Stop ~ Leo Tolstoy

 “If, then, I were asked for the most important advice I could give, that which I considered to be the most useful to the men of our century, I should simply say: in the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you.” 

~ Leo Tolstoy 

More at https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Tolstoy

Artwork from Lou Loeber https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Loeber

Healing Comes ~ Christopher Bamford

"When we are at home in the garden, tending and nurturing all its plants, animals and minerals, living with them through all the seasons and days, then healing comes upon us like a gift and makes us whole."

~ Christopher Bamford

More at 

https://steiner.presswarehouse.com/books/AuthorDetail.aspx?id=24250

Artwork From Mary Summer

https://www.greenpebble.co.uk/collections/mary-sumner

Draw Hard Breath~ John Ruskin

“To watch the corn grow, or the blossoms set; to draw hard breath over the plough or spade; to read, to think, to love, to pray, are the things that make men happy.”


~ John Ruskin

More at http://www.ruskinmuseum.com/content/john-ruskin/who-was-john-ruskin.php

Artwork from John Nolan https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/john-nolan.html

Demands of a very Practical Sort ~ Evelyn Underhill

"Never let yourself think that because G_d has given you many things to do for Him, pressing routine jobs, a life full up with duties and demands of a very practical sort---that all these need separate you from communion with Him. G_d is always coming to you in the Sacrament of the Present Moment. Meet and receive Him there with gratitude in that sacrament; however unexpected its outward form may we receive Him in every sight and sound, joy, pain, opportunity and sacrifice."

~Evelyn Underhill

More at
Artwork from Wanda Gág https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanda_G%C3%A1g 

Life Is Not Orderly ~ Natalie Goldberg

  "Life is not orderly. No matter how we try to make life so, right in the middle of it we die, lose a leg, fall in love, drop a jar of applesauce. In summer, we work hard to make a tidy garden, bordered by pansies with rows or clumps of columbine, petunias, bleeding hearts. Then we find ourselves longing for the forest, where everything has the appearance of disorder; yet we feel peaceful there."

Natalie Goldberg

More at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalie_Goldberg

Artwork from Valerie Lueth & Paul Roden at http://www.tugboatprintshop.com/

Can and Must ~Walter James

"Give and you shall receive, is not sentimental idealism, it is a simple, practical rule. That which we can and must give to the land is work, And if that work is given in love it will not be drudgery."

~Walter James

More at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_James,_4th_Baron_Northbourne

Artwork from Carl Larsson  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Larsson

Life in the Ground ~ Charles Dudley Warner

"The man who has planted a garden feels that he has done something for the good of the world.... It is a pleasure to eat of the fruit of one's toil, if it be nothing more than a head of lettuce or an ear of corn. .. To dig in the mellow soil... is a great thing. One gets strength out of the ground.... There is life in the ground; it goes into the seeds; and it also, when it is stirred up, goes into the man who stirs it. The hot sun on his back as he bends to shovel and hoe, or contemplatively rakes the warm and fragrant loam, is better than much medicine. "

~ Charles Dudley Warner

More at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dudley_Warner

Artwork from James Milroy http://www.jamesmilroy.co.uk/

Fill my Spirit ~ 'Cameron' from Growing Grace Farm

"It’s a cool, rainy  day here–the kind of weather that makes me want to lie on the couch and doze on and off, dreaming of warm, sunny days and veggies growing on the vine.  Sadly, however, the inside of my house beckons me.  She’s a bit jealous that I’ve been spending so much time outside recently.  It’s hard to justify indoor chores when I could be doing a number of outside tasks that fill my spirit."

~ 'Cameron' from Growing Grace Farm

More at https://growinggracefarm.com/

Artwork from non-identified artist I'm afraid, but Google and I are working on it

The Way that I Work ~Tom Walsh

“Look at it this way—before any of this wood became parts of the shelves or the desk or the chair, all of it was in pieces—just pieces of wood. But the wood was full of potential. It could be shaped into anything that a carpenter wanted it to be shaped into, turning it into a beautiful finished product. Now, not all carpenters are equal in skill—you know that. If a piece of wood is shaped by a poor carpenter, the finished product will be lacking somehow, in some way...  But if that wood is shaped by a master carpenter, then that piece will fit into this world precisely as it’s supposed to fit, whether it be a desktop or a cabinet shelf or a doorstop. And the way that I work wood is the way I try to work with people—with love and attention and caring—so that the wood and the people can reach their potential. And if someone lets you teach them, and is open to what you have to teach, then how can you go wrong?”

