A Memorial Day Prayer

Be sure and say "Thank You" to a Veteran ..

A Memorial Day Prayer

Eternal God,

Creator of years, of centuries,

Lord of whatever is beyond time,

Maker of all species and master of all history --

How shall we speak to you

from our smallness and inconsequence?

Except that you have called us to worship you

in spirit and in truth;

You have dignified us with loves and loyalties;

You have lifted us up with your lovingkindnesses.

Therefore we are bold to come before you without groveling

[though we sometimes feel that low]

and without fear

[though we are often anxious].

We sing with spirit and pray with courage

because you have dignified us;

You have redeemed us from the aimlessness

of things' going meaninglessly well.

God, lift the hearts of those

for whom this holiday is not just diversion,

but painful memory and continued deprivation.

Bless those whose dear ones have died

needlessly, wastefully [as it seems]

in accident or misadventure.

We remember with compassion those who have died

serving their countries

in the futility of combat.

There is none of us but must come to bereavement and separation,

when all the answers we are offered

fail the question death asks of each of us.

We believe that you will provide for us

as others have been provided with the fulfillment of

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."

By Rev. Dick Kozelka (ret)
http://www.usmemorialday.org/prayer.html

It's Coming Fast!

As the end of the school year approaches, life has been wild with school, concerts, projects, reports, exams, scouts. I haven't had much time to get back here lately.
Home with son who is sick today. I am so not a homeschooler...but I'm trying. Taking a break while he does some reading.....then on to his math!! Dang, I hope I can remember how to do Algebra...so far, so good, but the methods sure have changed since I learned it. Let's see that was 35+ years ago..........

Forever Quilt

Usually, I only get one quilt made per year...after all, it's lot like I have the space to leave it all spread out...Two years ago, I managed to get 2 quilts that were gifts finished and delivered on time. That so inspired me, that I started a third.  You ask, was I dillusional? Well, yes, I guess I was. This quilt while it is special, has no particular deadline because it is not a gift. It is just for us. Recently, I picked it back up and now of course, it needs badly to be ironed before I start in on it again...... but I will!
Want to see?

Cinnamon Baked French Toast from the Pioneer Woman

The Pioneer Woman is an awesome site where you will find the most interesting and very entertaining articles about cooking, photography, homeschooling, home & garden and more... and where I found this easy to make recipe, very well explained and perfectly detailed with a lot of pictures and enjoyable comments by Ree Drummond, the author and site owner
http://thepioneerwoman.com/

Look under the cooking tab for the recipe for this delicious cinnamon baked french toast

Getting Twisted with Pearls?

Lately, I have been playing with wire. I am enjoying the zen of working with twisting and weaving it.
These earrings called Biwa Hearts are a recent creation now in my shop.
You can find them at http://www.etsy.com/listing/45684537/biwa-hearts-silver-earrings
They'd make a lovely Mother's Day gift........

A Very Cool Give Away from Paper Platypus

There really are some amazing artists out there.
Check out this cool give away at
http://www.everythingetsy.com/2010/05/i-made-it-blog-party-paper-platypus-giveaway/
and another at
http://diecutflowers.com/blog/2010/04/22/take-two/

Karen makes gorgeous paper flowers
check out her website at http://www.diecutflowers.com/
and her etsy shop
at http://www.etsy.com/shop/paperplatypus
a sample from her shop

Web 2.0 ........Catching Up!

Amazing when you think about it, just how tied into social networking we have become and yet it is not all that old...The world wide web was launched in 1990, My Space in 2003, Facebook in 2004 (by a college student) and Twitter in 2006. Not a wonder that school kids make leaps and bounds in it while some of us are trying to catch up.

Not all that long ago, I had no idea what a blog even was, now I have one. I resisted Facebook and Twitter for a while because I was already on Linked In and was already swamped with personal email. Then I started to really think about it and it occured to me that these social websites might actually help me manage all that a little better by pooling some of that input into one or two manageable places. It struck me as funny that it almost seems like email in sound bites because you can easily scan what's there and decide what is of interest. It also allows sharing information and ideas with several people at the same time. Not that you can't do that with email, somehow it seems more personal when you can see the people you are interacting with (or at least their avatar) like you can on Facebook. You can also look at their profile there or in their blogs and see what you may have in common.  I've made some pretty cool new friends that way
and learned a lot as well.

You don't have to be a web designer to do it either...good thing.

