Author: Timelesslady

Married with children and grandchildren. Reader, writer, painter - maybe a bit of an artist. Gardener... Led by the Spirit.

Problem-Solving – Cleaning Ugg Boots

On By TimelessladyIn Problem-Solving14 Comments

I often will re-blog a timely post…this is one for the ladies…cleaning salt stains from Ugg Boots. This technique will also work on other suede items.

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My Uggs Boots were stained by salt last year. I don’t know why I waited a whole year to clean them off, I suppose it is the classic, out of sight, out of mind syndrome. Thankfully, I do know a good way of cleaning them by applying shaving cream and rubbing with a soft cloth. Below you can see my progress. As I write, the boot I treated is sitting beside a heater vent drying. If there is any residue still left I will repeat the steps.

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Dampen the entire boot so there is no line of demarcation when they dry. Apply the shaving cream and gently rub the soiled area with a soft cleaning cloth. Spread the shaving cream lightly around the entire boot with the cloth. No need for a heavy coat, just a light touch of the shaving cream will keep the color and texture of the boot uniform.

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The boot on the right was previously treated. You can see the slightest bit of salt stain around arch of the boot, but all in all, unless someone was looking for the problem area, I don’t think it is very noticeable. Give this money saving tip a try. It certainly beats spending near $15.00 to have your boots professionally cleaned.

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Prompt/The Daily Prompt at WordPress – Psalm 100

On By TimelessladyIn Prompt/The Daily Prompt at Wordpress, Psalms and Proverbs8 Comments

Daily Prompt – By Heart

By Heart – “You’re asked to recite a poem (or song lyrics) from memory — what’s the first one that comes to mind? Does it have a special meaning, or is there another reason it has stayed, intact, in your mind?”

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Before prayer and the Bible were taken out of public schools, a precious elderly lady, my second grade teacher, Mrs. Ware, taught our class to memorize the 100th Psalm. The assignment was given at this time of year…for it is a Psalm of Thanksgiving. The words, in the King James Version, have never left my mind. I consider my year with her one of my best school years – a truly godly woman. I wonder what the differences in our culture would be if prayer had been left in our schools.


“Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.”

I am forever grateful that I lived in a time of school prayer and Bible reading.

List of Countries that Ban School Prayer

Perspective & Quotes – Wisdom on Wednesday/Newspapers & Spurgeon

On By TimelessladyIn Perspective, QuotesLeave a comment

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Photo courtesy of morguefile.com

“A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834 – 1892)

A terrific quote to remember in any age.

“No one knows who is listening, say nothing you would not wish put in the newspapers.” Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834 – 1892)

If C.H. Spurgeon had lived in our time I am sure he would have included the Internet in his sermon about what to say or not say.

Phlowers – Ikebana

On By TimelessladyIn Quirkiness4 Comments

“What is Ikebana?”

“Ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arrangement. It is more than simply putting flowers in a container. It is a disciplined art form in which the arrangement is a living thing where nature and humanity are brought together. It is steeped in the philosophy of developing a closeness with nature.”
~ Ikebana International

Here are a few examples from Longwood Gardens recent exhibition of the Art Of Ikebana.

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Painting – November Challenges at WetCanvas

On By TimelessladyIn Painting2 Comments

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I love November’s Challenges at WetCanvas. The November Plant Parade is hosted by Bluemoonstar who says:

“November… here in the Northern Hemisphere, we are finishing up with a lovely fall and both leaves & flowers will soon fade into memories until Spring returns. I was thinking that it would be lovely to see a whole rainbow of color this month . I looked back thru my garden photos and the reference library to find a perfect rainbow of blooms.

The challenge this month is to include a touch of rainbow into your artwork. Use your imagination for its placement- could be in a petal, could be in the background, or somewhere else!

Feel free to substitue one of your own, as long as it fits into the category of “Rainbow hues”. (Hard to miss that target when it comes to flowers, lol).

Remember “Roy G. Biv “? Here we go!

I hope you join our trip over the rainbow this month in search of the rainbow hues that surround us.”

