As I was driving home from Hay-on-Wye yesterday (it being OH's birthday and that having been our destination for the day out), a snippet from a bookI'd browsed that day slipped into my mind - it had been about the status of grave goods and what they said about the person. It occurred to me that my grave goods would be a peculiar mix.
I have always said I would have to be buried with my wooden jam spoon, red-stained from all those blackberries and red fruits over the years, and worn away on one side from many years of use.
A photograph of Fahly, my darling Arab horse, who was the love of my life and with whom I had such a bond, would be essential too.
And a photograph of my family goes without saying . . .
I would have to include a bit, since horse bits are my speciality and I collected the more odd and unusual for years and have quite a depth of knowledge.
One of the children's pony books I have kept since my childhood would also have to be included. Either one by one of the Pullein-Thompson sisters, or Monica Edward's Punchbowl Farm or Westling series would do very well. Perhaps Wish For a Pony, as that was my first proper pony book, along with Pony Club Camp . . .
A photograph of books perhaps, en masse, would sum my life up fairly well. A single book would be much harder to pin down, but perhaps a cookery book or something on the Picts?
Which brings me to adding a copy of my dissertation. I spent a year researching and writing this and it won the biennial Dissertation prize offered by the Society of Antiquaries. I look at it now and think, did I really write this intelligently?!
I would also like to be covered by my first crochet blanket. Once I was shown how to crochet, I worked on this every day until it was finished and it is a reminder that new crafts are always out there to be learned . . .
What would your grave goods say about you?
