Rainbow’s End is a Thrift shop in Walnut Creek that sends all proceeds to Fern Lodge.  Its hours are Mon-Sat 10:30 AM — 4:30 PM.  More information is on their facebook page.  Also read about their sales to Africa below:

What do we do with donated shoes which are not good enough to sell?

We put them in paper grocery bags under the table across from the microwave oven.  When we have lots of them, Donna Antonioli, our Shoe Queen, calls “James” to come and pick them up.  He comes down from Santa Rosa, pays us 50 cents a pair, and ships them off to Africa.  Why are shoes so treasured in Africa??  They’re the ticket to an education because in many parts of that continent you cannot go to school unless you wear shoes!   Makes us humble and grateful, yes?  [Sales to James earn us about $250/year.]

What a joy it is to realize when you go to do a job given by our Father-Mother God that the people awaiting you have been praying as earnestly (sometimes even more) than you in order to have a fruitful, joyful and Christly experience.

That is exactly what happened during our last visit to the capital of Peru–Lima–in South America. More than 40 eager and ready Christian Scientists with one of our hymns in mind gathered together in order to sing:

A grateful heart a garden is, Where there is always room For every lovely, God-like grace To come to perfect bloom…(1)

Voicing and knowing from that moment that our motto for that week of Christian Science Nursing Training in Lima was going to be:

“Gratitude is richness and complaint is poverty”.

Mary Baker Eddy clearly defined the role of the Christian Science Nurse in Article VIII, Section 31 of the Church Manual of The First Church of Christ Scientist, in Boston, Mass where it reads:

A member of The Mother Church who represents himself or herself as a Christian Science nurse shall be one who has a demonstrable knowledge of Christian Science practice, who thoroughly understands the practical wisdom necessary in a sick room, and who can take proper care of the sick.

The cards of such persons may be inserted in The Christian Science Journal under rules established by the publishers.(2)

The foundation mentioned above, together with what our beloved leader Mrs. Eddy says in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures regarding what a Christian Science Nurse ought to be and the qualifications he/she should always strive for,  were the basis for discussion:

“An ill-tempered, complaining, or deceitful person should not be a nurse. The nurse should be cheerful, orderly, punctual, patient, full of faith, — receptive to Truth and Love”. (3)

The practical aspect and behavior a Christian Science Nurse was exemplified by the story in the Bible of The Good Samaritan (4), allowing the class to see how “love is/was put into action,” as our Master Jesus Christ tells us in that beautiful parable.

Besides learning all the skills a Christian Science Nurse needs to know in order to show “Practical wisdom,” “knowledge of how to take proper care of the sick”, the whole class worked in depth in the understanding of the word “NURSE” which comes from the latin word “Nutricia” that means to “to nourish.” Everybody was invited to prepare their favorite Peruvian meals, while explaining the ingredients used and how they were prepared. There were dishes from different regions of Peru, as well as desserts and beverages. Then the participants explained how they would go about modifying these “regular meals” into nourishment, which in turn could be shared with individuals who temporally are needing soft, liquid, or transparent foods/meals.

Not surprisingly, the whole class turned into a “GARDEN OF GRATITUDE”  where everyone came “TO PERFECT BLOOM.” We closed the class saying together the sixth Tenet (5) , promising to strive in order to be “GOOD SAMARITANS” for all mankind.

(1)  Christian Science Hymnal – Hymn # 3

(2)  Manual of the Mother Church, page 49

(3)  Science and Health, Page 395

(4)  The Bible, Luke 10: 25–37

(5)  Science and Health, Page 497

We are happy to tell you that Sharon Strong has accepted the position of Fern Lodge Director of Christian Science Nursing Education.  Many of you know and and respect Sharon as friend and as a Christian Science nurse who has a broad range of experience, including teaching Christian Science nursing courses in various locations, such as Fern Lodge, Chestnut Hill and El Arca, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  Sharon has served as Director of Christian Science Nursing at Fern Lodge for twelve years, and she has helped to guide our dear facility in spiritually inspired and progressive ways.  We are deeply grateful that she will be able to devote more time and attention to shepherding our Christian Science nursing education activities.

To apply for this position through our website, click here.

