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This is the Millipede Survival Paracord Bracelet I thought of and invented. It is way better than the cobra paracord bracelet. This bracelet holds around 13 feet of paracord, looks great and takes SECONDS to unravel unlike other that you have to unweave. If you have any questions just comment or send me a message. Please LIKE and SUBSCRIBE. Everybody have a nice day.

Please also share this video and get it around so people know about it.

ONLY AUTHORIZED PLACES TO SELL (IF YOU FIND ANOTHER PLACE THAT SELLS THEM MESSAGE ME IMMEDIATLY PLEASE)-------

http://www.paracordist.com/products/paracord-bracelets

How to make a Millipede Survival Paracord Bracelet (the newest/best paracord bracelet) THE ORIGINAL
http://youtu.be/auRJT6eLfXM

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How to make a paracord bracelet with a fishing kit inside. In this "how-to" video I share an idea that I developed to integrate fishing tackle into a standard, cobra weave paracord survival bracelet while still maintaining the original look, feel, and functionality of the bracelet. This survival bracelet includes standard 7 strand 550 cord, 25 feet of braided fishing line, split-shot weights, and 2 fishing hooks. I demonstrate the entire making of this "fishing bracelet" in a step by step manner so that you can make one for yourself if you so desire. While the inner strands of paracord can be used for fishing line in an emergency, nothing beats the real thing... and the addition of hooks and sinkers could be invaluable! As an added benefit, you can utilize the braided fishing line in situations where smaller cordage is needed without sacrificing your main length of 550 cord. As you can see in this video there is virtually no difference between a standard paracord survival bracelet and the bracelet I made which includes the fishing tackle. I hope you find this information useful!

* I also created a paracord bracelet which incorporates a few small survival items. If you are interested in seeing a demo on this, please feel free to let me know. Thanks!

Also Available For Purchase At:
http://www.intenseoutdoorgear.com/

 
Paracord Fishing & Survival Bracelet
http://youtu.be/yVYr01_VcZA

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Parachute cord (also paracord or 550 cord) is a lightweight nylon kernmantle rope originally used in the suspension lines of US parachutes during World War II. Once in the field, paratroopers found this cord useful for many other tasks. It is now used as a general purpose utility cord by both military personnel and civilians. This versatile cord was even used by astronauts during STS-82, the second Space Shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.

The braided sheath has a high number of interwoven strands for its size, giving it a relatively smooth texture. The all-nylon construction makes paracord fairly elastic; depending on the application this can be either an asset or a liability.

Despite the historic association of paracord with Airborne units, virtually all US units have access to the cord. It is used in almost any situation where light cordage is needed. Typical uses include attaching equipment to harnesses, as dummy cords to avoid losing small or important items, tying rucksacks to vehicle racks, securing camouflage nets to trees or vehicles, and so forth. When threaded with beads, paracord may be used as a pace counter to estimate ground covered by foot.

The yarns of the core (commonly referred to as "the guts") can also be removed when finer string is needed, for instance as sewing thread to repair gear or fishing line in a survival situation. The nylon sheath is often used alone, the yarn in the core removed, when a thinner or less elastic cord is needed. Ends of the cord are almost always melted and crimped to prevent fraying.

DEMONSTRATION: Survival Paracord Belt Prototype
http://youtu.be/5d8-wlUyigg

Heavenletters #3815 Bright Golden Light , May 6, 2011

Heavenletters™, bringing Earth closer to Heaven.

HEAVEN is here to reach every soul on earth to reawaken:

* Our connection to God *
* Our belief in ourselves *
* Our awareness of our shared worthiness to God *
* Peace on Earth *

God is always bringing us closer to Him.

HEAVEN #3815 Bright Golden Light , May 6, 2011

God said:
Do you have any idea of how enchanted I am with you? Yes, you. You with all your foibles, I adore you. That’s how it is. I love you, and I love the core of you.
With each of My children, I see a bright golden light. Each of you has that, is that. This is what I see. I see this golden reflection of Myself. That is the core of you. That is you without all the encumbrances you wrap around yourself.

I see your essence, and what I see is the essence of you. Your light, My light, are the same.

Your light is covered with a body and all your thoughts.

Imagine yourself for a moment, if you will, as bright beautiful radiating golden light.

Imagine your heart as a bright sun revolving in your chest. That’s it. That’s who you are. A bright sun spinning. How Our light embraces.

At the core of you, you are no less than the Great Ones. What they had, you have too.

It is all there within you. If only you could see yourself as this bright golden light, you would own the world. You would own Heaven. You would own love. You would own to love is what I mean. You would admit it. You would know Who you really are. You would not be blinded by your radiance. You would see for the first time. You would see yourself as I do see you. You would be light itself.

And then you would see everyone else the same. You would see Truth. You would move in Truth. You wouldn’t compromise Truth. You wouldn’t be distant from it. You would embrace the light of yourself which is Truth abiding. There is no other Truth than love, and you are the bright light of love. You feed the Earth and all in it with your abiding light. You are the light that shines. You are My Shining Light. You are the light of the Earth and you are the light of My love, resplendent on a world that needs Our light.

What could possibly trouble such beautiful golden swirls of light as My children are? What strength you are. What a Being. What nothings can you be entangled with? Let the entanglements go. Allow yourself to be the bright light that you most certainly are.

You are nothing but bright light. All the rest is illusion you have been carrying on with.

You have been talking to phantoms.

You are light and nothing but light. You are the radiance of My heart. You are My glance upon the world.

There are no conditions to My love, for I see My light in you. There is no fault to find with your beautiful light, and, when I look at you, that’s what I see, the magnificence of My light as if I were looking into a mirror. I am looking into a mirror that is you, and I see Myself. What is not to love?

I have said before that you are love and nothing but love. And now I tell you that light and love are One. Do not hide under the covers, beloveds. Bare your light so that the world and everyone in it is lighted. You are not this mortal dust. You are not meager.

You are not suffering. You know not illness. You are not timid. The Bright Light that you are knows not fear. What is there to fear? All bright light is One. You and I are One Bright Light. We are like laser light that pierces the world into knowingness of itself.

The seeming world is made of many bright lights, and so the world is lighted, and you are the lighting of it. You are the lighter of the world and the brightening of it.

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Heavenletters #3822 Life Holds Great Wonders, May 13, 2011
Heavenletters™, bringing Earth closer to Heaven.

HEAVEN is here to reach every soul on earth to reawaken:

* Our connection to God *
* Our belief in ourselves *
* Our awareness of our shared worthiness to God *
* Peace on Earth *

God is always bringing us closer to Him.

Heavenletters #3822 Life Holds Great Wonders

God said:

However…whenever…whoever…life is a beautiful apparition. There is nothing like life, is there? What a richness is life! What a story! What a happily ever after or not happily ever after. There is always ever after. Life continues on whatever plane. There is no end to life. Nor does life have to be stored.

Your life writes itself as it goes along, and then it is to be erased and room made for more life, more new life, spontaneous life. Life is not to be revisited. It will revise itself. In any case, life, as viewed in the relative world, will not stay the same. Hop on one foot or hop on two, life is always moving merrily along. Life is merry. You may not be, and, yet, you can be regardless of what journeys life takes you on.

Just think of this miraculous gift of life. Its richness. Its abundance. Its surprises, its hilarity, and, yes, its disappointments. Nevertheless, life is not to be slandered, thought ill of, disparaged, put down, nor is life to be swept under the carpet. In this moment, you live it. In the next moment, is another opportunity of life. You don’t keep peeking at the underside of the carpet. When a moment is past, it is past. Be done with it, and move on to the next.

Life does not have to be crafted. You don’t need to draw designs for it. Have ideas, have intentions, have dreams to build on. Yet, in the moments of having your dear dreams, also let go of them. Do not hold on too tight. You do not let go of your dreams too easily either. There is a fine balance. You have seen life like the porridge in the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. One bowl of porridge is too hot. One bowl is too cold. One bowl is just right. And so it goes with the chairs, and so it goes with the beds.

Life does not have to be your cup of tea. What you can know is that life holds great wonders in store for you. What wonder is life going to perform for you today? Life may even hold greater for you than you imagined. In that case, you may have to turn in old dreams for new. You don’t want to be stubborn with life. Life has to have its broad swath. Life does not want to be confined any more than you do.

Life is a picnic, beloveds, only this picnic does not always have the delicacies you most favor. There are many tastes in life, and you will get a taste of each. The taste matters, yet how you digest the various tastes matters more. Let life go down your gullet easily.

Life in the world is not permanent. Life grows. Life evolves. Even when you can’t see your growth, you are growing, and you are evolving. Keep up with life. Be happy when life gives you sweet honey. Be happy when life gives you manna from Heaven. Be happy just the same when life gives you a turnip.

And when there are bumps in the road, be happy too. You have many resources at your disposal. Support your heart. Support life. How about your making life happy?
Know this. You are never singled out for heartache. There are those who fear that they are being neglected. They don’t see My helping them. They are perhaps seeing either or or. They are perhaps short-sighted. They most certainly are short-sighted when they don’t see Me coming down the road, for here I am.

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Heavenletters #3825 Stay in Peace , May 16, 2011

Heavenletters™, bringing Earth closer to Heaven.

HEAVEN is here to reach every soul on earth to reawaken:

* Our connection to God *
* Our belief in ourselves *
* Our awareness of our shared worthiness to God *
* Peace on Earth *

God is always bringing us closer to Him.

HEAVEN #3825 Stay in Peace , May 16, 2011

God said:
Let it be easy to stay in peace, and hard to blow up in anger. Anger doesn’t become you. No matter how justified you may feel, anger is not in your best interest. When you are irate, you are not yourself nor are you an example to yourself or to the world.
What are you afraid of that you let anger get the better of you, that you raise your voice or jump out of your seat, or that you fume however it is that you fume?
If anger that rises within you is too much for you, remind yourself that while you are in the heat of anger is not the time to forcibly to discuss it, for it is not a discussion then at all. It is like a raid. It is certainly a tirade. In the heat of anger is not the time to go physically near the supposed cause of your anger. If you cannot contain yourself, then leave the room and take a walk around the block. Under no circumstances, when you are so angry, are you to unleash your anger. Never mind about repression and all that at this time. Above all, when you are so angry, at this time is exactly when you must not vent your anger.
Anger is anger, and anger is not very nice. One lit match lights other matches. Regardless of the circumstances, you are not right to incite or ignite anger. You can keep the extent of your anger to yourself without harm. Otherwise, you escalate anger. Anger is inflammatory, and you will get burned.
This is your anger. No one else is the cause of your anger. No matter what, it is you who got angry.

