Bell Choir- April 2026

Today was bell choir Sunday. The first song we did is one of my favorites. It's "Spirit Song."



And I like the second one a lot too. It's "Shout to the Lord."



Hope you enjoy!

Most of the rest of the day I spent working on things for Confidence Camp. There were lots of other things I should be doing too. But at least I didn't goof off. It was cold and windy outside. Expect flowers tomorrow!

See Bell Choir- February 2026

Tustin and Potatoes

What does the village of Tustin have to do with potatoes, you ask? The Pine River Museum is located in Tustin, in a former potato warehouse. The building is 200 feet long, but narrow so that it had multiple bays that fronted on the railroad.

And surprisingly, it has a basement that was also filled with potatoes at harvest time. They cut through the floor in one place and added crates and fake potatoes to show how that would have been used.

The primary agricultural product of the area was potatoes. Actually, there still are a lot of potatoes grown in the area. This is a field of them in blossom just a little south from there. (another year, another month)

This is one display of hand tools used in the ag business of 100 years ago. there are potato and corn planters on the left, along with a number of itmes that were used in other farm pursuits- a fruit picking bag, shearing scissors for sheep, wooden grain shovels, corn knife, hay rake, hay knife, and more.

I was especially surprised at this. These are hand-carved yokes for carrying two buckets. I have one of these that belonged to my grandfather. I guess I sort of thought these were an eastern thing. But, nope! Here are four more. Mine is most like the second one down. I'll show you some day.

I worked on various projects today including starting to get materials collected for Confidence Camp. It was cold outside, and I was a little sore from yesterday, but I did stuff.

See When I first saw the museum building

I Kidnapped Chris

Very little went the way I expected it to today, but it was all great!

I'd just gotten started on my morning work routine when hiker Chris contacted me. His plans had changed too, and he needed to get to Cadillac. So, I went to get him off the trail.

But then, I decided to kidnap him and bring him back to my house.

I worked him so hard that when I took him back to Cadillac we needed the hanidicap spot!

I'm just kidding. Sort of. Actually, I did ask him if he'd help me with some heavy work. Here was the result.

It doesn't look like much except a bare spot, right? That's good. There was still an awful lot of earth to move where the snowplow had scraped up rolls of dirt on the grass. I really wasn't thinking I could get that all cleaned up alone before the grass got too long, but the two of us together got everything smoothed down enough that I'll be able to run the mower without scalping all that dirt.

Meanwhile, I was trying to get Chris a ride from Cadillac to Kalkaska tomorrow. Due to all the flooding he's going to have to skip a whole section of trail. Glen, from our Spirit of the Woods Chapter, is on the Trail Angel list, and he doesn't live too far from Cadillac. So he agreed to do that.

Then, Glen reminded me that we'd been talking for quite a while about about him giving me a tour of the little museum in Tustin where he lives. So after I dropped Chris off at the motel, I went to the musuem. You'll see a lot more of that another day because it was very nice.

But then Glen and Diana invited me to their house for dinner. I said yes.

Glen is the President of their historical society. He's also now our chapter Vice-President. And his hobby is carving birds and fans from a single piece of wood. I had no idea you could make really large ones! I saw quite a few he's made over the years, and one his father made (you'll see that another day). But here is one of his large ones. (His grandfather also made them, and Glen's teaching his grandchildren!)

Also, since I was driving up north, I scooted around and got the plastic recycling collected to drop off on the way.

I'm happy, full of good food, and beat!

See Loren, Loda, Hardcore Hiker

Foliage from Adams Flower Show

There may be two posts with foliage. But these will surely be enough for today. As some of you know, I really like colored or textured foliage because it is interesting all season long. None of these would grow in my outside gardens (well, maybe one of the trees), but they all grab my attention.

This is a Dieffenbachia or dumb cane, but it's a cultivar with white leaves. Maybe 'Star Bright.'

Here's one that was completely new to me. It's called Japanese Umbrella Pine, Sciadopitys verticillata. This one MIGHT grow here, but it's pretty fussy. Probably why I've never seen it before. It's a "fossil" plant, the only one remaining from the Sciadopityaceae family since the Pliocene period. It is a conifer, but not really a pine.

I had one of these as a houseplant long ago, but as you can probably guess, it died. This is Firestick Cactus, really a euphorbia, Euphorbia tirucalii. I like quirky things like this.

Here is one I wish would be hardy here, but not quite. It would be great in the rock garden (well, unless it turned out to be too aggressive). This is actually a bindweed, so it gets white flowers like a small morningglory. It's called Silverbush or Shrubby Bindweed, Convolvulus cneorum.

This is another tropical houseplant, fairly common, but it's still very cool. Rattlesnake Plant, Goeppertia insignis (formerly a Calathea).

Finally for today, this one might grow here. The Dow Gardens had a stunning one (even better pic at the link). This is a Korean Fir, Abies koreana, and it's the same cultivar as at Dow: 'Horstman's Silberlocke.' Supposedly it has bright purple cones. I could easily covet one of these.

Yeah, there will be more foliage. But not today.

I got some stuff done, but had a little tummyache this afternoon, so the accomplishments weren't stellar.

See Colors from Adams Flower Show

Colors from Adams Flower Show

I told you I'd share some more from the Adams Flower Show in New York, and I want to do at least two more posts. Here's one of them with lots of color. That's one of the things they do best is pile on the color, which is just what we all need in March!

I'll start with this 'Stewartstonian' Azalea. This is the variety that Sue gave me for my birthday a couple of years ago, but mine did not live. I'm sorry about that, because it's beautiful!

A plant you can always count on seeing at Adams is spoon mums. They are called that because of the little "spoons" at the ends of the petals.

Here are some more, paired nicely with tulips. Of course, in the real world, tulips bloom in spring and chrysanthemums in late summer to fall. But hey...

This could only be a houseplant where we live. It was in the tropical section. Popular name: Flamingo Flower. It's Anthurium andraeanum.

This one would do all right a little bit south of me. It's a cultivar of a mountain laurel, possibly 'Starburst'.

On another day, I still want to share some beautiful foliage plants.

I worked a little bit on most of my projects today. Best completion was that I got the lawn leveled from snowplow damage up near the house. There is still a bunch to do down by the road. That's hard work, and I can only do a little at a time.

I'm glad I shared the buds yesterday. The crocus did not survive the night. The hyacinth is still hanging in there, and I found two more patches of the corydalis! It's about to become daffodil festival here. Stay tuned.

See Adams Flower Show 2026