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Americana Country Touches Journal Who Am I

Marigolds in a Real McCoy!

Marigolds in a real McCoy
Fall bouquet in a real McCoy bowl

A vase from Grandma

In one of my visits to my sister, the topic of conversation turned to our grandmother’s flower vase and pot collection. We reminisced that grandma had some pots and vases by the classic pottery maker named McCoy. I guess that’s where the old idiom came from, “It’s the real McCoy.” Long story short, my sister, MarySue, who inherited my Grandma’s last house, found the beautiful McCoy bowl shown above down cellar and gifted it to me along with a violet pot. The bowl was made for old fashioned flower arrangements using “flower frogs” which were small metal or plastic bases with spikes pointing upward. I remember Grandma having them and I think I could still see the clay marks where Grandma had used two of them in this bowl. Of course, I used foam taped down in back. What a joy to fill it with marigolds-well, mostly marigolds. I threw in some coneflower seed pods, drying hydrangea blooms, a little sedum, some zinnias, and one re-blooming rose to make this fall arrangement.

Marigold row 2024
Marigold row 2024

I love marigolds

My marigolds which I grow from the seeds of the previous year’s crop have been spectacular this year. I love that they bloom with such warm colors and they last right up until frost. Personally, I also love the pungent smell as I arrange them. It is a much slower task than arranging zinnias or gladiolas as there are many side branches and leaves to be removed. But the result is always so cheery. And by growing a mix of colors the marigolds themselves provide contrast in the bouquet.

Bouquet of marigolds
Bouquet of marigolds and zinnias

I bring in lots of flowers

As to procedure, I brought in the flowers the day before, stuffing the armloads of cut marigolds in a five gallon bucket filled one third with water. Grandma called that overnight wait “hardening” them. Then the next day, I got out my small floral scissors and floral foam, picked out the vases I wanted to fill, and went to work. I spread the flowers out on newspapers on a table first. The newspapers make clean-up much simpler. I have an empty bucket at my feet to catch the snippings for the compost pile. Typically I have brought in enough flowers for at least two bouquets. The second bouquet for this batch is pictured above. One benefit of taking pictures of my bouquets these days is that an app will bring them up in succeeding years “on this day.”

Categories
Americana Journal Who Am I

Daylily Clumps

Siloam Doodlebug
Siloam Doodlebug with a little Primal Scream on the side

Let those daylilies multiply!

As daylily lovers, we get used to pictures of perfect single blooms. Catalogs tout them; proud growers post them. Plus we take plenty of those kind ourselves too. But, what really impresses in the garden are the daylily clumps that have been tended for years and are producing a truly beautiful display. I am blessed to have several such beauties in front of my house. I don’t even try to count the number of scapes they are pushing out anymore. But I sure do appreciate the beauty!

Ruby Spider

Blushing Summer Valentine

In this post I am featuring pictures from blooming clumps of daylilies. Even then, because of composition considerations, often the picture only focuses on part of the clump’s full output. My daylily clumps tell a story too. This one originated in my grandmother’s garden (Frans Hal below). That one is a gift from a friend (the pink one). I can tell you the story about the lakeside garden where I purchased this one (Red Sails in the Sunset). One came from beside my brother Phil’s warehouse (the purple bordered one). And so it goes. Here’s such a collection.

Frans Hal

Red Sails in the Sunset

Categories
Country Touches Journal

Bear Exterminator

yellow jacket nest
football sized yellow jacket nest

This bear was helpful!

Early this summer, I was weeding along the fence line and I was unpleasantly surprised by a yellow jacket sting. Fortunately, I am not allergic. I thought that there was a ground nest so I just stayed clear. Later, while admiring daylilies, I was shocked to discover a football sized nest hanging from the bottom of the fence partially hidden in the grasses I had left. I checked on hiring an exterminator, but the price was not in my budget.

However, I remembered that twice on my property, the local bear had dug up a nest of yellow jackets to eat the developing larva. I said a silent prayer that he would visit my fence row for the same purpose. But I also remembered that another year I had a big ground nest of yellow jackets which the bear did not touch.

yellow jacket nest destroyed
yellow jacket nest destroyed by the bear

Well, as you can see from the above picture, the bear did his job. Very little remains of what had become an even more massive nest. I believe he may have visited on one of those very rainy nights, probably to minimize the wasps defense. Anyway, I am very grateful for his help. It is an answer to my prayer. And he didn’t even disturb a daylily!

