Phavorites – February – An Eclectic Hodgepodge of Fun

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Winter has been a good time to read, and recently I found a 1946 biography, The Tale of Beatrix Potter at a vintage/antique store. I remember Peter Rabbit stories from my earliest childhood. How can anyone forget Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail? The names are ensconced happily in that area of my mind that delights in old nursery rhymes and stories. Although this biography was published eighty years ago, the writing is wonderful and so easy to read. I never knew Beatrix kept a journal throughout her early life, written in a secret code. When I finish the book, I will watch the movie Miss Potter starring Renee Zellweger again. This movie is available for free on YouTube. Miss Potter I’ve included a glimpse through the trailer below.

Life Hacks by Keith Bradford is exactly what its title implies: good tips for everyday problems. I found several new recipes in 30 Minute Meals by Rachel Ray that look promising. I always like to add a new recipe or two to my files each month.  

I have watercolored for several decades, but there is always room to improve, actually a lot of room, and after finding the YouTube videos of Anna Bucciarelli I knew I had to have her book 101 Watercolor Secrets. It did not disappoint me. Here’s a link to her YouTube channel. If you love watching artists in motion, you will enjoy her beautiful narration and techniques.

(228) Anna Bucciarelli – YouTube

I’m planting seeds nearly every day. I never abide by the suggested weeks before the last frost date printed on the seed packets. I bump it up by 3 – 4 weeks to match the sizes and blooms available in local nurseries at planting time. I also plant in milk cartons and leave them outdoors to stratify in the cold. Many seeds do best with a period of cold before it gets warm enough to sprout. This method is called Winter Sowing and it will bring you amazing success. Give it a try.

One new technique I’ve run across is a bubble wrap sprouting coil. Huh? (I can’t remember who or what or where I saw it so I can’t give proper credit here.) You take a strip of bubble wrap, add a smaller strip of paper towel, and then a layer of seed starter. You place the seeds you are planting at the top of the wrap and wind it up. I used tape to keep it shut, and it has worked fine. The moisture, the warmth of the insulating bubble wrap equals success. I have quite a few marigold sprouts growing. When they are larger, I will unwind the strip and plant them in separate containers. This was so much fun to try and is perfect for those of us who don’t have a lot of windowsill room. Search through boxes for old bubble wrap, or, as I did, buy a small roll at the dollar store.

Winter has been difficult this year. Ice on top of snow, snow on top of ice, making it hard to get around and causing injuries from falls and excessive shoveling. (One of my friends broke her ankle.) Local geese, starving due to a lack of food, fell victim to Bird Flu, causing lakes and parks to shut down. Still, there is beauty in the ice and snow, such as these color-reflecting icicles hanging from my gutter. This photo is part of Skywatch Friday.

The snow cover and extra cold weather this year have been hard on songbirds too. I’ve thrown seed out onto the snow, and it is soon devoured. I stopped using my feeders when there were rumors of the Bird Flu and haven’t put out any more suet since then. We have a very smart wren who can swoop under our back porch door a bit like a cat slinking through a tight space. I suddenly noticed that four of the eight Black Swallowtail chrysalides that were over-wintering on the porch had disappeared. Nearby were bird droppings. We are assuming the wren feasted on the missing chrysalides. To save the four still on the porch, I brought them into the house and taped them to a curtain so they would get the proper amount of outside light. I am hoping they do not emerge too soon.  

I’ve tuned into the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Bird Cams again. Panama is still vibrant with platform feeders and hummingbirds. I am hoping the Red-tailed Hawks thrive and nest this year. Take a look at this delightful glimpse into the world of birds.

I’ve found a new art show on Prime Video presented by the British television company Sky Arts. Landscape Artist of the Year and Portrait Artist of the Year have many seasons available to view. It is a joy to me to watch the artists paint a landscape or a portrait in four hours. If you enjoy art or are an artist yourself, this is a wonderful way to spend an hour.

We also watch quite a few of the old Amazing Race shows on Paramount+ and have begun watching Season 50 of Survivor. This will be the first Survivor we have watched in several seasons. We were appalled at the recent ‘wokeness’ of the show, with Jeff Probst not saying his usual, “Come on in, guys,” for fear of offending someone. We have had enough of that nonsense. Hopefully, they will realize that handling people with kid gloves in a survival situation is detrimental to the concept on which the show was based.