You alone are responsible for your anger. You are responsible for taming it. Anger is not to be the ruler of you. Would you take boiling water and pour boiling water over everyone in the room? Yet you take boiling anger and pour it over the hearts and souls of everyone in the room, the innocent bystanders as well as the presumed guilty.
Let Me tell you something. Anger, no matter how righteous it seems to you, is ego at its prime. You are sure that so and so had no right to say or do whatever it was he said or did. I want to make sure that you know you have no right to get so angry that you lose your cool. You have no right. Feeling furious is one thing. Lashing out your anger is another. Even with anger, you can keep your wits about you. Anger is no excuse for you to create havoc. Anger is nothing to be proud of.
What is it you are so afraid of that you must let everyone know how angry you are? What would happen if you did not have to react angrily? Does anger make you look big or small? What would the gain or loss be to yourself or to the others if you did not fly off the handle?
Do not think you are timid to silence your anger. Do not think you are currying favor to hold in abeyance how livid you feel. Reining in your anger is being responsible, and it takes great strength to keep your anger within bounds. The world does not have to know how angry you are at the moment. Give peace to the world.
And if you really must express your sorry anger, then do it privately with the one person you feel caused your anger. Do not reveal your anger in front of an audience. You are the one who will pay for it, and you pay too high a price for it. When you express your anger in a group, everyone has to pay for your flaunting your anger.
This Heavenletter is meant for you if you are someone who lets your raging anger get the better of you. If you are already someone who keeps your anger within bounds, I congratulate you.

Permanent Link: http://www.heavenletters.org/stay-in-peace.html

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Heavenletters #3829 A Bond between the Mind, Heart, and Body , May 20, 2011
Heavenletters™, bringing Earth closer to Heaven.

HEAVEN is here to reach every soul on earth to reawaken:

* Our connection to God *
* Our belief in ourselves *
* Our awareness of our shared worthiness to God *
* Peace on Earth *

God is always bringing us closer to Him.

HEAVEN #3829 A Bond between the Mind, Heart, and Body , May 20, 2011

God said:
Sadness isn’t so bad. Much of the time you don’t even know what you are sad for anymore than you know why it rains one day and is sunny the next. Like rain, sadness comes, and sadness goes. And sadness comes unbidden. Maybe you weren’t even expecting it. You did not want sadness to fall at your feet. You never asked for sadness, and yet it came.
Of course, logically, sadness comes from attachment. Attachment is a funny thing. You want a bond with another and yet not be attached. You want to hold hands, and yet you don’t want to let go, yet you know there is such a thing as letting go, and you know you can’t hold hands forever. You know you have to use your hands to wash dishes and other things.
Is a bond a giving of love then, and is attachment tying the bond tight then? Is attachment needing and love giving?
In any case, whatever breaks the bond, whether in life or by death of the body, it is heavy-duty. You feel left. It is a mystery to you how you can be bonded to another and not be attached? And how can you let go when you don’t want to let go, and you think you will never be ready to let go?
It must be that you consider letting go of attachment as letting go of love, letting go of caring, letting go of meaning. Does loss of a loved one emphasize separation to you, even when you intellectually accept the concept of Oneness? Does the loss of a loved one, regardless of the reason, make you feel that you are less? Was your loved one a wall that you could lean against and that held you up?
And what is crying anyway? It surely is a bond between the mind, heart, and body. That can’t be bad, can it? Certainly, mind, heart, and body are intimately connected. You and a loved one are connected wherever you are or are not. Letting go of attachment does not have to mean letting go of love, yet perhaps you have only known attachment. That could be.
You love to see a loved one arrive, and you do not love to see a loved one go. And yet entrance and exit are part of life. There is no going around it.
Perhaps non-attachment is the ability to say to your loved one: “Farewell. Enjoy your journey. Enjoy your journey whether it is a trip to the store for a pack of cigarettes or it is your final journey this lifetime to Heaven. I know you still have many journeys before you, and I cannot go with you. Enjoy yourself. Be happy without me. I would go with you if I could. I have to stay here. The day will come when I join you, and we are reunited again. Meanwhile, I give you my heart for safe-keeping, and I kiss you goodbye. Farewell. I promise to let you go with my blessing. I will not keep you from your travels. You were mine for a while. Always isn’t really better than a while. I give you my love so that you may take it with you, not as a keepsake, but as a giveaway. You gave me a lot, and now I give you your freedom. Here, here it is.”
And, now, tell yourself to fare well as well. You are also on a journey, even when your body stays where it is, even when it is hard for you to turn around and say goodbye.

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Heavenletters #3832 God Has No Secrets, May 23, 2011
Heavenletters™, bringing Earth closer to Heaven.

HEAVEN is here to reach every soul on earth to reawaken:

* Our connection to God *
* Our belief in ourselves *
* Our awareness of our shared worthiness to God *
* Peace on Earth *

God is always bringing us closer to Him.

HEAVEN #3832 God Has No Secrets, May 23, 2011

God said:
My holy child, I tip your chin so that I may see your face and so you may look at Me and see My smile and see Me smiling. I am smiling at you. You make Me smile. I pull you to Me. I pull you close. Do not resist. Abide with Me a while. Abide with Me a longer while. Keep abiding with Me in your awareness.

You are ever with Me, and I am ever with you. We are made for each other. We are Twin Souls, so to speak. We Who are Oneness are entwined. It is only as if We are two, for We, beyond a doubt, are One. Beyond My doubt, that is. Well, of course, I have no doubt. I have never doubted anything. Least of all do I doubt you. I am doubtless. You are doubtful.
You have My confidence. I confide in you, for I know your strength. Your strength is mighty. It is Our strength. I am infinitely true to Myself, and I am true to you Who are also Myself. Oneness Supreme is Who I AM, and it is the same for you, only you doubt. You doubt your own wonderment.
Let Us put that aside for a while. Is that a strange thing for Me to say, to put Truth aside for a while?

I say that only so that you turn your face toward Mine and give Me your attention. What point is there in My talking unless you are listening? So that you will be able to listen, I go along with your view of things that We are two. Now you can talk to Me. Now you can hear Me. You would like to hear a booming voice that could only be God’s.
Of course, I am silent. What a listener I am. I can even hear the unspoken. Truly, beloveds, so can you. You can hear My innermost thoughts. I keep nothing to My singled-out Self. I am an Open Book. I am total transparency. I have no secrets. I have no secrets from you. I withhold nothing. I give Everything. I gave Everything. The giving continues. It rolls out. It never stops. I never stop loving you. I love in one motion as it were. I love relentlessly. You can’t get away from My love.
Absurdly, you have tried. Absurdly, you have distanced yourself from the very Heart of the Matter. We are the Heart of the Matter. Oneness is the Heart of the Matter. There is heart and no matter.
You are branded My love in your DNA. What a set-up that is. What a pre-organized amazing miracle. And yet it is so simple. It is My DNA that you carry. It is important for you to know this. With this knowledge, you allow the entrance of all possibilities. Heretofore, you have limited the possibilities.

You have believed in and supported impossibilities, including the idea that you are My beloved. You have made a certainty into an implausibility.
If you think it is not possible that I love you, My creation, then love Me. That will do it for you. That is a step in the right direction. Love Me, and all My love will seep into you. Soon enough, you will not know Whose love you feel. All love is Mine, and all love is yours. I am Unbounded Love, and you are Unbounded Love. Unbounded Love is all. We are All. We are all Oneness.
The simplest may be the hardest for you to grasp. You cannot even grasp what it might mean that We are One. There are so many ideas you would have to abandon that it seems difficult to you for Us to be One. The gist of it is that We are One. The Whole Universe is One. There is One Heart, One bond, One Love, and it is Mine. You are My Love. That’s it.

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Heavenletters #3836 Come to Life Now, May 27, 2011
Heavenletters™, bringing Earth closer to Heaven.

HEAVEN is here to reach every soul on earth to reawaken:

* Our connection to God *
* Our belief in ourselves *
* Our awareness of our shared worthiness to God *
* Peace on Earth *

God is always bringing us closer to Him.

HEAVEN #3836 Come to Life Now, May 27, 2011

God said:
Leave the floodgates open. I am speaking of the floodgates of love. I am speaking of your admitting Me into your life and your view of life. Let love and its organizer, I, God, into your world. Let Me be a force in your life. Let Me have some say in the design of what is referred to as you, as the human you, as the body and heart and mind and soul that walk around in a cumbersome body. Let Me have some of the attention you presently may give to your erstwhile body. Absolutely, take care of your body, only make room for Me as well. The body is mortal. In a sense, the body is a losing game. In the world, you cannot stem the tide of time. Come into Infinity with Me.
That which you see is what you get. See better and bigger than you have been seeing. You have been seeing a crumb of what you are.
I exist. Even if you think that I do not exist, let Me exist for you. Life in the world is too much for you without Me. The world holds terrors for you. You see shadows around every turn. Substitute Me for the terrors. Call Me in instead. Let Me in. Do yourself a favor and bring in a Presence that is often called God or words to that effect. If you do not like the name God, then call Me Friend. Then call Me Guy. Then call Me Love in its Wholeness. Call life sublime, and make it so.
It is yourself I would love you to believe in. I will help you. Together, We will wonders perform.
You are safe. The body is not safe. The body is in peril. No longer identify so much with the body and its wavering emotions. Instead of emoting, love. Start with Me. Leave emotions behind. Leave fraughtness of emotions behind. Emotions, no matter how serious and important to you, are frivolous. Emotions adhere to the past. Get the past and the emotions that surround the past out of your way. Past emotions are not your friends.
Hate and anger and such are your out and out enemies. They are ego, and they mimic you. Believe Me, if you wish someone ill, you will not feel safe. Your thoughts become real. Your thoughts manifest in one way or another. That which you perpetuate upon another comes back to roost.
You may think that people in your life are your enemies. All the while, it is your thoughts that are. With your thoughts, you bet on the validity of a dark past. Get the past out of the way. It does not serve you. If the past did not serve you in the past, what makes you think it will serve you now?
When you operate from the injustice of the past, you bring the past to life. When you harp on injustice, you bring injustice to you. If you want injustice in your life, keep thinking of how you are victimized, and so you victimize yourself. You punish yourself with the past. The true villains are your thoughts. It is for you now to change them. Old thinking brings you your old life back. It manifests before your eyes. The cruel stepmother does not come back, yet someone steps in to take her place. You bring her to you.
For your life to change, you have to change. No one is going to change your life for you. Life is of your making. And you make it with your thoughts and your hanging on emotions. Get out of the past where you have been living. This is how to change your life. Enough of reliving the past. Come to life now.

