My little world

Everyone can identify with a fragrant garden, with the beauty of a sunset, with the quiet of nature, with a warm and cozy cottage. Thomas Kincade

I grow plants for many reasons: to please my eye or to please my soul, to challenge the elements or to challenge my patience, for novelty or for nostalgia, but mostly for the joy in seeing them grow. David Hobson.

Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You men of little faith! Luke 12:27-28.

These are beautiful, but fleeting flowers.  One day they are, and the following have withered, and are no more.  "People are like grass; their beauty is like a flower in the field. The grass withers and the flower fades". 1 Peter 1:24.

The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul.  Voltaire. 

God Almighty first planted a garden. And indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures.  Francis Bacon.

Gardens are not made by singing 'Oh, how beautiful,' and sitting in the shade.  Rudyard Kipling.

A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust.  Gertrude Jekyll.

“I felt a pang -- a strange and inexplicable pang that I had never felt before.  It was homesickness.  Now, even more than I had earlier when I'd first glimpsed it, I longed to be transported into that quiet little landscape, to walk up the path, to take a key from my pocket and open the cottage door, to sit down by the fireplace, to wrap my arms around myself, and to stay there forever and ever.” Alan Bradley

It is such pleasure to sink one's hands into the warm earth, and feel at one's fingertips the possibilities of the new season. ~Kate Morton, The Forgotten Garden 

Roses in the magical woods

And close beyond, the little white cottage...

and the pond...

where fishes swim and frogs sing

In my garden there is a large place for sentiment. My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams. The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers, and the dreams are as beautiful. ~Abram L. Urban

“What is the name of your dream? A lovely wooden cottage in the middle of a forest? Or walking in an endless autumn path? What is the name of your dream? Don’t give a name, always give a list! Fill yourself with dreams because dream is the path to reality!” Mehmet Murat Ildan

Gardening is cheaper than therapy and you get roses...

In a simple and a peaceful cottage with a beautiful garden, you will not be dreaming about the palaces, because you already have a perfect thing! 

I am enjoying the free hours of my days sitting in the garden, enjoying the views, the tiny roses that grow in pink clusters overnight, the little critters that wander off the woods, the Eastern Box turtles that have their mind set of a specific course unknown to humans and the feral cats that stroll by, stop to look at me for a zilch of a moment and keep on their ramble to mysterious magical places in the wood.  Reading "Drowning Ruth", while sipping a latte and listening to the birds talk their bird talk. I cannot be any more thankful for life's blessings, for everything I've been given and for the wonderful, marvelous Presence who follows me everywhere I go... It is too high and too difficult to understand...this Presence.  And yet, it is ever so close, and so marvelously present. 

"Oh, beloved; God has given us Christ. And does God want me to have Christ every moment? Without doubt. God wants the presence of Christ to be the joy of every hour of my life, and, if there is one thing sure, Christ can reveal Himself to me every moment. Are you willing to come and claim this privilege? He can reveal Himself. I cannot reveal Him to you; you cannot grasp Him; but He can shine into your heart. How can I see the sunlight tomorrow morning, if I am spared? The sunlight will reveal itself. How can I know Christ? Christ can reveal Himself. And, ere I go further, I pray you to set your heart upon this, and to offer the humble prayer, "Lord, now reveal Thyself to me, so, that I may never lose the sight of Thee."