~ Tom Walsh

More at http://www.livinglifefully.com/zinezz4mar.htm

Artwork from Edward Henry Potthast
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Henry_Potthast

Quiet Joy ~ Willis D. Nutting

"The opportunity for real, soul-satisfying work, so rare in our day, is found abundantly in rural living. Here a man can make long-range plans and can carry them out without exploiting his fellow man; for the things that he uses are things that exist to be used: soil, plants, animals, building materials, etc. he can live a whole life of work without once using another man as a mere means for carrying out his plans. And neither does he become a tool of someone else. With the materials at hand he can employ the splendid coordination of mind and hand to create something of value for his family. He can fulfill his real nature in real work. And this work is much more joyful than any mere recreation. As a matter of fact this work carries with it its own recreation, so that the man who works does not have to worry about how he is going to have his good times. The work itself is a good time even though it be hard. There is a joy in toil which the football player knows not. It is a quiet joy that comes from the knowledge that one has accomplished something, something of real value, and that the accomplishment is his own."

~ Willis D. Nutting

More at http://ethicscenter.nd.edu/about/inspire/great-figures/willis-d-nutting-1900-1975/

Artwork from Adrian Feint https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Feint

Work ~ Tom Walsh

“It seems that the more we learn about our work, the easier and the more interesting it becomes to us. Tasks that used to be tedious now make sense, and we see how they're related to other elements of our jobs. Plus, they're easier to take care of now, so they don't bother us nearly as much when we need to do them. When we know more about our work and its ramifications, we can see the connections between what we do and the effects that those things have on other people.” 

 ~ Tom Walsh

More at http://www.livinglifefully.com/zinezz4mar.htm

Artwork from Margarethe Havemann 
http://gerrie-thefriendlyghost.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/margarethe-braumuller-havemann-from.html

All the Time There is ~ Arnold Bennett

"Which of us lives on twenty-four hours a day? And when I say “lives,” I do not mean exists, nor “muddles through.” Which of us is free from that uneasy feeling that the “great spending departments” of his daily life are not managed as they ought to be? Which of us is quite sure that his fine suit is not surmounted by a shameful hat, or that in attending to the crockery he has forgotten the quality of the food? Which of us is not saying to himself — which of us has not been saying to himself all his life: “I shall alter that when I have a little more time”? We never shall have any more time. We have, and we have always had, all the time there is."

~ Arnold Bennett

More at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Bennett

Artwork by Charles W. Hobson
https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Advertising_Material_Designed_by_Charles.html?id=LTHWSAAACAAJ&redir_esc=y

Tasks of the Present~ Elise Boulding

"For most of us, the great enemy of the Kingdom is Today. The trap of dailiness catches us, and makes cowards of us all. For the train leaves for the office in five minutes; if the beds aren't made and the dishes washed now the house will be a mess all day. The baby is crying for his bottle, nobody can find any clean underwear this morning, and the editor of the Meeting's Monthly Bulletin must have information about all the committee meetings to take place next month within an hour. It is not only that these things can't wait today, it is that the same things recur with the same immediate urgency day after day after day. It is not as if we could work up an extra burst of speed, finish our tasks for once and all, and then be free to do "God's work." The more we long to be doing other work, the more overwhelming the tasks of the present seem, until they sap our courage and our strength. Or we may respond to the pressure by a complete about-face, and come to feel that these tasks are after all the only ones that matter. Then we are in danger of finding all our security in our daily routine, and will fear anything that might change it.
Should we leave our daily tasks then? Should we leave the plow standing in the middle of the furrow to follow Him? There are some people whose special gifts require them to do just this, and no man should hinder them. But God does not call most of us away from the plow; he would rather have us shift bosses, since it is after all His acre, and start plowing the field for Him. ..... For those of us who know that it is right for us to stay where we are is it possible to avoid the trap of dailiness? Can we transform our homes and offices into advance outposts of the Kingdom?......I am too tired to be patient, too tired to pray, too tired to make our home "a place of friendliness, refreshment and peace, where God becomes more real to all who dwell there and to those who visit it." And all the time that I have been telling myself this, I have been turning my back on the one Source of refreshment that I needed! If we keep our backs turned to God, His Kingdom gets to seem more and more unreal and impossible, and we come to expect less and less of ourselves in the way of service."

~ Elise Boulding

Much more worth reading at http://www.quaker.org/pamphlets/wpl1956a.html

Artwork from Victoria Stanway http://www.victoriastanwayart.com/index.htm

Great Value ~ Chellie Pingree

"There's great value to knitting or digging up your garden or chopping up vegetables for soup, because you're taking some time away from turning the pages, answering your emails, talking to people on the phone, and you're letting your brain process whatever is stuck up in there."

