Perspective – Let it Shine

On By TimelessladyIn Perspective10 Comments

I have been horrified by videos of people being bullied if they don’t raise their fist in support of hypocritical organizations and violent demonstrations. I will not raise a fist, but I’ll raise my hand with my finger pointing toward heaven, claim the name of JESUS, and sing and live this song. Will you?

This little light of mine,
I’m gonna let it shine
This little light of mine,
I’m gonna let it shine
This little light of mine,
I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine,
Let it shine,
Let it shine.

Hide it under a bushel? No!
I’m gonna let it shine
Hide it under a bushel? No!
I’m gonna let it shine
Hide it under a bushel? No!
I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine,
Let it shine,
Let it shine.

Don’t let Satan blow it out,
I’m gonna let it shine
Don’t let Satan blow it out,
I’m gonna let it shine
Don’t let Satan blow it out,
I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine,
Let it shine,
Let it shine.

This little light of mine,
I’m gonna let it shine
This little light of mine,
I’m gonna let it shine
This little light of mine,
I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine,
Let it shine,
Let it shine.

When I sang this as a child we would also add this lyric:

Let it shine ’til Jesus comes,
I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine ’til Jesus comes,
I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine ’til Jesus comes,
I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine,
Let it shine,
Let it shine.

Quote & Pheathers -The Hummer

On By TimelessladyIn Pheathers, Quote5 Comments

Saturday evening, we watched two hummingbirds battling for rights over a firecracker plant. We were amazed at how long they dove and swooped at each other in the air. Finally, only one remained, and exhausted, he took some respite in the back yard pine tree. After the big battle with another wondrous flyer, an earthbound human didn’t seem very threatening to him, and he let me take at least a dozen or more photographs of him. What a wondrous little bird God fashioned when he created the hummingbird.

O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
~ Psalm 104:24

This photograph is part of Skywatch.

Phlowers – Harvesting

On By TimelessladyIn Phlowers10 Comments

Angelonia, in a gorgeous shade of coral, or is that fuschia, or is that pink? My pick for flower of the day and Cee’s FOTD Challenge.

I have been lax in my posting, not because I want to be, but because I am super-busy harvesting my flowers for pressing. I’ve pressed, hundreds, no, I’d say more in the thousands this summer. One reason I press so many is only one in three is perfect enough to be posted to my Etsy shop. For hydrangeas, the odds are even worse, only about one in five flowers is pristine and without spot and blemish.

I recently created a short fifteen second videotape, recommended by Etsy to advertise your shop. I thought you all might like to see me in action on my ‘Flower Farm’ harvesting flowers and foliage to press. In the Autumn, things will slow down, and I will have more time to blog.

Pheathers – Beauty & Rest

On By TimelessladyIn Pheathers2 Comments

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” ~Matthew 11:28-30

Even in the midst of all the upheaval in 2020, there is beauty to be found, there is rest. May God bless you this day.

This photo is part of Skywatch.

Plants & Praise – Job’s Tears

On By TimelessladyIn Plants, Praise5 Comments

“I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. Job 19:25 (NIV)

This nondescript plant, resembling miniature corn, yields an interesting grain that makes perfect beads. Job’s Tears are a novelty item in my garden this year. I have grown it in 2.5 gallon containers in a spot that gets afternoon sun. The plant has grown well for me and I am now harvesting the colorful seeds.

Although the seeds, purchased through Baker’s Creek Heirloom Seeds, were mostly tan in color when I opened the packet, they have produced seeds/beads of many colors. I’ve harvested them when they easily pop off the plant.

Dave’s Garden has a great article on the plant and how to use the seeds to make a rosary or necklace. I’m hoping to save enough seeds for projects and also plenty to plant next year.

Plants – Coleus Week/Creating a Topiary Tree- Part II

On By TimelessladyIn Plants8 Comments

This is my coleus topiary, in the works for two, maybe three years; I’ve lost track of time. Started from a spindly specimen, it has grown into a beauty.

Since the lush growth makes it top-heavy, I have added a whole bag of river rock to the potting soil. The extra weight keeps the plant stable in the wind that sometimes whistles through the porch screens during summer storms. In the winter I don’t have to worry so much about it toppling over, but I like the look of the stones and will leave them in place when I bring the plant indoors before cool weather begins.

The leaves of this coleus are a perfect example of how light affects the color. You can see the changes in saturation and design. There must be half a dozen variations on this one plant. I love the mosaic look of the newer leaves at the top, but also enjoy the deep pinks and maroons of the earlier leaves. It’s fun to move a coleus around from window to window, and outdoors too, to see what kind of rainbows the light will create.