The Chinese Gardens at Montreal Botanic Gardens

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The Watercolor Studio November Challenge is of the Chinese Garden in the Montreal Botanic Gardens. Yorky says,

“This month’s challenge give scope for painting reflections and shadows. This is the Chinese garden in the Montreal Botanic garden taken on our tour of Ontario after the Meet this year. I suggest you darken some of the conifers for variation.”

Your artwork in this challenge must be done in watercolors and can be posted to the forum at any time.

Photo Challenge – Birth or Shroud? Fog, Descending and Ascending

On By TimelessladyIn Photo Challenge at Wordpress7 Comments

Photo Challenge – Descent
DESCENT
This week, show us your interpretation of descent.

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Where does the morning fog find its birth? Does it descend from the sky, or ascend from the waters?

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Do birds draw the mist to earth after leaves abandon the trees? An ethereal silken shroud descends from leaden sky, blanketing summer feathers from the assault of Autumn’s winds.

Phrightening and Prompt – Trick or Treat

On By TimelessladyIn phrightening, Prompt/The Daily Prompt at Wordpress3 Comments

DAILY PROMPT – TRICK OR TREAT

It’s Halloween, and you just ran out of candy. If the neighborhood kids (or anyone else, really) were to truly scare you, what trick would they have to subject you to?

There are several ways the little ghouls in the neighborhood could scare me, in fact there are three themes that would work, not just at Halloween, but all through the year. All of these scary moments became ingrained in me through frightening scenes in movies and television.

I’m not so much a fan of “phrightening” movies as an adult in mid-life. (I think I swore off of them when I dreamt vividly of collapsing haunted houses after watching the first installment of Stephen King’s “Rose Red” mini-series.) As a child, teen-ager and young adult one of my greatest joys was being scared by a well-made horror movie. I began to turn away from the horror genre when it became filled with gore rather than good old-fashioned scares. Laying all these explanations aside, here are three horror scenes that scared me, courtesy of YouTube.

Theme One – A SCARY Doll
Maybe you are thinking, “Of course, Child’s Play.” No my dears, I am thinking of a real oldie, “Trilogy of Terror” and the Zuni Fetish Doll. Here’s a little clip.

Theme Two – A SCARY Animal

There are a lot of scary animal movies that would make good choices for this theme. My all-time scary animal is the man-eating shark in Jaws, but in this short clip you won’t see the great white shark that still, almost forty years later, keeps me hearing the same scary music any time I’m in the ocean. The first time my eyes were assaulted by this scene, in a Vineland, New Jersey movie theater, I jumped harder than I’ve ever jumped since in a scary movie.

Theme Three – Someone SCARY looking through your window.

This one is more my husband’s horror than mine. As a child he saw the Twilight Zone in which William Shatner, before his Star Trek fame, is horrified by a horribly scary (at least at the time of limited media special effects) monster on the wing of an airplane. My husband says this scared him for years as a child. Guess What? Whenever we fly I always find a moment to whisper in a frightened tone in my husband’s ear, “Shatner.” We always laugh, and he knows exactly what I mean. Seriously, he still tends to look out the airplane window at the wing when I say Shatner’s name. Funny…and true!

So there you have it…a few of the things the little darlings could do to scare me…or my husband. SMILE!!! Happy Halloween!

Phrightening – Spider Mites

On By TimelessladyIn QuirkinessLeave a comment

Halloween! A perfect day to re-post a “how-to” on identifying and eradicating those horrifying SPIDER MITES from our plants. It’s also a timely post considering many of us bring outdoor plants inside at this time of year. Unfortunately, there are often some unwelcome “stowaways” hiding amid the leaves and foliage.

Spider Mites, they are a pest I hate to see indoors or out. They are microscopic in size, and usually, they have caused quite a bit of damage before you are even aware they are on your house or garden plants. Here is some good information on what a spider mite can do to your foliage. Spider Mites

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This week I noticed some yellowing leaves on my Mandevilla Vine. Because I have had problems with spider mites in this area of the basement in the past, they were tops on my list of possible pests. Instead of peering at each stem individually, I used my quick and easy solution. I sprayed the entire plant with a mister. Sure enough, the webbing the spider mites leave behind on the leaves caught the droplets of water and glowed in the sunlight. Since I want to keep all my pest control organic, I have found that the best approach to controlling spider mites is to spray the plant with water every day. This keeps the spider mites under control until it is warm enough for me to take the plant outside and really douse it with a hard spray of the hose. Daily sprays of the hose for a week or two will obliterate the spider mite colony. This technique also works on aphids. The only other solution is to spray with dangerous chemicals or toss the plant in the garbage heap.

