Back in the USSR...

Obama asserts gov't control over the auto industry

And because I love the Beatles so much(and free markets):


They don't make music like this anymore.

Cultural Sensitivity: The Importance of Homework When Traveling Abroad and Representing Our Country

During a recent visit to Mexico City, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton took "some time out from the war against the Mexican drug wars, the visiting secretary of state made a point in Mexico City of visiting the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe to deliver a bouquet of white flowers on behalf of the American people.

"Catholics believe that almost 500 years ago the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was miraculously imprinted on the cloak of St. Juan Diego, who became the Catholic church's first saint indigenous to the Americas in 2002,'' Malcolm notes in Top of the Ticket. "The basilica's rector, Msgr. Diego Monroy, had had the image lowered from its altar for a closer look by the visiting dignitary,'' who is a Methodist.

"Who painted it?" Clinton asked. [GASP!!!, homework, homework, Sec. of State!]

"God," the rector replied.

Clinton lighted a candle during her 30-minute visit and, on her way out told a crowd of Mexicans, "You have a marvelous virgin."

The Lady of Guadalupe by Tomie De Paola. It's an easy to read picture book. This is an important part of Mexican culture(and Mexican American culture). What an honor to have it shown to her, and she completely missed it's significance. She had no idea what was standing in front of her! You don't have to be Catholic to understand this.

"The Virgin of Guadalupe has symbolized the Mexican nation since Mexico's War of Independence. Rebel armies waged war underneath Guadalupan flags, and Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe is generally recognized as a symbol of all Mexicans." ~Wikipedia

Free Vintage Children's Text: How to Amuse Yourself and Others, The American Girl Handy Book

Free and in public domain:

How to amuse yourself and others: the American girl's handy book

By Lina Beard, Adelia Belle Beard

Published by C. Scribner's sons, 1895

474 pages

Chapters for spring:

Wild Flowers and Their Preservation

The Walking Club, includes Easter

Main page.


Printing and Saving Tips: Make sure that the page is set to HTML(bottom right sidebar at page). It should be defaulted to this setting in the first links above, so try saving first before messing with the setting. Click on image of book page to save and print. Book is fully downloadable. I use a free download helper with my slow internet.

Fight FOCA

This takes only a minute - the form is done for you.

"As introduced in the 110th Congress, the “Freedom of Choice Act”(FOCA) (S. 1173, H.R. 1964) declares that it is the policy of the United States that every woman has the “fundamental right” to terminate a pregnancy. The act prohibits government at every level (federal, state, and local) from “interfering” with a woman’s right to choose, and from “discriminating” against the exercise of this right."

This means that the states will no longer have the right to vote on this, regardless of how the citizenry feels about it. This is a right to kill enforced by the federal government.

Take action here.

Protect Freedom of Conscience in Medicine

HT to Soutenus

"A campaign is underway to force Catholic hospitals and other health care institutions to perform or promote abortion. In response, the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act (ANDA) clarifies and strengthens conscience protection language found in current federal law (42 U.S.C. 238n). It expands the definition of the term “health care entity” and extends protection to entities refusing to provide coverage of, or pay for, abortion.

The current law (42 U.S.C. 238n) originally was enacted in 1996 in response to attempts by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) to require every obstetrics and gynecology residency program to insure abortion training for their residents. See: Medical Training Non-Discrimination; Conscience Protection."

Express your support for conscience protection.

Click here to
e-mail HHS now!
Submission deadline for comments: April 9

This is easy - the letter is already done for you. It takes less than a minute.

Darkness

" Never fail to bring the sublimest motive to the smallest duty, and the most infinite comfort to the smallest trouble."

P. Brooks.

From Through the Darkness, 19th century Christian reflections on suffering. Free and in public domain. When you begin reading the pages, see the sidebar to change page settings. It can be viewed in text, HTML, and in scrolling page text. Pages can only be saved to your computer in text and HTML. Book is downloadable as well, just click on download button.

A COMPANION TO "SUNSHINE AND
STARLIGHT " MARY H. SEYMOUR

" If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me ; even the
night shall be light about me."

