When a fellow companion in the barnyard dies - be it cat, duck, sheep or old goat, I bury them in the barnyard pumpkin patch. Some of our original herd mothers are buried on Sheep Hill which will also include our other flock matriarchs some day.
I am not content with the white wood markers. I was inspired by my memories of the beautiful simplicity of Arlington where some of my relatives are buried and was trying to recreate that feeling. But it's not working for me. While it matters not to the creatures below, as caretaker I want to do my best by them. I feel a need to honor each with a marker of some kind and also let certain visitors visit the grave site of an old friend if needed. Each Spring I painstakingly repaint the stones in the small bird and rodent cemetery and I have wanted a new way to do my gravestones. There are other stones about the farm - the rooster and cat under the lilac, the sheep on Sheep Hill, chickens in the chicken yard - all will go on to their duties now of the underworld - their molecules melting into the fruit we choose to grow and eat.
So I have started finding lovely twigs and branches to put on the graves. So simple. But I still need a way to mark a stone with a name and some word. Perhaps a retired gent with time on his hands and a heart of gold will step forth and offer to engrave stones for me. I could keep him busy that's for sure.
