand new micro-lit festival in Manchester to a fascinating conversation about Modern Love and Relationships in Bristol…
This wonderful headwear is by Noisy Threads and I found different examples on Insta. I asked the group what they thought and would they wear one? Some were an absolute No and others a Yes…. I moved from a No to Maybe and my partner said Yes!!!
We can’t help admiring the ever-blooming Mary Berry who turned 91 recently.
This was a BBC story from Wales with what Preppers are doing to plan for societal collapse. ‘Leigh, a dad of three, served in the Army but now runs a dedicated preppers shop and is a survival course provider.
Surrounded by trees in rural Powys, it is a tranquil environment for a shop that had all the gear you could imagine to survive the end of civilisation - including cross bows and walls of knives.
Leigh said: “Some people are preparing for the end of the world, a nuclear attack or whatever it is and I always say ‘look when it comes to nuclear attack, it’s not impossible, but it’s highly unlikely’.
“You’re better off preparing against the things that you are more likely to come across.”’
I asked the group whether they were preparing and was surprised to hear that quite a lot of them were. One of them referred to her Armageddon Pantry.
4. Once again The Modern Mortician on Insta and FB brings us moving and important death and dying stories so that we get to know more about the choice that we might have.
Funeral Artisan Spotlight
‘Meet Patricia Ballantine. Here is her story in her words:
“Several years ago I was trained and practiced as a Death Midwife while living in Arizona. In 2019 I moved to Texas to be a live-in Gramma. I had been searching for ways to continue my devotion to death work while balancing the time and flexibility needed to stay actively engaged in a busy household with little children.
Two years ago as I was supporting a family and their dying mother I had an epiphany. The “kids” were all close to my age and we had made the arrangements for Janet to be transported from a care center into her son’s home. I knew her time was near so I packed my “Midwife” bag in preparation for the bedside vigil. I had a thought as I was gathering my things about how important
Beauty is at the end of life. I’ve been sewing most all of my life (and am a visual artist as well) and have a nice stash of all types of fabrics. I knew Janet’s favorite color was blue so I pulled out a nice length of pale blue fabric and pretty quickly stitched up a simple, but lovingly created shroud and ties to take along with me.
The family had never heard of a burial shroud, so in the hours before her last exhale I shared a bit about shrouds. I asked if they would like to bath her when the time came, and then rather than having the mortuary folks take her out of the home in their usual way, have her wrapped in the blue shroud when she left.
They embraced the ideas.
It was a Beauty filled experience and closure. The family was fully engaged in the death process in a way that they would never have experienced without a Midwife....and without a shroud.
That death gave me an idea that would allow me to bring the things I love most in life together. Beauty and creativity, my family’s needs, and caring for individuals and families at end of life.
I began making hand crafted and painted burial shrouds and blankets.
Many are custom designs where I work with a person to bring to life what they want to be wrapped in at the end of their life. Lyrics to music, sacred symbols, favorite flowers, or even representations of dreams have been painted.
95% of the paints I use are completely biodegradable and environmentally friendly.
Fabrics are natural so the shrouds are perfect for green burials although they can be used in cremations or traditional burials. I also use vintage, upcycled, and repurposed fabrics.
Today, I am able to bring beauty and creativity into the final embrace of a loved one. I am able to help others learn how to care for their beloveds at the end of life. And, I’m able to do it all from my own special room in a home I share with my active grandchildren and their parents.”
Find her here:
https://www.patriciaballentine.com/deathmidwifery
pkb@patriciaballentine.com’
If you’re in Manchester or nearby, there is a new free micro-lit festival that is happening on Thurs 23rd April with writing workshops, a panel discussion on whether Mrs Gaskell’s socialist realist writings are still relevant, there is Manchester street singing, a radical balladeer, the opportunity to argue with a woman. What more could you want….all at the famous Unitarian Church in Cross St. You can book a place - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/hey-festival-tickets-1984055120274?aff=oddtdtcreator
An afternoon of dance and commemoration last Sunday at the treasure that is Crossbones cemetery in Southwark. John Constable and the Crossbones collective have done a wonderful job of creating - across many many years...they had to raise money etc turned a wasteland that covered the 15,OOO unconsecrated bodies of paupers and outcasts including many sex workers - into a wonderful very alive very loving community garden which includes a ribboned gate where an honouring, grief ritual takes place every month on the 23rd at 7pm....people also talk about their own dead and their own relationships with death. It’s well worth going along. You can check out on crossbone.org.uk