Tag: books

Photo Challenges – The Crayola Box of 8 – Green

On By TimelessladyIn photo challenges9 Comments

I’m taking part again in the CFFC (Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge) hosted by Dan at No Facilities. My greens were all photographed this week during a visit to the Delaware Bay town of Fortescue, New Jersey.

Green is the prominent landscape color around the bay towns. The foliage is important in keeping the barrier dunes intact during the Nor’easters and hurricanes that whip up the coastline.

This green boat seemed to fit in perfectly with the Crayola Box of 8 theme.

Milkweed grows in abundance along the salt marshes surrounding the bay. During the summer we see many Monarch Butterflies visiting the area. Milkweed is a host plant for Monarch caterpillars.

Unfortunately, where milkweed grows in massive displays, so does poison ivy. Many who visit shore towns and bays don’t realize that poison ivy grows well in sandy soil, as well as woodlands and hedgerows.

Chartreuse signs with green letters and illustrations were on many lawns, warning of turtle crossings. Luckily, we were aware, and on the way home, swerved quickly to avoid a turtle crossing to the other side of the road.

This image of a turtle is not the best quality, but the turtle was swimming quickly, and the current it was in was moving even quicker. Two types of turtles swam from the bay into the creek as the tide rushed in. We stood on a bridge and watched them swim beneath us, almost as if they were on a conveyor belt. We have never, in all of our lives, seen so many turtles. Four types of turtles can be found in this area: a mix of sea, freshwater, and brackish-water species. All appear green, from light to dark, with many shapes and markings on their shells.

I filled an empty coffee cup with some shells and other beach detritus. The driftwood piece was a find, as it resembles a bird’s head from both sides. I’ll have to save it for a special project or gift it to someone who collects beachy items. I was happy to find a few green pieces of sea glass. We find most of the sea glass we collect on the beaches of bays rather than on our New Jersey ocean beaches. We also have had good luck finding sea glass along the beaches of the Chesapeake Bay.

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.

Program, Pages, and Philm – A Mystery and Romance

On By TimelessladyIn Pages, Philm, Programs5 Comments

Photograph of Agatha Christie courtesy of Wikipedia Commons

I love mysteries, and Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None is very good. I recently watched the story for the first time through an Acorn Subscription on Prime Video. The television broadcast was divided into three parts and was very suspenseful. I didn’t figure it out, and that is a very good thing. There were some actors well-known to me and a few new faces.

Miss Christie’s mystery and older versions of the movie have been around for decades. The book was first published in 1939, and a movie, which is free on YouTube now, was released in 1945. Miss Christie was a talented individual, and I am listening to an audiobook biography of her life, titled Duchess of Death by Richard Hack.

The classic Somewhere In Time, starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour, is a romance movie for the first weekend of February. I can watch it over and over again and never tire of it. Christopher Plummer, a favorite hero of mine in The Sound of Music, plays a very believable villain.

All of these are fairly easy to find through video subscriptions, prime video, youtube, public libraries, and Hoopla, a free service through public libraries.

Pages – A Biography and History

On By TimelessladyIn Pages4 Comments

This past week, I finished reading The Bronte Sisters, The Brief Lives of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne by Catherine Reef. It was an excellent biography of the Bronte sisters who authored several books. Between them, the sisters wrote Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Agnes Grey, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Shirley, Villette, The Professor, and a volume of poetry called Poems.

Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Bronte, is far and away my favorite. I have read and listened to it on Audiobook, and I especially enjoy viewing the many versions of it on movie screens and television. I want to enjoy Wuthering Heights, too, and I do, somewhat, but it is a dark story and I’ve never taken to it like I have Jane Eyre. 


Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard are excellent writers and always find a way to make history enjoyable for me. Confronting the Presidents is not an exception to that fact. I am a quarter of the way through and beginning to read the chapter on President Zachary Taylor. I am strangely mesmerized by the peculiarities and eccentricities of the presidents who helped form our country. Believe me, they all had a few. Did you know one of the early presidents skinny-dipped daily in the Potomac and was often joined by staff and occasionally pedestrians walking by? 

I’ve enjoyed this book because it reminds me of long-ago learned history, which has settled at the bottom of my brain. I have loved being reminded of The Louisiana Purchase and other significant events brought about by the first presidents. 

Since chronological order doesn’t matter, I read the end chapter on President Donald Trump. I felt lukewarm about O’Reilly’s assessment of President Trump’s first presidency. I was offended by Martin Dugard’s opinion on President Trump, but he is entitled to think as he will. 

I recommend both of these non-fiction books.