This rose garden is meticulously taken care of by our own Ken Gourley, who will be sharing some of his insights into the roses seen here. In this picture (above), the prominent pink rose in full bloom just to the left of the large patch of white Dutch Iris is the “Strawberry Hill” rose.   The softer pink rose on the bottom right of the photo (just above the purple bearded Iris) is “Scepter’d Isle”.…

Charlotte. Of all of the yellow roses I’ve brought indoors for the patients to enjoy, I get more people asking me questions about this rose than any other!

David Austin, the brilliant hybridizer of his “English” variety of roses, had a vision a long time ago of bringing back the graceful forms and delicious fragrances of the old heritage roses;  yet modernizing them to include both a greater color range as well as better repeat-bloom ability.   “Charlotte”, having David Austin’s ground-breaking famous yellow rose, “Graham Thomas” as one of her parents, is the delicately-colored younger beauty that is indeed something to rave about!   With its soft floral Tea fragrance and ability to melt hearts as it unfolds its many petals, this rose can cure a rose-hater better than any other I know!

Scepter’ed Isle. Here’s a good example not only of how beautiful the soft pink Scepter’ed Isle rose is;  but also of how nice it looks with other garden plants of grace and beauty — in this case, the tall white Dutch Iris behind, and the gorgeous purple Bearded Iris in front!   I’m so grateful that when I first got the OK to plant roses inside the deer fenced area, the garden already came with both Dutch and Bearded Iris already planted there, thanks to George who did that many years ago!!

Besides the Iris, there are two other companion plants near these roses:  Erigeron (AKA “Santa Barbara Daisy”) to the left;  and also the soft lavender-blue spikes of Nepeta (AKA “Catmint”) to the right…

Other classic Rose companions include:  Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), Lavender, Rosemary, and Clematis (to name just a few) — all of which we have here in the Fern Lodge garden…   Hey, everybody could use a companion or two!

William Shakespeare 2000. I didn’t originally plan on planting any red roses at Fern Lodge;  but once people found out I was planting the thorny creatures here, requests started coming in for them…  which explains why in the 2nd year I tried to cram as many as I could against the South-side deer fence, facing the building.

Last year, even though no “official” vote was ever taken, the favorite red Fern Lodge rose seems to be this one — with a toss-up close second place going to either the long-time red Hybrid Tea rose, “Mr. Lincoln’;  or to the petite wine-red “Tradescant” spray rose…   In any case, as if on cue, William Shakespeare was the first red rose to bloom this year!

Golden Celebration. I was first introduced to this rose in ’97, when I met my friend and eventual landscaping boss, Chip Lima, who planted this rose in almost every garden that he designed and installed in San Francisco.   With a Master’s degree in Landscape Design and Plant Pathology, he actually HATED most roses because so many can require a lot of fussing — except for a sparse few self-sufficient healthy varieties that he approved of, this one being definitely one of his all-time favorites.   I fell in love with this rose so much myself that I not only planted one in a huge pot on my own deck;  but also planted three at my sister-in-law’s garden in Burlingame.  Besides the almost eye-blinking golden yellow color, as well as incredibly lush green healthy foliage, the delicious honey & lemon fragrance I find to be the icing on my rose cake…   In other words:  I have a long and happy history with this rose — and I hope that Fern Lodge falls in love with it as much as I did, too!!

Mme. Cecile Brunner (Sweetheart rose). This is the famous old Polyantha rose, “Mme. Cecile Brunner” (pronounced, “Ce-CEEL”), which dates back to around 1850.   Although it wasn’t planted at F. L. quite that long ago (LOL), it is a true “survivor!”   There are actually two plants of this rose, both outside of the TV Living room, completely unprotected from hungry munching deer — as well as completely drought-tolerant now, because nobody ever waters them…   The deer “prune” the lower portion;  while [thank goodness] we get to see the blooms of the upper portion, beyond their reach.

If anybody at Fern Lodge knows more history about these roses than I just stated above, I’d love to know!   I can tell you all about the roses INSIDE the deer fence, because starting in Feb. of ’08, I planted every one of ‘em!   But, whoever planted this commonly called, “Sweetheart rose”, I’d like to say a big thank you to them!

Deer’s Eye View: Here’s one of the vantage points the deer get to see of their favorite food…   No, they don’t like the purple Echium!

