What a month.
There I was, merrily stitching the passing of time, celebrating my mother’s birthday and generally looking forward to all the colours of autumn. Then the Queen died, plunging the country into ten days of national mourning.
I wouldn’t describe myself as a staunch royalist, but I felt it was important to mark these days on the journal. For one thing I wasn’t sure what national mourning was going to look like, so it was an opportunity to experience something I had never seen on that scale. I actually like the colourlessness of these days and the way they stand slightly apart from the rest. There was definitely something different about that time.
We were away in North Yorkshire for part of the mourning period. We walked a lot, and climbed a mountain, and enjoyed lots of peace and fresh air. We encountered American and European tourists wanting to know how we felt about the Queen and expressing their sympathy. I don’t normally feel any particular national sentiment, but it seemed as if everyone assumed that this was ‘our’ loss. It was really quite moving at times. There was a palpable sense of subdued sadness everywhere we went.
I stitched the day of the Queen’s death and the day of her funeral in black, and all the days between in shades of grey. They look a bit otherworldly now. It was a strange time.
The unworked part of the stitch journal is getting shorter and shorter, as is the year. The days are really hurtling past. I have made some big decisions, and the end of the year will be a turning point for me. Until then, it’s a matter of keeping calm and carrying on.
It seems to me that the Queen was a symbol of Integrity for most Americans. We seem to have so little of that in our politics –that it was nice to see someone as that symbol.
Ah, that’s interesting. We met Americans from New York, Michigan and Florida, and they seemed genuinely concerned. It was very touching.
the gray/greys seem just right … winding through the days like a mourning ribbon … they will be a visible marker of a somber time, but the color/colours of autumn ultimately prevail
Yes, I like that – like a ribbon… also a picture of life going on all round it.
It was a very peculiar period, I agree, and very affecting.
Time was certainly suspended for a while. There maybe queens around the world but there was only one The Queen.
It really did feel as if time had slowed for a while in those strange few days. I’m no royalist but I did admire the Queen. I’ve enjoyed seeing the more informal footage and photos that showed her sense of humour.