Perspective & Place – Red Bank Battlefield State Park

On September 7, 2014September 7, 2014 By TimelessladyIn Perspective, PlaceLeave a comment

I’m sure many of us have seen this poem, but it is one we should read periodically to remind ourselves to take a break and enjoy our lives.

Dust If You Must
Author Unknown

Dust if you must, but wouldn’t it be better,
To paint a picture or write a letter,
Bake a cake or plant a seed,
Ponder the difference between want and need?

Dust if you must, but there’s not much time,
With rivers to swim and mountains to climb,
Music to hear and books to read,
Friends to cherish and life to lead.

Dust if you must, but the world’s out there
With the sun in your eyes, the wind in your hair,
A flutter of snow, a shower of rain.
This day will not come ’round again.

Dust if you must, but bear in mind,
Old age will come and it’s not always kind.
And when you go and go you must,
You, yourself, will make more dust.

Yesterday I did as the poem advises and took a day to relax and enjoy a riverside stroll at National Park, New Jersey. Here are a few of the sights at the Red Bank Battlefield.

Monuments, cannons and trenches are all a part of the park.

The City of Philadelphia is visible across the Delaware River.

A long staircase leads the way down to the river walk.

It’s interesting to watch the boats and barges pass by on the Delaware.

Small islands provide picnic areas for boaters.

I love this photograph of a beautiful yellow butterfly “puddling.” (drinking salts from the sand) It was a happy moment to see the beautiful creature. We have had few butterflies this year due to last winter’s constant snow.

As always I couldn’t stop myself from taking a picture of some gnarly, sun-bleached wood. Beautiful!

Scavenger that I am, I found some “river beans” or floating seeds along the shoreline. Of course I pocketed them and brought them home to try and grow.

I also couldn’t stop myself from having a hot dog and Coke from a stand set up in the park. Yum…sorry, the photo isn’t the best, catches me mid-chew. 🙂 A lovely day…I could have been cleaning or weeding or cooking, but I chose to have a little fun instead. Enjoy your Sabbath Day.

Phun – Creation Box

On September 6, 2014September 6, 2014 By TimelessladyIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

My grandsons love making unique projects using items that I have recycled into the “creation box.” The amazing robot my older grandson put together is made out of a tomato sauce can, a juice bottle, toilet paper rolls, yogurt drink bottles, miscellaneous art supplies and quite a bit of Duck (duct) tape. What Phun!

Here’s a glimpse into our creation box. Wouldn’t your children or grandchildren love a creation box of their own? Happy creating. 🙂

Prompt & Praise – Sisters singing “It is Well”

On September 5, 2014September 12, 2014 By TimelessladyIn Praise, Prompt/The Daily Prompt at Wordpress6 Comments

Daily Prompt – Moved to Tears

“Do movies, songs, or other forms of artistic expression easily make you cry? Tell us about a recent tear-jerking experience!”

Yes, singing, especially old hymns in acapella, can move me to tears. My own singing often is interrupted by a flow of emotion as I sing the words that lift up my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The Bible is FILLED with verses that describe singing as a way to praise the Lord.

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! ~ Psalm 95:1

Painting – Monthly Challenges at WetCanvas

On September 5, 2014September 4, 2014 By TimelessladyIn Painting2 Comments

Photograph courtesy of Yorky

The WetCanvas Watercolor Studio has a terrific challenge posted for September.
September 2014 Watercolor Challenge – Sailing on Windermere

I love this reference photograph and I am determined to take part in this challenge. One of the aspects I especially like about the Watercolor Studio Challenges is there is not a specific day you must post. You can even post after the month is over. I enjoy looking at the interpretations of those who have finished their watercolors in the early days of the month.

As I looked over the paintings already posted, I was entranced by the work of Jan Pastor. I followed the link at the bottom of her post to her Website and also looked up her Youtube Channel: Jan Pastor Youtube Channel

Check out some of Jan’s terrific tutorials if you are a painter. I can’t wait to find some extra time to watch these amazing videos. I know you will be impressed by her work too.

Photograph courtesy of Dewi

The WetCanvas Plant Parade Challenge for September is White Flowers. Hooray! I paint in watercolors and white is a challenge for watercolorists, but it will also be a joy to try and capture the essence of their purity on the paper. There are many good reference photographs included. I’ve included my favorite above. You can find the challenge here:
September 2014 Plant Parade Project

Anyone can take part in these challenges. To post your finished painting or artwork you must be part of the Wetcanvas forum. Wetcanvas is free, to join click on this link.
Register for free at Wetcanvas.