Permanent Link: http://www.heavenletters.org/come-to-life-now.html

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Heavenletters #3843 A State of Happiness, June 3, 2011
Heavenletters™, bringing Earth closer to Heaven.

HEAVEN is here to reach every soul on earth to reawaken:

* Our connection to God *
* Our belief in ourselves *
* Our awareness of our shared worthiness to God *
* Peace on Earth *

God is always bringing us closer to Him.

HEAVEN #3843 A State of Happiness, June 3, 2011

God said:
There is no need to ask yourself the question: “Am I happy?” You are happy until you start asking yourself if you are. You lose your immediacy as soon as you question the state of your Being.

Happiness is not a self-awareness technique. As soon as you call your attention to your happiness, it leaves. Happiness takes your asking as a dismissal.
As soon as you ask yourself, “Am I happy?” you start thinking of reasons why not to be happy. As soon as you ask yourself, “Am I really really happy?” you lose your state of happiness. It is like happiness is embarrassed and covers its face. Your natural state is of happiness.
If someone were afraid of heights, and did not know he was walking on a ledge twenty feet above the sidewalk, he would not be afraid. As soon as he becomes aware, fear sets in. Conscious awareness is not always the best place to be.
Better not to question where you are.
When you are involved in a creative project, painting or music or story-writing, for example, you are not thinking, “Am I happy?” You just are.
We could consider a state of happiness something like Godwriting. When you are Godwriting, you are in that state of Godwriting. If you say to yourself, “Am I Godwriting? Is this really Godwriting?” then you are out of the state.
When you ask yourself such questions, you put your attention on your motley self. When you are in a creative state, your attention is not on yourself. You are out of awareness of your little self.
Nor is this a good question for you to ask about someone else. “Is so and so happy?” Happiness is not to be thought about. Do you understand what I mean? Asking such questions is putting up a barrier to happiness. Happiness is not conscious of itself.
If you continually asked a rose, “Are you a rose? Are you really a rose? Are you always a rose?” even a rose will start to wonder about its own identity. A rose knows its rose-ness. Rose-ness is. A rose is a rose is a rose. And your natural state is happiness.
When you ask if you are happy, you interrupt happiness. When you ask, “Am I doing the right thing?” you waver. When you ask, “Should I spend my money on this object,” you waver.
When you ask yourself, “Am I happy?” you can only waver. A minute ago, you were happy. And now you ponder. And you push happiness off a cliff.
However, reversely, it does not work the same. If you say, “How unhappy I am. How can I be this unhappy?” the state of unhappiness deepens. You become sure of it. Your unhappiness is probably even worse than you thought. Now you become desperately unhappy.
Think about other things rather than about your state of happiness or unhappiness. Happiness is not a state of thinking. You cannot make yourself happy. The best thing you can do for happiness is to not think about it. Be it.
You do have a well of underlying happiness. Don’t muddy it. When you analyze the water, you stir it up. That’s how you muddy it. No longer muddy your happiness. Let it be.
If you want to add to your happiness, add to someone else’s happiness. Certainly, don’t add to someone’s unhappiness. Even when you have the thought, “I would like to do something that will make my friend happy,” you are adding to your own happiness.
Going within does not mean to ask about your happiness. Happiness is always yours, yet it is not something you possess. It is something you are.

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Heavenletters #3846 Almighty You, June 6, 2011
Heavenletters™, bringing Earth closer to Heaven.

HEAVEN is here to reach every soul on earth to reawaken:

* Our connection to God *
* Our belief in ourselves *
* Our awareness of our shared worthiness to God *
* Peace on Earth *

God is always bringing us closer to Him.

HEAVEN #3846 Almighty You, June 6, 2011

God said:
Almighty you!
This is today’s Heavenletter.
You fill in the rest. Say what it means to you that I call you Almighty.
You, Almighty you, speak to Me this morning.
Tell Me everything that is in your heart, and you will be rendering what is in Mine.
Almighty you, speak, and I will listen to the beat of My own heart.
Begin now.

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Advocate

The voice of a child cries out and the whole world reverberates with guilt. Who will be an advocate for a child who is abused, who is treated like a useless rag doll, to fulfil a cruel man's sick fantasies?

Advocate
© Elizabeth J. Barringer

Mom is passed out, too much beer at the bar,
I lay sleeping, until my bedroom door is ajar.
I hear his feet shuffle the carpet across the floor,
My heart starts pounding, How far is the door?

Should I make a run for it, or lay silent and be still,
How can this man I call Dad, force me, against my will?

I'm only a child, not more than seven,
Already I'm praying, Please God, take me to heaven.

I try to scream but the words won't come out,
It really doesn't matter, nobody hears me shout.

His breath smells like cigarettes and foul whiskey,
I'm just hoping he will die, or soon let me be.

Finally, it's over, I know he must be through
Now he's sleeping with mom, one drunk times two.

I lay awake for the longest time, pondering many a thought,
Hoping someone will believe me, and these two animals, get caught.

What is the end result of this dysfunctional family?

Will you be the voice that tells or just leave it be?

********

Thank You Daughter

A grandfather writes of his love for his daughter and granddaughter.

Thank You Daughter

© Robert Mayfield

Thank you daughter for the gift you gave to me
A happier grandfather there never will be

This beautiful little girl, so tiny, so small
Brought joy to my life, smiles to us all.

I see you in her face and her eye's so blue
This little girl is a carbon copy of you

And just like you, she will grow O so fast
These precious moments you know wont last

Cherish every second, every minute, every day
You'll be astounded by how fast time fly's away

I know a wonderful mother you will surely be
As wonderful as the daughter you have been to me

There are no words on earth or up above
That for you and Keelin can express my Love

Love Dad/Pop Pop

********

A Poem For Mom

A poem from daughter to Mom expressing her love and thankfulness.

A Poem For Mom
© Champagne S. Baker

You are the sunlight in my day,
You are the moon I see far away.

You are the tree I lean upon,
You are the one that makes troubles be gone.

You are the one who taught me life,
How not to fight, and what is right.

You are the words inside my song,
You are my love, my life, my mom.

You are the one who cares for me,
You are the eyes that help me see.

You are the one who knows me best,
When it's time to have fun and time to rest.

You are the one who has helped me to dream,
You hear my heart and you hear my screams.

Afraid of life but looking for love,
I'm blessed for God sent you from above.

You are my friend, my heart, and my soul
You are the greatest friend I know.

You are the words inside my song,
You are my love, my life, my Mom.

********

Never Unsaid

If something should ever happen to me, my love for my son should never go unsaid.

Never Unsaid
© Valerie Capasso

I never want this to go unsaid,
So here in this poem, is for it to be said.

There are no words to express how much you mean to me,
A son like you, I thought could never be.

Because the day you were born, I just knew,
God sent me a blessing- and that was you.

For this I thank Him everyday,
You are the true definition of a son, in everyway.

It is because of you that my life has meaning,
Becoming a mom has shown me a new sense of being.

I want you to know that you were the purpose of my life,
Out of everything I did- it was you that I did right.

Always remember that I know how much you care,
I can tell by the relationship that we share.

For a son like you there could be no other,
And whether we are together or apart,

Please do not ever forget-
You will always have a piece of my heart.

********

Questions, Through The Eyes Of A 6 Year Old Boy

A child's innocence is shattered when his daddy leaves.

Questions, Through The Eyes Of A 6 Year Old Boy
© Adam T. Cumberbatch

Can you tuck me into bed mama?

Don't forget to kiss me goodnight.

Can you tell me a story mama,
Before you turn out the lights?

Can you kiss my forehead mama,
Like you used to do before?

Can you at least tell me you love me mama,
Before you close the bedroom door?

Why don't you wanna talk to me mama?

I miss the sound of your voice.

Mama, can you please say somethin'?

I guess if you don't, it's your choice.

But mama, I have to tell you somethin'...

Even though you're quiet mama,
I know what you're goin' through.

I understand why you cry now mama,
Cause I'm hurtin' too.

Why'd you have to leave us daddy?

I still had some growin' up to do.

Did we somehow make you mad daddy?

Or, were we not good enough for you?

Do you know that mama cries at night daddy?
I think it's cause she sleeps alone.

Daddy, can you please call the house tonight,
Cause mama is waitin' by the phone.

You know mama still loves you daddy?

But I hate you for what you done.

you put tears in mama's eyes, daddy.

And in the eyes of YOUR son.

I thought you said you'd never leave daddy?

You said we'd be pals, you and me.

But, you broke your promise daddy,
Like you broke this family.

********

American Soldiers

I am 35 years old, born and raised in TYLER, TEXAS. My one dream of a lifetime would to be able to get published. So far I don't have anything ,but a quitter never got anything either.

American Soldiers
© Cynthia Barton

Everyday more soldiers have to leave
to fight this war so we can be free.

they pack light to set out on their way
praying the war will end some day.

we have lost young and lost old
but all of those men were so strong and bold
In reality it doesn't seem to fair
but when at war there is no time to care.

once in a while they may get a letter
from loved ones at home feeling a little bit better
They let them know they miss them so
but no time to cry the men must go.

They fold their letters up real tight
Putting them away for another lonely night.

slowly they rise to take their stand
as each American soldier salutes with right hand.

They yell that they will be home soon
but tonight their going to sleep with the moon
but not alone they have one another
To an American soldier those men are his brothers.

Each and everything they do
Is without a doubt for me and for you.

honestly, how many sit and pray
for each and every soldier on the field that day?

They don't draw names to see who they protect
So why need a face to match the respect?

They don't get hot home cooked meals
and I bet they would love a steak from the grill.

They are American Soldiers standing tall and proud
They deserve our respect, don't be ashamed ,scream it out loud.

but at times, a soldier has no choice but to sleep
with those words I will close for now.

Saying as I go GOD BLESS AND REST IN PEACE

This video has real footage of the Sioux back when we first had film.actualy i had to pay 50 pounds for that tiny bit of footage but well worth it . i smile every time i see the 2 guys at left front dance i just feel like reaching out and giving them a hug, daft i know but just make me smile and feel happy when i watch them, and i love to watch the chiefs too i have to admit this is my fave real footage of the Sioux dancing, sad to think they are long gone since that video was taken i wonder who their now relations are, as they are all sioux

Native American Music (Rain dance) http://youtu.be/0WNLLNxURt4

Adiemus - Rain Dance http://youtu.be/8zOWGX4-wv8

hace tiempo quería subir este tema. Me agrada mucho...

