Tag: Skywatch Friday

Phlowers – Rose of Sharon Topiary

On By TimelessladyIn Phlowers21 Comments

Years ago, a blogging friend sent me seeds from her Rose of Sharon. I nurtured one sprout for years and now it stands in our backyard garden border as a Rose of Sharon topiary.

Growing bushes that normally sprawl in many directions as a topiary saves the garden bed beneath the branches for annuals and perennials. In the vicinity of the Rose of Sharon grow vinca, violets, iris, gladiolus, and two Knockout rose bushes; all have enough room and sunlight to thrive.

The color of the flowers is a lovely lavender accented with a band of red in the inner recesses of the petals. The stamen is interesting, and I have seen bees and hummingbirds dip into the center. One of the pests that can attack these flowers is Japanese beetles, but so far this year, the beetles have not appeared.

I love the way the petals glow when the sunlight illuminates them from above. I used this flower as my blog’s August header. Today’s photographs are part of Skywatch Friday and Floral Friday Fotos.

PS Another wonderful aspect of this plant is its ability to self-seed. On either side of the tree, and a bit further down the border, I have identified seedlings that are a year or two old and growing well. When it is time, I will bring them to topiary size too in the coming years.

Photo Challenge – Simply Red Squares/Zinnias

On By TimelessladyIn photo challenges14 Comments

A parasol of zinnia petals, illuminated by sunbeams, glow like stained glass. A different perspective on what we usually view from above. The beautiful zinnia is part of today’s Simply Red Squares and Skywatch Friday.

Photo Challenge – Simply Red/East Point Lighthouse

On By TimelessladyIn photo challenges5 Comments

The beautiful red roof of the East Point Lighthouse is just one of the charms of this beautiful building. Built in 1849 on the Delaware Bay in Heislerville, New Jersey, the lighthouse is still an active lighthouse.

The pop of red of the lighthouse roof is my choice today for the Life of B blog, Simply Red photo challenge and Skywatch Friday.

Phlowers – Butterfly Weed with Fluff

On By TimelessladyIn Phlowers7 Comments

The beautiful fluff emerging from the pods of the Butterfly Weed has entranced me for days. God fashioned the pod’s tip to open the fluff before it rides the wind. The sharp end helps the poufs round out as they await launch.

This week, I held the fluff above my head and watched as it rode the air currents fifty feet into the air. Quickly out of sight, I wished they would reach the heavens and lightly brush the face of God. Yes, I’ll admit I was momentarily childish in my thinking. Still, His Spirit certainly touched my spirit in return, and I was reminded of that verse that tells us to receive the Kingdom of Heaven like a child.

Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Mark 10:15

The seeds are ready to be airborne and fly into the sky. A perfect photo for Skywatch Friday.

Phlowers & Photo Challenges – Skywatch Friday/Fairy Wishes

On By TimelessladyIn Phlowers, photo challenges15 Comments

Are these fairy wishes as much a part of your childhood remembrances as mine? Some of my earliest memories of being outdoors involved chasing after these wishes.

I captured only a portion of this wish as it floated against the blue sky, but I am entranced by the way the feathery tendrils become a prism and reflect a bit of rainbow color. 

Many of the wishes floating in my yard are now emerging from these Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) pods, a type of milkweed. I also have common milkweed pods opening and letting their seeds fly free on an aerial bit of fluff. 

Pollinators love Butterfly Weed.

Butterflies, such as this Black Swallowtail, also sip the nectar from the blossoms.

I couldn’t resist cropping out a close-up of this beautiful butterfly face.

This post is part of Friday Skywatch. Thank you to the Host of this challenge.

Phlutters – Friday Skywatch/Yellow Swallowtail

On By TimelessladyIn Phlutters16 Comments

A yellow swallowtail visited my Catmint yesterday.

The beautiful butterfly floated above the flowers, giving me time to capture a photo of its yellow wings against the bluest skies and fluffiest clouds.

The butterfly had newly emerged from its chrysalis. Its vibrant colors and details are a dazzling display of our Creator’s love. Unafraid, it allowed me to capture its beauty as it visited the blossoms, sipping the nectar from each small floret. At that moment, I was truly blessed.

This post is part of Skywatch Friday and Whatsoever is Lovely. Thank you to the hosts for the opportunity to take part in the challenges.

Planting – The Joke is on Me!

On By TimelessladyIn Planting17 Comments

We have a beautiful and very large Photinia planted beside our back porch. I am in love with this bush, although it has grown so large that it might be considered a tree.