—Psalms 139. xi

Hope

"Hope uncovers new possibilities and shows us what can be done. It wrestles with angels, looks impossibilities in the eye and winks. Hope springs eternal. Hope supersedes all good intentions.

Positive thinking, on the other hand, can get you only so far. When that train of thought won't get you further, jump track and keep going by the power of God's grace. After all, you know Immanuel, God who is with us.

Dare to believe that he has planned greater things right around the corner for the ones you love. Hold your loved ones before the throne and count on God's answer in their lives. Don't let your ability or inability to think your way around circumstances hold you back. Pray and rest. Then pray some more.

---Barbara Johnson"

Ht to Debbie. Thanks for sharing this!

Kitchen Tip: Making Use of Leftover Can Water

I use the leftover water from my canned seasoned Glory vegetables to cook meat, veggies, or rice. The flavoring, vitamins, and minerals are all there in the water. An easy and frugal way to season.

See more tips at Kitchen Tip Tuesday.

Cooking Timesaver: Make Ahead Herb Seasoning Salt

Click on the title.

Freebie Sample This Week

Dunkin' Donuts Coffee

All-Bran Fiber Drink Mix

Eucerin Calming Creme

Attune Nutrition Bars

Cottenelle from Wal-Mart

Kotex

Aveda Shampoo

Sun Crystals

Caress Body Wash

Dove Shampoo

Aveda

L'Oreal EverPure

Pure & Clear Anti-Blemish


HT to Free Sample Forager. For freebies outside the USA, check out the site.

Beauty Berry, a Natural Insect and Tick Repellent

Denese had an interesting blog post with free resources for folk remedies, and one of them caught my eye, Old-Time Mosquito Remedy May Work Against Ticks, Too. Using crushed beauty berry leaves has long been used by Mississippi natives to repel both mosquitoes and ticks.

I buy plants from my local native plants society twice a year, and three years ago I planted a Beauty Berry bush. I will definitely be trying this; we have a lot of ticks and mosquito here in coastal Virginia.

I recently bought some organic citronella oil from Mountain Rose Herbs, so I'll be using this as well. They have dog and cat pet collars using natural herbs as a flea repellent which I'd like to try. Even though we use a monthly treatment on the pets, they still seem to get ticks and fleas. My cat likes to roll in one particular place on our patio, so last year I spread diamateous earth in that area. It's a natural bug killer. It works by dehydrating the exoskeletons of the bugs. It may have helped, but it couldn't have hurt. I'm willing to try something natural this year.

I'll post my results during the summer.

Cleaning House, Cleaning Hearts

Dear Lord Jesus:

As I go about my housework
Let me see each job I do,
As a service for my King
And a way of loving You.




Let me wash away my judgments
Of others right or wrong,
As I wash up the dishes
Place within my heart a song.

As I clean up little fingerprints
And lots of muddy shoes,
May I remember how you cleaned the feet
Of the loved ones you did choose.

As I mend up torn garments
And sew a button on,
Show me where I need to mend a breech
That's gone on far too long.

Let me tidy up my thoughts
As I tidy up the toys,
Let me sweep away my fears
Like the dirt from little boys.

May I be just as quick with my forgiveness
As I am with mop and broom,
Sweeping up the clutter
In my heart and living room.

May I rinse out pride and ego
As I rinse the bathtub out,
And while we are at it Lord
Let's take care of anger, hate and doubt.

Please remind me often Lord
That the way I'm called to serve,
Is an honor given me
And not below what I deserve.

You know Lord, as I look
At all the work we need to do,
I think we'd better house clean
At least each day or two.

--By Melanie Hubbard --

HT to Elizabeth.

Lent Themed Family Movie Night

This past week we've seen Expelled and The Maldonado Miracle via Netflix .


Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed with Ben Stein was great! Although I didn't know about restraints in the scientific community regarding Intelligent Design, I was not surprised. This kind of restriction on scientific inquiry has gone on for eons. *Galileo come to mind. He was told to shush about his theories. Of course, in this instance, in modern times, the shoe is on the other foot. It's the scientific community who is on the defensive.