Manantial - Rain Dance http://youtu.be/nZpqFM5n_jY

The Cherokee tribe, an ethnic Native American tribe from the Southeastern United States, including Southern Appalachia, performed rain dances to both induce precipitation and to cleanse evil spirits from the earth. The legend of the tribe holds that the rain summoned by the tribe contains the spirits of past tribal chiefs, who, when falling, battle evil spirits in the transitional plane between our reality and the spirit world. It was also believed that particularly elaborate rain dances could inspire the participants, as well as audience, to partake in unusual and extreme acts of worship. A story from the indigenous peoples of the United States relates how the term "Rain Dance" came into being. The story holds that, during the days of the Native American relocation, certain religious ceremonies (amongst them the Rain Dance and Ghost Dance) were banned by the government. The tribes in suppressed areas were forbidden to perform the Sun Dance. The Windigokan, a nominally cannibalistic sect, nicknamed "the backward people," became famous for telling federal representatives that the dance being performed was not the Sun Dance, but the Rain Dance, thus preventing any prosecution or federal intervention.

Raindance http://youtu.be/9rfmtdPtrDU

“Flying Mystics”

I came across the beautiful video “Mount Kailash” from the CD “Begin Within” of a group called “Flying Mystics“. It says: “Flying Mystics creates music that takes one on a journey that is at once esoteric and visionary while remaining sensually intense and spiritually powerful. The group is composed of Zepi Morelli on the guitar, Flournoy Holmes playing flutes and percussion and Todd Roderick on drums and percussion. Wether playing temples, festivals or yoga studios Flying Mystics appeal to the spiritual roots of the world, creating music that reminds us of our mystical origins.”

Flying Mystics – Mount Kailash

http://youtu.be/uTan5lKbSEU

Next to this film there was the following ashonishing video of a real flying mystic: Magician Dan White meets up with a Buddhist monk, in Nepal, who has the power of levitation. For years in the 70ies I had been with the Maharishi who claimed to teach levitation – I had seen thousands of people trying, but none really doing it. Though it is reported from many saints and sages, this is the first video document I see about it. – I know that levitation is a side-issue on the spiritual path, but nevertheless a clear demonstration of spirit ruling over matter.

Man Levitates

http://youtu.be/SnLj8DMqaC8

http://blog.good-will.ch/WordPress/2012/05/19/flying-mystics/

Floating Buddhist Monk - woman

http://youtu.be/1mfyCeVdbHw

Man dies, comes back to life, what he saw

http://youtu.be/xRSjzY0s0SM

This man goes to hell and has been allowed back to tell us what it was like. Some may laugh, but at the end of the day, this is just one of thousands of people we know about that have been through the same thing.

Give it a watch and make your own mind up.

11 yr Old Went to Heaven and Back, and Tells What He Saw!

http://youtu.be/QdUGoFTfP7w

Preserving and canning your own food, Leems http://youtu.be/hANtxayH13s

Learning how to preserve food for future consumption is a nearly lost skill that we should get back to in this changing age. My dehydrator is an invaluable tool for this, and yes, it is by Mr coffee. You can dehydrate many types of meat into jerky, such as venison, lamb, buffalo, turkey, pheasant, pork, gator, frog, possum, raccoon, turtle, snake, elk, fish, and even squid make good jerky with the right seasonings. I have heard of dried octopus and conch before as well.

Dried, shredded beef is a great addition to trail soups and entrees as well as Asian cuisine or additive to ramen noodles. Shrimp and crab dries as well for longevity.

Leems- These Moroccan treats, also called 'preserved lemons' or 'pickled lemons' are a tart, salty jewel of exotic food and a way to store and preserve citrus for a long period. If you've ever tasted salt and lime, you know it's a thing made in heaven. Leems are added to soups and meats, tagine dishes and several Moroccan staples.

Sterilize your jars, cross-hatch the lemons and pack with salt, insert into the jar. Then add coriander, whole cloves, cinnamon stick, bay leaf and begin packing down lemon after lemon until they are covered in their own juice. Squeeze one more lemon juice till it covers the lemons completely and comes up to the jar's mouth, add a little more kosher salt and let cool tightly sealed. Wait for 4 weeks and add more lemons as needed as they shrink a bit, use washed hands or tools to mash at this point. periodic pressing is suggested. lasts up to 5-6 years, a little goes a long way. Rind and all is edible.

Easy guides to canning your own foods

and more Americans are returning in record numbers to the days of canning to preserve food. Canning jars and supplies have been disappearing from store shelves and families across the country are rediscovering the satisfaction of preserving their own healthy foods.

However, just as many people are standing on the sidelines, wanting to jump in but confused about where to start. Sharon over at Simply Canning has an easy-to-navigate website with dozens of helpful articles related to canning. She also has an inexpensive e-book you can download in seconds to begin your own venture into the world of canning. Here are some articles you may want to check out:

Canning equipment
Canning chicken or poultry
Canning homemade soups

Kendra, over at New Life on a Homestead, is also into canning and gave her permission for me to post this video explaining the use of a pressure canner.

How to Use a Pressure Canner http://youtu.be/A-fFAlldDKM

You can also find directions from Kendra for canning summer squash and zucchini and chicken broth.

Finally, my friend Lori in Oregon recently decided to begin blogging about her own canning adventures. You can check out her colorful blog, Lori’s Latest – and other tales from the homestead. I can’t wait to try her recipe for Indian Relish.

One item you will definitely want to have on hand is the book known as the canning Bible, Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. It will almost certainly be in your library but you’ll soon be wanting a copy of your own. Barbara, a family friend who has been canning for decades, still pulls out her worn copy from twenty years ago.

Look for canning jars and other equipment at garage and estate sales, second-hand stores, eBay, Craigslist, Backpage, and even placing requests for free supplies at Freecycle. With the weather definitely hitting autumn and, in some places, winter temperatures, a cozy, warm kitchen is just the place to be spending some time…over a water bath filled with jars of tomato preserves!

© 2011, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

http://thesurvivalmom.com/2011/10/26/easy-guides-to-canning-your-own-foods/

disturbing testimony from a former satanist part 2 of 2

disturbing testimony from a former satanist part 1 of 2

http://youtu.be/6bOfsapYNZU


 
disturbing testimony from a former satanist part 2 of 2

http://youtu.be/jRnYglApAKM

2012: A Psychic's Prediction

http://youtu.be/1x8osRy6W8Q

"in the last days..I will pour out my spirit upon ALL flesh..your sons and daughters will prophecy, old men will see visions, and young men will dream dreams"..If Jesus is not Lord of your life, you can't be ready..and people who dabble in psychic phenomenon, or any other demonic activity obviously don't know Jesus.. no matter how much we want to be "self sustaining"..or fantasize about a so-called "evolution of consciousness", the fact still remains, Without Christ, we are doomed....eternally

Time - Pink Floyd + Lyrics

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way.
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way.

Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain.
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today.
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you.
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun.

So you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again.
The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older,
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death.

Every year is getting shorter never seem to find the time.
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way
The time is gone, the song is over,
Thought I'd something more to say.

Home, home again
I like to be here when I can
And when I come home cold and tired
Its good to warm my bones beside the fire
Far away across the field
The tolling of the iron bell
Calls the faithful to their knees
To hear the softly spoken magic spells.

Time - Pink Floyd + Lyrics
http://youtu.be/MYiahoYfPGk

Posted by indianinthemachine2 on March 23, 2012

3/23/2012 — Yellowstone Supervolcano + strange ‘rumbles’ in Clintonville Wisconsin — be sure to search the terms … “marathon wisconsin volcano” … “caldron reservoir” .. and “lake superior volcanic” .

The nuclear power plant to the east is called the Kewaunee plant .. all these sites have ONE thing in common… deep earth shafts… pumped or filled full of water…. add in craton/plate pressure and a bit of deep earth magma surge underneath the plate as it gets pushed by the Pacific unrest… and you get underground explosions in Wisconsin near a dormant volcanic site.

See More :

http://indianinthemachine.wordpress.com/2012/03/23/3232012-yellowstone-supervolcano-strange-rumbles-in-clintonville-wisconsin-be-sure-to-search-the-terms-marathon-wisconsin-volcano-caldron-reservoir-and-lake-superio/

2012 Pleiadian Meditation for Gaia:

Do this meditation, with or without the soundtrack, every day possible in the lead-up to the 12.12.12! I channelled the meditation at the request of one of my Light tribe, Ka’t Mandu, who is manifesting 144,000 Light tribe to be doing a planetary meditation for cleansing all negativity within Earth and Her energetic body at at midnight Eastern Standard Time to give impetus to the Earth’s Ascension for 2012.

It turned out to be a process in which we all connect with the Core Crystal of Gaia, energising Her and speeding up the process of clearing the 2nd, 3rd and 4th dimensions so that we are more easily able to connect with the fifth dimension.

by indianinthemachine2

2012 Pleiadian Meditation for Gaia
http://youtu.be/UDIfB07eTac

Download this meditation free here: http://www.solara.org.uk (The written transcript is also on the website)

Do this meditation, with or without the soundtrack, every day possible in the lead-up to the 12.12.12! I channelled the meditation at the request of one of my Light tribe, Ka't Mandu, who is manifesting 144,000 Light tribe to be doing a planetary meditation for cleansing all negativity within Earth and Her energetic body at at midnight Eastern Standard Time to give impetus to the Earth's Ascension for 2012.

It turned out to be a process in which we all connect with the Core Crystal of Gaia, energising Her and speeding up the process of clearing the 2nd, 3rd and 4th dimensions so that we are more easily able to connect with the fifth dimension.

Love and thank you thank you to my Pleiadian friends for this meditation!

Love love love,
Solara An-Ra Goddess of the Light

2012 Meditation - Manifesting 5D SOLARA AN-RA
http://youtu.be/4DrNQJt43rA

Happy 2012 my dearest Light tribe of Gaia! What a year it has been and what a year to come ... 2012 is here at last!
My guides gave me this meditation in my morning meditation today, and it felt bliss-ful -- I hope it feels that way to you also. The music is by Robert Haig Coxon.
For the free download and/or the written transcript, see here:

http://www.solara.org.uk/meditation.aspx?element=325

Love love love
Solara An-Ra Goddess of the Light

Heavenletters #3727 In So Many Ways, February 7, 2011
Heavenletters™, bringing Earth closer to Heaven.