I researched the ratings, and the show’s viewers have plummeted. Perhaps Season 50, with a cast of characters from previous shows when ratings were high, will bring back a little of the magic.

This is one of my favorite Signposts in February.

March arrives in two days, I wonder what kind of fun and interesting events will surprise me over its weeks.

Phriday Phlowers – Calibrachoa

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I am still living in the throes of a dreadfully cold and snowy winter. One pastime that gives me a bit of a mental reprieve is browsing through last year’s flower photos.

This beautiful Calibrachoa blossom was planted with other flowers in an oversized hanging basket pot. We found it at a local nursery mid-spring, and although it was a tad early, we bought it anyway because, being a basket, it was portable when nights were forecast with possible frost, and we could bring it in the house.

The visitor is one of my favorite insects. We see them very sporadically, and never in numbers. This makes them exciting, and when they are spotted, my husband and I will immediately call to the other, ‘A hummingbird moth is on such and such a plant.’

I love these flowers for their reliability and hundreds of blooms. In fact, one of their nicknames is Million Bells. Calibrachoa is the correct name, and I also like them because they can be placed in semi-shade and still bloom profusely.

Cultivation methods and descriptions can be found at The Spruce: How to Grow & Care for Calibrachoa (Million Bells)

Phloral Arrangement – IAVOM – Odd Arrangement

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Everything outdoors is under a layer of ice and snow. Even before the snowstorm, there was not much left for arranging. I’ve been feeding the birds two to three times daily, and decided to create an impromptu garden arrangement with the only thing left above the snow that still had a bit of form and interest.

I upturned a terracotta pot to act as a vase. The small drainage hole held three milkweed stems. To give the squirrels and birds a treat, I filled the milkweed pod with peanut butter and then dipped it in birdseed. It sat untouched for an hour or two, and then one pod disappeared. Soon, the others followed suit, and only the empty stems remained. It might be a bit of a stretch as an arrangement, for Rambling in the Garden’s In A Vase on Monday,  but it was my only choice.

Photo Challenges – One-To-Three Photo Processing

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February seems a perfect month to take part in Xingfu Mama’s One-To-Three Photo Processing challenge. My original photo was taken on the beach of Block Island, Rhode Island. The beachy scenery beneath your feet is half pebbly rocks, half coarse sand. I don’t know another place where I have seen so many beautiful stones. If you search long enough, you will eventually find a few heart-shaped rocks.

The goal of the One-to-Three Photo Processing Challenge is to change the original photo three ways.

The first processed photo was filtered in LunaPic.com using an art filter called Beauty. I like the colors and the way the heart-shaped rock remains the focal point.

The second process was created in Ribbet.com and, as the name implies, is a Boost.

The third photo processing is not so much a change to the original as it is an addition. Look in the lower-left corner, and you will see a bit of editing I did in Adobe Express.

Thanks to Xingfu Mama for hosting this challenge for February.

Phavorites – January 2026

On By TimelessladyIn Phavorites16 Comments

Favorite Skywatch Photograph – As I photographed the rising moon Friday night, I captured an airplane at the perfect moment as it flew towards landing at Philadelphia International Airport.

Garden Joy (Clockwise Top to Bottom Left) Favorite coleus with a ‘mutated’ stem of a totally different color. Crushed eggshells for the garden beds (good for controlling soft bodied bugs), sprouted Dahlia seeds, baked eggshells before crushing, Stone Pine, beautiful bluish needles, soft and flexible, bought during Christmas season. Garden plans – Woo-Hoo! Hurry Spring

One of my favorite Signposts from January. It has the coolness of the season, but also the hope of Spring in the pink blossoms.

We have had icy snow on the ground for over a week. I have been throwing seed out daily, and the birds appreciate and devour it. We also replenish the suet cake as soon as it is gone. (Clockwise from top) One pleasure has been watching the squirrels and birds dive into the footprints we’ve left and gather the seed that skitters across the ice and accumulates in the indentation. A Junco on the new Tris bird camera. A Bluejay having a meal on the Tris camera. A Bluejay is enjoying the mixed bird seed on the snow.

