New

~

“If you want something new,

you have to stop doing something old”

.

Peter F. Drucker

~

~

“The secret to so many artists living so long

is that every painting is a new adventure.

So, you see, they’re always looking ahead

to something new and exciting.

The secret is not to look back.”

.

Norman Rockwell

~

~

“Change is the end of something you know

and the beginning of something else

that you don’t know.

Something new that holds opportunities.”

.

Kholoud Yasser

~

~

“It is only when we are ready

to give up on some things in our lives

that we could receive new things.”

.

Sunday Adelaja

~

~

“So may the New Year be a happy one to you,

happy to many more

whose happiness depends on you!”

.

Charles Dickens

~

~

Photos by Woodland Gnome

January 1, 2018

~

What I am reading this week:  Garden Revolution by Larry Weaner and Thomas Christopher

Weaner and Christopher captivated my interest on the first page.  Theirs is a practical philosophy of gardening, which guides our doings and our not-doings.  They garden to guide a thriving eco-system in the proud tradition of  Doug Tallamy and Rachel Carson.

Many thanks to my dear friend who gifted me with a fresh copy of Tallamy’s Bringing Nature Home last week, inspiring me to remind myself of its important guidance.

I am reading these books now to focus on the bigger picture of why I garden,  ahead of beginning my Virginia Cooperative Extension Master Gardener training class next week.

These authors remind us that often less is more; that cooperation with nature always adds value to our efforts, and sparks hope for our ecosystem and the continued viability of life on our planet.

January is my favorite time of year to study gardening books and catalogs.  If you use these frosty days and long winter nights for study, too; I invite you to take a look at these inspiring volumes.

Sunday Dinner: Resilient

~

“Morning will come, it has no choice.”

.

Marty Rubin

~

~

“The chief beauty about time
is that you cannot waste it in advance.
The next year, the next day, the next hour  are lying ready for you,
as perfect, as unspoiled,
as if you had never wasted or misapplied
a single moment in all your life.
You can turn over a new leaf every hour
if you choose.”

.

Arnold Bennett

~

~

“But there’s a beginning in an end, you know?

It’s true that you can’t reclaim what you had,

but you can lock it up behind you.

Start fresh.”

.

Alexandra Bracken

~

~

“Perhaps that is where our choice lies –

– in determining how we will meet

the inevitable end of things,

and how we will greet each new beginning.”

.
  Elana K. Arnold

~

~

“We grow up with such an idealistic view

on how our life should be; love, friendships,

a career or even the place we will live ~

only to age and realize none of it is what you expected

and reality is a little disheartening,

when you’ve reached that realization;

you have learnt the gift of all,

any new beginning can start now

and if you want anything bad enough

you’ll find the courage to pursue it with all you have.

The past doesn’t have to be the future,

stop making it so.”

.

Nikki Rowe

~

~

“New Year – a new chapter, new verse,

or just the same old story ?

Ultimately we write it.

The choice is ours.”

.
Alex Morritt

~

~

“The more you know yourself,

the less judgemental you become”

.

Aniekee Tochukwu Ezekiel

~

~

For the Daily Post’s

Weekly Photo Challenge:  Resilient

~

~

Happy New Year!

Photos by Woodland Gnome 2016-2017

~

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: NEW

Weekly Photo Challenge:  NEW

 

 

This is one of my first photos of the new year, taken soon after sunrise on New Year’s Day.

I am happy to see the many plump buds on the tips of these Dogwood branches.

Each bud will open into a delicate white flower in early April.  There will be a billowy white profusion of flowers here in a few short weeks.

But on this January morning we see only the fine lacework of the Dogwood’s branches, and a profusion of buds.

And through them, the sky is fresh and new, deeply blue, and giving us good omens for the new year ahead.

 

In response to the Daily Post’s

Weekly Photo Challenge:  New

 

*

Photos by Woodland Gnome 2015

*

 

“We spend January 1st walking through our lives,

room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done,

cracks to be patched.

Maybe this year, to balance the list,

we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives

…not looking for flaws, but for potential.”
 

Ellen Goodman

*