Plants – Coleus Week/Creating a Topiary Tree- Part I

On By TimelessladyIn Plants4 Comments

Creating a coleus topiary causes me to garden contrary to my usual standards. When I grow plants from seed, or from cuttings, I want them to bush out and develop branches. To grow a topiary I need them to grow tall and leggy. The best way I’ve found to accomplish this is to put the plants in a shady area where they must grow upwards to reach the brighter light.

Recently, I dug up and transplanted into potting soil several of the coleus volunteers from the front garden. Now they are growing in a shady nook of my outdoor porch, below the screened window. The coleus get enough light to live, but nothing direct, this causes them to shoot upwards toward the light. At this point their colors fade, and the growth becomes leggy, but this is exactly what I want from them.

As they grow upwards, I clip off their side shoots with small manicure scissors, leaving only a set of leaves at the top and the growing tip. The coleus will continue to grow toward the light, and I will continue to clip until each reaches a height I want. Even as small as they are I might have to begin staking to support the stem. At this point, because of their size, I would use a coffee stirrer, or another small slender support.

Plants – Coleus Week/Volunteers

On By TimelessladyIn Plants11 Comments

It’s a hot, hot, hot day here in the Mid-Atlantic State of New Jersey. Heat-loving plants and people are doing well, those who dislike the temperature hovering near 100 degrees are not so good. If kept well-watered, coleus plants do well in July; they love high temperatures. Not only do they thrive in the heat, they also offer up volunteer sprouts in surprising nooks and crannies courtesy of last year’s seed stalks.

They are not particular about soil, many come up in between the rocks bordering the garden. It sometimes makes for crowded conditions, but it also gives me some interesting color combinations.

The plants will continue growing throughout the late fall. I have stopped pinching them, and now they will begin to bloom, sending up seed stalks for me to gather in mid-autumn. I have even dug a few up for special projects…a bit of a teaser for tomorrow’s post. Stay tuned!

Pheathers – Birdwatching

On By TimelessladyIn Pheathers3 Comments

I saw so many beautiful birds this weekend. On the drive to Fortescue and the Delaware Bay an eagle flew over our car. Alongside the road, beside a small pond, we glimpsed a large heron with raggedy feathers on it’s chest. I looked up ‘heron with a feathery chest,’ and realized we saw a Great Blue Heron. While we were fishing I watched an osprey dive into the bay and come up with a fish, easily flying while clutching the meal in it’s talons. I also spotted a small sparrow, picking among the grains of sand for food. He was the only bird I managed to capture with my camera. I enjoyed seeing the large birds, but it was the small bird that reminded me of a favorite Bible verse, and although I have used it before in blog post, considering our crazy world right now, it’s a good reminder of how God watches over us, cares for us, loves us, protects us, and even though we aren’t always aware of it, intercedes for us. May God watch over you and bless you this day.

“Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God.” ~Luke 12:6

Pheathers – Swallow on Scroll

On By TimelessladyIn photograph7 Comments

I was going to let the photograph stand alone as a Wordless Wednesday entry, but then decided to write a few lines since I haven’t posted in more than a week. I’ve been tied to the garden for the last week…high heat in NJ means more watering, weeds are growing faster than I can pull them, flowers are beautiful and ready to press, and that doesn’t even begin to cover the mess I’ve made in the house. The bottom line: doesn’t matter a bit cause I LOVE SUMMER!!! I guess I am still a kid at heart.

The little swallow in the photo was captured by my camera in Fortescue, New Jersey. We often fish there and when the weather is cooler I bicycle around the town. I thought the little bird seemed to pose for me and the whole look of it seemed quaint and sweet. I hope you are enjoying summer too. Stay cool and well!

Phlower – Daisy and Visitor

On By TimelessladyIn Phlowers8 Comments


“Four things on earth are small,
yet they are extremely wise:
Ants are creatures of little strength,
yet they store up their food in the summer. ~Proverbs 30:24-25

When I downloaded my photograph of a daisy growing against the chimney I was surprised to spy a tiny ant on one of the petals. I wonder how high we would have to climb to match the ant’s ability to travel up the two foot plus daisy stem. Amazing!

This post is part of Cee’s Flower of the Day.

