Quote – Hudson Taylor
Author: Timelesslady
Married with children and grandchildren. Reader, writer, painter - maybe a bit of an artist. Gardener... Led by the Spirit.
Pheathers – Silent Saturday/Snowstorm
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Pages – Surprises
I love to search through antique shops, flea markets, and boxes of books at yard sales. I often find treasured volumes I’ve read in the past and feel as if I’ve reconnected with old friends.
I came upon a pleasant surprise when I opened “The Book of Trees” by Alfred C. Hotte, published in 1932. Within the pages lay a letter and pressed leaves. I wonder as I study the letter, the brittle leaves, who placed them inside and why.
Underlining and personal notes written on book pages never fail to make me wonder why the readers were moved enough to comment or underline. It’s funny, I’ve even come upon my own written comments in book margins, long forgotten, but often still applicable to my life now. A week or two ago, I found pressed plants in a book gathering dust on a shelf, several four leaf clovers found in a patch of grass on a long ago day. I didn’t remove them, instead I shut the cover and laid it away once more, to rediscover “good luck’ another day.
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Phlower – Zinnia with “Canary” Petals
I am fairly certain this is the second time around in a blog post for this beautiful zinnia. I am gazing at it as I write these words, hoping, hoping, hoping I saved some of the seeds it produced. As I perused my flower photos this morning, searching for a zinnia that was an all-over “Canary” color for today’s Color Your World – 120 Days of Crayola challenge, I found this beauty instead. I noticed the central petals on the underside were a perfect canary yellow, and even better, resembled wings as they faced the sky. My choice was easy.
I grow zinnias in garden beds every year. They are a perfect cut flower to bring indoors for bouquets. Zinnias are a favorite of butterflies and hummingbirds. The large seeds make them one of the easiest flowers to grow. Zinnias are a perfect “first flower garden” choice for the smallest of children.
I start zinnias a few weeks early in plastic dixie cups and grow them indoors. I also direct sow them in the garden. Surprisingly, the direct sown zinnias always catch up to the ones grown in the house. The one advantage to starting them indoors is the larger plants are less likely to be nipped off by bunnies and other hungry critters.
Now is the time to start looking for zinnias on seed racks in your local shops and garden stores. They can be purchased for under $1.00 in dollar stores and large retailers.
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Pets & Phun – Too Cute!
Too Cute! I was glad I had my camera on hand when I found my cat Rusty snuggled up with two stuffed animals. He is a Maine Coon Cat, and his fur is a blend of many colors including burnt sienna, the color for today’s Color Your World – 120 Days of Crayola.
Speaking of too cute…if you are the parent of young children, or have grandchildren over for sleepovers, look for the show Too Cute! on Animal Planet. The adorable baby animals and soothing narration elicits many “ahhhhs and ohhhhs,” at my house.
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Photograph – Mullica Hill Alphabet
“This week, let the alphabet be your inspiration: find a string of letters. Try a multi-photo gallery to collect images of single characters. Find some beautiful typography, or look for letters hidden in natural forms. I’m excited to see your ABCs!” Alphabet
What fun it was to gather photographs for this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge. It prompted us (see our reflection in the collage) to take a long overdue stroll through Mullica Hill, New Jersey, a town known for its antique shops. All the alphabets in the above “sampler” were on Main Street. We had a bit of trouble with the Z, but found it in the graveyard of the Quaker Cemetery.
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Photograph – Color Your World – 120 Days of Crayola – Burnt Orange
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Praise & Project – Shine
On Saturday, my husband and I took a stroll through the antiquing town of Mullica Hill, New Jersey. I enjoyed coming upon this display of candles in the front of one home/business. What a great idea and a good way to shine out light upon the world. The inner recesses of the baskets are also the perfect choice for today’s Color Your World – 120 Days of Crayola Challenge – Brown
“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” ~ Matthew 5:14-16
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Quick Tip – Houseplant Grooming
The low humidity in heated homes causes curling edges and browning of houseplant leaves. A trim with a pair of scissors is a quick fix. This is temporary, as the edge will continue to brown, but the plant looks better in the meantime.
Placing a pan of water near a heating vent can easily add humidity to a room.
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Phlowers – Blushing Lily
A Blush of Lily Petals – Color Your World – 120 Days of Crayola.
“The earth laughs in flowers.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Product – Kefir
I’m in love with Kefir! This delicious smoothie is satisfying as a snack and boosts my immune system and mood.
Kefir is loaded with good bacteria for your body. The vitamins, minerals and easily digested protein kefir contains strengthens the immune system, and has been thought to lower blood pressure and lessen anxiety. A good article about kefir can be found at
Be Well Buzz.
Kefir contains tryptophan, the amino acid that helps raise the levels of serotonin in your brain.
We can all use a little boost to our mood when the sunlight wanes in winter. Lifeway Kefir has a terrific website that lists the Benefits of Kefir. Check it out, and try some kefir this year. It will improve not only your mood, but also your health.