*During the years immediately following, taking advantage of the celebrated leaning tower, he laid the foundation experimentally of the theory of falling bodies and demonstrated the falsity of the peripatetic maxim, hitherto accepted without question, that their rate of descent is proportional to their weight. This at once raised a storm on the part of the Aristoteleans, who would not accept even facts in contradiction of their master's dicta. More here: Catholic Encyclopedia

Change comes slowly; it is human nature to doubt and fear.

The Maldonado Miracle was good, but the priest in the movie seemed a bit like a Hollywood version. Either that or he had totally lost it, and become clueless about his vocation. I kept thinking of Easy Rider every time I saw Peter Fonda as the priest. The ending is a surprise, and I love the way the miracle works in the lives of the town's people, and the priest(although he still seems clueless). If you are looking to be uplifted, this is a worth while story of faith. It's also got Rueben Blades, one of my favorite actors. This is a fairly clean movie with no violence, bad language, or sex scenes. The only mature scene is one of the characters drinking herself into a stupor. It has comedic overtones.

Here's the synopsis from Netflix:

"The Mexican town of San Ramos has a dwindling population -- and dwindling hope. The situation's so bad that even the local priest, Father Russell (Peter Fonda), is looking to escape. But just when things are bleakest, the church's Jesus statue begins to drip blood, and the town experiences a rebirth of sorts as crowds of believers flock to see the "Maldonado Miracle." Salma Hayek makes her directorial debut with this made-for-cable family film. "




Tomorrow night, Pillars of Faith: Martyrs to Christianity

Synopsis:

"This installment of the Pillars of Faith series chronicles the earliest days of Christianity, a tumultuous time that spanned several hundred years in which fervent believers of Jesus Christ's teachings were persecuted -- and often died for their faith. Segments focus on the tragic stories of Joan of Arc and Thomas Moore; John Foxe's Book of Martyrs; the persecution of Catholic missionaries in the New World; and Christ's own role as a martyr."

Lenten Fish Meal Panama Style

This is a typical and tasty fish meal from Panama:

Red Snapper With Coconut Sauce

2 red snapper fillets
2 garlic cloves
pinch of oregano
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1 cup flour
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Coconut Sauce:

1 red onion, sliced
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and sliced
1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded and sliced
3 plum tomatoes
2 ounces leeks, sliced
1 tsp chopped fresh ginger
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup water
1 cup cilantro, chopped
1 cup coconut milk

See link for instructions. Any white fish can be substituted.

Serve with fried plaintains.

Keeping House and Keeping in Touch

Balancing social networks and house keeping is a juggling act. Here are a few things which work for me, so that I have more time to get it all done:

- Zone cleaning, round robin style
- Donating items on a regular basis
- Toss paper clutter right away
- Have a place for everything

Zone cleaning round robin style is easy. Just clean one room or zone a day. By the end of the week, the entire house has been cleaned, and then you start this over the next week. Some areas need cleaning everyday. Our eat-in kitchen is cleaned several times a day. The floors in this area extend to the den which need sweeping at least three times a day. The dog helps with food dropping from the table. :) We don't have to worry about messy muffins with the three year old. I also delegate some of the work to others. My son cleans his own bathroom and unloads the dishwasher. He is also in charge of doggy scooping outside. My husband is very hands-on with the children and housekeeping, and he is home a lot during the day. He vacuums one level of our two story home, every other day. This is a huge help. If you have children and/or a helpful husband, delegate. After all, "many hands make light work", and a family is a team.

If you take 10-20 minutes day cleaning a zone or room, you can get a handle on the housekeeping.

Another way to keep things under control is by spending some time each week, or every other week weeding out junk. I go through the children's books, toys, and clothes in order to discard the outgrown and worn out. I do the same with my stuff. It is usually a very small pile, but I take it into the thrift store for donation anyway. To make things easier, I immediately put the stuff into a box in the trunk of my car. This gets it out of the way, and I don't forget it when I go to the thrift store.

