What are we working on here at Olmsted?

Soul Tending: August 2010

The Rev. Lisa Grant has given a thoughtful title to her upcoming retreat: "Soul Tending."  It gets us thinking about what it is we do to take care of our Spiritual Selves.  Do we spend as much time on that as we do on our summer gardens?  During the month of August our gardens bring us herbs, flowers, fruit, vegetables--all evidence of the time and effort we have put into caring for them.

The grounds around Olmsted take quite a bit of care and thankfully summer brings us students who are available to help out.  Iva Olmsted (the original occupant of this wonderful place!) was a dedicated gardener and it was her leading that inspired much of the plantings here (some plantings date back to her original plants).  At one time the Olmsted's had more than 20 hired gardeners working for them!

In her description of her "Soul Tending" retreat, Rev. Grant concludes: "Olmsted is a unique environment which invites us into the presence of the Holy.  With a relaxing rhythm to the schedule, my prayer is that participants will find some new ways in which Christ can tend their souls with the peace that only the Spirit brings."

The grounds around Olmsted provide a perfect setting for anyone who is working on their own Soul Tending.  Here are places for quiet introspection, for group activities, for study, for walking meditation and prayer.  The Olmsted gardens are truly a gift, first of all from Iva Olmsted and all of the original gardeners, and also a gift from our workers and volunteers who keep on tending this sacred space.

Paint Job! Thanks to LJ & Trinity UMC of Oil City: July 2010

Its great to have volunteers helping us pay attention to all of those little details that keep the buildings at Olmsted looking their best.  The railings at Groves Lodge got a paint job, thanks to a work crew which came up last month.  Laura Jane Stone brought these volunteers from Trinity United Methodist Church of Oil City, PA.  Thank you!

Rebuilding Structures: June 2010

Knee replacements, dental work, laser eye surgery...we know that sometimes it is important to rebuild our aging bodies.  We frequently find ourselves doing just that with our aging buildings and gardens here at Olmsted. 

Bob and his crew (Bill and Peter) have completed rebuilding the circular platform in the lower yards (located next to the labyrinth).  Weather and age had taken its toll, making the stone structure, built in 1930, uneven and falling apart.  So it was dismantled, cleaned, and the foundation was rebuilt before replacing the stones exactly as they had originally been installed.  It is now just as we would all like our aging selves to be: Strong. Balanced. Beautiful. (And ready for many more years.)

Olmsted Manor Retreat Center

PO Box 8   --  17 East Main Street  --  Ludlow, Pennsylvania 16333    *   (814) 945-6512    *   info@olmstedmanor.org