MARIGOLD FLOWER BED

Mary Marcia
America's STORYTELLER
Telling Untold Stories in Photographs, Prose and Public Speaking

marcia.blogspot.com/2016/05/marigold-flower-bed.html

Flower Bed

I discovered a literal "flower bed" at Powell Gardens, a unique Midwestern  botanical garden that offers much to explore and discover. 

Link:  http://powellgardens.org/ 

Link:  http://powellgardens.org/Explore 

Click on each photograph to enlarge.
Copyright 2013 Marcia Norwood

Flowerbed

Bed of Flowers

1. A plot of ground in which plants are growing
2. A bed in which flowers are growing
   

    

Click on each photograph to enlarge.
FLOWER BED.  Copyright 2013 Marcia Norwood

"Why does the past look so enticing to us?

For the same reason why from a distance

a meadow with flowers looks like a

flower bed."

Franz Grillparzer

1791-1872

Austrian Poet

Schooled at Home and At the Gymnasium.

Entered the University to Study Law and Philosophy but Preferred Literature and Music

Click on each photograph to enlarge.
FLOWER BED.  Copyright 2013 Marcia Norwood

 
Marigolds are easy to grow annuals, and are available in a variety of colors:  white, yellow, orange, red and mixed colors. 

Click on each photograph to enlarge.

Marigolds  bloom from mid-summer all the way until frost. They can be used for indoor arrangements, but give off a pungent odor that is sometimes too strong indoors. 

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Copyright 2013 Marcia Norwood

Insects largely avoid Marigolds.

Insects do not like it's pungent odor. 

This is why Marigolds make good companion plants. 

You can even make an insect repellent spray from these plants. 

Click on each photograph to enlarge.
Copyright 2013 Marcia Norwood

  

Organic Insect Repellents, 

and Organic Disease Control Spray Recipes 

CLICK on the link or COPY & PASTE the link in your browser:

http://www.gardenersnet.com/spray.htm

Click on each photograph to enlarge.
Copyright 2013 Marcia Norwood

The common name in English, "marigold", is derived from "Mary's gold", a name first applied to a similar plant native to Europe,  Calendula officinalis.  

Click on each photograph to enlarge.
Copyright 2013 Marcia Norwood

Thanks for stopping by!

Come back often, and invite a friend!

 Mary Marcia

America's STORYTELLER

Telling Untold Stories in Photographs, Prose and Public Speaking

Click on each photograph to enlarge.
Copyright 2013 Marcia Norwood

FRIENDSHIP ROSE

Mary Marcia
America's STORYTELLER
Telling Untold Stories in Photographs, Prose and Public Speaking

Link:  http://tellmeastory-marcia.blogspot.com/2016/05/friendship-rose.html


Today I'm sharing a blog I first wrote in March 2014.

FRIENDSHIP 

Relationship between two people
     affection
        sympathy
           empathy
              honesty
                 compassion
                    understanding
                       fun
                          trust
                             faith
                                love
                                   caring
                                        

"But friendship is the breathing rose,

with sweets in every fold."

Oliver Wendell Holmes

(1809-1894)

American physician, poet, professor, lecturer and author.

Hand-picked Roses.  Copyright 2014 Marcia Norwood

There is a time when mothers and daughters become friends. 

If we try to be friends when our girls are too young, they lose a mother.  

Then who will be their mother?  


Being a mom is often a thank-less job, but not always.

My daughter, Faith, gave me red carnations for Valentine's Day.  They bloomed for 19 days.    
  

Faith's Gift.  Copyright 2014 Marcia Norwood

This week, Faith gifted me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers that she hand picked from the florist:  red, yellow, ivory and lavender roses and a red carnation.

Faith's Gift.  Copyright 2014 Marcia Norwood

I arranged each flower carefully in two of my favorite blue-and-white vases.  I gently touched the precious petals, and drank in their fragrance.  I brushed my hand across the rosemary in the pot next to the roses. It's scent lingered on my hands.  For one brief moment I forgot about the snow covered ground outside my kitchen window.

My Kitchen Window.  Copyright 2014 Marcia Norwood

"Why beautiful flowers again?" I asked my daughter.

 "I just wanted to thank you for taking me to divisional championship swim meets, Mom," said Faith.

Going to swim practice and swim meets is something we always do.  It's nothing out of the ordinary.  

What's extraordinary is a young woman who brings gifts (purchased with her hard-earned money) to her mom, and to countless others.  Only God knows each act of kindness Faith bestows on others.  One day He will reward her openly for her acts done in secret.

I'm proud to share that Faith earned medals in every event she swam at division championships.  She trains hard every day at swim practice. 

I'm even more proud, in a godly way, of the way Faith lives her life in service to others.  