Tossing junk mail and envelopes immediately upon their receipt helps control paper clutter. I tend to open the mail over the recycling bin.

Lastly, have a place for everything. I'm not a super organized box labeler, but I do have a general area for things. It's a lot easier when you have less. Paring down your stuff makes life much more manageable.

So now I have more time to write this blog post! LOL, and keep up with my friends online. I also do income generating work online, research money saving tips for my family, find free homeschool materials, helps others by sharing what I know, and grow in Christ by fellowshipping with others who are farther along in their spiritual growth. Making time to go online is important for me.

Thanks to Esther for the post inspiration.

Payless 20% off Code

I received this in the mail today and thought I'd share:

Payless Shoes online coupon code for 20% off expires 4/12/09: 26640

One thing that is nice about ordering online at Payless is that you can have the shoes delivered free to the store for pick-up.

More Spring Photos from My Garden

Have a great day!

Recipe: Bayou Chicken

This is an easy and meal with lots of taste. I like to make quick skillet meals, and this is one of them:




Ingredients:

-Three large boneless skinless chicken breasts
-*One can of Glory Seasoned Mixed Greens
-Two cans of tomato sauce
-Spaghetti
-Seasonings: garlic salt, pepper, Italian herb mix, other

Place a few boneless chicken breasts in a pan with a little oil, season it with a little garlic salt, and anything else you like. I use a blended seasoning for chicken.

After the chicken breasts are browned and almost cooked through, pour a can of Glory Mixed Greens over it, and two cans of tomato sauce. Season with Italian herb seasoning mix. Simmer to infuse the flavor of the sauce into the chicken, add water or chicken stock if it gets too dry. I don't keep track, but I'm guessing about 30 minutes on medium low.

Before simmering, I split open a chicken breasts to make sure it's thoroughly cooked, and then I cut the breasts into little pieces in the pan.

Serve over spaghetti noodles. Delicious! Especially if you like a little spice in your food. This serves four with leftovers if you have little people.

* Glory Foods® Mixed Greens are a perfect blend of cut leaf Turnip, Mustard & Kale Greens slow-simmered with ham flavoring, onions, garlic and spices. Preparing the right mix of greens is now easier, with Glory Foods® Mixed Greens

Coupon: One dollar off four cans of Glory products.

Veggietales Easter Songs

My daughter and husband love the Hope song from the VeggieTales - An Easter Carol DVD for children. I found the song in the album edition, not the original movie edition by Rebecca St. James, at Amazon for a .99(MP3). I was hoping to find the original movie version because it's so beautiful, but the album edition is pretty good as well.

Listen here to the sample, Hope's Song - Album Version
.

Here are the lyrics...easy to sing along :

There’s a story that started on Christmas
When a baby was born in the night
And those who came far, who followed the star
Were seeing a heavenly sight ...
a heavenly sight.

Well the years hurried by, and the boy, now a man
Could make the blind see with a touch of his hand
He was born to be King -- he was Rabbi and Priest
But the best that he had, he gave to the least ...
He gave to the least.

He was born and he died, almost 2,000 years ago
He laughed and he cried, he felt all the fears we know
But what does it matter? A story so strange ...
Even if it is true, what does it change?
What does it change?

Well he spoke like a prophet -- like no one they’d heard
This simple young carpenter -- crowds hung on every word
He hated injustice -- He taught what is right
He said “I’m the way, and the truth, and the light.”

His friends soon believed that truly he was the one.
The Savior, Messiah, God’s one and only son.
But others, they doubted, they did not agree
So they took him, they tried him,
He died on a tree ...
He died on a tree.

God has made a way
for all who mourn and grieve
Death will never be the end
if you just believe.

There is nothing left to fear
nothing Heaven knows
For he died for us to give us life
and to give us hope He rose
He died for us to give us life
And to give us hope He rose.

Learning About Herbs and Free Resources

Free Resources For Learning About Herbs

And check out Mountain Rose Herbs. I just got their catalog today, and they offer organic seeds as well as herbs, oils, and other organic culinary and cosmetic items.