Thanks for looking. I hope to take part in some Photo Challenges this month. Stay tuned.

Phloral Arrangement – IAVOM Milkweed Pods and Hydrangeas

On By TimelessladyIn Phloral Arrangements14 Comments

After taking down my Christmas decorations, my mantel felt empty. Not ready for Valentine’s Day decor, I gathered bits and pieces from around the house and yard to create an arrangement that would fill the space until February.

The milkweed pods brought me joy in the Autumn as they burst and scattered floss and seed across the sky. Several were still standing in the butterfly garden. I cut the tops and brought them indoors. Now, they have become the focal point of my IAVOM arrangement in a Swan McCoy Vase. I added some dried hydrangeas I’ve been saving for just such an occasion. I’m pleased with the arrangement, and it inspires me to keep doing my best to help the butterflies that visit the yard.

I haven’t been able to post on IAVOM for quite a while. The garden is in dormancy mode, and there are two months to wait before the daffodil bulbs begin to bloom. They are pushing out of the ground now, even though we have snow and ice at the present time. Spring will come…I’m sure of it.

You can see more IAVOM arrangements on the Rambling in the Garden blog.

Quote – Spring Hopes

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A big snowstorm might be headed for my Mid-Atlantic state of New Jersey. I love snow, in fact, we have a few inches on the ground now. I can look out my second-story window as I write this, and see a coating of white on all the outdoor birdhouses and roofs.

I found a photo of a rose arrangement from my garden in the archives. The soft pinks lifted my spirits; I remembered a captivating quote from a poem I especially love and combined the two. I’ve included the poem, written by Oliver Hereford (1863-1935). I want to take a few moments today and look up a few additional poems he wrote. He seems to capture the shared hopes of those who long for Spring.

I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December.
A magical thing
And sweet to remember.

“We are nearer to Spring
Than we were in September,”
I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December.

~Oliver Hereford

Phriday Phlowers – Amaryllis

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The amaryllis bulb I purchased this year finally bloomed 3 weeks after Christmas; its beauty surpassed my expectations, and it was forgiven. I knew it was going to be of the apple blossom type, white with variegated pink and red lines, but I wasn’t expecting a double bloom. The beauty of the flower is awesome and reminds me to praise the Creator of the heavens and the Earth.

The macro photograph of the blossoming center shows the beautiful melding of the colors and the chartreuse green of the stems. I love the details the camera picks up that the eye sometimes misses when gazing at the flower as a whole.

The stem is quite long, 16 1/2 inches from bulb to the top to where the stems begin to bear the flowers. This makes for a spectacular display, but whenever I’ve had an amaryllis so tall, I’ve also had to stake it in some way.

To keep the plant looking natural, I usually clip off a forked Branch from one of my bushes or trees and use that to help it stand upright. I always try to choose one that follows the curve of the pot so it won’t pierce the bulb and let bacteria get into it.

I also saved an amaryllis bulb from last Christmas. I did everything required. I let the long, strappy leaves grow all summer outdoors on the porch. Sometime in September or October, I stopped watering and then cut away the yellowing and brown leaves. I could see that the top of the bulb was green, but it displayed no shoots reemerging from the top. A week or so ago, I decided to give it a bit of a nudge to get it blooming. I took it out of the cold window I’d been storing it in and placed it in a Ziploc bag on top of a heating mat. Voila, within a few days, I saw a rounded tip of a leaf at the top, and sure enough, true to its nature, the leaves started growing at a galloping rate. I am hoping it will send up a flower stalk in the next few weeks. Updates will follow.

Phlashback Thursday – Microgreens

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This Phlashback Thursday is a consolidation of three posts from January 2012. Microgreens are still a popular food item on the menus of small cafes and upscale luncheonettes. I have some seeds purchased within the last year. When I am finished posting, I will pull them out and plant a few. It’s fun to reset some old habits, but also a good idea to retain a few of my old goals too.