Categories
Journal

Botanical Photographer Visits on Open Garden Day

Superimposed purple daylily
Photo by Beth McIntyre of Beez Botanicals

Beth McIntyre of Beez Botanicals stops by for daylily pictures

On July 11 and 14, JoAnne and I hosted “open garden” days to give neighbors and friends an opportunity and excuse to drop by and enjoy the daylilies. This time of year I have over fifty varieties in bloom. Several visitors took pictures. Some of you my know Beth McIntyre from her work in real estate in our area. In fact, she helped us to purchase this property and we are very grateful to her for that. One of Beth’s hobbies is nature photography. She especially loves taking pictures of flowers and then tweaking them with the tools she has. So it was a natural fit for Beth to drop in a couple times to shoot some daylilies. You can look up the Facebook page for her photography avocation at Beez Botanicals and see several more shots she took during her visits. She has graciously gifted me more of them which you can see here.

Superimposed purple spider daylily
Photo by Beth McIntyre of Beez Botanicals
  • Grandma's tall coral daylily
    Photo by Beth McIntyre of Beez Botanicals
Categories
Country Touches Journal Joy Notes Who Am I

It’s Daylily Season

Ruby Spider Daylily
Ruby Spider Daylily

Open garden scheduled

Kelvin’s daylily garden is about at its peak with around fifty different varieties in bloom. A couple early ones have already completed their season and some late ones are yet to start. The Joneses are inviting friends who would like to drop by to an open garden time on Friday, July 12 and and Sunday July 14 at 1:30 PM for a couple hours. Lemonade and cookie refreshments are planned.

Categories
Church Leadership Journal Joy Notes Meditations Wisdom

Easter Service at Copper Hill Church

Contagious Victory
Jesus' Victory is Contagious in our lives.

Jesus’ Victory is Contagious was the theme

Watch the service

I was privileged to be asked along with my wife to speak at and lead the Easter celebration at Copper Hill church this past Sunday. Pulpit supply there has been week-to-week lately and it was great joy when supervising pastor Rev. Gene Ott called and asked if I would return for the first time since I retired to lead on Easter. So I am including a link to the service above.

By special permission, JoAnne gathered a choir and arranged an Easter hymn titled, “That Easter Day” for us. It was a compilation of familiar hymn melodies with less familiar but beautiful Easter hymn words. JoAnne brought her harp and played “Rejoice, the Lord is King” and also brought the idle church keyboard back to life. Her piano students, Morgan and Malia Gabbidon, treated us to an inspiring piano duet of “Come Thou Almighty King.”

My message for the day titled “Contagious Victory” reminded us that God has blessed us to be able as Christians to appropriate Jesus’ victory to our own lives. Because he was victorious, we can in his strength overcome the challenges that we face as well. My text was,

In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Romans 8:37 NIV

The cross of Jesus appeared to be the victory of hate and envy.  But in the light of Easter, it became evident that on the cross, God’s Love had spoken an unconquerable word of loving forgiveness which would echo around the world and down through the ages.  The word “love” itself has been forever redefined by Jesus’ giving of himself.  The very concept of servant-leadership was created and exemplified in Jesus.   The love of Jesus continues to be contagious and to speak a better word as it is spread around the world through disciples like you and me!

Jesus’ great Easter Victory is the victory of wholeness over brokenness and of righteousness over sin in our daily lives.  I observed that victory in Jesus is really a very practical thing.  As early as the writings of Moses, the Bible encourages us to follow God’s ways, “that it may go well” with us.  That connection is found seven times in Deuteronomy (Deut. 4:40; 5:16; 6:3; 6:18; 12:25; 19:13; 22:7; Jer. 7:23; Eph. 6:3).  Walking in Jesus’ ways, listening to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit as we choose our daily lifestyle, leads to a different way of living. We still have troubles, we still make mistakes, but even in them, we make better choices because those choices are influenced by Holy Scripture and its values.   The fact is that God’s ways are more wholesome ways that generally lead to life and health.  The long-term salutary effects of our Christian walk are then one very important way that we become more than conquerors through him who loved us. And… the victory that Jesus won becomes contagious in our lives.