My three year old daughter seems to have inherited her mother's interest in nature. My son is thoroughly bored by it, but I was thrilled when my daughter helped me plant all our seeds last week. Since she seems interested, I'll be ordering Mountain Rose's children's seed growing kit, $14.95. It includes an instructional booklet and "13 packets of seeds from Sena's garden (organically grown of course). Basil, Borage, Calendula, California Poppy, Catnip, Chamomile, Clary Sage, Fennel, Feverfew, Flax, Johnny Jump-Up, Lemon Balm and Love-in-a-Mist."

I can't wait to begin her little garden! Now I'll have to get her a little pink gardening set.

Sources of Free Seeds for U.S. and U.K

Free Seeds for your community projects, Operation Green Plant.

Get "free" Seeds at the Grocery Store A good source even for organic.

Free Seeds for your School or Community Garden Project.

Save the Monarchs! Free Butterfly Garden Seeds

Save the bees! Free flower seeds

"Get Britain Growing" free seeds for the U.K. and here as well.

Free Seeds for Kids

Free tomato seeds

Free sunflower seeds to each participant of bee count project.

FREE FOUR-O'CLOCK SEEDS Please plant four-o'clock seeds in the memory of our loved ones who are cancer survivors and in the memory of our loved ones who have lost their battle to cancer. Share the seeds with your family and friends to perpetuate this loving tribute to our loved ones. There is a limit of one packet of seeds per request.

Seed swap

Free seed packet and seed info card templates.

Plant a Row for the Hungry

Garden Blessing:

"O almighty everlasting God we beseech thee to bless
these flowers and vegetables. May there be in them abundance,
goodness, virtue, tranquility, peace, victory,the plenitude of blessing, thanksgiving to God the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, and a most
pleasing commemoration of the glorious Mother of God -
that . . . they may put forth an odor of virtue and
sweetness." ~ taken partially from The Blessing of Mary Gardens as a Holy Places.

Today's Library Finds

I had to keep my eye on the three year old while my son browsed the shelves, but here's what I found within reach of the children's play area at the library:













We listened to the Rabbit Ears production of Aladdin's Lamp in the car on the way home. I love that our library finally has children's audio books on CD rather than tapes. We have finally come into the 21st century! Rabbit Ears makes narrated books for children using professional actors and wonderful music scores.

I also enjoyed flipping through Jessica Seinfeld's book of children's recipes with hidden veggies and fruit. I've done a little sneaking in of foods in the past, but I need to begin doing it again. Her recipes are fresh modern twists on the old classics.

The other book, published by a Christian publisher, Bethany Press looked interesting, Frugal Families by Jonni McCoy.

How to Be Well Groomed (1949) and Other Vintage Instructional Films

These old Coronet Instructional Films are a hoot.

How to Be Well Groomed (1949).Siblings Don and Sue show how they keep themselves well groomed throughout the school week and for their Friday night dates.

For more vintage educational films in public domain click here.

A sampling of a few others:

Dating: Do's and Don'ts

How Much Affection?

Marriage Is a Partnership

Are You Ready for Marriage?

Understanding The Dollar

Your Thrift Habits

Act Your Age

Social Courtesy

Family Life


"Coronet Instructional Films were shown in American schools starting in about 1941. The company was an offshoot of Coronet Magazine, a digest-sized magazine that itself was owned by Esquire, Inc. Owner David Smart was deeply interested in visual education and the power of the film to teach and convince, and built a full studio on his estate in Glenview, Illinois, where at its height hundreds of films were cranked out each year. The films were sold to schools and libraries by a network of distributors and were quite successful -- in 1976 Coronet celebrated its sale of 1 million prints. Most Coronet films were shot in Kodachrome, but Kodachrome prints of many titles are quite rare. It was cheaper to purchase black-and-white prints, and most sales were black-and-white. For more Coronet history, see Ken Smith's excellent book "Mental Hygiene," published by Blast Books (www.blastbooks.com). "

Saving Money on Groceries Without Coupons

Here is some simple advice to follow for saving money with minimal couponing:

- Drink more water
- Cook meals from scratch
- No pre-packaged snacks
- Eat smaller portions
- Use up all leftovers
- KISS - Keep it simple, sister
- Shop discount grocery stores
- Buy store brands

An easy to follow cookbook with nutritious made-from-scratch recipes:

More-With-Less Cookbook (World Community Cookbook) ,

and although I haven't purchased this yet, Extending the Table: A World Community Cookbook has been recommended.