 ~ Chellie Pingree

More at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chellie_Pingree

Artwork from Clare Leighton  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clare_Leighton

Scattered, in Pieces ~ May Sarton

“There is no doubt that solitude is a challenge and to maintain balance within it a precarious business. But I must not forget that, for me, being with people or even with one beloved person for any length of time without solitude is even worse. I lose my center. I feel dispersed, scattered, in pieces. I must have time alone in which to mull over my encounter, and to extract its juice, its essence, to understand what has really happened to me as a consequence of it.”

― May Sarton,

More at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Sarton

Artwork from Dee Nickerson http://www.southwoldgallery.co.uk/artist_details.php?id=72

Real Income ~ Ed Begley Jr

“I saw all the people hustling early in the morning to go into the factories and the stores and the office buildings, to do their job, to get their check. But ultimately it’s not office buildings or jobs that give us our checks. It’s the soil. The soil is what gives us the real income that supports us all.”

~ Ed Begley Jr.

More at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Begley,_Jr.
Artwork by Giuliana Lazzerini  http://www.giulianalazzerini.com/about/

Our to-do Lists ~ Monica

"There is a selfishness inherent in busyness. When the preoccupation with our to-do lists and the constant focus on our own interests take over, can we spare time to look outside of our families, our house, our own little worlds and extend love to others? I struggle with finding a balance when duelling priorities come knocking at the door.......Part of finding balance, I think, is noticing what you can do and finding some satisfaction in knowing that there is something you often do well. It makes up for the chronically un-swept porch or leftovers that went to waste. There's no perfection this side of eternity, but there are certain things that you do well. It's the heavy weight on your scale..'LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am.' Psalms 39:4"

~ Monica

More at http://www.blueskiesandshooflypies.com/

Artwork from Sarah Kirby http://www.leicesterprintworkshop.com/studio/artists/sarah_kirby_1/

Scrub the Floor ~ D. H. Lawrence

"I got the blues thinking of the future, so I left off and made some marmalade. It's amazing how it cheers one up to shred oranges and scrub the floor."

~  D. H. Lawrence  1913

More at  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._H._Lawrence

Artwork from Felicity House http://www.felicityhouse.eu/index.htm

Power to Sooth and Charm ~ Walter Rose

"It is in the workshop and at the bench that an insight into the soul of wood craftsmanship can be truly gained. There are tools, there is the wood – rude planks, ungarnished, their surface scored with the saw. Between them, and without which each is useless, must come the soul and spirit of the designer and craftsman; the deft hands prompted by an alert mind; the knowledge attained only through years of study and service; the creative instinct and ability that will, by the correct use of the tools, transform the mere plank into a thing of usefulness and beauty – possibly a joy for ever… It was at the lathe, when a youth, that I first realised the charm of line, the contour that flows continuously on, diminishing and enlarging, though separated by ornamental members… Those who have studied woodcraft for half a century find themselves still learning and quite unable to pack all their knowledge into a nutshell for the convenience of a beginner. The training is not that of the university; it is, however, quite as exacting in its own way and so merits equal recognition and respect, and it is encouraging to note that this idea is slowly gaining ground. The woodworkers of a century ago added to their carpentry the dignity of craft; this is why the examples of their handiwork that remain are treasured. Let it not be assumed that it is merely because such work is old that it is appreciated so highly. Even a slight study will reveal the artist mind that prompted the hands, the perception that had grasped the principles of design, the certain knowledge in its decisive finish. There is the secret of its permanent inspiration, its power to soothe and charm."

~ Walter Rose

More at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=008-walter-rose&cid=-1#-1

Artwork by Frans Mortelmans http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frans_Mortelmans

Nothing I am Doing is Wasted Time~Sue Bender

"The hardest times have been when it looks as though nothing is happening, or, worse, when it looks as though something is definitely wrong in my life.  “It’s not working,” I say to myself.  Then I remember the scrap pile filled with odd pieces of material of those early quilters.  Nothing was wasted.  Out came those glorious quilts.  I have to keep reminding myself that nothing I am doing is wasted time.  I may not understand or like what is happening, but I can begin to appreciate that the impasse is another marker on the way.  It took me a very long time to discover that I didn’t need reasons for doing what I did.  I don’t have to explain, or convince, or come up with answers for what happened.  I went on this journey because I had to.  Learning to follow your heart is reason enough."

~Sue Bender

More at  http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/PROFILE-Sue-Bender-Journeys-of-the-spirit-2880524.php

Quilt by unidentified Amish quitmaker(s) 1925

https://folkartmuseum.org/exhibitions/midwestern-amish-quilts/