Jesus’ victory over death is contagious for us as well. When we stand by the casket of our loved ones, it seems like death has won again.  But the eyes of faith see differently.  The Bible says that Christians do not grieve as others do (1 Thess. 4:13). Why?  Because they can see a glimpse of the possibilities introduced by Jesus’ Day of Resurrection! 

It is written: “I believed; therefore, I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself.

2 Corinthians 4:13-14 NIV

The joyful conclusion is that because the resurrection power of Easter morning is also at work in us (Ephesians 1:19,20), Jesus can turn the brokenness of our lives into a fountain of grace! His victory is indeed contagious!

Categories
Journal News Commentary

I’m for Nikki Haley

2024 election button
2024 election button

It’s time for a new conservative leader.

Nikki Haley has distinguished herself as governor from South Carolina and ambassador to the United Nations. I am rooting for her for President this year! We seem to have an issue in our country getting past name recognition. Whoever people are familiar with from TV and the headlines get the vote too easily. Trump and Biden are the current examples. Despite Trump’s early primary victories, I believe Nikki Haley is the better choice for Republicans for several reasons.

First, there is the issue of aging, an issue facing both Democrats and Republicans. Indications from their speeches are that Trump and Biden, like all the rest of us, are not avoiding the inevitable effects of advancing age. Both Trump and Biden are too old for the Presidency. Nikki Haley is a next-generation leader and that is what we need in the White House. Age is one reason one poll showed Haley to be a more formidable opponent for Biden than Trump.

Second, are Trump’s political liabilities. Though he is ever popular with his base, he has shown himself to be a divisive figure in our country overall. In both New Hampshire and South Carolina, polls showed his appeal had concerning limits especially among educated and independent voters. One review from South Carolina said that one fifth of Republicans there said they would not vote for Trump.

Third, Trump’s court entanglements are a major issue. How can voters ignore when a candidate is accused of so many different violations of the law? And some are suggesting that there is a chance he may be convicted of some counts against him. While voters are willing to think that the accusations are political, will they interpret a jury verdict differently? At the very least, the prospective candidate’s time and money would be greatly divided.

Fourth, there is the issue of character. Good character is the first requirement of leadership. Why does Trump have to pressure people like McConnell to endorse him? In my experience, those who voted for Trump before, did so for party loyalty or to support particular issues, overlooking his character issues. By voting for Haley, we can vote for one whose character we respect as well.

Categories
Americana Country Touches Journal Who Am I

Nostalgia filled puzzle

Country Breakfast puzzle
Country Breakfast puzzle

A picture that evokes memories

Puzzle season is in full swing at our house. I just finished this gem. It is a favorite these days because it reminds me of so many things from my childhood.  Take, for example, the big stove.  While the style of this stove is from an earlier generation, we had a wood stove in the kitchen when I was growing up. I helped split wood for it as a teenager.  (The pieces for our stove needed to be half the size of the chunks in the picture too.)  I remember eating pancakes cooked on that stove quite often. They were a favorite noontime food at our farmhouse. The stove in the picture has a separate opening in the front where wood can be inserted. Our stove did not. Wood was inserted through the round grate on the top. I remember distinctly the tool that went in that little rectangular hole in the top circular grate. One night my mother used it as a prop for a spiritual lesson for her teenage son. She noted how she used that stove poker, as we called it, for so many things. Its manufactured purpose was to lift the hot grates. But we used it also to stoke the stove, moving the pieces of wood wherever they needed to be. It was just a handy little thing. Mom pointed out a lesson that I have never forgotten. If we would allow ourselves to be used by God for his good purposes, whatever that might be, we would be fulfilling our destiny as Christian people. No theologian ever defined sanctification better (Romans 12:1,2).

The oil lamp on the table tells me that the time period of this picture is pre-electricity on the farm.  So that would be pre World War II, perhaps during the Depression.  By the time I grew up, those oil lamps were already considered antiques, brought out only when the electricity went out. But I still have a couple myself. Yet now that flashlights with good batteries have become ubiquitous, I have not used the old lamps in years. (Is that an oil cloth tablecloth on the table under it?)

As I look out the window in the picture, I notice the tracks in the snow to the barn. The name of this 1000 piece puzzle from White Mountain Puzzles is Country Breakfast. I remember from my childhood farm days that work on the farm commenced before breakfast. The tracks evidence that the farmer in the picture has already been to the barn and spent time there before coming in hungry and ready for a Country Breakfast. The “arctics,” those big black boots with buckles now drying by the stove on the floor, had already been used that morning, making tracks to the barn and back.  My father had usually spent at least two hours at the barn before breakfast.  As a teen, sometimes in the spring I would be expected to help with those morning chores, and I remember how hungry I was by breakfast. 