HEAVEN is here to reach every soul on earth to reawaken:

* Our connection to God *
* Our belief in ourselves *
* Our awareness of our shared worthiness to God *
* Peace on Earth *

God is always bringing us closer to Him.

HEAVEN #3727 In So Many Ways, February 7, 2011

God said:

Once upon a time, your mind wandered far from where you were. Your mind wandered, yet you were in your appointed place. Your mind was not and is not the key of you. Although your heart is a great key, there is a soul in the heart of you that opens up the whole Universe. The soul delivers Truth to you. It is the dawn that brings the steady sun. There is no darkness of soul, beloveds. If you do not see, it’s just that you are perhaps turned in another direction, or you have covered your eyes, or covered your soul with the trappings and trimmings of life on Earth. Just as, if you do not hear, you may have covered your ears.

What would happen if you believed in yourself? Then you would be believing in Me, for We walk together. Of course, I do not mean that you believe in your separateness. It doesn’t make sense for you to believe in yourself more than you believe in Me. I suppose that We could say that you ride on My shoulders. We accompany each other. I guide, and yet you steer. And yet I am looking out for you. Never think I trip you up. We ride together. We ride as One. You may steer, yet you don’t always know where you are going. You don’t always know where you have been. You don’t always know where you are right now.

You can repeat words you have heard, yet that is not the same as knowing where you are and what you are doing. You may tell a good story, and yet you may not have a clue. The fact is that We are riding high in the saddle. We gallop through life at the speed of light, and yet there is no hurry. There is no speed to no hurry in. There is no time. Light there is. Follow the light.

You are not chasing moonbeams. Can the light even of a moonbeam see itself? It can see an Eternal Light shining brightly within itself. Yes, the light within. The inward looks outward, and love captures itself.

There is spam that comes to your computer, and yet it does not come by itself. It is sent and sent repeatedly. You are not spam. You come from a Higher Source. You are not off an assembly line. You are birthed from the Heart of God. Even so, you stay within the Heart of God, or the Heart of God stays within you. In truth, there is no in or out. There is Oneness.

This is a new kind of math, and you only have to count up to one. If zero is the Wholeness of Everything, then it could be that one zero is all.

Do stars count themselves? There is star-ness. There is light. What other details are necessary to know? All you have to do is to look at a star, and you have deep knowledge of a star and all stars and the nature of stars. The light of the stars permeates you. The light enters you. How does starlight enter and light up your heart?

Is it through the eyes? It may also enter through the pores of your skin. Starlight seeps in and becomes you. You are born from the stars. A star of you was placed on Earth. You came to Earth, and the light of stars bounced to Earth with you, and you and I and the stars and the light of the stars are One Light that reflects the Universal Light of itself everywhere in so many ways.

Permanent Link: http://www.heavenletters.org/in-so-many-ways.html

Thank you for including this link when publishing this Heavenletter elsewhere.

Heavenletters #3731 If You Were God, February 11, 2011
Heavenletters™, bringing Earth closer to Heaven.

HEAVEN is here to reach every soul on earth to reawaken:

* Our connection to God *
* Our belief in ourselves *
* Our awareness of our shared worthiness to God *
* Peace on Earth *

God is always bringing us closer to Him.

HEAVEN #3731 If You Were God, February 11, 2011

God said:

When you have an idea, act on it. At least, don’t be so quick to dismiss your ideas. Give them a chance.

New ideas always seem far-fetched until they are accepted. Be the accepter of your own ideas.

Sometimes you have a thought of doing something nice for someone, and you dismiss it. You start to think it’s silly. The truth is that it may be the most useful thought you’ve had all day. It is always right to do a kindness.

You may begin to think that the person you would do this for might think you’re odd.

You do not do a kind act based on what the receiver of your kindness will think. You do a kind act because I have asked you to. I have woken you up to the concept that you want to do something out of the ordinary for someone. Now I am waking you up to the fact that, if you think of it, it is yours to do.

Come out of the vise of dailiness that you have squeezed yourself into. Do something different. Do something you have never done before. Astonish yourself with the truth of yourself. Bless yourself by blessing others. This is your birthright. It is your birthright to come off the back burner.

Now turn your light on. It is not the limelight you seek. It is not the limelight you get. You simply let the lighted being you are be seen. Turn that switch of love on. And leave it on. Switch no more. Let your light stay on. It will not seem so out of the way to you as it may seem now. Get used to making others happy and, consequently, yourself.

If you were God, and all were your children, what would you do, and how would you do it?

If you were a benefactor to all on Earth, what would you be thinking about?

If you could really accept what you are made of and what you are here for on Earth, how would you be different? Why aren’t you it now? There is no future in putting off the inevitable. The inevitable is your giving joy. The more joy you give, the more joyous you are.

You have put the cart before the horse. You have been looking to receive love when it is your place to give it. Can I say it more clearly than that?

This is not to say that you make yourself a martyr. It isn’t that everyone comes before you. It’s just that you recognize yourself in others. You are not a patsy. Others do not rule you. You rule yourself. You may think you are giving someone else a break. You may think you are giving someone else a gift.

You are giving yourself a break. You are giving yourself a gift. The gift of kindness you give is the natural next step. You do not give over yourself. You give of yourself.

Maybe your kindness sometimes is not to have to let those you find unlovely know that you find them unlovely. You don’t have to be their best friend. You can shed a little light on them. That’s all.

And when your heart is full for some people, don’t repress yourself. Enlighten yourself.

It is natural for you to love. You are not trying to make amends. You are not trying to get a high score. You simply are being Who you really are when you are done with the shackles that bind you.

Permanent Link: http://www.heavenletters.org/if-you-were-god.html

Thank you for including this link when publishing this Heavenletter elsewhere.

Heavenletters #3734 What Is It You Cry For, Beloveds, February 14, 2011
Heavenletters™, bringing Earth closer to Heaven.

HEAVEN is here to reach every soul on earth to reawaken:

* Our connection to God *
* Our belief in ourselves *
* Our awareness of our shared worthiness to God *
* Peace on Earth *

God is always bringing us closer to Him.

HEAVEN #3734 What Is It You Cry For, Beloveds, February 14, 2011

God said:

Sadness soothes you. Let’s admit that. You apply sadness sometimes like a salve. You take comfort from all your sad thoughts. Even when they make you cry, you apply your thoughts and find a reassuring comfort. This is okay, you know. What you have to do is to admit this.

Even your sense of guilt carries sweetness. Even your loneliness carries sweetness. You like feeling. You like feeling sadness. Don’t protest. If you didn’t like it, you wouldn’t conjure it so much. Let those tears slide from your eyes. Reap the sadness, and let it go where all sadness goes. It gets purified and flows back again. It gets sweeter and sweeter.

Don’t deny this. You take comfort in what was and is no more. And, yet, what I wish to convey to you, is that the lost events and people you miss exist as much now as they ever did. It’s just that you can’t go back to the time and physical existence they offered. Of course, at the time, the events and people maybe didn’t give you the comfort you take from them now.

And, so, in your very human way, you try to pick up the stitch you dropped so long ago. You were in such a hurry that you didn’t know you had dropped a stitch until you were long past it. So what is it that you cry for, beloveds? For whom is your sadness? It is for you that you cannot mend what you once did not know enough then to prevent and cannot mend now no matter how much you wish to, no matter how much you wish you had once.

The life you passed by so quickly once upon a time, you would get down on your knees to now. You would kiss away tears you once caused another. You would kiss away your complicity in a play you would now act out differently.

Kiss away your own tears now. Bless yourself, and get up off your knees. The sadness of your long-gone past is fleeing. Of course, that very flight contributes to your sadness too. It is another cause for you to be sad that you can’t quite so completely hold on to the sadness that you once held so close to you. Oh, no, you are even losing your total sadness.

Of course, you also have qualms for the future, yet, rather than sadness, qualms for the future may tend to be more like dread. Certainly, sadness is preferable to dread.
Now I suggest that you have gladness for the past and for the future, why not?

For the past, why not be glad that you care? Why not be glad that now you have grown and can see now from a greater perspective than you did then. You would, if you could, go back and change how you reacted back then, but, beloveds, you can’t. You can only tip your hat and say, “Sorry. I’m sorry now. I would love every minute with you now. What an oaf I was not to love every moment with you then. I could kick myself.

Now you are very tender to me, and you bring out all the sweetness in me that I was not aware of then and am so acutely aware of now. And so I have grown, and you whom I miss have been part of my growth. I thank you for all that I learned from you.

I’m sorry it took me so long to learn. May you know my love now. Maybe you always knew, and I’m the only one who didn’t.

“As for the future, let me forgive myself and let go of events and everybody right now, and regrets will cease to exist.”

Permanent Link: http://www.heavenletters.org/what-is-it-you-cry-for-beloveds.html

Thank you for including this link when publishing this Heavenletter elsewhere.

Heavenletters #3738 It Is All an Idea, February 18, 2011
Heavenletters™, bringing Earth closer to Heaven.

HEAVEN is here to reach every soul on earth to reawaken:

* Our connection to God *
* Our belief in ourselves *
* Our awareness of our shared worthiness to God *
* Peace on Earth *

God is always bringing us closer to Him.

HEAVEN #3738 It Is All an Idea, February 18, 2011

God said:

When you have the sense that you are overdoing, no one makes you. No situation makes you. If you are doing too much, stretching yourself too thin, overextending yourself, no one and no situation makes you. You are under your own steam. You are not imprisoned nor do you have to be under someone else’s will.

By and large, no one is overdoing. For the most part, My children who feel they are doing too much are living with the idea that they are doing too much. The idea alone is enough to stretch you beyond your limits. It is all an idea.

There is no too much except as the idea says that there is. The idea has you in its grips. Somehow you gleaned the idea that you are doing more than you can do. That idea has taken hold. And life becomes too much for you. The idea is enough to do you in. Ideas can be expansive. Ideas can also constrict, squeeze, hamper, disengage, and make themselves come true. Sometimes no ideas are best.

Remember the true story of a tiny woman who was able to lift a car off her child? She never would have attempted it except to save her child’s life. On an ordinary day, she wouldn’t have had the incentive. In addition, she would have convinced herself beforehand that it was impossible for her to lift a car. That day she did lift the car, she had an incentive. And what was her incentive on that day? It was love.

If she had tried to lift the car in order to win a million dollars, her love for a million dollars would not have given her the strength. It must be, then, that love of money is not love. Or it is a watered-down love. Love of a child is another story. You can be sure the mother wasn’t thinking: “Am I strong enough?” There was no thought between the need, her impulse, and the deed.