Sowing seeds and indoor gardening seem to be dominating my winter blog posts. I am starved right now for green, tired of the bare branches of trees silhouetted against the sky. I have been sowing seeds in hopes of harvesting Microgreens. Microgreens are harvested from seeds sprouted through the early leafing-out stage. I am using seeds from Pinetree Garden Seeds. This is my first attempt at this type of gardening.

I am growing the Microgreens on my windowsill in plastic throwaway containers from cookies and other snacks. To see how I went about the process, check out the photos below.

I gathered my supplies: antique pots to look pretty, throwaway plastic from cookie containers, corn holder for poking holes in the plastic.

I made sure the containers would fit inside my chosen pots before I added the dirt.

I poked holes for drainage in the plastic with the corn holder.

I filled the containers with organic soil.

I watered containers of soil and let them drain.

I spaced the pea seeds out in rows.

I sowed the Kitchen Sink Mix en masse.

I covered with one of my favorite kitchen tools, Glad’s Press ‘n Seal.

The seeds are already up…they sprouted in less than two days.

My Microgreens are up and growing fast. I can’t wait to try them in a salad.

A few weeks later: Oh My! The Microgreens are a bit ragged in appearance…what happened to my lush crop? I’m afraid to say I have already eaten most of the young greens. I pop the tops off the pea sprouts and eat them like candy. This is reminiscent of the peas I grow outdoors in the Spring. They never seem to arrive on my kitchen table as a side dish. Warm afternoons usually find me standing in the midst of the pea patch eating the fresh peas out of the pods. Yum! In truth, the microgreens are a complete success. I enjoy growing them, and most of all eating them. The best use so far was garnishing my turkey and swiss cheese sandwich with a row of them. Oh Happy Day!

The kitchen sink variety is also thriving and perhaps today I will start grazing on them too. Moo!

Photograph – Not Quite a Wordless Wednesday/Snowlady

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We usually don’t have an accumulating snowfall in December here in southern New Jersey. We did over the weekend, and I had the joy of being young at heart and creating a snow lady in the backyard. Happy Winter, everyone!

Phriday Phlowers – Torenia/Wishbone Flower

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Torenia are one of my favorite flowers to grow in the summertime. They are low-growing and perfect for the front of a border or in pots. They don’t appreciate constant sunlight but are a good choice for half-sun, half-shade areas. Torenia flowers come in many varieties and colors, but the common thread for each flower is the wishbone inside. One of my favorite uses for Tornenia is flower pressing, and they are a staple in many of my pressed flower design cards.

Torenia holds onto its vibrant color for years when pressed. You can see the wishbone in a few of the flowers above. I use porous paper for pressing. This was an old, discarded college catalog I bought for 25 cents at the local library.

A few more examples of the color of Torenia available in many garden nurseries.

Will I ever change my mind about growing a few Torenia flowers every summer? Never!

Adding this post to Floral Friday Fotos link-up.

Product & Play – Card Games for Christmas Gifts

On By TimelessladyIn Play, Product5 Comments

Christmas is quickly approaching; in two weeks, we will awaken to another year of celebrating the Lord’s birth and spreading good cheer and gifts to those we love. I’ve included a short description of three games we learned to play this past year. They are easy to understand and very enjoyable for two people or better, a group. If you still need a few gifts under $20.00 and the recipient loves games, consider these three card games, still available in stores and online.

FIVE CROWNS is a rummy-type game. After you become familiar with the card count bumping up by one each round, the game is very easy.

SKYJO is a fun game of collecting, replacing, and ending with the fewest points for the win.

PLAY NINE is a card game with a golf theme. Drawing, discarding, trading, and sabotaging the player next in line is a wonderful way to spend an hour or two with family and friends.

Even better, we found good tutorials on how to play the games on YOUTUBE. I’ve included the links below to give you an idea of whether your gift recipient might enjoy the games.

Phriday Phlowers – Signet Marigold

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Yesterday, while walking in the yard, I was amazed by the blossoms of a lemon signet marigold. The plant is still going strong even though we’ve had several hard freezes and the weather is consistently cold now, as December always is in the Northeast. The plant grows along my back patio and is really not sheltered any more than something planted in the middle of the yard.

