Lovely Garden Quotes

Right now I'm at the Harold Washington Library in Chicago, where I can use the internet for a while. Behind me at the tables over there is a man laughing out loud again and again, maybe he received some funny e-mails or something, this is contagious... lots of smiling persons around me suddenly... :-)

And... at one of the wonderful wonderful Anthropologie shops here I found a tiny leaflet with the title: On Gardens and Gardening. It fell right into my arms right at the perfect moment as I'm thinking about gardening a lot... so here are some lovely quotes:

"My garden of pots is like some living diary, a collection of occasions, memories, places and friendships. Flowers exchanged, a fig tree given, campanula from a country garden, seeds from far-off places, morning glory from a neighbour, your own geranium cuttings, and a clematis for a special day."
Sara Midda

"Go make thy garden as fair as thou canst,
thou workest never alone;
Perchance he whose plot is next to thine
will see it, and mend his own."
Elizabeth Rundle Charles

"I'd leave all the hurry, the noise, and the fray,
For a house full of books, and a garden of flowers."
Andrew Lang

And here is one for lovers:

"I have a garden of my own,
shining with flowers of every hue.
I loved it dearly while alone,
but shall love it more with you."
Thomas Moore

Harvest

I love to bring together the fruit of different kinds of "gardens", as you see here: bread, gifts, something that makes you feel warm inside, like tea, and the fruit of my work, for example: bags!

                                            So, here is a bag to keep rolls warm on the table:

This is a bag to keep bread fresh in the kitchen:

These are bags for gifts during Christmas time:

A little bag for little things to keep:

...and a tea warmer

"Gardening is not a rational act." Margaret Atwood



Working In The Garden

"Working in the garden ... gives me a profound feeling of inner peace. Nothing here is in a hurry. There is no rush toward accomplishment, no blowing of trumpets. Here is the great mystery of life and growth. Everything is changing, growing, aiming at something, but silently, unboastfully, taking its time."
Ruth Stout

Ruth Stout (June 14, 1884-August 22, 1980) was an American author best known for her "No-Work" gardening books and techniques.(wikipedia)

"Weeds"

I have been thinking about "weeds" in my work and I came to the conclusion that there is no such thing.

Sometimes something does not "grow" at the right place, however. Well, in that case I "plant" it elsewhere in my "garden". Or I give it away.

Sometimes I have to wait what becomes of a "plant" in my work, maybe it's just a new flower that waits to be discovered? I love wild things and surprises! (well, sometimes that is.)

And sometimes it's just fun to pull a plant which, as it turns out, shouldn't grow in my garden (I remove a particular patch in my quilt) and give it to my beautiful pile of "compost", which is, in the context of my work, my scrapbag! So many great new things can grow on good soil, enriched by compost! And how often did I find great scraps in my pile, scraps which were just needed right at this time for this particular purpose!

Pulling Weeds, And a Place to Rest Afterwards

Pulling weeds is so important also for a good gardener! This is not my strong suit, because I think everything has a right and a reason to exist, but I'm willing to learn more about that.
So, probably I won"t have any place for something like that here in my "garden" any more!

But when this is done, I'll enjoy some time of rest with a good book on my bench here! :-)

Gardening

I wish to create a "garden" with my items here, just like a gardener who creates a landscape (small or large) with a variety of things, such as water, trees, flowerpots or -beds, a vegetable garden, a meadow, maybe a vineyard, and a bench to rest. 
Such a garden can be a fabulous place to nourish and feed body and soul of all beings, how many legs or wings they might ever have....!

I also wish to give encouragement and maybe some idea or inspiration, for everyone who wishes to be creative, who wishes to design some sort of garden by himself or herself.
Whatever it might be, small or large, it is fine as soon as the "garden"  is a place where some good things are planted, a place where fun and trust are at home, as well as diligent work, some sweat & tears & blisters - but no exhaustion, patience, respect of nature and all beings in it... a "garden" as a place to rest, a place where deep satisfaction can be found and where sharing and exchanging of whatever fruit is growing there is a beloved rule.

Something Good

Sometimes we all just need something that does us good. I am so grateful for all kinds of gardeners who help that something as beautiful as a flower can grow.

Good For Mail Also

This bag is here is filled with lots of personal stuff, mail, notebooks, newspaper clippings... I just love to keep things which speak to me in a certain way!

A Mailholder

A friend of mine just talked about how he found an old postcard....

So I was thinking about my oldfashioned mailholder: I love to keep letters and postcards, which were once written to me, in a nice place. I still have some letters and postcards which were written to me by my parents and sisters when I was a little girl. My oldest card I still keep in such a bag ist from 1963 when I revceived it as a four-year-old girl.

I also still own a postcard I once wrote to my family at home while I was on a trip with my mother to the south of Germany. I had been 5 years old. My parents kept this card in a box and I found it in the basement of my parents' home after they both had died.

So, I feel it's good to keep such hand-written documents. And to go on writing them, especially when I am on a trip and there are so many new experiences to share! E-mails are great, too, but there is no way to keep an e-mail in a beautiful bag!! ;-)

I am grateful that my friend reminded me of this. I am on a trip right now and I will have to write some nice greeting cards or postcards home over the next days!

Tim O'Brien: "The Things They Carried"

These are the opening lines of one of the best stories I've ever read: Tim O'Brien"s 'The Things They Carried". The story is about soldiers, men, boys, human beings at war in Vietnam. I once had the honor to listen to him reading from his collection of stories with the same title at the Harold Washington Library in Chicago. A huge crowd had gathered to see him, we were so many people that they had to open up another large room, equipped with a big screen, and when he started to read in his low voice the whole crowd went silent.

" First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha, a junior at Mount Sebastian College in New Jersey. They were not love letters, but Lieutenant Cross was hoping, so he kept them folded in plastic at the bottom of his rucksack. In the late afternoon, after a day's march, he would dig his foxhole, wash his hands under a canteen, unwrap his letters, hold them with the tips of his fingers, and spend the last hour of light pretending."

Things I Carry

a water bottle
my sunglasses
a water bottle

my sunglasses
glasses
my sunglasses

glasses
a box with cookies
glasses

a box with cookies
my purse with money and papers
a box with cookies

my purse with money and papers
my notebook
my purse with money and papers

my notebook
pens
my notebook

pens
a book
pens

a book
a spare bag for shopping
a book

a spare bag for shopping
my phone
a spare bag for shopping

my phone
my business cards
my phone

my business cards
my bag with private somethings
my business cards

my bag with private somethings
my umbrella
my bag with private somethings

my umbrella
my address book (or did I forget to bring it?)
my umbrella

my address book (or did I forget to bring it?)
and more things
my address book (or did I forget to bring it?)

and more things
and I forgot to bring my light pullover
and more things

and I forgot to bring my light pullover, now that it's getting cool... ;-)

Things to Carry

I am packing my suitcase for a longer trip. My handbag, too. My sister always laughs at me because a small handbag does not do for me. Never.  Since I never found a handbag in a suitable size I tried to sew one by myself. It's nearly half the size of a suitcase! And I love that piece now! 
I always carry so many things with me. I'll write about that later. Seems to be a good topic to think about while traveling. Right now I find bags just interesting, all kinds of bags, and what's inside and why...