©2008, 2009, 2010. All concepts and images are protected by the American Copyright Law
and are owned by Meetinghouse Hill Designs, LLC.
This pattern includes a hand-painted porcelain Ladybug button to complete the design.
"A Summer Tradition"
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A Summer Tradition
20” x 16”
$21
The Inspiration Behind The Artwork . . .
About the mid part of May, I start to get itchy to dig out my gardening tools and pots, and go shopping at the local garden centers for flowers. Unfortunately, I know better than to get ahead of myself. See, where I live at 6,800 feet in Colorado, we can still get frost through the end of May. And, we can and often do, wake up to snow on top of Pikes Peak (14, 000 feet) well into July! So, I wait a bit longer than other parts of the country to start my outside embellishing!
Planting up flower pots to decorate the outside of our home seems to be an inherited tradition with me. There are beautiful and abundant garden centers in central Massachusetts where I grew up, and every year my mom, uncle and aunt visit several of them before making their selections both for their homes and to decorate the gravesites of loved ones. Mom often chooses a hanging planter spilling over with colorful ivy geraniums for her front porch. In recent years when I have been home in May, we have created planters for her with a variety of flowers as my knowledge of plants has grown. My uncle pots up several different containers on his patio with a selection of flowers including chrysanthemums, begonias, marigolds and trumpet vine.
He used to have a tradition of potting up different sized clay pots with bright red geraniums, and setting them in his father’s old weathered wheel barrow which was painted a mellow leaf green. Since he now lives in an apartment, and I inherited the wheel barrow, Uncle uses his expansive knowledge of plants to change things up a bit each year. And I get to display the wheel barrow filled with flowering pots in my yard!
In May 2009, I was home visiting my family during the holiday. I have been home during other Memorial Days in the past, to watch my city councilor dad march in the traditional parade or to travel with him to neighboring towns to hear him speak on behalf of honoring veterans. This year though I asked if I could assist him and his comrades as they “flagged” the cemeteries on the Saturday morning before Memorial Day. This is a tradition that has its roots in the start of Memorial Day.
Originally the holiday was named “Decoration Day,” because President Lincoln asked Americans to decorate the gravesites of fallen soldiers after the Civil War. In Leominster, a group of veterans ranging in age from 50’s through 80’s goes out early in the morning to one particular cemetery and places a bright new flag on the gravesite of every man or woman who has served our nation in the armed forces. Several groups of Boy Scouts take on this responsibility in other cemeteries across the town so that all are honored. Family members usually also add their tokens of love and remembrance to many of the gravesites in town – not just the veterans, and often these displays are pots of bright geraniums.
So, my dad said it was okay for me to join the group this particular year and do what I could to help. I was the only gal in this group of older gentlemen. They tirelessly walk this field year after year, making it a place of honor and glory with the simple addition of an American flag. I ended up being the “runner” to retrieve more flags from the car, going back and forth carrying armloads as the supply dwindled in the hands of the men. It actually was quite a contemplative time, to reflect on the many different wars, the ages of the men and women who had passed, and to see the respect given to so many with the addition of freshly planted flowers. When we had completed the task and looked back, the impression I had was not one of sadness so much as the quiet contentment of giving respect and honor where it is justly deserved. It was a beautiful site – red, white and blue – our nation’s true colors of glory softly billowing in the breeze, with a surprisingly strong secondary layer of color in the many red, white and pink geraniums spread across the field. A simple, yet appropriate display to say, “You are not forgotten.”
The leader of this group was a man in his early 80’s, a veteran himself. And, though time had worn down his body, it had not touched his spirit of service to our country. Mr. Leger directed the volunteers with precision, checking off sheets of paper that identified every veteran buried in the various cemeteries in Leominster. Mr. Leger sadly passed away recently, and I can only imagine the sadness that will permeate the group this year as they prepare to honor veterans, including Mr. Leger himself with a flag on his gravesite. The tradition will continue, because the love of country and its symbol the American flag is strong in Leominster as it is in so many towns across our nation.
Perhaps this year, when you attend Memorial Day services, or drive past a cemetery you will note the varying displays to honor veterans. And if you plant up pots of geraniums to decorate your home, I hope you will think about the images I’ve described here and say a prayer of thanksgiving for our nation, its freedom and the men and women who keep it that way.
The tradition of placing flowers on gravesites is also very strong back East. My family still carries on that tradition with the start of Memorial Day. The cemeteries in Leominster allow people to place flower pots on the gravesite or to plant perennials and annuals into the ground. One of the most prolific flowers you will see at any garden center in that area leading up to Memorial Day is the geranium, as it is one of the most used flowers to decorate cemeteries and homes alike. I love to see tables tightly packed with an amazing array of the many different colors that geraniums are grown in – deep rich red, bright orange-red, clear white with tinges of pink, coral, salmon, pale pink, deep fuchsia – oh my, and even the leaf colors vary from deep rich green, to bright yellow green, some marked with two tones of green or a band of maroon encircling the leaf.
©2010 Meetinghouse Hill Designs, LLC
Additional New Patterns for 2010
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©2010 Meetinghouse Hill Designs, LLC
Meetinghouse Hill Designs LLC
celebrates
1 year in business
and over
1,000 patterns sold!
Glory Bee!
8” x 10”
$16
(includes hand-painted porcelain bumblebee button)
"Glory Bee!"
Brand New
Pattern Series
"Wool Carvings"
©2010 Meetinghouse Hill Designs, LLC
©2010 Meetinghouse Hill Designs, LLC
©2010 Meetinghouse Hill Designs, LLC
Wellington
6” x 12”
$11
Olin
6” x 12”
$11
Sarah
6” x 12”
$11
"Wellington, the Whale from Wellfleet"
"Olin, the Oarsman from Osterville"
"Sarah, the Sandpiper from Sandy Neck"
From the 19th century, wood carvings were made as weathervanes, decoys, toys and just delightful folk art! When carved from a flat piece of solid wood, they were nicknamed “flatties.”
The whirligig carvings were often referred to as “Sunday Toys” meant to allow children some play during quiet and reflective Sabbath observances. This series of wool carvings takes its inspiration from the many whales, shorebirds and whirligigs carved during that time, and the many still artful ones carved today!
The Inspiration
Behind The Artwork . . .
Meet Chester,
from Colorado!
"Chickadee on Aspen"
©2010 Meetinghouse Hill Designs, LLC
Chickadee on Aspen
5 1/2” x 5 1/2”
$10
The Inspiration Behind The Artwork . . .
In anticipation of the forthcoming fall season and the spectacular golden (and sometimes red) Aspen leaves that blanket the mountains in Colorado . . . let me introduce you to "Chester" the Chickadee who sometimes rests on the branches of the Aspen trees in our back yard.