When you have the sense from day to day that you are overdoing, you may have to slow down, not because you are overdoing, but because your mind told you so. Your mind may have told you that you are giving more than you are getting, that you are wearing yourself out for nothing because you are not seeing the appreciation in whatever form you require it.

The child saved by the mother did not have to repay the mother with even a word. That the child lived was all the reward the mother wanted. That the child could breathe, the mother could breathe, and her heart could be so grateful.

If you find yourself even slightly overworked and overwrought, it is likely that your mind has told you that you are not fully appreciated, and you have chosen to go by that idea. You have chosen to be an under-appreciated overworked martyr.

Perhaps you cannot bring yourself to say no. Perhaps you have another idea in your mind, the idea that you must be all wonderful, that you must be everything to everyone. Unless you believed that, you would be able to say no when warranted without blinking an eye.

The same mother who lifted the car to save her child’s life would not give her child every toy car the child reached out for. If she did, she would be placating her own image, the idea that she is a perfect all-loving mother.

Many people have to learn to say Yes, and many other people have to learn to say No. And many have to learn when to say Yes and when to say No.

If you are too stretched, you have chosen the stretching. You are responsible. No one but you.

Permanent Link: http://www.heavenletters.org/it-is-all-an-idea.html

Thank you for including this link when publishing this Heavenletter elsewhere.

2012: The Year of Freedom, Courage, & Change!
http://youtu.be/Q35W_W8i4kk

Archangel Michael messages for 2012, Doreen Virtue
http://youtu.be/PfTnwFpSqhI

Doreen Virtue about 2012 and the end of Mayan Calendar
http://youtu.be/4D93EYvxxgc

This is the best video regarding the year 2012 ! ... ( November 2010 )
http://youtu.be/vv83H4evKiM

Chicken Korma Recipe

Diet Non-Vegetarian
Cooking Method Sauteed
Difficulty Moderate
Course / Dish Main Course
Main Ingredient Chicken

Description

Chicken korma curry is a very popular Mugalai dish originating from North India. It’s a mild creamy chicken dish served in most Indian restaurants. A popular curry dish in the west along with vindaloo and madras.

Ingredients At a glance Serves 4

1 medium-sized chicken
2 large onion
2 cloves garlic
1 small root of ginger
500g tomatoes
2 small dried red chillies
6 cloves
2 sticks cinnamon
2 cardamon pods
oil
8 black peppercorns
4 pots yoghurt
1 teaspoon turmeric
A pinch of saffron
Salt
1 teaspoon blanched almonds

Take the skin off the chicken, bone and slice off flesh.

Slice onions, garlic and ginger.

Chop tomatoes and chillies.

Brown cloves and cardamon in a little oil and add onions, pepper, garlic, ginger and chillies. Fry for 5 minutes.

Add chicken and cook till its brown.

Mix the saffron and turmeric into the yoghurt.

Pour mixture into pan with tomatoes, cover and leave to simmer for about 45 minutes.

Add almonds and cook over a low heat for 10 minutes.

Additional Tips -Serve with basmati rice or naan bread.

Madras beef curry

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 2 tablespoons ground coriander
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon chilli powder (optional)
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 teaspoons grated ginger
• 2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1kg chuck steak, cut into 2.5cm cubes
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 cup beef stock
• steamed basmati rice, raita and mint leaves, to serve

Method

1.Combine coriander, cumin, turmeric, pepper, chilli, garlic, ginger and lemon juice in a bowl to form a paste. Set aside.

2.Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large saucepan over high heat. Add half the beef. Cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes, or until browned. Transfer to a bowl. Repeat with remaining oil and beef.

3.Reduce heat to medium. Add spice paste. Cook for 1 minute. Return beef to saucepan. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute, or until meat is coated with paste. Add tomato paste and stock. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover. Cook for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until beef is tender.

4.Remove lid. Cook, uncovered, for a further 15 minutes, or until sauce has reduced and thickened slightly. Serve with rice and raita. Top with mint leaves.

Notes & tips

• Shortcut: You can substitute the spice paste in step 1 with Madras curry paste. It's hot, so adjust the amount according to your taste.

Chicken Vindaloo

Serves: 4

You Will Need:

• 3 chicken breasts
• splash lemon juice
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 2 medium onions
• 5 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• ½ tsp mustard seeds
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp chilli powder
• pinch salt
• coriander leaves , to garnish
• 1 Bowl
• 1 Saucepan
• 1 metal or wooden spoon

Step 1: Make a Paste

With the lemon juice, vinegar, onion, mustard seeds and spices, make a paste. Add the chicken to the marinade and leave for at least 3 to 4 hours.

Step 2: Fry the Onion and spices

Fry the onion in oil until it has turned translucent, and then add the garlic, ginger, spices, salt and stir.

Step 3: Add the chicken

Add the marinade chicken and cook until the chicken is opaque in colour.

Step 4: Simmer

Reduce and simmer for 20 minutes or until the Chicken is cooked, stirring constantly. If needed, add more water to prevent the curry becoming too thick or dry.

Step 5: Serve
Serve hot with rice and garnished with the whole coriander leaves sprinkled over the top.

Ode to the poppy

Article By: Cynthia Ross Cravit

Oct 30, 2011

The poppy has been an international symbol of remembrance since the 19th century Napoleonic Wars, over 110 years before it was adopted by Canada.

In November, Canadians wear scarlet poppies to pay tribute to those who have died in war and military operations. At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month — the time the Armistice of World War I was signed in 1918 — people across the country are asked to observe two minutes of silence to remember those servicemen and women who have sacrificed their lives.

The poppy has been an international symbol of remembrance since the 19th century Napoleonic Wars, over 110 years before it was adopted by Canada. A record from the time reflects on how the destruction wrought by war transformed bare land into fields of blood-red flowers which grew around the bodies of fallen soldiers.

Scarlet poppies (popaver rhoeas), long known as the corn poppy because it flourished as a weed in grain fields, grew abundantly in the trenches of the war zone. Artillery shells and shrapnel stirred up the earth and exposed the seeds to the light they needed to germinate. While the seeds of the flower can remain dormant for years, they are known to blossom spectacularly once the soil is churned.

The poppy became a lasting memorial o the fallen in Canada and the Commonwealth due largely to Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae, a Canadian Medical Officer during the First World War. During the Battle of Ypres in 1915, Lt.-Col. McCrae wrote the poem In Flanders Fields when he saw poppies growing beside a grave of a close friend who had died in battle.

While the poppy has become a modern symbol of sacrifice, its legend reaches back thousands of years. The flower has been found in Egyptian tombs dating back 3,000 years. Homer mentions poppies in the Iliad when he compares the head of a dying warrior to that of a hanging poppy flower.

And in ancient Greece, poppies were considered sacred to Hypnos, the god of sleep. Ancient imagery depicts Hypnos with poppies in his hands and crowning his head. The doorway to his temple was also decorated with poppy blossoms. Hypnos was thought to bring prophetic dreams and relief to those suffering from grief or emotional pain.

Ancient Greeks thought that poppies were a sign of fertility. Poppy seeds were thought to induce vitality and strength so Greek athletes were given mixtures of poppy seeds, honey, and wine.

The Romans knew the god Hypnos as Somnus, which is echoed in the flower’s Latin name Papaver somniferum — somnus ferre — bringer of sleep. The poppy was also associated with Thanatos, or Hades the Lord of Dead, and of eternal sleep.

Poppies can also be linked to the Mogul leader, Genghis Khan. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Mogul Emperor led his warriors on campaigns south to India, and west to Russia as far as the Black Sea. According to legend, pure white poppies erupted on churned up battlefields drenched with blood.

(And while Oriental poppies contain opium, the corn poppy, does not. And remember when Dorothy fell asleep in a field of flowers in the Wizard of Oz? The flowers were poppies.)

The first artificial poppies as memorial symbols were distributed in Canada in 1921. Today the volunteer donations from the distribution of millions of poppies are an important source of revenue for the Royal Canadian Legion that goes toward various programs helping ex-servicemen and women.
In Flanders Fields


In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

John McCrae, 1915




From poppies to peace: Poem remembers the fallen
Article By: John Macdonald - Aug 05, 2011

Learn the story behind one of Remembrance Day's most famous poems.

Undoubtedly one of the world’s most famous poems, written by a Canadian doctor on a blood-soaked battlefield in war-ravaged Belgium during World War 1, In Flanders Fields has become an international plea for world peace.

Dr. John McCrae had just buried one of his closest friends, killed by a direct hit from a German shell. The friend, Lt. Alexis Helmer of Ottawa, was buried in a crude grave marked by a simple wooden cross. Wild poppies were just beginning to bloom between the crosses marking the many graves.

McCrae had been in the trenches every day for several weeks attending hundreds of wounded and dying soldiers near Ypres, Belgium, in an area traditionally called “Flanders.”

“It was a nightmare,” he wrote his mother. “For 17 days and 17 nights, none of us have had our clothes off… gunfire and rifle fire never ceased.”

McCrae sat in the morning sun on May 3, 1915, outside his makeshift field hospital, listening to the chirping of birds amid the thunder of the guns. He looked over at the nearby cemetery with its rows and rows of crosses amid brightly colored poppies.

Tearing a page out of his dispatcbook, he quickly wrote a short poem of just 15 lines, yet an immortal 15 lines –

In Flanders Fields In Flanders fields, the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch, be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

John McCrae

It was printed anonymously on Dec. 8, 1915, in Punch, a leading British magazine. The short but moving poem struck a nerve, and struck a chord with soldiers and civilians alike. Within two years, it had been reprinted throughout the British Empire and the United States, playing a major role in attracting public donations for the war effort through the sale of Victory Bonds.

But McCrae never returned home to enjoy the acclaim. He had suffered much in three years of war, including a poison gas attack which seriously aggravated his asthma. Yet throughout his time, he worked with little rest and under horrendous conditions to care for the wounded.

McCrae died on January 8, 1918, of pneumonia and meningitis in the military hospital at Wimereux, just up the coast from Boulogne, France, and was buried the next day with full military honours in the Wimereux cemetery. A hundred nursing sisters in uniform formed a line at the graveside. One later wrote, “All came as we did, because we loved him so.”

Canadians mourned the death of their soldier/doctor/poet with nation-wide tributes, including a stained-glass window at McGill University with the inscription: “Pathologist, Poet, Soldier, Physician, Man Among Men.”

