Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness around the world.

February 14, 2008

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Today?s Announcement

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Happy Birthday Nell Berry: nellberry07@comcast.net

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Today?s valentine day?s issue is brought to you exclusively by Hartson Dowd; Happy valentines day everyone.

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Congratulations go out to Cynthia Groopman who just published her 500^th piece with Storytime Tapestry.? She has posted more articles/poems here than any other writer/poet for Storytime Tapestry to date.

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Don?t forget to order your copy of Angels Watching Over Me, the story of an ordinary woman facing less than ordinary challenges.? Angels Watching Over Me is a story of family love, sacrifices, poverty and an undying faith that makes heroes out of all of us. Here is the link in case you have forgotten it: http://www.lulu.com/content/964306

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Important notice: Storytime Tapestry is a free e-zine, however donations are always needed to help with the operating expenses of running the newsletter and to keep Storytime Tapestry the quality newsletter you are so accustomed to.?? You can make your donations to paypal at: winterose@videotron.ca, or if you would prefer to use the mail system contact the publisher at the same email address: winterose@videotron.ca

Today?s Stories

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??~**~**~

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? If one loves, one dares not reason; if one reasons, it is difficult to love.

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St Valentine's Day:

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St Valentine was a priest who was killed because he sheltered Christians from the Romans who wanted to persecute them.? The fourteenth of February is his saint's day and has become the day when friends and lovers exchange greetings and presents.? Valentine cards were introduced in Victorian times.? People used to say that this was the day on which birds began to choose their partners and build their nests.

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???????? Muse, bid the morn awake,

???????? Sad winter now declines;

???????? Each bird doth choose a mate,

???????? This day St Valentine's.

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Little-Known Valentine's Day Facts:

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*? ?In 406, Pope Gelasius set aside February 14 as the date to honour St Valentine, commercial valentines first appeared around 1800.

*?? Credit for creating the first valentine in the U.S. goes to Esther Howland, student at? Mt. Holyoke College, around 1830.

*?? Alexander Graham Bell applied for his patent on the telephone, on Valentine's Day, 1876.

*?? At the home of Theodore Roosevelt in New York City, his mother died of typhoid fever and his wife Alice died of Bright's disease, both on February 14, 1884.

*?? Chaim Weizmann was elected first president of Isreal on February 14, 1949.

*?? Christopher Latham Sholes, inventor of the first practical typewriter, was born Feb. 14, 1819.

*?? The first voting machines for use in federal elections were approved by Congress, and the bill was signed by President William McKinley, on Feb. 14, 1899.

*?? On Feb. 14, 1879, "La Marseillaise" officially became the French national anthem.

*?? The German battleship Bismark was launched Feb. 14, 1939.

*?? Captain James Cook dismembered by natives of the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) on Feb. 14, 1779.

*?? The movie "Tarzen of the Apes" was released Feb 14, 1918.

*?? Two states were admitted to the Union of Feb. 14:? Oregon in 1859 and Arizona in 1912.?

*?? The U.S. Department of Commerce and Labor was established by congress, Feb. 14, 1903.

*?? Yuhio' Ozaki, mayor of Tokyo, presented a gift of 3,000 cherry trees comprising 12 varieties to the United States.? The trees were shipped from Yokohama on the SS Awa Maru on Feb. 14, 1912.

*?? On Feb. 14, 1803: Moses Coats, from Downington, Pennsylvania, invented the apple parer.

*?? Valentine, Nebraska was named in honor of Congressman E.K. Valentine, elected from that district.

*?? George Washington Gale Ferris, American engineer, was born Feb. 14, 1859.? He invented the Ferris Wheel for the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893.

*?? Carrie White, at 116 the oldest living person, dies, in Florida, in 1991.

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*?? If you are looking for love among the bony fish, find an eel to be your Valentine, for each eel has more than one heart.

*?? Amethyst - the birthstone of February was named for its alleged power to prevent its wearer from intoxication.? This stone, which also represents sincerity and contentment, is also supposed to bring lasting happiness to lovers.

*?? If you are born between 20 January and 18 February, your sign of the zodiac is Aquarius - the water carrier.? Acquarians are said to be always interested in what's going on around them, independent, stubborn and quick thinking.? They are usually calm but they can lose their tempers.? They are practical and lofical in their thinking.? They make friends easily.

*?? The lucky color for Aquarians is orange; the lucky number is eight; the lucky day is Saturday.

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Valentine's Day Statistics:

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According to gourmet chocolate maker Godiva Chocolate, 80% of men purchase a gift for their Valentine, compared to only 65% of women.? Flowers are considered by both sexes to be the most romantic Valentine's Day gift, followed by jewelry, lingerie, chocolates and perfume.

