This November there have been some wonderful displays on our war memorials that reminded my of a project I took part a couple of years ago – the plan had been to decorate the memorial in Old Eldon Square but after being inundated with knitted and crocheted poppies this stunning river of red was created on the grass and the trees were decorated too.
All over the country statues and cenotaphs, trees and railings have been festooned with handmade poppies in a trend that I think began in 2018, the centenary of the end of the First World War.
In nearby Warkworth the bridge railings are decorated.
Here in Shilbottle this village sign at Shilbottle Grange has been decorated by a talented lady named Brenda who lives close by. She’s incorporated purple poppies to represent the animals that died in service during conflict.
Also in the village we have a community garden known as Green Hut Corner, which includes memorials to the war dead and also those who died in mining accidents at the two former collieries here. In recent months the garden was decorated with thank you messages to the NHS heroes of the COVID pandemic. The hedge here provides a wonderful backdrop to this year’s poppy display.
This year the gatherings, services and parades have either been cancelled or reduced so that social distancing can be observed, so by adding these poppies to displays over the last week or so people have been paying their respects in their own beautiful way.
But there are other ways to mark Remembrance Day with poppies. My friend Cal Boal posted this on her Facebook Page (where you can see other examples of her work). Cal is a a very talented quilter and I’m sure you will agree that her Poppy Portal quilt is stunning.
Stitches by the Sea 
That’s the first poppy quilt I’ve seen. Stunning in its simplicity.
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Have you checked out Cal’s other work too? She’s done some amazing quilts.
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I can’t recall where I read this but I know it’s a quote from Kurt Vonnegut. The gist is this… On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the11th month when the guns stopped firing the soldiers said the silence was like the voice of God. I know I’ve mangled the quote but it still resonates.
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Powerful words
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The quote is from his book ” Breakfast of Champions.” There is an article about the quote in the Atlantic Magazine from 2014.
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I think WWl resonates more strongly in Europe than it does here for very obvious reasons. I know that here in my town a street was re-named Pershing Avenue but I don’t know exactly when, either during or after the war. And of course we Americans take things so seriously that we changed the name of sauerkraut to Liberty Cabbage. We continued the tradition with Freedom Fries in the congressional cafeteria. And now we have the worst dictator in the world. He’s not even good at being ruthless, he’s just inept.
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I didn’t realise there were purple poppies to represent the animals that died in the service of the armed forces.
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I think I first heard about it a couple of years back when it was the centenary of Armistice Day, and it was quite a big thing compared to this year’s more low key commemoration. I know a few people wore purple poppy brooches since then
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