Famed Canadian writer Stephen Leacock wrote in tribute: “John McCrae’s poem In Flanders Fields will live as long as the memory of the heroic struggle of the Canadians that formed its inspiration.”
Today, while millions know the poem In Flanders Fields, few know anything of the author.

John McCrae was born on Nov. 30, 1872, in Guelph, the second son of a soldier, Lt. Col. David McCrae. Always interested in the military, he joined the Militia field battery in Guelph, commanded by his father. He also attended the University of Toronto and graduated as a medical doctor in 1898 — it was while at university, he developed a flair for writing poetry. McCrae took part in the Boer War, not as a doctor but as an officer in the Guelph contingent of the Canadian Field Artillery.

Following the Boer War, he dropped his military connections and concentrated on medicine, gaining renown for his work in Montreal, lecturing at McGill and other universities, even writing several medical textbooks. When Canada declared war on Germany on Aug. 4, 1914, McCrae was one of the first to join, as brigade-surgeon to the Canadian Forces Artillery with the rank of major.

McRae’s homestead in Guelph, a small stone cottage turned into a museum, sits on a quiet street overlooking the Speed River. In 1966, a group of Guelph citizens purchased the cottage, built in 1857, to honor McCrae’s memory. Today, it’s a small but interesting museum, with several rooms displaying furniture from the year McCrae was born plus historical displays illustrating his life.

This Nov. 30 will be a major event at the homestead as it marks the 125th anniversary of McCrae’s birth.

“November 30 will be a major happening here,” says Val Harrison, program co-ordinator at the Centre. “We’ll be opening a new exhibit on John McCrae’s life and celebrating his birthday with parades and church services. Even a big birthday cake.”

For the past eight years, the Guelph Amateur Radio Club has used the homestead as a base to broadcast during Remembrance Day Week, transmitting messages of peace to thousands of “ham” radio operators around the world. Club members will be sending and receiving messages at the homestead from Nov. 4 to 11. And beside the cottage, a memorial cenotaph and garden of remembrance is the scene of many ceremonies of remembrance by Guelph veterans.

After McCrae’s tragic death in France, Moina Michael, in charge of a New York YWCA hostel, was intrigued by the concept of a poppy as symbol of peace after reading In Flanders Fields and distributed some for people to mark Armistice Day. A friend took her idea back to France and set war widows and orphans to work making artificial poppies to raise funds specifically for war-torn areas.

In 1921, the British Legion picked up the idea and within a year, it had spread to Canada, United States, New Zealand and Australia. And today, that symbol of peace, the poppy, along with McRae’s famous poem, lives on as a reminder of the sacrifices made by armed forces in numerous conflicts throughout the decades.



Giving birth as bombs fall

Article By: Jenny Hetherington
May 13, 2010


An unsung hero: the amazing story of one woman's selfless acts of bravery and compassion.

History is not kind to the humble. Stories celebrating selfless acts of bravery and compassion are often never told because the heroes shy away from praise and attention. My mother, Halina Pisarski, was one of these special people.

Her story begins in May 1940, three days after Germany invaded Belgium. My father was off fighting for the British forces. Nine months pregnant and with 8- and 10-year old sons in tow, she boarded a train hoping to reach the relative safety of France.

It took three days for that train to cover 75 kilometres. During the trek there was nothing to eat or drink. What little food she had brought along was quickly exhausted. Things seemed impossibly desperate – and then she went into labour. The train stopped and she found herself stranded somewhere in southern Belgium, near the city of Tournai. How she protected her children from repeated attacks by low-flying aircraft strafing the train with bombs and machine-gun fire is a story in itself.

Now in full labour, she managed to get to a makeshift hospital where she met a young student nurse who helped deliver the baby. And there, in the middle of a war zone, I was born.

My brothers were told to wait outside. In all the confusion, a team of Red Cross workers collecting orphaned or stranded children picked them up and put them in their vehicle. An hour after I was delivered, the bombing became so intense that the building was evacuated. Clothed in only a short hospital gown and wrapped in a sheet, holding her one-hour-old infant close to her, my mother was put in an ambulance with severely wounded soldiers. The ambulance never had a chance to leave.

An explosion ripped off the roof of the vehicle and killed the driver. My mother somehow got out. She grabbed a coat from a dead soldier and rummaged around other dead bodies for handkerchiefs and anything else useful for herself and her newborn.

She was frantic over her missing sons but with no idea where to look and night falling, she took refuge in a barn with several other stranded women. One was a 17-year-old girl who had also just given birth but was unable to breastfeed. Another was a nurse who was caring for a baby whose mother died during childbirth. She too had no milk to feed the infant, so my mother fed all three newborns, one after the other. At night, the women had to stay awake to chase away rats. My mother remained in that barn for a few days in order to regain her strength. She begged at a nearby German army encampment for food for her as well as the other women.

My mother eventually took to the road and started looking for my brothers. She walked from orphanage to orphanage, asking every person she met if they knew where displaced children might have been taken. During the day, when one diaper was soiled, she would rinse it in a puddle of water and hang it on her back to dry. At one point, she took shelter for the night in the entrance of a chapel only to find out in the morning that there had been a sign outside the gated grounds with the warning: “Beware: Mine Field.”

And on she walked. Another night, she came upon a large deserted house. She found her way to one of the bedrooms and collapsed on a bed, completely exhausted from carrying her baby all day under a hot May sun. She had barely fallen asleep when a German soldier arrived and warned her that the house had been requisitioned as a hospital for German soldiers. However, he took pity on us and told her she could spend the night. He even brought her some hot soup to eat. She finally found my brothers at a nunnery and returned home to Brussels.

At this point, I should mention that my mother was Polish, and that she had dark brown eyes and black hair. Even though she had attended university, the only work she could find was cleaning houses. It was wartime and people were wary of foreigners. She was constantly on her guard on her way to and from work because the Gestapo would frequently pick up anyone who looked remotely Jewish.

In 1943, even though I was barely three, I remember the Gestapo coming to our apartment building to take away the Jewish family who lived downstairs. By a stroke of good fortune, the youngest daughter was not at home that evening. A few days later, my mother was approached and asked to take the little girl to Antwerp where a family would hide the child. My mother accepted the mission without hesitation.

I vividly remember how she recounted that story to me. There was a German officer seated on the train across from my mother and the little girl. He kept glancing back and forth between her and the girl. While he was staring, all she could think about was her three-year-old daughter and her now 11- and 13-year-old boys at home alone. They had been strictly instructed not to leave the apartment. She battled slipping into panic. What would happen to them if anything happened to her?

When she arrived in Antwerp, the arrangement called for my mother to sit on a bench with the girl. A woman would come, sit on the other side of the child and my mother would leave. However, my mother was so traumatized by the ride on the train that her legs were frozen in place and incapable of supporting her. Finally as darkness came, she found the strength to get up and board the train back to Brussels.

These were not her only heroic deeds. She sent parcels to that Jewish family in the German work camp even though she barely earned enough to feed herself and her children. I still have the postcards they sent her asking for food and clothing. I remember how she told me that she had had to work one full day to purchase one egg for me! For three long years after I was born, she pumped her breasts every single day and took the excess milk to the Red Cross to feed preemies and newborns whose mothers had died or couldn’t produce breast milk and who could not properly digest cow’s milk. She was given a booklet where they tracked the number of litres of milk she donated! I still have that precious document in my possession. She only stopped when her teeth literally started to disintegrate from lack of calcium. Any cow’s milk she worked so hard to purchase was for us children; she never drank a drop.

There are only two of us left now, a younger brother and I. Who will remember my mother when we are gone? I do not want her name to pass into oblivion after I am no longer here to cherish and honour her memory and her contributions. I decided to contact Plan Canada, an international development and relief organization, I have long been supporting. They set up an Endowment Fund in my mother’s name to keep her memory alive. It is designed so that all the proceeds go toward Plan Canada’s Children of War Fund. I know my mother would be proud of helping children in conflict zones even after her passing. Through this fund, the legacy of her courage and goodness will live on.

I had the privilege of calling this great woman “Maman.” To others, she was simply Halina Pisarski.
Jenny Hetherington lives in Toronto. For more information on setting up a legacy or endowment fund, please go to Plancanada.ca/waystogive.

Sparkling vanilla Christmas cookies

Hang these from a Christmas tree or pack them into boxes as end-of-term gifts for teachers and friends.

Makes 20 biscuits

Preparation and cooking times

Prep 10 mins
Cook 12 mins
Plus chilling time (raw dough)

Ingredients

• 140g icing sugar , sieved
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg yolk
• 250g butter , cut into small cubes
• 375g plain flour , sieved

• 200g icing sugar , sieved
• edible food colouring , optional
• edible gold and silver balls
• approx 2m thin ribbon cut into 10cm lengths

1. Tip the icing sugar, vanilla extract, egg yolk and butter into a mixing bowl, then stir together with a wooden spoon (or pulse in a food processor until well combined). Add the flour and mix to a firm dough. Shape the dough into two flat discs and wrap in clingfilm. Chill for 20-30 mins. Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5 and line two baking sheets with non-stick baking paper.

2. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to about the thickness of two £1 coins. Cut out Christmassy shapes (use a cutter if you like) and place on the baking sheets. Using the tip of a skewer, cut a small hole in the top of each cookie. Bake for 10-12 mins until lightly golden.

3. Lift the biscuits onto a wire rack to cool. Meanwhile, mix the icing sugar with a few drops of cold water to make a thick, but still runny icing. Colour with edible food colouring, if you like. Spread it over the cooled biscuits, decorate with edible balls and thread with ribbon when dry.

Nutrition Per serving
233 kcalories, protein 2g, carbohydrate 34g, fat 11 g, saturated fat 7g, fibre 1g, sugar 19g, salt 0.2 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, December 2005.

Great Christmas Cookie Recipes: Walnut Linzer Cookies
Posted by julievr on December 7th, 2011

The holiday season somehow makes baking more enticing; I’m more inclined to make the effort and bake fancy cookies at this time of year than any other. Linzer cookies are some of my favorites – simple butter cookies sandwiched with jam, with a window to allow a peek of sweet colour. If you can find tiny star, gingerbread man or other festive cut-outs, use it to cut a shape out of the top layer. Finely chopped walnuts makes them even more festive.

Believed to have originated in the City of Linz, Germany, Linzer cookies are traditionally two round cookies held together with a layer of preserves or jam. The raspberry fruit filling used in this soft buttery cookie complements the nutty flavour of the walnuts.

How to toast walnuts: In large, dry skillet over medium-high heat, toast walnut halves or pieces, stirring occasionally, until lightly brown, about 1 to 2 minutes.