I sowed signet marigold seeds late in the summer season to fill in holes left by the annuals that came and went quickly. The seeds are from Botanical Interests, a very reliable seed source, one of two seed sources that I use every year. I just looked up the seeds in the online catalog of botanical interest, and they are once again available for a reasonable price. I also noticed they have received a five-star rating from customers in the reviews. I might add a review, and it will be a 5-star rating too. I’ve never had an annual Bloom so profusely in December.

Phlashback Thursday – December 4th

On By TimelessladyIn Phlashback, Projects7 Comments

If you have blogged, like me, for over a decade, you may be running into the same problem as I have in the past few years: finding unique ideas and themes to post about. I am not a fan of the phrase “circle back,” but in my day-to-day life, I often repeat the same projects, recipes, and outings as in previous years.

In the coming year, starting with the Christmas season, I plan to mine my archives and bring back a few of the better projects, recipes, outings, etc., that might be lost in the never-never land of thousands of posts and photographs.

  1. Repairing Resin Figurines with Bread Dough Clay
  2. Mossy Pots for Christmas

Paper Snowflakes – I cut close to a hundred this year to cover my windowpanes. I can’t imagine being without paper snowflakes on my windows in December and January.

Product & Plants

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I purchased the Baker Creek Seed Catalog from their website, Baker Creek Seeds, a few weeks ago. The 530-page magazine/catalog arrived in my mailbox and has been a source of delight anytime I open its pages. The illustrations and variety of seeds are stellar. I enjoyed reading about the employees featured on the pages and the founders’ children. I was also very touched by the inclusion of beautiful quotes and Bible verses on the pages.

I can’t wait to try a few of the new varieties and plan to peruse every page over the next few weeks.

Here is my testimonial about Baker Creek Seeds. Baker Creek Seeds is my number one choice for the best, most reliable, and perfect customer service seed company. Shipping is free and quick. All items are perfectly packaged and include a packet of free seeds. If you have a gardener on your Christmas list, consider giving them a Baker Creek Seeds catalog.

Phlowers – Mexican Sunflower/Delight & Dilemma

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Outside my window grows a spectacular plant that causes me delight and a sense of impending dilemma. The Mexican Sunflower, Tithonia, was grown by way of Winter-Sowing, and has thrived both in its milk carton birthing room, and in the rich soil of the patio garden. The plant has attracted every type of buzzing pollinator, hosted hundreds of butterfly visits, quenched the thirst of hummingbirds, and now that it is setting seed, drawn in goldfinches, in drabber Autumn colors, but goldfinches, nevertheless. What could be more of a delight?

A newly hatched Monarch Butterfly spent hours fueling up for its flight to Mexico, circling the Mexican Sunflower continuously for hours, sipping nectar as it went round and round.

A pollinator’s view of the nectar-filled florets and pollen.

One dilemma is the size of the plant. I measured today, October 13th, and the height was eight feet. The plant is at least five or six feet across at the bottom. Next year, I’ll need to plant near the back wall of the house. I have other Mexican Sunflowers, but none reached quite the size of this beauty. I have collected seeds and look forward to growing them again next year with a few amendments.

The first I already mentioned. Keep the Mexican Sunflower at the very back of the garden, but still near enough to enjoy the up close and personal look at the nature it draws in with its nectar and pollen. Second, once the first lush leaves have fallen off, giving rise to many branches with smaller leaves and more blooms, consider planting some fast-growing vining plants at the base to grow up and add a bit of lushness to the sparser foliage by midsummer. A fast-growing scarlet runner bean would be a great choice.

The third dilemma is my indecision over whether to cut it down when it is entirely defoliated and flowerless or to leave it up as perches for the winter birds. My husband and I discussed decorating it by stringing popcorn and other goodies on the branches throughout the winter for the birds to enjoy when food is scarce. I will update later if we do this.

A photo taken today, a Mexican Sunflower, still blooming in mid-October, braving the rain of a N’or Easter. If you have room, consider growing this amazing plant.

An appreciative goldfinch gathering seed was the perfect signpost backdrop for a quote from the poet Robert Browning.