Plants – Moringa Update

On By TimelessladyIn Plants12 Comments

In early May I posted a few words about my attempts to grow a Moringa plant. Moringa is a powerhouse plant, full of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.
You can read my first post here: How to grow and use Moringa. A few days afterwards I posted a guest article by SusieShy on her Moringa Tree.

Here are two of my Moringa plants, started from seeds in the Spring, and planted in containers. They have thrived, and are growing at an astonishing rate. Soon I will begin to harvest and use their leaves. I can’t wait to see if they will bloom and create the drumsticks. If they do another update will be sure to follow.

The trees have branched out in every direction and send out new shoots at a steady pace.

Unfortunately, the Moringa I planted in my garden plot has not thrived. In our area the added warmth of the black containers helped the patio Moringas grow better. They are, after all, a plant of the tropics. I am hoping to continue growing the plants and will try to bring them in to the house in the Autumn.

Photograph – Last Photo on SD Card

On By TimelessladyIn photograph2 Comments

I took this photograph as we drove out of Fortescue on Saturday. I don’t know when I last posted twice in a day but Bushboy’s Challenge of Last Photo on SD Card intrigued me, so here I am again.

I thought at first glance the photo would be a great lead-in for one of my favorite songs, Bob Marley’s ‘Three Little Birds,‘ but on closer inspection saw that one of the pilings in the salt marsh held two ospreys. The osprey population in the bay town of Fortescue seems to be thriving. Anyway, although the birds are four, there’s always time to post and listen to this sweet song…one of Bob Marley’s best.

I’ve always thought the song a good lead in for these words of Jesus…

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” ~Matthew 6:25-27

Pheathers & Phlutters – On the Wing

On By TimelessladyIn Pheathers, Phlutters1 Comment

I was able to photograph a few favorites this past weekend. The butterfly with the beautiful orange wings is an Eastern Comma Butterfly. I don’t see many of these and was pleased to find it posing prettily in my front yard.

Cabbage White butterflies are plentiful, but not easy to photograph with wings outstretched.

I saw the first Monarch Butterfly of the season at Fortescue Beach. I didn’t know I had captured it in flight until I downloaded the files. This photo is part of Skywatch.

I love the seagulls in Fortescue. They haven’t learned the bad habits of raiding picnic hampers and snack bags. In neighboring beach towns the gulls are formidable. Never walk across the boardwalk with uncovered French Fries. You will be dive-bombed and might lose them.

The funnel on top of the piling is there to keep the gulls off. The pilings without funnels are usually occupied by a gull.

I watched this Osprey fly over the bay, descend, and come up with a fish in its talons. They are excellent at fishing.

I enjoyed my weekend full of flyers of all types…except maybe the Greenhead Fly who bit my ankle. That flyer is now lying beneath the sand I kicked over it after I swatted it. Happily, the Greenhead was a solo flyer, and no others visited me while I fished off the beach.

Phlowers & Problem-Solving – Calendula and Whitefly Deterrents

On By TimelessladyIn Phlowers, Problem-Solving2 Comments

I love this shade of yellow and am pleased that many of the Calendula seeds I sowed in the Spring are growing in my garden. Calendula are easy to grow. You can sow them indoors for early bloom, they also do well direct-sown into the ground, and are often part of wildflower seed packets. There are many medicinal uses for Calendula, making them a powerhouse plant when you consider the beauty they add to the garden. I’ve planted Calendula in hanging baskets, in pots, and in the ground. Calendula also bloom in a lovely cantaloupe shade of orange.

Unfortunately, that lovely yellow color and bright green foliage makes the Calendula a prime target of whiteflies and aphids. Aphids are easy to control with a dousing of the hose or handpicking. Whiteflies are not as easy, and need a bit of baiting to be trapped. I used the same beautiful yellow color to lure them to their demise.

I gathered a few items together, a yellow plastic cup, clear packing tape, string, scissors, and a paper clip.

I punched a hole in the bottom of the cup with the scissors, and strung the string into it with the paperclip opened up to keep it in place. I wound the tape around the cup, sticky side out, covering all the sides.

I hung this near the area of whitefly infestation.

Success! The whiteflies, attracted by the yellow, landed on the sticky tape and met their fate. It has rained, and the tape is a little less sticky now, but it’s easy to replace. This is a low-cost fix for pests with the plus of using no harsh chemicals. Brushing the plants near the trap several times a day causes the flies to swarm off the plants and helps the trap capture more of the pests.

This post is part of Cee’s Flower of the Day.

If you don’t want to make your own traps, whitefly sticky traps are also available in hardware stores and garden centers.