Life in the Garden

Matters of Life and Death

Confessions

Burl Wood Urn: Solution for Box of Ashes in the Closet

It’s not uncommon for families to buy an urn years later after the cremation has occurred. They always apologize and say they should have done it sooner.

There’s no need to be embarrassed or ashamed if you’ve been storing the ashes in the plastic box that you got from the funeral home for a while. Solutions are available and sometimes it takes time to make such an important decision. You’ll know when the time is right and when you are ready to shop for an urn.

If you have the plastic container that you picked up from the funeral home and are ready to transfer the ashes, your funeral director can help. It’s not an unusual request. There may be a fee to do the transfer.

Urns are available that will accommodate the temporary container and all you have to do is slip the box of ashes inside the container without disturbing the cremains. Often these urns are wooden and can double as a memorial chest. Engraving can be added if you want the name and dates of your loved one identified.

Here are three styles of urns that use burl wood and will accept the plastic box. Burl can be difficult to work with in it’s original form as it’s gnarled and rough (just like some humans!). But after the wood has been sanded, the ring patterns that are created are a work of art.

burl wood urn for ashes

The Blonde Burl Wood urn is sleek highly polished vessel that will contain the temporary container. It has a hinged lid and opens from the top, allowing easy access.

Burl Wood Cremation Urn Box

This locking memorial box uses burl as a trim for the lid and has a lift out tray for storing mementos.

Wood urns for ashes

Another choice would be a memorial chest without the tray. This urn travels well if you need to have the ashes shipped from the funeral home. For someone who might be scattering ashes and want a small memorial chest to store papers and other valuables after the ceremony, this style might also be a good choice.

Any three of these urns would make an affordable memorial and can be purchased for less than $300.00

Urn Garden Cremation Urns

Bones on the River Bank

Vintage Memorial Day postcard

In late February of 2011, a couple of guys with cabin fever broke out the canoe and floated the James River looking for artifacts. We’d had several days of heavy rains and the river banks were prime for scouting out treasure in the erosion. In addition to the beautiful scenery here in the Ozarks, the area is rich with history and treasure. You never know what you’ll find on the ground, an arrowhead, ancient tool, maybe even a $20 bill.

Somewhere along the banks of the Wilson’s Creek Battlefield, Coy Hamilton saw a bone sticking out of an embankment by the creek and attempted to remove it, breaking the bone in the process.  He then began digging into the embankment and removing additional bones.

This story recently appeared on a local news station and came at a time that I had been rooting about in the Greene County archives and reading about the Civil War’s impact on our area.

The dead at Wilson’s Creek were not well disposed of. All were given hasty and rude sepulture. Of course the Confederate slain fared the better, being buried by their own comrades. The Union dead were put under ground as soon as possible, and with but little ceremony. In an old well, near the battlefield, fourteen bodies were thrown. In a “sink-hole” thirty-four of their corpses were tumbled. The others were buried in groups here and there, and the burial heaps marked. In many instances, a few Federal soldiers were present when the burials were made, and identified certain graves. Some of the bodies whose graves were so marked, were afterwards disinterred and removed to their former homes. A number of the Federal dead were never buried; this was particularly true regarding Sigel’s men. Dr. Melcher says he saw portions of the bodies of the German Federals along the line of Sigel’s retreat, several days after the battle, strewn along near the road, having been torn by dogs and hogs and buzzards. Skulls, bones, etc., indicating that at least a dozen corpses had been left above ground, were gathered up. The doctor’s statement is corroborated by citizens who lived in the neighborhood.

So, what do you do with a pile of broken bones?

Ten days later, Hamilton, through an intermediary, turned the bones in to the National Park Service, which administers the National Battlefield.  He was identified during the ensuing investigation and was ordered to pay $5,351 in restitution to the National Park Service and perform 60 hours of community service as conditions of avoiding federal prosecution.

 

 

 

Autumn Season Blown Glass Urn

blown glass urn for ashes
The seasons of life are so beautifully reflected in the Autumn Blown Glass Urn. The artist that creates this line of decorative urns has an style to represent each season of the year. This urn is rich with dark chocolate, earthy coppers and gold that glow in the light.  The ancient art of heating up ashes and sand to a molten level and then blowing the glass into a luminous work of art is still timeless today.

Customers that love and appreciate the art of glass sometimes worry about security of the sealing the urn. In keeping with the organic style of glass, wax can be used to seal an urn and can be purchased at an art supply store. Many of our customers in California like to use a little “quake wax” to seal the urn.
Urn Garden Cremation Urns

Wine Cork Memorial Wreath

DIY Cork wreath
From Good Housekeeping

For a simple earth friendly wreath, get out your glue gun and get busy on a cork wreath!  This is a leaner, cleaner version of the chunky cork wreaths that you see crafted. Several wine drinkers that I’ve known like to save their corks and some super sentimentalists will even mark the cork with the date of an especially momentous occasion.

Wreaths are a good way to add a soft symbolism to a memorial service or ash scattering ceremony. By making a few adjustments, the cork wreath can be created from all biodegradable materials. If your memorial service is on the water, the wreath would float but keep in mind that it would take a long time for the cork to break down.

Here’s what you need to you make one:

  • Wine corks
  • Cranberries, or beads if desired.
  • Pencil
  • Heavy thread, wire, or fishing line
  • Ice pick or awl
  • Large sewing needle
  • Holly or other plant or flower for the season
  • Ribbon

Arrange your corks and berries into the desired arrangement.
With the pencil, mark the corks where they will be drilled.
Use ice pick or awl to drill holes.
Start running wire through the corks and berries to secure placement.
Tie it off, use the ribbon to make a hanger, add the flower. You’re done!