Of course, there’s the maple syrup on the table too. Farmers often made their own as we did. I remember helping to gather the sweet sap from the trees and helping to feed the fire underneath the boiling pan of sap as my father tended it faithfully to keep it from scorching, something that would ruin the taste. One of my earliest memories is of the year that the spring was too wet for the small tractors of the early 50’s to handle the muddy ruts in the woods. So, my grandfather and my father had rented a team of workhorses to handle the task of gathering sap. I was allowed to “ride” along, meaning hop on the wooden sled with the tank that transported the collected sap to the syrup shanty where it was boiled down.

Did I mention the rug on the floor. My grandmother had several of those braided round or oval rugs. Today you can buy replicas of them, but they are not truly interwoven, only braids stitched together. In the originals, the braids were woven into one another by hand. They were a very sturdy handwork, and a practical way of recycling worn out clothes. They were compromised usually only because someone had chosen a too worn-out or a less durable cloth from which to make a strip.

Even the construction of the room brings back memories. Notice the old wainscoting and chair rail behind the table under the window. Our farmhouse kitchen still had some wainscoting remaining during my childhood. 

Well, I think you can see why I like the puzzle. Every time I study it, another memory comes back from the bank of nostalgia, tagged by some detail in the picture. That’s what makes this one so delightful.

Categories
Americana Best Five Journal Joy Notes

Christmas Village Fun 2023

Kelvin's Christmas Village 2023
Kelvin's Christmas Village and Railroad 2023

Plus five ideas for a great Christmas village

Let’s get started with some pictures. I always have fun trying to take close-ups in the Christmas village. It’s not easy as I need to hold the camera very low to get a good angle. But I like the result. The fun part is to let the imagination take over and pretend you are a child again who can easily invent a story behind each scene.

Welcoming Grandpa at the RR station

The Pewterer gets a new stove. This scene accents a Dept. 56 Dickens Village piece.

Idea two: Create mini story scenes all over the set. These guys unloading a pot-bellied stove invite all kinds of imaginative speculation. How heavy were those kinds of stoves? Is the boy on the right by the lamp waving at the wagon driver? 

Welcoming Grandpa at the railroad station in front of the village square.  

Idea one. Notice the multiple levels on the upper right side. I find multiple levels add interest. They also allow for hidden things like wires and railroad tunnels and improve sight lines for viewers too.

Village Pewterer buys a new stove
Note the guys struggling with the stove in front of the horse.

Christmas Village Manger Scene Carolers

Conversation with the lamplighter.

More on idea three: Emphasize themes you love. I grew up in Western NY and served in a church outside Syracuse NY for 22 years, so I celebrate with snow features. I loved sledding as a kid too! Actually my wife is the bigger snow fan.

Singing around the manger scene outside the church! This scene relates in many ways. For me, the dominant one is our worship of Jesus as we celebrate his birth. Carol singing is a central part of that worship for me.

Idea three:  Major in things you love! As a retired pastor, my Christmas village has four churches and several carol singers too. I also love Lionel O-gauge and this year I have three big loops and two short diorama tracks to celebrate the hobby.

Conversation with the lamplighter
The camera provides focus on the conversation with the lamplighter.
Upper Village Square
Having been raised in a wood-heated home, I can relate to the wood-splitters.

The skating rink in the daytime.

More on idea four: Use different areas. Here the separate area allows for a focus item, the skating rink. 

Upper Village Square.

Idea four. Divide the display into various areas. I have used this to accommodate varying time periods, slight differences in display pieces that don’t work well side by side, and different themes.

The skating rink
The house behind is a grandson favorite.

Idea five is no secret to anyone who has tried making a Christmas village, but to anyone who is just beginning it is an essential tip. Use layers of cloth.  For example, to keep things white, I use white sheets for the under-layer. Then, a snow-white felt-like or gauze-like cloth makes the top layer(s). The layers hide the piece of blue shiny foam that creates the icy pond look in one section. They hid all the power wires for both house lights and accessory wiring, even one whole power strip. On the hill particularly, the layers smooth over and hide canyons in the woodwork creating the smooth hillsides that you see. They also smooth out the edges wherever there is a foam block underneath to raise a house up a little. 