We shop weekly, and use up all leftovers. Nothing goes to waste. If I cannot figure out what to make with a few odd leftover ingredients, I use the Allrecipes Ingredient Search. This search engine lets you insert the items you have on hand, and up come the recipes.

We have three grocery stores nearby, Save-A-Lot, Food Lion, and Farm Fresh. We shop Save-A-Lot and Food Lion because Farm Fresh is almost three times as expensive. Save-A-Lot has excellent deals on cheese, bread, milk, spices, and canned vegetables. Food Lion has good deals on meat, and a better variety of frozen fruit and vegetables. Food Lion also has some nice online coupons for produce, store brands, and MVP customer discounts.

Also check:

- Big Lots
- Dollar Tree

Many times these places have some rock bottom deals on canned vegetables(especially large cans of organic tomato sauce), and spices.

Keep a price book and calculator on you when you shop, and make sure you write down the price per unit in order to figure the best deal. I don't use my price list anymore because we buy the same things every week, so I've memorized the good deals. This is how I keep it simple.

Inexpensive and fast dinners can be as simple as two packs of ramen noodles(or rice), a bag of mixed frozen veggies, and a little ground turkey and/or egg. I usually use 1/3 of the ramen seasoning package because it is so high in salt. The ramen is about .25 cents a package, veggies about .80 cents, and the half a pack of frozen turkey about $1.00. This feeds two adults and two children for about $2.30.

The next night we might eat stir fry with the rest of the turkey, frozen stir fry veggies, an egg, and leftover noodles or rice. If I use a heavy meat like chicken, we may or may not have an accompaniment like rice or noodles.

Skillet meals are my favorite because of the blending of flavors. I'll toss a few boneless chicken breasts(Great Value Walmart brand) into my iron pan, cook it up with a little Goya white cooking wine(Save-A-Lot), homemade teriyaki sauce, some garlic, and other spices. Them I'll toss some frozen mixed greens(Save-A-Lot) on top and a can of diced beets(Dollar Tree). This is enough by itself, but sometimes we'll have some canned sweet potatoes(Save-A-Lot or Dollar Tree) on the side.

I've made some nice meals with canned butter beans for around $2.00 for the four of us. These are so tasty, much better than the less expensive pinto beans. I still make pinto bean meals, but I don't want to get burned out on them.

The items I will consistently buy prepackaged is canned Glory brand(inexpensive) seasoned Southern style side dishes. The flavoring in these just can't be beat unless you have a lot of time to cook it down from a ham bone. I use the liquid mixed with vinegar from the cans in other recipes for flavoring.

We snack on fruit, but I do make muffins and yogurt on occasion. I purchased a Salton yogurt maker last year which has saved us quite bit on the yogurt.

A few times a month Food Lion will have a great deal on meat, so we do roasts and chicken throughout the month. If we had to cut back, we could get by nicely with meat priced at .99 cents a pound and beans.

Use the internet to find recipes for condiments. Items like barbecue sauce, teriyaki sauce, Worcestershire Sauce, and salad dressing can be made from scratch for much less and without so many additives. Even better, just read the label on your current bottles of condiments, and try to duplicate the ingredients without the nasty additives. This is what I do for the most part, and I reuse the bottles.

If I spent a lot of time couponing name brand food products, I could probably do better, but we try to stay away from chemicals and additives present in many prepacked foods.

I've got some of my recipes blogged, many of which are from the More-With-Less Cookbook. I also have my old shopping list blogged that matches this book. I used this when I was first getting started with this cookbook.

Other money saving places to visit:

Hillbilly Housewife Recipes

Tammy's Recipes

Living on a Dime Recipe ebooks

RecipeZaar

Another thing to consider is purchasing gift cards(for yourself) from grocery stores in order to gain a discount. We have done this from time to time, earning a 10% discount. You do have to put some money upfront, but the 10% you earn is worth it.