Grow your own- Avoid Illness

Grow your own- Avoid illness

Did you know that a recent study on food borne illnesses from Georgetown University highlights the importance of growing your own fruits and vegetables. While most of us are growing our own food to save money, have fresh, nutritious produce, and reduce our carbon footprint, avoiding harmful germs is yet another reason.


In their study, Health-Related Costs from Food Borne Illness in the United States, researchers calculated that acute food borne illnesses cost the United States an estimated $152 billion in healthcare, workplace, and other economic losses a year. Of those losses, more than a quarter of these costs, an estimated $39 billion, are attributable to food borne illnesses associated with fresh, canned, and processed produce. California, Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois, and Pennsylvania were the states most affected by food borne illness.
So if you want to lessen you chances of encountering E. coli, salmonella, and other nasty germs, grow your own fruits and veggies. At least you'll know what fertilizers and sprays were used to grow them. Of course, always wash store bought, farm bought, and your own produce thoroughly before eating.

Here is a really neat piece on home gardens. Innovative idea at http://www.sunset.com/garden/fruits-veggies/veggies-up-front-00400000014661/

Innovative Copper Jewelry - Trends and Popularity

 http://www.etsy.com/listing/44197896/wire-wrapped-butterfly-cuff-bracelet

I love to work with copper. Maybe it's the earthiness..... It's also a thrill to add natural gemstones to my copper wire wrapping.

Innovative Copper Jewelry - Trends and Popularity

Author: Dale Arnold

Copper jewelry has been around for a long time! Copper was discovered by ancient Egyptians sometime between 2500 and 4000 BC. Soon after its discovery, copper became a valuable commodity, and one’s status in society was often related to the amount of copper you owned and wore. As time passed, the uses of copper grew tremendously, and the demand for copper skyrocketed. However, discoveries of large deposits of copper ore coupled with the improvement in extraction technology and efficiency significantly increased the amount of copper in the market. So ironically, as the number of uses of copper grew, the price of copper actually started to drop rapidly, and today a pound of copper costs less than US$2! Today, it is mined extensively in North and South America, and Australia. Within the US, the largest mines are located in Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico. However, the world's largest mine is located in the Atacama Desert of Chile.

Over the centuries, man has learned to harness the medicinal benefits of copper. While there are several legitimate applications of copper in the medical field, the most widely-held belief that copper helps relieve pain, is actually a myth! There have been claims of pain relief and arthritis control using bracelets and other copper items. Most of these claims are anecdotal, and have not withstood the scrutiny of scientific and medical experts. In fact, the current scientific and medical opinion is that the improvement seen in patients using copper as part of their pain and arthritis pain treatment is most likely due to the "placebo effect". Various preparations containing copper are used as fungicides, antimicrobial medicines, and hygienic medical devices, and these are legitimate medicinal benefits of copper.

Relative to precious metals like gold and platinum, copper today is relatively inexpensive. The warm, rustic rose color of natural copper makes it an attractive metal for use in the field of fashion jewelry. In addition, artisans find it easy to work with copper, given that it can be made into foil, plates, and wire quite easily. The copper color is more or less neutral, making it a perfect match with semi-precious gemstones such as onyx, ruby, quartz, and peridot. Copper bracelets have been around for a long time, the questionable medical benefits notwithstanding! As fashion jewelry, copper bracelets can be obtained in both bangle and cuff styles with embossed or painted designs of varying complexity and detail. In these tough economic times, innovative use of copper makes good fashion and fiscal sense!

Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_744808_34.html

Oath of a Knight

Chivalry isn't dead, but it is up to us to teach it.

In working with the boys in our Scout troop, it dawned on me how we are working toward raising young gentlemen...young knights, if you will. Then I came across the Oath of a Knight and was struck at some of the similarities in it to the Boy Scout Oath.


Oath of the Knight
Be loyal of hand and of mouth, seeking to serve every man as best ye may.

Seek ye the fellowship of good men, hearken unto their words and remember them.
Be humble and courteous wherever thou goest, not talking much, neither being dumb altogether.
Allow no women or child to suffer by thy default, so that if ye may lift thy hand to assist one, do so. If thou must draw thy sword to defend them, do so unto thy own death.
If thou come into fellowship with boys or men who speak in a disrespectful manner of any women or maiden, let them know in gracious words that this displeases thou and thy Lord, then depart their company forthwith.
Thou art to defend and protect those who seek to worship in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and promote faith in Him throughout this earth He has made.

Scout Oath


On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight.

Scout Law

A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly,
courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty,
brave, clean, and reverent