Christmas Village and Railroad in Operation 2023

And one extra idea. If you have a village you love, don’t take it down too soon. It can give you joy all winter! Ours does for us! Merry Christmas!  

Categories
Journal News Commentary Wisdom

How to Choose a President

Good Character Tag field
Good Character is leadership qualifier number one

Good Character is Key

With the first Republican candidate debate, the issues of presidential election politics became more pressing. Debate number two will intensify the voters’ dilemma. I know I am not alone when I say that I can hardly bring myself to properly prepare as a citizen because of the contentious and disappointing nature of politics in recent years. Yet, I need to. As I contemplate another election season, the question for me and I think for every voter is simple on the surface. “Who is the best candidate?” But in this era of misinformation and constant spin on everything, making that judgement seems anything but simple!

Media-managed selection of candidates can be alluring and deceiving.

As voters, we need some criteria to help us look past the parroted talking points, the inevitable mudslinging and the constant real-issue avoidance. However, I am very afraid that most voters judge far too shallowly. Camera image, bravado, self-assertion, and smooth talk by picture-ready candidates impress people far more than genuine credentials and honest communication. As constant consumers of media, we are so used to judging actors on their acting, it doesn’t seem to occur to us to ask whether the candidate is genuinely portraying him/herself in front of that camera. Hence TV and media personalities can get elected based on an impressive media persona which may be quite different from who they really are. And we have had a constant parade of such legislators who were quickly revealed to have no integrity and be quite undeserving of their office.

The real threat comes from bad character.

What we all need to remember is that citizens are not protected simply by having many police on the beat or strong armies and navies, but rather by the good moral character of their neighbors and the leaders who are over them all! Bad neighbors and bad leaders both make citizens afraid! John Maxwell, the expert on leadership today, teaches that the number one can’t-do-without characteristic of leaders is good moral character.

“Character makes trust possible and trust is the foundation of leadership.”

John C. Maxwell 1

How can we recognize good character in political leaders?

Drawing on biblical wisdom, we can flesh this out with particulars. For example, especially disqualifying characteristics include greed, 2 lawlessness,3 arrogance,4 and lack of compassion for the oppressed.5 All these traits show self-centeredness and predict a decrease in genuine concern for ordinary citizens. They also greatly increase the likelihood of misuse of power.

Chief among favorable characteristics is a demonstrated fear of God.6 The person with this honorable trait believes they are accountable to God and therefore they desire to give a good accounting of their deeds when their own Day7 arrives. The person who fears God is in the process of learning how to live according to the teachings of God. For Christians, instructions of Jesus, such as “Love one another,”8 and “Do to others as you would have them do to you,”9 are in their mind. Such a one is more likely to value personal integrity too. They will likely develop a consistent reputation for value-driven and principle-driven decisions. These traits increase the likelihood that the leader will be genuinely considerate of citizens and benevolent in the use of power.

This is only the beginning

Certainly there are other important considerations in the presidential race. For example, the person chosen must be electable, not just by the party faithful, but by the country as a whole. I’m interested in how the person polls beyond the party faithful? And a candidate for presidential leadership must have the ability to draw and hold talented and wise helpers and advisors. How are they handling their campaign team, for example, because leading leaders is the stuff of presidential life.

Yet, despite all these complexities, good character remains the bottom line.

So I consider it my first job as a voter to try to learn about the character of the candidates. I am interested in their positions on issues too, of course. But character is first! When I read or watch news, when I view a debate, the most important information that I am seeking concerns the character of the candidates. Character is key to everything!

  1. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, p. 9, Thomas Nelson Inc. 2012 ↩︎
  2. “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” 1 Timothy 6:10 ↩︎
  3. “When the wicked thrive, so does sin.” Prov. 29:16 ↩︎
  4. The biblical Psalmist describes the wicked this way. “They scoff, and speak with malice; with arrogance they threaten oppression.” Psalm 73:8 ↩︎
  5. “The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.” Prov. 29:7 ↩︎
  6. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Psalm 110:10
    “Through the fear of the Lord evil is avoided.” Prov. 16:6 ↩︎
  7. “”Each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.” Rom. 14:12 ↩︎
  8. John 13:34 ↩︎
  9. Luke 6:31 ↩︎