I sit beside the bush on the opposite side of the porch screen and admire the foliage, gazing also at the gorgeous white blooms adorning it. Unfortunately, relaxing on the porch has been marred for several days by my search for the dead animal filling the air around me with the scent of rotting flesh.

Today, I suddenly remembered reading that Photinia blooms have an unpleasant smell. No! Could it be? I went outside and took a whiff of a lower blooming flower cluster, and oh my…instantly knew I had found what I had thought was a ‘dead’ animal. To say the flowers smell bad is an understatement. Thankfully, we are not having company in the next few weeks, and the flowers will drop off…but not soon enough.

Seeing them on the tree is glorious; however, the joke is on me. This Spring, we needed to fill in a spot close to the original, and since we like our Photinia so much, we purchased another one. Next year, the smell will be doubled. Still, the tree is beautiful, and I even use the evergreen branches for floral arrangements. Live and learn…and next time, do better research about the characteristics of the trees before I buy. Seriously, folks, the terrible smell fills the whole yard. I giggle a bit when I imagine the neighbors searching their yards for the dead animal.

The Photinia growing in the garden is my post for Cee’s FOTD – Garden Scene.

The brilliant blooms against the sky are part of Skywatch.

Photograph – Six on Saturday/Snow Day

On By TimelessladyIn PhotographsLeave a comment

My area of Southern New Jersey went over 700 days without accumulating snowfall. Yesterday, we had a beautiful snowstorm throughout the day. What a lovely sense of peace the quiet flakes instill into the atmosphere. Early in the morning, I couldn’t resist grabbing my camera and taking photos as I fed the birds.

Here are my choices for Six on Saturday.

  • A Junco, one of a large flock that visits my yard, seemed to wait patiently for me to scatter birdseed.
  • The Rose of Sharon pods were the perfect resting place for snowflakes. Looking closely, you can see a few of the sharp points of individual flakes.
  • The gourd birdhouse, crafted several years ago, looked lovely with a coating of snow.
  • The Japonica, colorful with new growth, wore a blanket of snowflakes.
  • English Ivy, indestructible, seemed impervious to the cold.
  • A stem of a zinnia, left in place as cover for birds, held a mound of crystal snowflakes…beautiful.

The flying pig who holds court over the sideyard couldn’t escape the snowfall. A natural monochromatic setting with the grey sky behind him and the bird bath pedestal beneath him seems a good choice for Skywatch Friday.

I love this quote from my Farmer’s Almanac Daily Calendar:

When oak trees bend with snow in January, good crops may be expected.

Farmer’s Almanac

Place – Small Business Saturday

On By TimelessladyIn Place9 Comments

Today is Small Business Saturday. Many of us have a town within driving or walking distance of our homes. It’s a perfect opportunity to stroll the sidewalks, visit small businesses, window shop, and have a cup of coffee and pastries in a cute cafe.

The small town near my home is in Pitman, New Jersey. When you visit ‘uptown’ you will find barbershop poles, a sign in the town center that says, ‘Keep Christ in Christmas,’ and hair salons, specialty shops, antiques, and cafes of all sorts. There is also a pizzeria with amazing pizza cooked in a wood-fired brick oven, one of my favorites in the area.

The shops are prepared for Christmas, with seasonal items on display. If you look closely you will see a sign in the window that says, ‘Fly Eagles Fly.’ We live near Philadelphia and everyone, well at least almost everyone, roots for the Philadelphia Eagles as our home team.

As we walked, a choir of Grackles sang to us from the trees in the town square.

The bird choir is part of Skywatch Friday.

I left behind a ‘Jersey Shore Shell‘ and hope it will bring a smile to someone’s face.

Photo Challenge – One to Three Photo

On By TimelessladyIn photo challenges6 Comments

XingfuMama offers a Photo Challenge for September: “The challenge is simple: take one photo and get creative with it by processing it three different ways.”

I am using Lunapic.com. This is one of my favorite photo editing sites. When you want to save your photo after tweaking/filtering in LunaPic, go to file, click and a save box will drop down. Choose the format you want to save your photo in. The photograph is automatically saved in your download file. The file ending up in the download file tripped me up for awhile, but I finally figured it all out. It is so much fun to tweak your photos in LunaPic. You can also add text. You can save file, then you can go on tweaking without uploading the original again if that is how you are inclined to work. Have fun. Thanks to XingfuMama for the challenge.


The first filter I used was the ‘Homer’ Art Filter – One of the Famous Artists Filters.

