11-11 REMEMBRANCE POPPY 11-11

REMEMBRANCE DAY

Poppies, the symbol of remembrance for fallen soldiers, were very rare in Flanders prior to World War I.
However the anguished earth of Flanders flowed suddenly red with the blood coloured poppy ‘popaver rhoeas’ among the bodies of slain soldiers of World War I .

During the tremendous bombardments of the war the chalk soils of Flanders became very rich in lime from rubble, allowing ‘popaver rhoeas’ to thrive.

Then, when the fields lay quiet and the death and destruction was over, the earth stopped bleeding its red poppies for the dead. The disturbed lime had been quickly absorbed, and so the poppies had disappeared again.

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch, be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields

This poem was written by a Canadian - John McCrae, a doctor and teacher, who served in WW1.

One of McCrae's closest friends was killed in the fighting and buried in a makeshift grave with a simple wooden cross. Wild poppies were already beginning to bloom between the crosses marking the many graves. Unable to help his friend or any of the others who had died, John McCrae gave them a voice through his poem. It was the second last poem he was to write.

One of the things I find endearing about McCrae is that he sent his young nieces and nephews letters supposedly written by his horse Bonfire that he took to war and he signed those letters with a hoof print.

In part because of the poem's popularity, the poppy was adopted as the Flower of Remembrance for the war dead of Britain, France, the United States, Canada and other Commonwealth countries.

The Poppy Pin Designed for
The Royal Canadian Legion
Date: November, 1921

According to the Royal Canadian Legion, “The centre of the Lapel Poppy was originally black but was changed to green more than twenty years ago to represent the green fields of France. In 2002, the centre was changed back to black to reflect the actual colours of the Poppies in Flanders a red flower with a black centre. It is intended that the black centre will remain as the standard for the production of all future Poppy material.”

LEST WE FORGET

"Each November, millions of poppies blossom in Canada. They blossom on the jackets, dresses and hats of nearly half the Canadian population and they have blossomed over 80 years, since 1921. The poppy is the symbol that individuals use to show that they remember those who were killed in the wars and peacekeeping operations that Canada has been involved"

-The Royal Canadian Legion

Obama To Be President of Canada

Barack Obama wants to be President of Canada?

Barack Obama wants to be President of Canada or Canada wants Barack Obama for its own President and forget the Prime Minister? Or Canada wants Barack Obama for President of the USA (very presumptious of us)? Or Barack Obama wants Vancouver Island to be part of America? I have no idea why we have this billboard in Victoria - maybe someone is just all very excited about the election - I know I am.

Obama & Madonna & Shauna

I know our island dips its toe south of the 49th parallel and I am bully for Obama (I bought the T-Shirt) but what is with the Obama for President Billboard on our town's Canadian highway?

The Annexation Movement of November (but it was in 1864)

We have strict anti billboard signs and there is only one small area where billboards are permitted. And for over 8 months there has been the Obama for President billboard, in fact there were actually 2 Obama billboards up in that limited piece of billboard real estate.

Not since 1864 has Victoria considered a US President for its leader. That was when US Consul Allen Francis, hmmm spied is perhaps too strong a word for it, but he secretively took notes in Victoria and reported back to President Ulyses S. Grant we (Victorians) were ripe for annexation to America. In November 1869 he gathered a petition signed by ...

"...40 prominent businessmen"...The petition is very strongly worded, setting forth with much force and cognency of reason, the isolated and helpless condition of the colony." It seemed a folly to remain united to distant England, when British Columbia is sandwiched between Washington Territory and Alaska (purchased from Russia 2 years earlier).

Annexation of Victoria British Columbia to the USA?

Needless to say Allen Frances miss-read the mood of the Vancouver Island folks and no action was taken by Grant who said that he had "considered the petition with great interest." I think President Grant was just being polite about giving dullsville pretty little Victoria any thought , because after the dizzy Gold Rush days, Victoria had settled back into being the fuddy duddy dull place that it pretty much has always been - hence its nickname "the town of newly wed and the nearly dead".

