We buried Alba's ashes on 27th December 2024, it was after she died, but Dad had struggled to source the tree (Populus alba) which he wanted to plant with her ashes, and then I had been away travelling in Europe. In the end, the timing worked well - just after Christmas when I had gifted Dad a photobook of the photos I had collected and curated for he memorial blog post.
I've already made several photobooks with pictures of Alba, so I only used my most recent photos and the photos which had been sent to me by professional photographers (who I credit in the book) after her death. I'd usually use Snapfish because it's cheap and cheerful, but I recently discovered a company that produces higher quality items. You can order a padded cover which looks nicer and their photo book pages lay flat so you can create a two page spread without the bind ruining the centre of the image.
I couldn't really be fucked with Christmas this year, but I decided to make an effort for Dad - since he is going through medical treatment at the moment as well as just having lost his dog.
We did the Edale Christmas carol service and open mic night on 23rd December, where I performed a couple of original songs:
Then Dad stayed with me on Christmas day - I made an effort to decorate the table in EU stars and a (vegan) pseudo-Christmas dinner. I also bought Dad some (non-vegan) cheese and biscuits, but Boudicca kept trying to steal it.
Boxing day was spent on the joyous activity of reviewing my tax return (an essential part of being a freelance artist) - under Boudicca's watchful supervision.
On 27th I travelled out to me Dad's marina to bury Alba's ashes with him - it was a suitably gloomy, misty day. Obviously, Northern cancelled my train, so he told me to stay on the tram until Halfway (the end of the blue tram line) and he drove there to collect me.
His boat was decorated with some Christmas lights I made for him featuring anchors decopaged with the Economist - and an Alba clay paw print.
Dad had tried digging in three different places to plant the tree before finding a location where the soil was suitable. The location is very prominantly at the intersection of two footpaths, where a lot of people walk - the tree (Populus albar) has very distinctive white leaves - so it will be extremely visible in this location, which seemed appropriate given Alba's character and temperament. In any given location or place - you really couldn't miss her.
Dad had had an engraved tag made, which I tied to the tree with twine, but we'll need to find a more robust solution.
Then we said "Night night woof" for the last time.
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