Inexpensively Obtain a Reprint of a Public Domain Book

Public Domain Archive and Reprints Service will reprint public domain books into a soft cover or hard cover book for a fair price. It's very simple to use, just insert the name of the book into their search engine. Various sources of the book will show up; you determine the source, and they print it. Easy.

This would only make sense financially if:

- Reprints are expensive, and used copies are not available.

- Used vintage editions are hard to find, pricey, or non-existent.

Google your book first to compare prices and availability.

I haven't purchased any reprints yet, but the prices are not too bad. I typed in the book, Little Frankie and His Cousin, and here were the offers for reprinting this book:

Source: Internet Archive (not affiliated with this service)
Sponsor: msn
ID: littlefrankiehis00lesliala
Title: Little Frankie and his cousin
Author: Leslie, Madeline, 1815-1893
Author: Billings, Hammatt, 1818-1874
Publisher: Boston : Crosby and Nichols, 117 Washington Street
Date Published: c1860
Estimated Page Count: 138

Estimated Pricing: $8.99 - $9.99 (softcover); $9.99 - $11.99 (coil); $20.99 - $22.99 (hard cover) - prices vary depending on trim size)
Reprint Type: Standard Reprint
Vendor: Lulu.com
Binding Type: Soft Cover

Even better, they allow you to review the finished product before purchase, and there is no obligation to purchase.

The quality of the reprint is dependent on the quality of the online scans, so take this into consideration. Proof read your source book choice.

Here are some previously processed books that are ready for purchase.

It would make more sense financially to keep these free public domain book as ebooks, but sometimes you want a book in hand. For these instances, Public Domain Archive and Reprints Service may be a good option.

Apparently, On Demand Books will become more commonplace in the near future.

Vintage Easter Images at the Library of Congress

The U.S. Library of Congress has some interesting free Easter images. If you search "Easter" you'll see highlighted boxes around the pictures(after you click on "Preview Images") that you may download. Just click on those pictures for a full view.

I love the pictures of annual White House egg rolling, especially the ones of Mrs. Calvin Collidge with all the children. One of these White House egg roll pictures is from 1897.


Did you know she had a pet raccoon? It didn't look too thrilled to be there at the egg roll.











Check it out; there are pages and pages of interesting historical images.


Click on pictures to enlarge.





Easter Lily markets

and Easter services.

This is one showing a packed Saint Patrick's in NYC, 1915:

Laetare Sunday( Mothering Day - England)

Rejoice, O Jerusalem...

"The Fourth Sunday of Lent is called Laetare (Rejoice) Sunday, from the first words of the liturgy [Introit] above. Since it is in the middle of Lent, like Gaudete Sunday midway through Advent, Laetare reminds us of the Event we look forward to at the end of the penitential season. As on Gaudete Sunday, rose-colored vestments may replace violet, symbolizing, the Church's joy in anticipation of the Resurrection.

In England, this Sunday is known as Mothering Sunday, a custom that arose during the Middle Ages, because the Epistle for the day said, 'But Jerusalem which is above, is free, which is the mother of us all' [Galatians 4:26]. The Church is 'Jerusalem which is above'.

....On Laetare Sunday people went to Church where they were baptized (their mother church), and visited their own mothers, as well, often bringing gifts of flowers and simnel cakes (so-called because they were made with fine white flour, or simila.)" ~ Women for Faith and Family.

Recycling as a Practical Art Form

Artfully created mittens and quilts from recycled old wool sweaters and blankets from Design Squish.


If you enjoy art, especially high style recycled and repurposed green art, check out this Brooklyn blogger, Design Squish, a feast for the eyes..

Look at these awesome log side tables.

Art for Children: Mission Drawings

Mission Drawings

Kathy Barbro of Art Projects for Kids has a nice art project for a paper bag Mission drawing. I'd use her picture(above) as a template. If you are in the middle of studying westward expansion of the United States, this could be a fun project.