My Beautiful Neice -The Future President Maizy with President Clinton

We do get a lot of American visitors and a lot of Canadians love Obama (not like the "Bush Is A Moron" blurted out by Canadian politicians years ago) so maybe the billboards are to remind US visitors to elect Obama? I do know it is all very exciting and I look forward to watching the election November 4th. America always seems so much more exciting like Marsha Brady to the Jan Brady of Canada. I mean please let me know, America, if you have any Stephen Dion for Prime Minister billboards in your home town.

* * *

PS. Laurel thanks for your kind comment and interest in seeing the peektures of pumpkin.

nefaeria of http://nefaeriaofetsy.blogspot.com/said...That crow pumpkin turned out NICE! It would be awesome if you posted some peektures of it ;)
Laurel - October 30, 2008 4:59 AM

Here they are...

Infamous Datura: The Plant of Zombies and Angels

Solanaceae Datura metel

Fragrant, beautiful and deadly the Datura sits in a pot on my porch. I don't trust it. I am suspicious about a plant known as Devil's Trumpet or Zombie Cucumber. Then again, would garden nurseries sell it if it really is the magic potion of evil it is trumpeted to be?

Datura sits in a pot on my porch. I don't trust it.

Datura also known as Angels Trumpet

A waft of my Datura's fragrance is both beautiful and disgusting. Sometimes I like its heavy, mysterious scent hanging in the air. Other times I find the scent cloying, smothering and nauseating.

Datura also known as Thorn Apple

True, the Datura is beautiful with its unusual "thorn apple" fruits and its trumpet flowers of swirls and ruffles. But, frankly, I am often repulsed by its morbid weirdness and avoid looking at it.

The Sinister History of The Datura

The history of the Datura as
deadly narcotic,
aphrodisiac,
zombie food,
shaman's potion,
witches brew,
are well documented.

One of its many common names,
Jimson weed
is because of its recorded crazy effect
on British soldiers in Jamestown, Virginia in 1676.

A plant that can both compel and repel me - very interesting - gotta love it. But I still don't trust it. So the Datura sits on the porch in a pot guarded by a gargoyle where I can keep my eye on it.

Solanaceae Datura metel - BEWARE

The Mighty Saskatoon - Notorious & Nutritious

Kwakwaka’wakw Pole Carvings
Carver: Tony Hunt

Native Plant Wisdom
The Saskatoon Berry (Amelanchier alnifolia)

First Nations People identified 9 varieties based on taste, growth times, seediness, size and colour.

The varieties were dried like raisins for winter eating, cooked to the consistency of jam, made into juices for marinade to sweeten roots and foods like black tree lichen, and, ofcourse, eaten fresh.

Saskatoon Berry Bush was used as medicine by steeping the twigs and stems to be given to women after childbirth and as a healing bath. Tonics were made to cure stomach ailments. Juice used to settle upset stomachs and used as ear drops.

The Saskatoon berry was the most used berry of the First Nations coastal and interior peoples. It was often used as a trade item. The hardwood was used to make combs, firedrills, arrows, tool handles, salmon spreaders, and fishnet reinforcements

Saskatoon Berry in flower at the Garden Brae

Saskatoon (Amelanchier alnifolia)
AKA: Serviceberry, Juneberry, Amelanchier (French) and Shadbush

Resembles a wild blueberry
(I don't have photo of the berry in my garden-yet)
Tastes like a blueberry and cherry with a hint of almond - Yummy!
Super Food! Super Healthy! The Super Saskatoon!
Better than blueberries for nutrients and antioxidants!!!

The Notorious & Nutritious - The Saskatoon

The Scandalous Saskatoon! Notorious International Scandal In June 2004, Britain banned Saskatoon berry products off its shelves over concerns about the safety of the berries since there was no history of people in Europe eating them

It has been all dog and no blog for a while...

Oberon broke her leg and had metal plate/pin orthopaedic surgery and is doing very well. Full speedy recovery expected.(Her people parents are recovering from the shock of seeing her hurt, too, but not as speedy!)
To make up for lack of posts, here are some of the fascinating Totem Poles which we are privileged to live with as one of the many special and unique qualities of living in the Pacific Northwest.

Royal British Columbia Museum

I took these pics at Thunderbird Park

Thunderbird is traditionally carved with outstretched wings, curved horns and a face in its chest.

