To all of my awesome, faithful compadres... I haven't been able to get anything new out on WW4F since Tuesday as I've been trying to get on top of the aftermath of the launch of my new book The Real Dad Rules.
I promise next week I'll have some great stuff for you! Until then, everybody have an awesome weekend full of rainbows, blue jays, and kettle corn. Or whatever else makes you happy...
Dan Pearce, Single Dad Laughing
Bonjour mes amis! It's that time of the week once again for Flea Market Finds! Yahoo!!
The pickin's were kind of sorry last week, but I managed to find a few good treasures. I'll start with my favorite, a vintage Louis XVI style bed with barbola swags. It needs to be tightened up a little (A job for the hubbs) and has some slight damage to the ribbon detailing at the top but at $90 it was too cute for me to pass up... I probably should have because I need another bed about as much as I need another hole in my head! LOL!
Isn't it sweet? I'm wondering about white washing it a little. What do you think?
Perfectly shabby!
And this large vintage tapestry/rug for my soon to be etsy shop featuring courting couples...
I love her pretty face. Is he puckering up? *winks*
Cavorting cherubs...
And a folly!
My theme for the week was "barbola" because in addition to the bed, I also found this wonderful antique barbola adorned jewelry box for $10.99 at the Value Village. I'm thinking about painting the flowers?
A folding screen in pink gingham for $4.99 at the Goodwill. A chippy framed frenchy picture and and a chippy plaster display bowl also for etsy.
And a couple of wonderful additions to my boudoir doll collection.
A vintage roll of wallpaper from Sears for $6.
With cute roses.
A pink gauzy blouse from the Goodwill for $3 at half price.
And lastly some sprays of faux roses for 50 cents.
Well that's all for this week. Thanks for stopping by! I hope you'll leave me a comment. I'd love to hear from you! And I hope you'll come back next week for more flea market finds. Vanna
I'm joining my friend Sherry at No Minimalist Here for:
And my sweet friend Courtney at French Country Cottage for:
Cindy at My Romantic Home for:
And the French Cupboard for:
Ontario strawberries are almost in season! When they are, we'll eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There's nothing quite like them! Strawberry Spinach (or Field Green) Salad is our favorite way to incorporate the sweet, red berries into an evening meal.
Serves: 4-6 people Ready in: 15 minutes * For THMer's, this recipe falls into the Satisfying category.
Ingredients:
Linking to: Stacy Makes Cents
This is the perfect bread recipe for a beginning baker. If you're kinda like me and get a little intimidated by terms like "proofing yeast," "kneading dough," and the like, than this recipe is for you. I'm not one to measure ingredients exactly, which isn't always the best policy when it comes to sensitive baking situations where yeast is involved. This recipe leaves a large margin for error (probably why it's one of my favorites!), and you'll be walking away from it like you've been baking bread for years!
You'll need: 1 envelope (1/4 oz) active dry yeast 2 cups warm milk 6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour ( plus more for dusting ) 1/2 cup butter, room temperature, cut into pieces 1/2 cup sugar 2 large eggs, plus 1 large egg that's lighty beaten 2 1/2 tsp salt 1 cup raisins 1 tbsp cinnamon vegetable oil for bowl For filling: 1 1/2 cups sugar 2 tbsp cinnamon 2 tbsp water
In bowl of an electric mixer, sprinkle yeast over the warm milk and whisk to combine. Add flour, butter, sugar, 2 eggs, and salt. Attach the dough hook to your mixer. Mix on low speed until all ingredients are well combined (about 3 minutes). Increase speed to medium-low and mix until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl (about 3 more minutes).
Your dough should look soft-like something above.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Pat dough into a 9-inch round (about 1 1/4 inches thick) and sprinkle with raisins and cinnamon. Knead dough until incorporated. Place dough in lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place (I use my oven-warmed slightly by heating to the lowest degree for 50 seconds) until doubled in volume, about an hour.
Return dough to lightly floured work surface, and pat into a round again. Fold the bottom third up, and then top third down, and the right and left sides over, tapping dough to release excess flour and pressing down to seal. Return dough to the bowl, seam side down and cover with plastic wrap, and let rise again until doubled, about 40 minutes.
To make filling : Mix sugar and cinnamon with 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl.
Place dough on lightly floured surface and divide in half.
Roll out one half to a 12 x 10 inch rectangle. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with half the filling. Repeat with the other half of dough.
Grease two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans, set aside. Fold in both long sides of dough, about an inch. Then roll dough toward you with short side facing you, making a nice and tight log. Place in prepared pans with seam side down. Cover loosely with oiled plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until dough is just above the rim of the pan, about 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Brush tops of loaves with beaten egg and place loaf pans on a baking sheet to catch drips.
Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until loaves are golden brown, about 40 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before turning out to a wire rack.
Enjoy!
We've talked about having a nerd blog, and how that can affect your ability to attract followers. Today I want to talk more specifically about the time you take with each post and what you need to do to make your posts look good.
Too often I visit other blogs and leave before reading anything because the posts themselves are visually unappealing or headache inducing. And I'd be willing to bet a lot of other people leave after landing on those blogs as well. The sad thing is, no matter how good they are, those posts never get read, and so I never know whether the blogger is worth reading or following.
So, today I want to give you my six big rules for making each and every post look awesome.
Like it or not, there will be times in our lives when apologies are necessary to bring restoration to a relationship we have strained. The key to a clean slate goes far beyond a simple "I'm sorry." Even a child understands that a quick muttering of the phrase can spare the consequent discipline.
Which of us hasn't received (or worse, given) an apology that was less than heartfelt? How often don't we try to retain our "honor" by minimizing the degree to which we hurt a person? Have you ever gotten the feeling that the offender isn't really sorry for what they did? That they're just using the word "sorry" in a sentence to get rid of their guilt? Can you catch it in each of these common apologies?