I can assure you after years of being a member I have never received Spam or a solicitation from this terrific site.

Prompt – The Daily Prompt/Books, Books & More Books

On September 3, 2014September 3, 2014 By TimelessladyIn Prompt/The Daily Prompt at Wordpress15 Comments

Books on the floor in stacks

Digging Up Your Digs – 500 years from now, an archaeologist accidentally stumbles on the ruins of your home, long buried underground. What will she learn about early-21st-century humans by going through (what remains of) your stuff?

The Daily Prompt – Books, Book & More Books

They are everywhere…stacked in every spare space in my extra room. Do you think the archeologist would realize that the person who lived in this house LOVED books? Tee-hee! 🙂

Books on shelves

More shelves…

Books in my grandmother’s china hutch

Books in the closets. I LOVE BOOKS! 🙂

Perspective – Visual Reminders

On September 3, 2014September 1, 2014 By TimelessladyIn Perspective5 Comments

When my son was in grade school I often packed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for his lunch. Before I placed the sandwich in the baggie, I always drew a heart with the end of the knife. He has told me many times in these later years ( He is 35 now) that opening his sandwich and seeing that heart was so important to him.

It was a small thing to do, but it created big memories. My daughter-in-law often includes a candy kiss in the her boys’ lunches. How SWEET! 🙂

Just a little reminder to spread the love during these first days and weeks of the school year.

Prose & Phavorite – Chickens in the Road

On September 2, 2014September 2, 2014 By TimelessladyIn Phavorites, Prose11 Comments

I am in the process of reading Suzanne McMinn’s outstanding book, “Chickens in the Road.” I am in a happy “rut” of searching out and devouring books that tell the story of leaving a familiar routine for a new life of homesteading. After finishing Kristin Kimball’s, “The Dirty Life” and reading her blog, I have been on a quest to read as many back to basics and farming books as possible. Perhaps I am living vicariously through these ladies. All I know is that I enjoy the interesting, fun and sometimes amazing stories they have lived.

I found several terrific links to more of Suzanne’s ideas and stories:

Chickens in the Road, Facebook Page

Chickens in the Road Blog

Here’s a Youtube video narrated by Suzanne. Enjoy!

People – Labor Day

On September 1, 2014August 31, 2014 By TimelessladyIn PeopleLeave a comment

Poster created with LunaPic

Psalms – Skipper Butterfly & Psalm

On August 31, 2014August 28, 2014 By TimelessladyIn Psalms and ProverbsLeave a comment

We live within the shadow of the Almighty, sheltered by the God who is above all gods.” Psalms 91:1

Plant – Spilanthes

On August 30, 2014August 28, 2014 By TimelessladyIn PlantsLeave a comment

This is an odd and little known herb called Spilanthes, or as it is also known “The Toothache Plant.” If you chew on the buds of spilanthes you will experience an increase in saliva. The chewing will also release substances in the bud that will numb your mouth, hence the nickname of toothache plant.

I have never tried spilanthes as a remedy. I grow it more as an oddity and ornamental in my garden. I planted it once several years ago, and it has reseeded reliably for me every year since. I gave the plant a nickname of my own, “The eyeball plant.” It always seems to look back at me from the lower regions of the garden.

My spilanthes never grow very tall. They do spread a bit, but are never unruly and out of bounds. This is a fun plant to grow in your garden, and if you are experiencing toothache pain, might be the relief you need until you can get to a dentist.

More information about Spilanthes can be found here: Spilanthes – Acmella oleracea

People & Prompt – The August Blues and Mary Engelbriet

On August 28, 2014August 28, 2014 By TimelessladyIn People, Prompt/The Daily Prompt at Wordpress, Quirkiness2 Comments

The Daily Prompt for August 27th was this question:

“August Blues/As a kid, were you happy or anxious about going back to school? Now that you’re older, how has your attitude toward the end of the summer evolved?”

I was usually very happy about going back to school. One of my favorite shopping experiences as a child was going to a store with my parents and picking out a new notebook, pencil bag, pens, crayons…all the wonderful supplies that had the potential to help make me a star student. Well, I don’t think I was ever the star pupil, in fact I know so, but I still had a good time imagining myself as such! 🙂 The school supplies were the perfect prop to propel me to what I hoped was great success.