Totem Poles
The figures on totem poles are crests that proclaim
ancestry, history, rights and privileges, names,
lands and responsibilities of the families that own them.
Types of Totem Poles include:
House Post hold up the main roof beams of the big house
Frontal Poles stand against the front of the house and usually contain the house’s doorway
Memorial Poles are raised in honour of the deceased and are usually commissioned by the person who inherited the dead person's name/privileges.
Mortuary Poles incorporated boxes of the person's remains
Welcome Figures greet visitors to a chief’s territory and traditionally stood on the beach facing out to sea so they could welcome people
who arrived by canoe

Thunderbird Park

Symbolism of Ferns

The fern in Christian iconography is a symbol of the life and humility of the hermit because ferns live in shaded, half-hidden locations

The fern is also associated with magic, fascination, confidence, shelter, discretion, reverie and a secret bond of love.

Here are more pictures of ferns from in and around the Garden Brae

Ornamental Hermit for the 21st Century

A Hermit on "my" Hill? Sure, it would be great. He, or why not she, would have wireless Internet for their laptop and would also be kitted out with the latest and greatest camp gear from Canadian Tire. I mean, after all, workers' rights have improved a bit since the 18Th century. The Hermit could eat up some of the destructive invasive alien introduced critters that overrun the place - grey squirrels, eastern cotton tailed rabbits and American bullfrogs. And after eating hearty eliminating alien meals, the Hermit can get to work at the endless task of pulling broom (Cytisus scoparius). I hate that stuff and pull it every chance I get - about 20 a week - following a broom pull strategy. I dislike broom so much I won't even show a picture of it.

Would my Hermit be territorial? Would I be bailing him/her out of jail for warring in barroom brawls with the Skirt Mountain (AKA Bare (Bear) Mountain) Hermit? Well I am sure it would only occur every payday when Hermits gets tippled at one of the local pubs in the area. And since Hermit paydays are once every 5 years, I don't expect this to be a big problem.

http://www.hermitary.com/faqs.html

So, yes, a Hermit for my Garden Brae it is. Some nice, old, wisdomful ancient who talks to the wind in the forest, who is a wizard with a dowser for divining water (sure to come in handy with global warming on its way here) and who would dine on rabbit and deer to keep them from feasting on my flowers.

What has this all to do with Genius Loci in my garden design? Blogging it down is like keeping a journal on the discoveries and thoughts about what it is like to live here. The conclusions that emerge from the blogging will hopefully reveal the Genius Loci.

Sins of A Gardener

Hermits Wanted

Do People Piss You Off?

Want To Get Away From It All?

Like to Read - A Lot?

Then we have a job for you!

Hermits wanted for ornamentation of gentleman's estate. You must never be seen. If you have to poke your head out of your grotto/cave home, it better have a long, long beard on it and be stroked by your long, long fingernails. You will be paid a small fortune, but not until you complete 5 years of service as a garden ancient - an ornamental hermit . If you don't last the five years you forfeit all earnings.

Yes, it was quite the fad in the 18th century to have a live ornamental hermit installed in your garden estate. The most famous employer of one of these decorative solitudinarians was Charles Hamilton. (Hmmm I wonder if good old Chuck is sitting in my family tree somewhere?)

Ferns Are Sexy

At Hatley Castle, a healthy walk from my house, there is an old fernery. The moss covered rockery paths and climbs are being re-discovered and restored. It is atmospheric in its dark, sunken grotto, with water gushing through heavy greenery. Right now a blood red rhodo is blooming amidst the wild setting. The Victorians were mad about their ferns, too.

It was a time when it was considered that studying the 'Natural Wonders of Creation' was an appropriate way of praising God. The study of flowers and other plants was considered to be fairly safe by the Church and could be pursued by mixed groups including men and women, whereas the study of animals was frowned upon as it might lead to embarrassing situations and 'unsuitable parallels' being drawn between the activities of animals and people!peterboyd.com

Ferns are sexy. The unfurling, striving, reaching primevial furry fronds in the dark, secretive atmosphere of the fernery. Very primal. I think those Victorians new it and were glad the church didn't catch on to it.