Snow Beauty

Just when I'm about ready to break out my Easter Bonnet,:)
here comes our one real snow storm of the year!

Lovely!

"Announced by all the trumpets of the sky,

Arrives the snow, and, driving o'er the fields,

Seems nowhere to alight: the withered air

Hides hills and woods, the river, and the heaven,

And veils the farm-house at the garden's end.

The sled and traveler stopped, the courier's feet

Delayed, all friends shut out, and housemates sit

Around the radiant fireplace, enclosed

In a tumultuous privacy of storm."

~Ralf Waldo Emerson~

George Washington

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor, and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me “to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.

~George Washington~

I just discovered a beautiful! new website dedicated to our first president called

First in Peace.

Check it out today, on what would be his 279th birthday.



"Wherever men love liberty, wherever they believe in patriotism, wherever they exalt high character, by universal consent they invoke the name of George Washington. No occasion could be conceived more worthy, more comprehensibly American, than that which is chosen to commemorate this divinely appointed captain."

~President Coolidge~

BLANC D'IVOIRE--Three Projects

~White and Cream~

It's strange the things that can inspire a color theme. When Shannon and I were in France a few years ago we fell in love with mono-tone and shades of white. White has so many varying hues, and when coupled with texture and sun light, is so calming and beautiful. (OK I'll grant you do have to have some sun light). Shannon has recently completed 3 projects that draw on that theme and I'd like to share them here (since she doesn't have a blog and I have not had any creative juices flowing lately). All three projects also pop with a little black added for contrast. I'm not going to do an extensive blow by blow 'how to'. I think the projects should be pretty self explanatory.
~~~
First Up....Creative Circles on Canvas

All you need is a canvas, a circle punch, scraps of your favorite papers,

random notions and glue stick.

Next...A Book Page-Rose

French Sheet Music covered bulletin board.

Abraham Lincoln's Birthday

I am borrowing the following from a post by Phil Boehmke at American Thinker. The quotes he chose speak wisdom to our time.

"Today is Abraham Lincoln’s 202nd birthday. Having led our nation through its darkest hours, President Lincoln’s thoughts and insights continue to resonate and inspire us today.

Given the current state of our Republic and the challenges we are facing, one can only pause and wonder what thoughts and advise 'Honest Abe' would share with us and our leaders."

Abraham Lincoln on the people:

::I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts.

::The people themselves, and not their servants, can safely reverse their own deliberate decisions.

::The people will save their government, if the government itself will allow them.

::You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.

::If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem.

::This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or exercise their revolutionary right to overthrow it.

Abraham Lincoln on the Constitution:

::Don’t interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the safeguard of our liberties.

::Important principles may, and must, be inflexible.

::We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.

Abraham Lincoln on liberty and freedom:

::No man is good enough to govern another man without that man’s consent.

::Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.

::You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man’s initiative and independence.

::Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.

::America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.

Abraham Lincoln on the nature of wealth:

::That some should be rich shows that others may become rich and hence, is just encouragement to industry and enterprise.

::That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well.

::Let not him who is homeless pull down the house of another, but let him work diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built.

::The way for a young man to rise is to improve himself in every way he can, never suspecting that anybody wishes to hinder him.

::Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.

Some thoughts from Abraham Lincoln that the current president should consider:

::You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.

::Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.

::Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.

::Don’t worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worth of recognition.

::My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.


Some thoughts from Abraham Lincoln for those of us in the Tea Party movement:

::To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.

::The probability that we may fail in the struggle should ought not deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.

::Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as a heritage of all men, in all lands, everywhere. Destroy this spirit and you have planted the seeds of despotism around your own doors.

::My dream is of a place and time where America will once again be seen as the last best hope of earth.

The earth is the Lord's

"He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD.
By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
and all their host by the breath of his mouth."
(Psalm 33:5-6)