Garden Delights - Even In Winter 398731939 1047964666159246 250655773475798804 N

GARDEN DELIGHTS – EVEN IN WINTER

For some people, winter can be a rather bleak time of year. I understand that mindset and shared it for many years. But my attitude towards winter is slowly changing, now that I have a garden.For a number of years, I have been taking daily walks. Since we have a fairly long driveway, I tend to stay on our property when I walk. This puts me in our garden almost every day of the year. As a result, I am party to some spectacular seasonal events. Of course, I notice (and often announce excitedly to my family) the first robins and crocuses in the spring, or the first phalanx of geese flying south in the fall.But even in the winter, when the trees are bare and the lawn is an unsightly brown, there are delightful things to observe and celebrate. And, because there is so little competition for attention in this otherwise drab and colorless season, each discovery becomes that much more exciting. Even a brisk walk to the mailbox can be rewarding. Just the other day, as I walked to get the mail, my approach startled three cardinals in the shrubbery: what a delight to watch them swoop ahead of me down the driveway!In any other season, with so much color and hyperactivity, this spectacular event may have gone unnoticed. But on that cold, gray day, those scarlet harbingers of joy had my undivided attention! I’m discovering that a garden is a treasury of delights… even in winter! Joyfully shared by Betty HanselmanGardener’s wife (& year ’round garden joy seeker)

Happy New Year 403121746 1055424368746609 239269680385184565 N

HAPPY NEW YEAR

“Every man should be born again on the first of January. Start with a fresh page. Take up one hole more in the buckle, if necessary, or let down one, according to circumstances; but, on the first of January let every man gird himself once more, with his face to the front, and take interest in the things that are and are to be, and not in the things that were and are past.”

~Henry Ward Beecher, from “A Completed Year” (American preacher, social reformer, supporter of the abolition of slavery; 1813 – 1887)

We wish you joy in your home and garden in the coming year!

Sincerely,

Your friends at Hanselman Landscape & Gardens

We specialize in delivering natural beauty and the delight of sharing it with loved ones. If you’d like us to partner with you in this endeavor, contact us now: 717-653-1273. We’d love to get started . . . !

Christmas Musings 399944945 1047948366160876 1298385130427139897 N

CHRISTMAS MUSINGS

“There is one more good thing about Winter — he brings Christmas. Through the bleak December the thought of the coming festival is pleasant — like the reflection of a fire on our faces…. Christmas-day is the pleasantest day in the whole year. On that day we think tenderly of distant friends; we strive to forgive injuries — to close accounts with ourselves and the world — to begin the new year with a white leaf, and a trust that the chapter of life about to be written will contain more notable entries, a fairer sprinkling of good actions, fewer erasures made in blushes, and fewer ugly blots than some of the earlier ones. And to make Christmas perfect, the ground should be covered and the trees draped with snow; the bleak world outside should make us enjoy all the more keenly the comforts we possess; and above all, it should make us remember the poor and the needy; for a charitable deed is the best close of any chapter of our lives, and the best promise, too, for the record about to be begun.”

~Alexander Smith, “Winter,” (Scottish poet and essayist; 1829 – 1867)

Thoughtfully shared by Betty Hanselman

Gardener’s wife (& “Christmas All Year” advocate)

With Deep Gratitude . . . 408919263 1066656174290095 530699538835667115 N

WITH DEEP GRATITUDE . . .

We value your trust and friendship, and wish you joy in this and every season of the year!

~ James and Betty Hanselman

For all of us at Hanselman Landscape

“There is something in the very season of the year, that gives a charm to the festivity . . . . The imagination turns every thing to melody and beauty! It is, indeed, the season for kindling, not merely the fire of hospitality in the hall, but the genial flame of charity in the heart.”

~Washington Irving, “Christmas,” from The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon (American writer, historian, and diplomat; 1783 – 1859)

Seasonal Decorations 407911440 1066655107623535 8989515265722656995 N

SEASONAL DECORATIONS

A joyful array of birds adds festive liveliness to the Pines and Japanese Maples outside my kitchen window, while seasonal berries gaily festoon the plants along the pathways in our garden. Each splash of life and color magnifies the wonder and delight of each winter day. . . and I am grateful!

Shared by Betty Hanselman

Gardener’s wife (& eager bird and berry watcher)

Wonder 387105127 1029827877972925 4556634956310972860 N

WONDER

“Wonder is an essential ingredient if life is to be made livable. Wonder is the cure — the cure for life-killing boredom. Wonder is the drug — the natural drug without which people may turn to narcotic drugs. Sure, most people bravely soldier on without wonder, and even do so without drug addictions and self-destructive behavior. But is that the point of life? To soldier on long after the thrill of living is gone? That’s not life — that’s life with all the wonder crushed out of it and compressed to mere existence. Wonder is what we’ve lost. Wonder is what we miss. Wonder is what we want. Wonder is our hidden Narnia into which we long to step and explore.”

~ Brian Zahnd (contemporary American pastor, author, and would-be mountaineer, in Beauty Will Save the World)

Are you aching for wonder in your daily life? Step outside into the sparkle of a rain-drenched garden. Meander along a stepping stone path under a cathedral of stately Dawn Redwood trees. Sit on a boulder and watch a hummingbird sipping the sweetness from an Azalea blossom. There is wonder in the grand vistas of mountain ranges sweeping to the edge of the horizon, but there is also wonder in the intimate garden setting just outside your door. Can we restore the wide-eyed wonder you long for by bringing beauty within reach of your everyday experience? We’d be delighted to help! 717-653-1273

Joyfully shared by Betty Hanselman

Gardener’s wife (& wonder seeker)