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Spraying the infected plant with water will allow you to see how badly infested your plant has become. It is a good idea to spray all your houseplants to see if there are any errant mites on surrounding greenery.

Phavorites – Coupon.com/Money-saving Tip

On By TimelessladyIn PhavoritesLeave a comment

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I recently began using the Coupons.Com site. I needed to download their program, but my virus scan indicated it was a safe site, and I have had no problems using it thus far. One additional money-saving tip, before you print out your coupons, set your printer default to black and white. If you are unsure of how to do this search for tips through a search engine.

Projects & Quick Tip – Making Martha/Halloween Sunglasses

On By TimelessladyIn Projects, Quick Tip5 Comments

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What a clever idea! Why haven’t I ever thought of it?

Decorate a dollar store pair of sunglasses for Halloween.

I don’t dress up, but I decided it would be fun to try a few of the cute ideas in the October issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine. The Trick-or-Treaters might enjoy the look…or…maybe they will be SPOOKED!

It certainly wasn’t costly to create these glasses, and while they will probably only last a night; I sure had a good time creating them.

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You can find more ideas here: Martha Stewart’s Sunglasses for Trick or Treating

If I have time I might glue a silk flower or two to an extra pair of sunglasses I found lying in a drawer.

Place – Elk Neck State Forest and Turkey Point Lighthouse

On By TimelessladyIn Place2 Comments

My husband and I camped last weekend in the Elk Neck State Park in Maryland. It is a favorite of ours. The Elk Neck Forest lies between the Elk Neck River and the Chesapeake Bay. We were able to take in the changing colors of Autumn as we hiked along the trail to the Turkey Point Lighthouse.

All men are just boys at heart! My husband taking a swing on one of the thick vines along the trail.

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Here’s a quick minute slideshow of our hike to the Lighthouse.

When we reached the Turkey Point Lighthouse we came upon a group of bird watchers. It was fascinating to eavesdrop a bit on their conversation. They had spotted a blue-headed vireo in the trees. We tried to see the bird by looking in the direction they indicated, but without good binoculars it was impossible.

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Blue Headed Vireo Photograph Courtesy of Flickr and Andy Reago/Chrissy McClaren

The drop off the side of the bluff is a high and a bit dizzying. There are NO GUARDRAILS whatsoever, and only a very few warning signs. I don’t know if I would take children to this area without having them firmly attached to my hand at ALL times. For a stunning look at the area watch this amazing video filmed by a drone. Spectacular! You will realize when viewing why I say hold onto your children.

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The trail is surrounded by dense forest and undergrowth. The brambles provide shelter for hundreds and hundreds of birds. I said to my husband as we walked, “This place is atwitter with birds.” Hopefully due to the efforts of conservationists, banding and studying of the birds, their numbers will only increase over the coming years.

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Phavorites & Philm – The Sound of Music

On By TimelessladyIn Phavorites, Philm2 Comments

I have many favorite films, but the “Sound of Music,” is my “Go-To ” choice when I am ill, anxious, or feeling blue. I know it might sound odd, but in all truth, I am sure I have seen this favorite two dozen times plus some. What are your favorite “Pick-Me-Up ” films or books? With all the turmoil surrounding us, the chaos that seems to be erupting at a global scale, perhaps we need to take an hour or two, sit down, and immerse ourselves in what makes us sing or smile.

The Sound of Music

“When the Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window.”

~ Maria, The Sound of Music

Prompt – Without the Clouds of Nine

On By TimelessladyIn Prompt/The Daily Prompt at Wordpress2 Comments

Birdwatchers at Turkey Point On the Chesapeake

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Daily Post – Local Color/“Imagine we lived in a world that’s all of a sudden devoid of color, but where you’re given the option to have just one object keep its original hue. Which object (and which color) would that be?”