      

Faith's Gift.  Copyright 2014 Marcia Norwood

Faith's Gift.  Copyright 2014 Marcia Norwood

    

Rosemary & Roses.  Copyright 2014 Marcia Norwood

  

Copyright 2014 Marcia Norwood

Thanks 
for 
stopping 
by!

Come 
back 
often, 
and 
invite 
a friend!

     Mary Marcia

Mother to Kristin, Benjamin, Sarah & Faith

Grandmother to Joshua, Megan, Emily & Caleb

 

America's STORYTELLER
Telling Untold Stories in Photographs, Prose and Public Speaking

Link:  http://tellmeastory-marcia.blogspot.com/2016/05/friendship-rose.html

Copyright 2014 Marcia Norwood

Copyright 2014 Marcia Norwood

THE LIGHTHOUSE

Mary Marcia
America's STORYTELLER
Telling Untold Stories in Photographs, Prose and Public Speaking

LINK:   http://tellmeastory-marcia.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-lighthouse.html

 

CLICK on image to enlarge.  LIGHTHOUSE at the Lake of the Ozarks.  Copyright 2016 Marcia Norwood

I have always loved lighthouses, and every time I see one I break out in song.  

I sing:  The Lighthouse, by songwriter Ronnie Hinson.   

My singing voice is just for fun and praise, and normally I don't sing in public, but when I see a lighthouse I just can't help but sing:   

" And I thank God for the Lighthouse
I owe my life to Him
For Jesus is the Lighthouse
And from the rocks of sin
He has shown a light around me
That I could clearly see
If it wasn't for the Lighthouse (tell me)
Where would this ship be?"

 

The first lighthouse I saw was in St. Augustine, Florida.  It was love at first sight.  I was captured by the beauty, and majesty, and the purpose of the lighthouse.  

https://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=mcafee&type=C111US0D20151228&p=lighthouse+st+augustine+florida+images

https://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=mcafee&type=C111US0D20151228&p=lighthouse+st+augustine+florida+images

 Navy Pier, Chicago

Shoreline of Lake Michigan

I had a surreal experience on a dreary, rainy day in Chicago as I watched a sailboat sail past the lighthouses near Navy Pier. 

CLICK on image to enlarge.  Copyright 2009 Marcia Norwood

CLICK on image to enlarge.   Daughter Faith.   Copyright 2009 Marcia Norwood

 

CLICK on image to enlarge.   Navy Pier.   Copyright 2009 Marcia Norwood

CLICK on image to enlarge.   Navy Pier.   Copyright 2009 Marcia Norwood

CLICK on image to enlarge.   Navy Pier.   Copyright 2009 Marcia Norwood

 

Lighthouse near Navy Pier, Chicago.  Copyright 2010 Marcia Norwood

CLICK on image to enlarge.   Navy Pier.   Copyright 2009 Marcia Norwood

 

 

CLICK on image to enlarge.   Navy Pier.   Copyright 2009 Marcia Norwood

CLICK on image to enlarge.   Copyright 2009 Marcia Norwood

 

CLICK on image to enlarge.   Copyright 2009 Marcia Norwood

CLICK on image to enlarge.   Copyright 2009 Marcia Norwood

CLICK on image to enlarge.   Copyright 2009 Marcia Norwood

 

CLICK on image to enlarge.   Copyright 2009 Marcia Norwood

 

Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri

We had a condo on the shore of the  Lake of the Ozarks.

CLICK on image to enlarge.   Lake of the Ozarks.  Copyright 2002 Marcia Norwood

CLICK on image to enlarge.   Lake of the Ozarks.  Copyright 2002 Marcia Norwood

Family and Friends!  Copyright 2002 Marcia Norwood

Daughters Kristin and Sarah.  Copyright 2003 Marcia Norwood

Daughter Sarah, Nephews Taylor and Connor.  Copyright 2002 Marcia Norwood

Our condo had a blank wall that was perfect for a mural.  I found a beautiful lighthouse cove mural online, and used wallpaper paste to apply it on our wall.  The mural was an enlargement of a painting, and the brush strokes made it appear to be a hand painted mural.  It is gorgeous. 

CLICK on image to enlarge.   Lake of the Ozarks.  Copyright 2002 Marcia Norwood

CLICK on image to enlarge.   Lake of the Ozarks.  Copyright 2002 Marcia Norwood

You can still purchase the same lighthouse cove mural.

LINK:   http://www.wallstickeroutlet.com/wall-decor-detail.php?RecordID=70086

  

There is a real lighthouse at the Lake of the Ozarks, and it's beautiful.   