The second filter I used was in the filter column and was called Thermal Iridescence. It is rather bright, but I love the way the filter accentuates the negative space in the photo, especially in the foliage of the tree. This is a good filter to use to help compose a painting or other artwork using the lighthouse photo as a reference.

The third filter is the Warhol Effect. I think all three tweaks of the photograph turned out well. Give Lunapic a try when you have some time to play around with photo editing.

The beautiful skies depicted in these photographs are part of Skywatch.

Paths – A Woodland Walk

On By TimelessladyIn Paths4 Comments

A few years ago, I took a weekly photo of a path through the woods to show how the seasons change the appearance of the area I live in. This year, same woods, different path, an old habit with new direction.

The summer canopy of green leaves has shattered, falling away from the sky to the floor of the woods, carpeting it in many shades of amber. The grey of exposed tree trunks and limbs is dotted with the green of ground pine, holly, and laurel. Another soul who walks this way, created a bit of enchantment and direction when they lined the way with fallen branches.

New photos of THE PATH will be added to the sidebar weekly, with a link to THE PATH page containing all the weekly photos posted in one place.

Here’s a look back at THE PATH, different area of the woods, that I took in 2017, and a surprise to me, this is the third time I am attempting a weekly photo, I found this earlier video of the same concept from 2014. THE PATH 2014.

This post is part of Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenge: Amber

Photograph – December Moon

On By TimelessladyIn photograph14 Comments

I was going to title this post ‘Silent Saturday’ but then realized I couldn’t stay quiet about this beautiful moon. The photo was taken with my Canon camera, zoomed in, and with a flash. I have no idea, other than I was blessed by the Lord, how I managed to capture this image. I took several photos, all were fuzzy and indistinct, and then this one turned out perfectly. Reminds me a bit of life, so many aspects can be blurry, and then suddenly, crystal clarity when it matters.

Initially, I wasn’t interested in a moon photo, but went outdoors to find Jupiter alongside the moon. The planet didn’t disappoint and was glowing large in the sky. I have an app on my phone called Stellarium, and it shows me the position of stars in my area. The view is fascinating. More info here: Stellarium.

Moon watching has its roots in my youth. On a summer night, July 20, 1969, I watched with millions of others as Neil Armstong took that first step on the moon. I have never lost my love for gazing at the moon. I wonder if neighbors think I am crazy, for often, I am outdoors in the moments before dawn in pajamas and robe, taking photographs of the moon as it sits low on the horizon. Since they can’t read my mind, perhaps they are looking at me out their windows a bit askance. 

Photographs, Perspective & Place – Cedar Lake or Missing the Window

On By TimelessladyIn Perspective, Photographs, Place6 Comments

We revisited Cedar Lake over the weekend. I posted about this place in February 2022, and meant to showcase it again on the blog in its Springtime glory and spectacular Summer abundance, but somehow, missed my window of time and once again am writing a piece when all the growth has fallen away. Whatever the season, it is a perfect place to revisit and blog on Jo’s Monday Walk and Skywatch.

If I had visited when undergrowth was growing wild and lush, I would have missed this sight. “Look, through these trees,” my husband said, pointing the way. I didn’t see much at first, but then saw the gleam of sun on a living creature.

I zoomed in with my camera, and since the doe was resting, and unafraid, I was able to take a good photograph through the twiggy protection around her. She must live in the park, accustomed no doubt to many people walking by her on the criss-crossing paths. Can you see her eye?

Further along the path we saw some robins, hanging around long after the first frosts. They never leave our area to fly south; they Winter over here, finding berries and other fruits. I need to remember to place a bit of fruit on the platform birdfeeder and maybe draw them in.

A few mallards swam within a small pond hidden in the woods. There are creeks, small ponds, and larger bodies of water every hundred feet or so in the park surrounding the lake. A perfect spot for a ‘Water, Water, Everywhere‘ post.

Cedar Lake and Washington Lake Park, Sewell, NJ, is the setting for this post.

Product and Pheathers – Birdfeeder

On By TimelessladyIn Pheathers, Product7 Comments

I love birdwatching of all types, seabirds, raptors, backyard birds, all fascinate me. We live in an area where I can seek out all three. Years ago, I had a secondhand platform feeder I enjoyed filling and watching. This year, my husband bought me a new one for my birthday. I love this view of the inner roof with the Sapphire blue sky above it. Somehow, it reminds me of the ceiling in my grandmother’s church, the memory is decades old, but still so sweet. I hope the birds feel a sense of ‘sanctuary’ here too.

It took a day or two, but the birds have found the feeder. Typical of brash birdy personalities, the first to hover and land were the blue jays. Yesterday, I saw a couple small birds, a redpoll finch, and a junco. The same afternoon, a curious squirrel dug beneath the feeder, but thankfully didn’t climb up.