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Photo Challenge – Color Your World/Breaking the “Brrrrrr” Factor with Color
Winter has given us the cold shoulder here in the Northeast U.S. We were spoiled with record-breaking warm temperatures throughout December, and now January is demanding we pay for it with cold, blustery wind and temperatures.
A beach scene taken at Montego Bay, Jamaica warms my heart, if not my fingers and toes. It’s also the perfect photo to use in a new challenge I found on the blog of Jennifer Nichole Wells: Color Your World – 120 Days of Crayola. Challenges are a great way to discover new blogs and new blogging friends.
The color for today is Blue-Green. I think the swathe of ocean cutting through the center of the photograph matches the January 13th challenge color of blue-green.
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Photograph – The Dove
After a storm passes the air feels weightless.
As I was driving home from a grandchild’s birthday party Sunday afternoon, I glimpsed this beautiful cloud and immediately parked the car. Luckily, my camera was on the passenger seat beside me. I took several shots, impressed by the vivid outline of silver created by the sun. Surprise filled me the next day when I downloaded the photos and noticed the small shape of a dove in the lower corner. In the moment I took the photograph I was completely unaware of bird’s presence.
The photo of the dove silhouetted against the sunlit cloud reminded me that even when I feel lost and alone, the Holy Spirit is always with me, guiding me, protecting me, loving me, even if I am not aware of his presence.
“But when the Father sends the Comforter instead of me—and by the Comforter I mean the Holy Spirit—he will teach you much, as well as remind you of everything I myself have told you.” ~ John 14:26
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Photograph, Phun and Place – July in January/Wharton State Forest
Nothing is quite like a rope swing for defying, and then succumbing, to GRAVITY. When you are flying through the air life seems weightless.
“Show us the effects of gravity in your photo this week.” ~ WordPress Photo Challenge
“Wharton State Forest is the largest state forest in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is the largest single tract of land in the state park system of New Jersey, encompassing approximately 115,000 acres of the Pinelands northeast of Hammonton. ~ Wikipedia
In these dreary and chill days of January I enjoy paging through photographs of summer scenes. Winter has its own merits: warm fires, hot cocoa, ice-skating, etc., but if I had to choose I’d live in the summer’s heat year-round.
Here’s to a bit of weightless fun, an homage to defying gravity.
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Proverbs – Trust
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Quick Tip – Hidden Sources of Aluminum
Did you know Baking Powder (Baking Soda is aluminum free ) contains aluminum unless otherwise stated on the container it is sold in? This is what gives some baked goods a tinny taste.
“One of the least expensive, and most effective, things you can do to improve the taste of your cakes, quick breads, cookies, and muffins is to switch to aluminum-free baking powder right away.” ~ David Lebovitz
Why You Should Use Aluminum-Free Baking Powder by David Lebovitz is an informative article on avoiding aluminum in baking powder.
Aluminum is toxic in food. Aluminum can be absorbed through the skin through deodorants and lotions.
A substitute for baking powder can be made by combining these easily available ingredients:
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cornstarch.
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Perspective – Circumstances
Treasure Beach, Jamaica, is an earthly paradise, but in this beautiful place you can also find extreme examples of land and seascape: warm inviting water, threatening jagged reef. Like the photograph, life is so often a portrait in extremes. In the hours of one day it is possible to experience the sweetest, uplifting highs, only to find yourself cut to bits by unexpected, devastating lows. We’ve all experienced these contradictory days. Yet, through it all one fact holds true, the Word of God stands eternal. Whatever I am going through in my life, whatever injurious circumstance I, or someone I love, might be experiencing; the Word of God is a lifeline if I reach out and open the book.
This small devotional, “Daily Food,” contains timeless Bible verses. It is one of my “treasures.” Given to my grandmother by my grandfather in 1939, the inscription is a tribute to the love he had for God and his, “Beloved Buddy.”
Dear friends, in these trying times, when life deals out its many highs and low, hold fast to the timeless Word of God, and let Him be your hope and strength every day.
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Place – Cape May Zoo – The Park – Part III
As you pass through the entrance of the Cape May Zoo you enter a free, beautifully maintained, eighty-acre park facility. The Cape May Zoo asks only for a donation as an entrance fee.
Some areas of the park resemble a savannah plain in Africa, other exhibits are maintained on New Jersey Wetlands. The green mosses of my state are one of my favorite sights.
The Leucistic White-tailed Deer are an interesting exhibit. The deer are not considered albino due to some pigment in eyes, ears, noses and sometimes spots on their bodies.
One of our favorite moments was the interaction between one of the deer and a groundskeeper.
Another moment of fun was discovering these winsome baby squirrels in the rafters of a pavilion. We were surprised to see a nest with babies in December.
The mother squirrel was uneasy with our attention to her babies and darted to and fro like an acrobat to draw us away from the nest site.
The reptile house is terrific. I loved this green snake hanging on a branch, posing like an illustration in a favorite children’s storybook titled “Verdi” by Janell Cannon.
I guarantee, if you enjoy animals in a natural, beautiful setting, you will leave Cape May Zoo with a smile on your face.