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Make A Valentine Card:

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Valentine Cards seem to fall into two categories -- the sentimental and the comic.

For a sentimental one you want lace, ribbons and red hearts (perhaps stuck on the card with a piece of satin or velvet) and a little poem inside to your friend.

A comic one depends on your own sense of humour.

I once received a beautiful card one year showing a working model of a heart taken from a biology book with the inscription 'My heart beats for you'.? Sometimes the card itself is sentimental but the kick is in the message:

???????????????????????? Roses are red,? Violets are blue,

????????????????????????? Grass is green, And so are you!

These facts make it difficult to attempt to choose valentine cards.? Of course, most of us do not use the occasion to say we care to everyone we know or deal with on a daily basis.? We limit our choices of valentine cards to a few special people in our lives.? Even if we don't currently have a sweetheart, the event can be fun.? We can, for example, choose just the right message to send to our children and our grandchildren, whether they live close by or far aweay, to a friend who has been especially considerate, to a relative who left a void after moving away, etc.

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And the nice thing about valentine cards today is that the choice is no longer limited to designs full of elaborate pink or red hearts.? There is a host of other choices to please all tastes.? There are even some blank ones you fill in with your own very personal thoughts.? This was the format chosen some years ago by one of the children to express his valentine feelings.? The card was white with a simple red heart on the frong.? Inside, the message said it all:? "I would only have eyes for you if you got me new ski goggles."

Ah, love!

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Make A Present for Your Valentine:

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What nicer present for a loved one than home-made sweets?? Even if you haven't got a Valentine, sweet-making is fun and you can always eat them yourself!?

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Peppermint Creams

1 Egg White
450g (1lb) Icing Sugar
Peppermint Essence or Oil of Peppermint

Beat the egg white until frothy but not stiff.
Sieve the icing, adding enough to produce a fairly stiff mixture.
Add a few drops of the essence or oil.
Knead the mixture in to a firm paste and roll on surface dusted with sieved icing sugar.
Cut into rounds or form small balls and flatten.
Place the peppermint creams onto parchment or silicon paper, place in a warm place to dry for 24 hours.
Store in an airtight container.

Fudge

900g (2lb) Sugar
225g (8oz) Unsalted Butter
1 large tin Evaporated Milk
Water (quarter of the volume of Evaporated Milk)
Vanilla Essence

Place the sugar, butter, milk, water and vanilla essence into a saucepan.
Heat gently until the is fully dissolved.
Rapidly boil the mixture to a temperature of 114 - 118?C (238 - 245?F) the soft ball stage.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 2 - 3 minutes, then beat rapidly with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens and becomes rough in texture.
Pour the mixture into a 20cm (8 inch) baking tin, lined with silicon paper.
Allow to cool a little before marking into squares with a knife.
Leave in a cool place to set, cut into squares and store in an airtight container.

+?? According to Eastern European lore, a marigold planted in the soil dug from a sweetheart's footprint will flourish as long as his or her LOVE does.

+?? Never sign a Valentine with your own name............ --- Charles Dickens

Thanks to all of you who vote daily for?(Helen's) website.?

www.occupytillicome.com

Vote link:??http://topsites.christiansunite.com/vote.cgi?1113842071

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God Bless You!

Hart and Helen??Dowd

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How nice it is to have a special day to celebrate in the middle of the dreary winter months.? It is a special day for us to say, to those who are dear to us, how much we love them.

Wouldn't it be even nicer to say "I Love You" in word and by deed each and every day.

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On this special Valentine's Day I offer you some Biblical thoughts on love.

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In a word there are three things that last forever: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of them is love.

- Pauls 1st letter to the Corinthians 13:13

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God is love; and He that abideth in love abideth in God, and God in him.

- 1st John e:16

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Beloved, let us love one another for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.? The one who does not love does not know God, for God is loved.

- 1st John 4:7-8

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For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

- John 3: 16

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?Readers Feedback

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?Truly this is becoming more and more of a mixed up world Joe,?keep writing, ?we enjoy your sharing...God bless Leona

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Here is our Storytime Tapestry Angels: Also, I would like to thank?those of you who?chose to be a silent angel and?gave an anonymous donation to keep?Storytime Tapestry up and running.

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Clara Westerfer, Mark Crider, Rosanne Catalano, Paula Booher, Kay Seefeldt, Mariane Holbrook, Mary Ellen Grisham, Louise Nomani, Sharon Bryant, Angela Walker, Hart and Helen Dowd, Keith Ready, Ginger Morgenstern, Ellie Braun-Haley, Surinder Jandu, Bob Shaw, Carol Meeks, Charlotte Hilliard, Maria Keller, Marilyn Sink, Victor Buhagiar, Clarice Hinson, Conrad Cardinal,?

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