I can do without ever being on the clouds of nine. Why? Because the blue of the sky is one of my favorite colors and also a favored object. I am content gazing upward, focusing my thoughts on the Creator of this magnificent expanse. There is peace of heart and mind in the blue transparency of the sky.

“The heavens declare the glory of God…”

~ Psalm 19:1

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Here of a Sunday morning
My love and I would lie,
And see the coloured counties,
And hear the larks so high
About us in the sky.

Alfred Edward Housman, 1896

Photo Challenge – The Burning Bush

On By TimelessladyIn Photo Challenge at Wordpress3 Comments

Echoes From the Burning Bush

WordPress Photo Challenge – Cover Art

“For this week’s Photo Challenge, stimulate your creative process and imagine which of your images you would like to see gracing the cover of a book, an album, or a magazine.”

My photograph is a perfect accompaniment to the song “Echoes From the Burning Bush.” It is a gospel tune based on the Bible verses in Exodus Chapter 3, that tell of Moses seeing a burning bush on the mountain, investigating, and finding God.

My husband called me out just this morning to see the trees alight with the rising sun. I grabbed my camera and the photo challenge today was the perfect opportunity to use one of my images.

“One day as Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, out at the edge of the desert near Horeb, the mountain of God, suddenly the Angel of Jehovah appeared to him as a flame of fire in a bush.” Exodus 3

Echoes From the Burning Bush was written by Bryon Foust & V. O. Summar in 1943

CBN TV – Moses and the Burning Bush: 'The Bible' Miniseries.

Pots and Pans – Plantains

On By TimelessladyIn Pots and Pans4 Comments

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I didn’t experience eating plantains until I visited Jamaica. I have since learned to cook them as a side dish/dessert for family and friends. Plantains have good fiber content. They have more vitamin C and A than bananas, are a richer source of B-complex vitamins, and provide minerals such as iron, magnesium and phosphorus. Plantains contain more potassium than bananas. Cooking Plantains is an easy and rewarding task. The only additional ingredients I use are two pats of butter and some brown sugar.

Step One

Slice plantain on the diagonal.

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Step Two

Melt two pats of butter in pan.

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Step Three

On medium heat begin to fry in the butter. Brown on each side and check tenderness with a fork.

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Step Four

Sprinkle brown sugar over plantains. Don’t be alarmed if the brown sugar falls between the slices and bubbles up on the pan. This gives the edges a crispy crunch of sweetness. Cook only until sugar is dissolved and begins to firm up a bit.

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Serve and eat warm…very delicious!


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Pleasures – Sunrise on Elk Neck River, Maryland

On By TimelessladyIn PleasuresLeave a comment

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Today I’m experiencing again, through photographs and a Youtube video, one of the best sunrises I ever gazed upon along the Elk Neck River, Maryland, in 2007. Why revisit the past? Because it reminds me of what to look for in my future. On the flip side, spending time reliving experiences that are negative will capture and bind me in a defeated, discouraged mindset. Live in the present, remember the moments filled with love, true joy and sweet contentment…banish the negative past from your thoughts.

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Painting & Quick Tip – Two on Tuesday/Tracing with Ease

On By TimelessladyIn Painting, Quick TipLeave a comment

I know “How to Grid a Photo”. I have used the technique many times to enlarge a photo to a larger-sized canvas or paper. The finished results are usually acceptable and contain a lot of detail. The drawback is this method is tedious and chews up a lot of time. I work in watercolors and often don’t need a lot of detail in the initial sketch. For me, a quicker way to get results is to enlarge a reference photograph in a photo editor, remove the color, and filter with a “find edges” application. After I print this out, it becomes easy to trace over the found edges by taping the print to a window allowing the light to reveal the outline for tracing. A lightbox also works, but they can be expensive, and become one more piece of equipment I must store.


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This method provides me with a basic sketch, saving hours of time, and allows me to add any detail or adjustment I need. This technique will work for journaling, poster making, lettering, any type of artwork that needs to be traced.