I still love collecting supplies and props that will help me succeed. One of my favorite “school” supplies are notebooks of all kinds. They are a tool to prevent me from forgetting an important date, and keep me on track with menus, entertaining, vacation plans, etc. I also include Bible verses and other inspiring thoughts within the pages of my notebooks.

One of my favorite artist/illustrator/decorators is Mary Engelbreit. I have two of her books. loved her magazine, and still use old pages of her calendars to create the collages that decorate the covers of my “to-do” notebooks.

I put anything and everything in these books of mine, but when their “season” is over, I am glad to replace them with new blank pages. They aren’t created as a keepsake, they are a tool to keep me moving onward and looking up.

My notebook pages always have a section for jotting down new blogging ideas too! 🙂

You can read more about Mary Engelbreit here: Mary Engelbreit/About Me Page

Peculiarities & Pressed Flowers – Pressing the Odd Item

On August 27, 2014August 26, 2014 By TimelessladyIn Quirkiness2 Comments

At this time of the year you can find many dried out and perfectly preserved butterflies and insects. The remains can be used in interesting and alternative artwork. A re-blog of a post from 2012.

This does not fit into the proper category of “pressed flowers,” but it is still an “odd” item that works well in pressed flower compositions. It is the wing of a Cicada. I found this wing last summer and saved it. I also find cicadas lying on sidewalks and beneath trees that have fallen victim to old age or to Cicada Killer Wasps. Usually the victim has been completely hollowed out by ants or other insects.

I’ve never been squeamish or “girly” where bugs are concerned. I saved the hollow cicada over the winter in a jar, stored in the freezer. Cicadas have always fascinated me. I find the wing in the photograph above incredibly beautiful. Another amazing example of God’s handiwork. I will find a way to use it in a pressed flower composition…perhaps as “Fairy Wings.”

A good source of dried insect wings is the back window of a car or the front grill. Often the wings are intact. Another source is behind curtains or the space between screens and windows. In the spring there are territorial bumblebee battles in our backyard, and the losers of this war can sometimes be found lying in the gardens…vanquished, with wings intact. I know it sounds a bit gruesome to pull the wings off of dead bugs to use in art, but I find them lovely and worth saving.

I enjoy the thrumming of the cicadas in the summer. I often mark the true start of summer by the sound of their song. When I was a child one of my favorite books was “Charlie Cockatoo Visits the Insect World.” It was written by an Australian by the name of Keith Moxon. The book is filled with astonishing information on each insect. Each of the short stories within the book describes how the aborigines used the insects for food and is followed by a devotional paragraph. I hope one day that my grandsons will enjoy reading the stories found in the pages.

Prompt – Why, Thank you!

On August 26, 2014August 26, 2014 By TimelessladyIn Prompt/The Daily Prompt at WordpressLeave a comment

Why, Thank You!

“Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.” ~ Proverbs 27:6

Sometimes a compliment is the best gift you can receive. At times, when it is intended as a back-handed criticism, a compliment can feel like a slap in the face.

“What’s the best (or rather, worst) backhanded compliment you’ve ever received? If you can’t think of any — when’s the last time someone paid you a compliment you didn’t actually deserve?” WordPress Daily Prompt on August 26th

Fortunately, when I read the blurb connected to today’s WordPress Daily Prompt, only a few of those dreaded back-handed compliments came to mind.

A compliment meant as a sneaky insult is the killer of friendships. When a family member is guilty of this veiled behavior, it is a black mark upon the relationship.

Best reaction: Forgiveness, Forgetfulness, but also a degree of Watchfulness. The old cliche is a true nugget of wisdom in this case:

Once burned shame on you twice burned shame on me!

A true, heartfelt compliment is like a bouquet of flowers for the spirit.

The above photograph is a rendition of the first photograph in the post, rendered into a flower by the kaleidoscope effect found on the free site Lunapic. Check out Lunapic here:
Lunapic Free Photo Editor

Planting – Bolted Lettuce Harvest

On August 25, 2014August 24, 2014 By TimelessladyIn Planting2 Comments

I might have mentioned in an earlier post this summer that my spring-seeded lettuce plants had all bolted to seed. The usual method of dealing with this is to pull the remaining plants and reseed the area with a summer vegetable. This year I decided on a different course; I let a few of my Black-seeded Simpson lettuce plants go to seed.