Lady Emma Hamilton. At the other end of the deer fenced garden, mid-level above the far West retaining wall, is an even more brilliantly-hued apricot / tangerine colored rose named, “Lady Emma Hamilton” — which has an equally strong fruity fragrance to match!!   In this pic, Lady Hamilton is just beginning to open.   The magenta blooms of the hardy “Geranium Icanum”, as well as the silvery foliage of Lamb Ears, create a nice “subtle” color theme, don’t you think?

 

*UPDATED*

Graham Thomas. Recently voted, “The World’s Favorite Rose” by the 41 National Rose Societies, and also given the prestigious James Mason award in 2000, this brilliant gorgeous shrub rose first came on the scene at the UK’s Chelsea Flower show in the spring of 1983 — and has melted hearts & minds ever since!   With a wonderful spicy tea fragrance, and its usual tendency to bloom in large cheerful clusters, next to any purple nor violet/blue flowers, this sunshine yellow rose is an unforgettable sight!   This is the first Graham Thomas rose bloom to open up and be photographed for this year — and conveniently planted nearby, smack-dab in the extreme NW corner of the deer fence, is a baby violet-colored Hardenbergia vine, called “Happy Wanderer”…

This rose also happens to be a very historic rose, in that it was one of hybridizer David Austin’s first successful new rose varieties which he introduced to the world as, “English roses”;  but which most of the gardening world calls, “David Austin roses”…   No matter:  call it whatever you like — the important thing to know is that he had a vision of bringing back the old-fashioned Heritage roses’ graceful forms and fragrances, but crossing them with the best of the modern Hybrid Tea and Floribunda roses, giving to the public, “the best of both rose worlds” — and if this rose is any example of his vision, what a joy it is to have them in our garden at Fern Lodge!!

Although currently our 3 Graham Thomas rose plants are all quite modest in size (as well as the little Hardenbergia vine that was planted just this past Feb.), eventually, both the rose & the vine will grow quite tall over time.   In the meantime, however…   I will be happily “nursing” these two garden friends along, until they get well-established in our garden, and big enough (and drought-tolerant enough) to eventually fend for themselves.

Trellis View. Looking through the green metal trellis where purple Clematis will soon be growing, you can see some yellow roses blooming beyond…   This is the view from inside the deer fence of the far NW corner of the Fern Lodge rose garden, a section of the garden dedicated to yellow and apricot-colored roses.   Some of the rose varieties found in or near this area include the following:  Climbing Royal Sunset;  Sally Holmes;  Pat Austin;  Graham Thomas;  Golden Celebration, Teasing Georgia, Charlotte, and Malvern Hills — to name just a few.…

Thanks for taking our virtual rose garden tour.  We will add additional blooms later in the season.

4:30 Readings from Tom Port, Board Chair

8:30 Elizabeth Schwartz, Treasurer

11:30 George Strong, Administrator

19:30 Sharon Strong, Director of Christian Science Nursing

39:00 Main Speaker: Susan Breuer, C.S.

Fern Lodge Annual Meeting 2011 from Brian Stock on Vimeo.

The drawing on the above shows the architect’s rendition of the new Fern Lodge entrance.  Through the extended periods of heavy rain, we have kept this drawing close at hand to remind us of the goal we are working toward.  The other two photos below show the present state of the entrance, with work postponed due to rain, and the new concrete pad with drainage that was required before we could proceed with the original remodeling plan.

Progress to date

Work on the new Fern Lodge entryway and reception area is progressing, though more slowly than expected.  A major delay, and significant additional expense, resulted when we learned that we were required to provide a drainage system for the area where our garbage and recycling dumpsters are kept.  That system soon will be in place, and we are ready to work on the original project, the new reception area and Fern Lodge entrance.

The delay may well have been a blessing in disguise when the timing is considered.  If we had begun work on the entrance as scheduled, it is likely that part of the roof would have been removed during the recent extended periods of heavy rain.  This was a time of earnest prayer, hard work, and trust in divine protection.  We are grateful for God’s constant care and impeccable timing.

Additional cost of the project — $25,000

Pictured at left is the concrete slab and footing for the enclosure we were required to build for our trash and recycling bins.  Walls and doors are still to be finished, as well as paving to repair the driveway that was removed to install the drainage system.  We ask for your financial assistance with this project.  The cost of the drainage system came to about $25,000, which is in addition to the $200,000 cost of the entrance and reception area.

A Photo Journal of the Construction

Feel free to flip through the following pictures to see the daily progress of the construction project.

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