An Inspirational Tale
Mr Chiots and I have been spending a little time each evening watching through the Lord of The Rings Trilogy. I bought him the Lord of the Rings Extended Editions on blu-ray for Christmas (well worth purchasing if you’re a fan). He’s a HUGE fan, having read the books a few times and all the related books as well. I like the movies, but haven’t been able to sit through the books for some reason.
I find myself paying close attention to words and quotes as I watch movies. As I do when I read, I’m always writing down quotes and this movie has some great passages. A few times Mr Chiots had to stop it, rewind and let me listen to the quotes a couple times to make sure I got them down just right. Here’s one of my favorites sections, inspirations words to remember:
Frodo: I can’t do this Sam.
Sam: I know. It’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.
Frodo: What are we holding on to Sam?
Sam: That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo… and it’s worth fighting for.
I like to pair quotes with images too (hence the quote calendar), I thought this image from yesterday’s post was perfect for the last part of this quote:
This is a winter tradition for us, after we’re done with the 007 Days of Christmas, we move on to the Lord of the Rings. One of the things we really appreciate about winter is the little extra down time we have. We sometimes use this to sit down in the evenings to watch something entertaining. Now that this series is done, there’s nothing on our list. We don’t have cable, and we live in a rural area so our antennae doesn’t work so well. We prefer waiting till shows are over and on DVD to watch them so we can get through them quicker.
Do you have any great recommendations for us of interesting documentaries, movies, TV series that we should add to our list?
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A Funny Thing Happened…
I use this blog as my notebook of sorts, whenever I’m reading, I have my laptop by my side and add quotes as I find them. As a result I have a huge collection of quotes that haven’t been published yet. A few months ago I started scheduling them for the Sundays when I thought they would be relevant, then I add the photos the week before. This quote was scheduled for yesterday:
In civilization we try to combat winter. We try to modify it so that we can continue to live the same sort of life that we live in summer. We plow the sidewalk so we can wear short shoes, and the roads so we can use cars. We heat every enclosed space and then, inadequately clad, dash quickly from one little pocket of hot air through a bitter no man’s land of cold to another. We fool around with sun lamps, trying to convince our skins that it is really August, and we eat travel-worn spinach in an attempt to sell the same idea to our stomachs. Naturally, it doesn’t work very well. You can neither remodel nor ignore such a big thing as winter.
Louise Dickinson Rich We Took to the Woods
The funny thing is that the weather over the past couple days has been fantastic. On both Saturdy and Sunday I washed laundry and hung it on the line, and I’ll have some out later today too. The temperatures climbed up near 40 and the sun was shining brightly. There was no curling up the couch with a hot cup of tea, there was no darting out to the compost pile in Mr Chiot’s huge hunting jacket and my big rubber boots, there was no dark afternoon. In fact I spent Saturday afternoon mulching the tulip hillside with leaves in my sweatshirt, jeans and no hat.
These bright sunny warm days won’t continue, we will have many more days of winter. Those dim days are what make me appreciate these rare bright warm ones all the more! Those bitter cold days me make these days feel warm, even though it’s only 35 degrees.
It’s a great reminder that we aren’t in control, there’s something bigger than us out there. Learning to let go and simply go along with the weather is a beautiful thing. I was just telling Mr Chiots how funny people are, last year everyone around here was complaining that the winter was too cold, too long and there was too much snow. This year everyone is complaining that there’s not enough snow and it’s too warm. It’s as if we just want to complain because we can’t have what we want, or we want what we don’t have. I for one am happy with whatever the day brings, if it’s warm & sunny you’ll find me outside taking advantage, if it’s cold & rainy/snowy, you’ll find me inside working away so I can spend the nice days outside. Learning to love whatever season you’re in whether it’s the weather outside your window or your personal life will make life that much more enjoyable!
What would you describe as the perfect weather day? Do you have a “perfect” day for each season?
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Quote of the Day: Sarah “Sally” Broadhead
“People were running here and there screaming that the town would be shelled, no one knew where to go or what to do. My husband went out to the garden and picked a mess of beans, for he declared the rebels shall have not one.”
-Sarah “Sally” Broadhead (from her journal, she lived in Gettysburg, PA during the Civil War).
Mr Chiots and I love watching documentaries and shows about historical events. We were watching The Civil War – A PBS special by Ken Burns. It’s very similar to the National Parks one, only it’s much older. It’s a fantastic documentary, I would highly recommend watching it. If you have Netflix you can watch in On Demand through them.
This quote jumped out at me when I heard it, it’s interesting that during such a difficult time, her husband picked food from the garden. Likely he knows what many of us do, that gardening is one of the greatest stress relievers and one of the best ways to feel like you’re in control of your future!
I also love that the picked the beans so that the rebels wouldn’t get them. Isn’t this how we can be sometimes with our homegrown vegetables. I am at time very greedy with them, not wanting to share them unless I know the person will truly enjoy them. Although I actually do love sharing it because nothing will encourage someone to grow their own more than tasting how much better homegrown vegetables can be and there’s nothing I like more than encouraging someone to grow their own!
Do you ever feel like you’re greedy with your homegrown food, or do you always share freely with others? If you had to save something from you garden from the enemy what would it be?
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Is It That Time Already?
For gardeners, this is the season of lists and callow hopefulness; hundreds of thousands of bewitched readers are pouring over their catalogs, making lists for their seed and plant orders, and dreaming their dreams.
-Katherine S. White in Onward & Upward in the Garden
Even though I feel like I haven’t had any time off yet, it’s already time to start thinking about making that seed order and planning the 2012 garden (where does the time go?). Throughout the gardening season my seed stash slowly degrades into a chaos, then in the middle of winter I gather everything around me to organize and sort it back into tidiness. It’s a bit like weeding the garden after being lazy for a few weeks, it’s a very satisfying chore! Perhaps I subconsciously do it because I enjoy it so much?
All the packets must be sorted back into their respective folders. Any seeds I didn’t like will be put into a pile to be given away to someone who wants to try them. Seeds that are needed will be written on a list and then I’ll sit down with my catalogs to order what I need and a few extra interesting things to try. I probably don’t really “need” to order any seeds. No doubt your seed stash is like mine, much larger than any garden space you’ll ever own!
While you’re sorting through your seeds, keep in mind that seeds to have a shelf life and different seeds will be viable for different lengths of times. I won’t rewrite the post I already did about The Shelf Life of Seeds, but here’s a handy chart. (click on the image to head over to my Flickr and you can download it to put in your seed box for reference).
A few years ago I developed a really great seed organization system and I must admit it’s been working rather well for me. I’ve been researching new ones though, and will be making an Ethel video soon to demonstrate a few option so you can find one that suites your needs.
Do you “spring clean” your seeds before you make your order? What do you do with old seeds & varieties you weren’t happy with? Do you think this time rolled around faster than usual?
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Goodbye Christmas, Hello Winter
We love having our Christmas tree, the glow of the lights sets the perfect mood for a relaxing evening. I’m always dragging my feet to take down in January. Our tree is still pretty fresh, so it will stay up a few more days I think.
I’m not the only one that will miss the tree, Dexter will too. He’s our Christmas cat, every year he camps out under the Christmas tree from the day we put it up until the day it comes down.
When does your tree come down?