I’ve been quite surprised by how long it has taken the plant to set seed. After the initial seed stalk came up, rendering the sweet lettuce leaves bitter, it grew at a very slow rate. Finally, I noticed some little buds adorn the stem. They never opened into much of a flower, a little tassel of yellow fluff was all the bloom I noticed. These stringy flowers must have had some desirable pollen though…for suddenly the pod beneath swelled with seeds.

Knowing exactly when to harvest plants I’ve allowed to go to seed has always bamboozled me a bit. I’ll think the seeds are ready and pick the pod, only to find they are still green and useless. This time the plant itself told me when to harvest the seeds by the yellow tassels turning into white fluff.

I picked every pod that was fluffy, rolled the pod between my fingers, and voila, lettuce seeds. Hooray! Even better, the lettuce plants are very prolific…dozens of pods per plant stem. The pods mature at varying rates, making it easy to pick and clean a few each day. Each pod seems to hold between eight to twelve seeds, sometimes less, but often more.

I am planning on growing lettuce indoors this winter as a microgreen. I also will save some for my Spring gardens. Black-seeded Simpson is one of my favorite varieties of lettuce.

One problem I encountered with the lettuce plants was an attack of black aphids on the stems. They don’t seem to do much damage, but hey, who wants to see all those little sap-suckers attacking a plant. A good dousing with the hose knocks most off the plant. Because of the aphid infestation I will store the lettuce seeds in the fridge to keep all bugs or eggs dormant.

Photograph – The Bee

On August 24, 2014 By TimelessladyIn Photographs2 Comments

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters . . . .
~ Colossians 3:23 NIV”

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Prompt – Daily Post/You Robot

On August 24, 2014August 24, 2014 By TimelessladyIn Prompt/The Daily Prompt at Wordpress17 Comments

You, Robot – Congrats — you’ve been handed a robot whose sole job is to relieve you of one chore, job, or responsibility you particularly hate. What is it?

A robot would do this dreaded job for me: Cleaning Soap Scum or Mildew off of the Bathroom Shower Walls

I do dislike this job, but have found some shortcuts around it. Number one on the shortcut list is Blue Dawn and Vinegar for soap scum. It works. IMPORTANT TIP: The solution does not work if you don’t heat the vinegar. Use equal parts Dawn and HEATED vinegar. A link with a good explanation can be found here: Blue Dawn and Vinegar

To remove mildew I use pure bleach in a squeeze bottle with a tip. I squeeze it onto the mildew spots. I always seem to feel choked if I use spray mildew removers. It stays with me for over 24 hours. When I use the bleach in a squeeze bottle none gets in my lungs. Please remember to use rubber gloves when using bleach out of the bottle.

To read the Daily Prompt follow this link: The Daily Prompt/You Robot

Prompt – The Daily Prompt at WordPress/Opening Lines

On August 23, 2014August 23, 2014 By TimelessladyIn Prompt/The Daily Prompt at WordpressLeave a comment

I’ve decided it might be fun to take part in the WordPress.com Daily Prompts from time to time. The editors provide one line or word and invite WordPress bloggers to take part in the challenge. Today I accepted and below is my response to the invitation.

Jamaican Bird alongside the beautiful sea.

Today’s Daily Prompt – Opening Lines is this:

“Opening Lines – What’s the first line of the last song you listened to (on the radio, on your music player, or anywhere else)? Use it as the first sentence of your post.”

“Ole Pirates they did rob I…”

This is the opening line of Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song.” Redemption Song is one of Bob’s last songs, and is quite a departure from the normal reggae melodies that created his most known works of music.

“Redemption Song has become one of my favorites. Perhaps it is the purity of Bob’s voice along with the acoustic guitar accompaniment. Most likely it is the timeless character of the words, many of them still so applicable to this day and time with all its horror and strife around the world.

I think my favorite line, and the favorite of so many is this one:

“Emancipate yourself from mental slavery none but ourselves can free our MINDS…”

Here is a version of the song from a concert in Dortmund Germany. There are a few instruments added in, but they don’t take away from the song.

If you would like to take part in the daily challenges at WordPress visit this link:

Daily Prompt – Opening Lines

You can find more information on Redemption Song here:
The History of Bob Marley’s Redemption Song

Phlowers – The Joy of the Morning

On August 22, 2014 By TimelessladyIn Phlowers2 Comments

Our summer has been so cool in the Northeast all the bloom times of my flowers have been very late. Today, I finally had several morning glory flowers open at the same time. Good Morning Everyone!