Walnut Linzer Cookies

Pastry:

1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup California walnuts, toasted and finely ground
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Icing:

1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp rum or vanilla
1/4 cup California walnuts, finely chopped

Filling:

1 cup raspberry jam

Preheat oven to 350˚F.

In bowl beat butter and sugar on high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
In small bowl whisk together flour, walnuts and cinnamon.

Stir flour mixture into butter until well blended. Divide dough into three pieces and shape into discs. Wrap well with plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out each disc to 1/8-inch thickness. Using a 1 1/2 inch round fluted cookie cutter, cut dough into rounds. Use a small cutter to make holes in the centre of half of the rounds. Arrange on parchment-lined baking sheets about 1-inch (2.5 cm) apart and chill in fridge for 15 minutes.

Bake the cookies in the centre of preheated oven, 1 sheet at a time, until cookies are pale golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer to rack and let cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.

In bowl, whisk together icing sugar and rum. Brush over cookies with cutouts and sprinkle with finely chopped walnuts. Spoon approximately 1 tsp (5 mL) of the jam onto the bottom side of the solid cookies. Top with cutout cookies. Repeat with remaining cookies.

Makes approximately 3 dozen cookies.

Spring Daisy Apricot Linzer Cookies
Posted by thenaptimechef on May 11th, 2011

Spring Daisy Linzer Cookies adapted from Ina Garten

Ingreidents

3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon good quality extract
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¾ cup apricot preserves

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat.

2. Sift together flour and salt in a bowl and set aside.

3. In a mix cream the butter and sugar until totally combined. Then, add the vanilla and lemon zest, mix again. With the mixer on low, add in the flour/salt mixture until the dough comes together. Do not overbeat. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

4. Place the dough on a floured surface and roll out until ¼ inch thick. Cut out rounds in a 3-inch round cookie cutter. With ½ of the rounds, cut out a smaller shape. Use extra dough to form a few more cookies. Place all cookies on the cookies sheets and bake for 20-25 minutes.

5. Allow cookies to cool to room temperature. Then, spread preserves on the bottom cookie and place the cut-out cookie on top. Dust the top of cookies with confectioners’ sugar.

Twinkling star cupcakes

Prep time: 1 hr, plus 2 hrs drying
Cook time: 20 min
Serves: 12

Pastel pink and green icing and sparkling, glittery stars, make Angela Nilsen's pretty cakes perfect to serve at parties

Ingredients

For the decorations

• 250 g ready-to-roll whiteicing
• claret and mint green edible pastefood colouring
• small silvercoloured dragees
• edible glitter, such as Disco white hologram by Edable Art

For the cupcakes

• 115 g softenedbutter, cubed
• 115 g goldencaster sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 125 g self-raising flour
• 25 g groundalmonds
• ½ tsp almond extract

For the icing

• 250 g fondanticing sugar
• claret and mint green edible pastefood colouring

Method

1.For the decorations: slice off a quarter of the ready-to-roll icing (wrap the rest to prevent it drying out) then colour one half of it pastel pink and one half pastel green. Wrap both colours in cling film.

2. On a work surface lightly sprinkled with icing sugar, roll out the reserved white icing. Cut out 12 white stars using an 8cm diameter star cutter. (You will need to re-roll the trimmings.) Place a 3.5-4cm star cutter in the centre of one star and cut out a smaller star, so you have a large cut-out star and a smaller star. Repeat to give 12 cut-out and 12 smaller white stars. Keep re-rolling the trimmings to give you enough white stars.

3. Press a few silver dragees into the smallest white stars and lay all the stars on a large board lined with baking parchment.

4. Using a 5-5.5cm star cutter, roll out the pink and green icings and cut out 6 stars from each colour. Lay them by the white stars, brush each one with a little edible glitter, then leave them all to dry and firm up, about 1½-2 hrs.

5. For the cupcakes: preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and line a 12-hole bun tin with silver paper cases.

6. Tip the butter, sugar, eggs and flour into a large bowl and beat together with an electric hand mixer for 1½-2 minutes until the mixture is light and well mixed. Using a large metal spoon, lightly fold in the ground almonds and almond extract.

7. Divide the mixture between the paper cases and bake for 20 minutes until risen. Leave in the tin for a couple of minutes, then lift the cakes onto a wire rack and leave until cold.

8. For the icing: stir about 2 tablespoons water into the fondant icing sugar to give a smooth, thickish icing. Remove half to a second bowl and colour one batch pastel pink and the other pastel green, using the edible food colourings. Spoon the icings over the cooled cakes so that the tops are almost covered and leave to set for a few minutes.

9. Arrange one large white star, one medium coloured star (using pink stars on the green iced cakes, and green stars on the pink iced ones) then one small white star on top of each cupcake, securing with a little of the fondant icing if necessary.

Death by chocolate cupcake
By: Lisa Harris

Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Serves: makes 12

Chunky chocolate chip sponge, a swirl of decadent frosting and a topping made from all your favourite chocolate bars – can you handle Lisa Harris’s Death by Chocolate cupcake?

Ingredients

For the sponge

• 100 g self-raising flour, sifted
• 145 g goldencaster sugar
• 40 g butter, at room temperature
• 20 g cocoa powder
• 120 ml wholemilk
• 1 largeegg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp instant coffee, dissolved in 1tsp hot water
• 100 g 70% cocoadark chocolate, cut into chunks

For the frosting

• 225 g butter
• 350 g icing sugar, sifted
• 50 g cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp wholemilk

To decorate

• Assortedchocolate bars, cut into small pieces (such as Mars bars, twix, flake, maltesers, chocolate buttons…)

Method

1. For the sponge: preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and line a 12-hole tin with cupcake paper cases. Tip the flour, sugar, butter and cocoa powder into a food processor and blitz on a slow speed for one minute, until you achieve a sandy consistency.

2. Gradually pour in half of the milk and beat until just incorporated. Don’t worry if it looks a little messy at this stage – it will come together! In a separate bowl, whisk the remaining milk together with the egg, vanilla essence and coffee. Pour into the batter and beat for a couple of minutes until smooth, scraping down the side of the bowl to catch any unmixed ingredients as you go. Fold through the chocolate chunks with a spoon.

3. Divide the mixture between the 12 paper cases, filling each one up two-thirds full. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until the sponge bounces back when prodded with a finger. Leave to cool on a wire rack while you make the frosting.

4. For the frosting: Tip the butter, icing sugar and cocoa powder into a food processor and beat until well combined. Add the milk and then beat again for a couple of minutes until light and fluffy.

5. When the sponges have cooled completely, carefully spoon a third of the frosting into a piping bag and use it to decorate the first four cupcakes. Repeat until you have finished them all. Alternatively, just use a palette knife to spread about 2 tbsp of frosting onto each cupcake.

6. Decorate as you like with different chocolate bar pieces.

Cooks Tips...

Leftover frosting? Try sandwiching two digestive biscuits together with a dollop for a quick pudding.

Don't worry if your cupcake comes out of the oven looking a little flat - it's supposed to happen! A flat sponge is ideal when it comes to frosting the cupcake.

Christmas cupcakes

These beautiful and classy little cakes make lovely gifts, and kids will enjoy decorating them too

Makes 12

Preparation and cooking times

Prep 40 mins
Cook 45 mins
Can be frozen un-iced

Ingredients

• 200g dark muscovado sugar
• 175g butter , chopped
• 700g luxury mixed dried fruits
• 50g glacé cherries
• 2 tsp grated fresh root ginger
• zest and juice 1 orange
• 100ml dark rum , brandy or orange juice
• 85g/3oz pecan nuts, roughly chopped
• 3 large eggs , beaten
• 85g ground almonds
• 200g plain flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 400g pack ready-rolled marzipan (we used Dr Oetker)
• 4 tbsp warm apricot jam or shredless marmalade
• 500g pack fondant icing sugar
• icing sugar , for dusting

• 6 gold and 6 silver muffin cases
• 6 gold and 6 silver sugared almonds
• snowflake sprinkles

1. Tip the sugar, butter, dried fruit, whole cherries, ginger, orange zest and juice into a large pan. Pour over the rum, brandy or juice, then put on the heat and slowly bring to the boil, stirring frequently to melt the butter. Reduce the heat and bubble gently, uncovered for 10 mins, stirring every now and again to make sure the mixture doesn't catch on the bottom of the pan. Set aside for 30 mins to cool.

2. Stir the nuts, eggs and ground almonds into the fruit, then sift in the flour, baking powder and spices. Stir everything together gently but thoroughly. Your batter is ready.

3. Heat oven to 150C/130C fan/gas 2. Scoop the cake mix into 12 deep muffin cases (an ice-cream scoop works well), then level tops with a spoon dipped in hot water. Bake for 35-45 mins until golden and just firm to touch. A skewer inserted should come out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

4. Unravel the marzipan onto a work surface lightly dusted with icing sugar. Stamp out 12 rounds, 6cm across. Brush the cake tops with apricot jam, top with a marzipan round and press down lightly.

5. Make up the fondant icing to a spreading consistency, then swirl on top of each cupcake. Decorate with sugared almonds and snowflakes, then leave to set. Will keep in a tin for 3 weeks.

833 kcalories, protein 9g, carbohydrate 139g, fat 29 g, saturated fat 9g, fibre 3g, sugar 125g, salt 0.44 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, December 2009.

Christmas Tree Cup Cakes

Makes 12

Ingredients

1 quantity buttermilk sponge mixture

For the decoration

• 1 quantity meringue buttercream
• Green food colouring paste
• Edible green glitter
• Coloured sugar balls
• Gold and silver sugar stars

Equipment

• 1–2 muffin tins, lined with 12 brown paper cupcake cases
• Large piping bag, fitted with a medium star-shaped nozzle

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4. Divide the sponge mixture between the cupcake cases, filling them two-thirds full.

2. Bake on the middle shelf of the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until golden, well risen and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

3. Put three-quarters of the buttercream in a bowl and tint it green using the food colouring paste. Leave the rest untinted and spread some of this over the top of each cold cupcake.

4. Fill the piping bag with the green frosting and, working from the centre, pipe pointed branch shapes towards the edges of the cupcake. Keep doing this, turning the cupcake as you go, until you have the bottom of a tree. Repeat with the next layer up, making the branches shorter. Carry on with more layers, making the branches ever shorter as you get to the top of the tree.

5. Dust with green glitter and decorate with coloured sugar balls. Top with a gold or silver star.