CLICK on image to enlarge.  Copyright 2015 Marcia Norwood

CLICK on image to enlarge.  Copyright 2015 Marcia Norwood

 Each and every time over the years as we cruised by on our boat - you guessed it - I broke out in song:  

" And I thank God for the Lighthouse
I owe my life to Him
For Jesus is the Lighthouse
And from the rocks of sin
He has shown a light around me
That I could clearly see
If it wasn't for the Lighthouse (tell me)
Where would this ship be?"

 

Sometimes my children and grandchildren sang along, and sometimes they said:  "Oh!  No!  Make her stop!"

I have always loved lighthouses, and every time I see one I break out in song.

  The Lighthouse

Ronny Hinson, Songwriter

There's a Lighthouse on the hillside
That over looks life's sea
And when I'm tossed it sends out a light
That I might see
And the light that shines in darkness now
Will safely lead us o'er
If it wasn't for the Lighthouse
My ship would be no more

Chorus:
And I thank God for the Lighthouse
I owe my life to Him
For Jesus is the Lighthouse
And from the rocks of sin
He has shown a light around me
That I could clearly see
If it wasn't for the Lighthouse (tell me)
Where would this ship be?

Everybody that lives about us
Says tear that Lighthouse down
The big ships don't sail this way anymore
There's no use of it standing round
Then my mind goes back to that stormy night
When just in time I saw the light
Yes, the light from that old Lighthouse
That stands up there on the hill

Read more at http://www.lyrics.com/lighthouse-lyrics-bill-gaither.html#TI3rRMS6TJlVuveB.99

History of the song:

THE LIGHTHOUSE

Ronny Hinson, Songwriter

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohtxMKHtMbQ 

Ronnie Hinson wrote The Lighthouse when he was a teenager.  It's amazing that Hinson had never seen a lighthouse before he wrote the song.   

Hinson's family sang in church, and as a warm up group who sang at gospel concerts. 

Hinson  wrote The Lighthouse on a piece of toilet paper in the little boys' bathroom, and when he sang it for his family, one of them laughed and wadded up the paper and threw it in the trash can.  

When the family couldn't decide on which song to sing at a church concert, Ronny's brother, Kenny said:  "Get the piece of toilet paper out of the trash and open it up." 

Kenny started singing and the presence of the LORD filled the place, and from that point on the song took off.  

At first, Hinson didn't understand what was so important about his song, The Lighthouse.  When Hinson was in Santa Cruz,  California, and he rode his bicycle 30 miles to find a lighthouse.   He parked his bike, chained it to a fence post, climbed up on a sand dune and for the first time Hinson saw a lighthouse:  the Pigeon Point Lighthouse.   

 LINK: http://www.southern-gospel-music-lyrics.com/the-lighthouse-ronnie-hinson.html

" I sat there and I saw the lighthouse and I thought, ‘What a picture. What a scene.’ The ocean was gray. It was desolate looking. It was like something out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie but there stood the lighthouse; hope in the middle of all that dreary hopelessness.” 

“Then I looked at my paper, my toilet paper, and I saw the picture that I’d never seen before. It came to life on that paper and tears ran down my face and I knew that there was something God had orchestrated.  I have learned how to write and have received a lot of awards for writing, I always look back and remember and God always keeps me humble with that one trip to the Lighthouse and remembering that I didn’t even know what a lighthouse was when I wrote it."

 LINK: http://www.southern-gospel-music-lyrics.com/the-lighthouse-ronnie-hinson.html

Ronnie Hinson is one of the great songwriters of our day.

Songs such as "The Lighthouse" have become some of Southern Gospel music's Greatest Hits. 

 LINK:  https://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=mcafee&type=C111US0D20151228&p=story+of+ronny+hinson+wrote+the+lighthouse

Hinson was a founding member of Southern Gospel Hall of Fame group,  The Hinsons.  Many famous singers recorded THE LIGHTHOUSE  including Elvis Presley.

 

The Lighthouse

Elvis Presley

SONG LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRRHrFm9GpA

 

CLICK on image to enlarge.   Copyright 2009 Marcia Norwood

The Light House

The Crabb Family

 SONG LINK:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOJrT5H2zco 

 

 

CLICK on image to enlarge.   Copyright 2009 Marcia Norwood

The Lighthouse 

The Happy Goodmans

  SONG LINK:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl--4pJ_oeo

 

 

CLICK on image to enlarge.  LIGHTHOUSE at the Lake of the Ozarks.  Copyright 2016 Marcia Norwood

 Thanks for stopping by!

Come back often, and invite a friend.

CLICK on image to enlarge.   Navy Pier ,Chicago.  Daughter Faith and Marcia.  Copyright 2009 Marcia Norwood

Mary Marcia

America's STORYTELLER

Telling Untold Stories in Photographs, Prose and Public Speaking

LINK:  http://tellmeastory-marcia.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-lighthouse.html