We are so pleased with this beautiful hand-crafted birdfeeder. You can read the link on the tag if you want to visit the builder: great product, prompt delivery, wrapped/shipped safely.

This post is part of Skywatch.

Photo Challenges – FOTD Salvias/Six on Saturday

On By TimelessladyIn photo challenges4 Comments

Salvias, sometimes referred to as sage, are the champions of my Autumnal garden beds.

In truth, all SAGES are SALVIAS. Over time, though, the term sage has been closely aligned with cooking or medicinal use and the term salvia has been given to the more ornamental members of this genus. Nevertheless, Salvia is the Latin name, or Genus, given to all these plants. ~Mountain Valley Growers

The colors of my salvias have stayed vibrant through several frosty mornings.

Pineapple Sage, Salvia elegans, is my Flower of the Day, part of Cee’s Flower of the Day Challenge

The flowers of Mexican Sage are fuzzy and remind me of purple bumblebees and velvet.

The salvias are so blossom-loaded; I felt the hummingbirds stayed too long this year, sipping their nectar through early October. I hope they have made their journey now to warmer climates.

I held a piece of this salvia up against the bluest of Autumn skies; the camera captured the velvet texture of the blossoms and the detail of the leaves. What I didn’t see when I took the photo was the small flying insect resting beneath one of the buds. This photo is part of Friday Skywatch.

Six on Saturday Collage

Phlowers – Yellow Nature

On By TimelessladyIn Phlowers6 Comments

Nature always wears the colors of the spirit.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Forsythia on an overcast day.

The forsythia seemed to be the only sunshine as I watched the sky on this day of April showers.

Creeping Jenny

I find a sense of security in the burst of color from garden perennials. I rely on the plants that green up and blossom with the warmth of the springtime sun. They give me hope that winter is truly behind us.

Double Daffodil

I planted dozens of daffodils in the Autumn. Even against an angry sky they glow.

Hyacinth

This pale yellow hyacinth might not have strong color, but it still has the same glorious scent as the varieties that sport brighter hues. This hyacinth is my choice for Flower of the Day.

Johnny-Jump-Up Violas

Rounding out my collection of yellow flowers are these sweet Johnny-Jump-Ups.

Plants – Autumn Superstar – Tithonia/Mexican Sunflower

On By TimelessladyIn Plants6 Comments

In my back garden you’ll find a towering plant near eight feet in height. I didn’t know Tithonia (Tithonia diversifolia), often called Mexican Sunflower, could grow so tall. The petals open up for me in late summer and are surprisingly velvety to touch. The seeds were part of a Wildflower Mix by Botanical Interests. The plant grows in a plot of ground once prepared as a square foot garden. The amended soil, vermiculite, mushroom soil, etc., must still have some ‘POW’ remaining; the plants within the confines grew much larger than average.

The size the plant reached in one season amazes me. Unfortunately, Tithonia is an annual and won’t survive my southern NJ winter. I saved mature/ripened seeds and will replant in Spring. The ground hasn’t frozen yet and is still soft and workable; this week, in addition to the seeds I saved, I will also scatter a few Tithonia seeds throughout my garden beds in hopes they will grow when warm weather returns. Seeds overwintered in the earth always grow best.

The flowers blossom at the end of a long stem, perfect additions to floral arrangements. The stems remain sturdy in a vase, the flowers, if picked at peak bloom, stay fresh and lovely for over a week. The stems can be cut short or tall for height.

Requirements for growing Tithonia:

*7-10 days for germination

*Sun for most of the day

*Needs at least three feet of spread room

Will I grow Tithonia again. Oh yes…I am saving many of the seeds and intend to leave the remainder for the birds to nibble through the winter. I will leave the plant in place instead of cutting away. The branches and any leaves that stay on the plant will provide shelter for the birds and also give them a chance to land and check for predators in the area around the bird feeders.

This post is part of Cee’s Flower of the Day and Friday Skywatch challenge.

Pheathers – Osprey

On By TimelessladyIn PheathersLeave a comment

Osprey Nest in Fortescue, New Jersey.

I was delighted when I bicycled past this beautiful home built alongside the Delaware Bay. I wonder if the ospreys and their chicks are noisy. I saw at least one chick, and most likely there is another inside the protective barrier of sticks. We also saw a Bald Eagle flying over the bay on the day I took the photograph.

Althought I’m a bit late, this post is part of the Skywatch Friday Challenge.