I love this paying it forward stuff

It's a beautiful day here in Central Kentucky. The sun has come back out and it is going to warm back up to 50 degrees. I don't know about you, but the weather definitely has an effect on my mood, and today I am feeling like I can accomplish a lot. For one thing, the extra light means I can spend several hours taking photographs, which means adding new items to my shop. That is always a good thing. 


I am on day four of my paying it forward week. Today I would like to share one of my favorite blogs, Thistlewood Farm. 


Kari, writes "Once upon a time there was a house (don’t all good stories start with a house)  that sat waiting for a family to bring it to life.  It sat waiting for a family to fill its halls with love and laughter. It sat waiting for nights of family Zumba, popcorn, homework, homemade chocolate chip cookies, tables covered in glitter from craft projects, and kittens curled up next to the fire.  It sat still and patient with peeling wallpaper and empty halls for life to begin anew."


Thistlewood Farm is the story of her family and that special house. It is filled with all of the beautiful decorating that goes on there, as well as the oops moments, and the sharing of the love of her family. It is filled with beauty and humor and it is a read you won't want to miss. 


Today I thought I would share the before and after of her lovely bathroom. Kari took this

and turned it into this

All photos can be found here

I absolutely love this bathroom and I get lots of great ideas from reading her blog. So if you aren't already a follower, I know you will want to become one.


Linking this with:
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Winter Blues Wednesday
Wow Us Wednesdays
White Wednesday
What's It Wednesday

 

One Perfect Bite

For the third day of Paying it Forward week, I am featuring one of my favorite food blogs, One Perfect Bite. This is how Mary describes herself and her blog.


"I love to cook, I love to eat and I especially love the company of those who understand the quest for that one perfect bite. The food here is simple, inexpensive and easy to prepare - it's pleasant fare that meets the needs of today's health-conscious cooks. I hope you'll pull up a chair and join me at the table. The recipes are great and I think you'll enjoy the stories of the people and places behind them. The coffee pot is never empty and you're always welcome here!"


Mary searches out the best recipes, whips them up in her kitchen, sometimes tweaks them, gives us her experience of the process, and then shares her findings with us. I can only imagine the wonderful aromas that must emanate from her kitchen.


Since today also happens to be Valentines' Day (happy Valentine's Day everyone) I thought I would share some of the sweet treats I found on her blog.

Frozen Maple-Mousse Pie with Candied Cranberries...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Kathleen Callahan and Food and Wine magazine

Ingredients:
Crust 
2 cups pecans (8 ounces)
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
Mousse 
1 cup pure grade B maple syrup
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
Pinch of cream of tartar
Pinch of salt
1-1/2 cups chilled heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Candied Cranberries 
8 ounces fresh cranberries (2 cups)
1-1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup water


Directions:
1) To make crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread pecans on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for about 8 minutes, until fragrant. Let cool completely. Pulse pecans, sugar, nutmeg and salt in a food processor until nuts are finely chopped. Add butter and pulse to combine. Press crumbs in an even layer into a 9-inch springform pan. Refrigerate until firm.
2) To make mousse: Bring maple syrup to in a medium saucepan. Simmer over moderate heat until slightly reduced and a candy thermometer inserted in syrup registers 235 degrees F, about 8 minutes. Watch carefully to prevent it boiling over. Meanwhile, using an electric mixer fitted with a balloon whisk, beat egg whites with cream of tartar and salt until stiff peaks form. Reduce speed to medium and drizzle hot syrup onto whites, beating until incorporated. Increase speed to high and beat meringue has cooled to room temperature, about 5 minutes. In a separate large bowl, beat heavy cream with vanilla until soft peaks form. Fold meringue mixture into whipped cream until blended. Scrape mousse into crust and spread evenly . Freeze until firm, about 24 hours.
The mousse will not freeze hard like ice cream.
3) To make candied cranberries: Put cranberries in a large heatproof bowl or into top of a double broiler. Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve sugar. Pour syrup over cranberries and cover bowl or top of double boiler with plastic wrap. Set over a pan of simmering water and cook, undisturbed, over very low heat until syrup is rosy and cranberries are tender but not broken down, about 45 minutes. Remove bowl from saucepan and let cranberries cool completely. Refrigerate until berries are chilled.
4) To serve: Loosen sides of springform pan with a warm knife. Remove ring from pan. Cut cake into wedges and transfer to dessert plates. Spoon candied cranberries over top of each cake and serve. Yield: 12 servings.

No-Bake Peanut Butter, Chocolate and Oatmeal Cookies...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Helen Ostrosky and the Food Network

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 stick butter
1/2 cup milk
1 cup peanut butter
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 cups quick-cooking oatmeal (not instant)


Directions:
In a heavy saucepan bring to a boil, sugar, cocoa, butter and milk. Let boil for 1 minute then add peanut butter, vanilla and oatmeal. On a sheet of waxed paper, drop mixture by teaspoonfuls, until cooled and hardened. Yield: 24 to 36 cookies depending on size.

Chocolate Brownie Clusters...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Buddy Valastro

Ingredients:
3 extra-large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1-1/2 cups powdered (10X) sugar
1-1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1-1/2 cups unsalted raw walnut halves


Directions:
1) Position a rack in center of oven and preheat it to 325 degrees F.
2) Put egg whites and lemon juice in bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whip attachment. (Be sure the bowl is immaculately clean). Whip on low speed for 2 minutes, then on maximum speed until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes.
3) Sift sugar and cocoa powder into bowl together, then fold into batter with a stiff spatula until batter is smooth and shiny. Fold in walnuts, until they are well coated with the batter.
4) Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper, using nonstick spray or a dab of butter in each corner to glue paper in place. Drop heaping tablespoons of dough 1/2 inch apart, being sure each tablespoon has about 3 or 4 walnuts in it.
5) Bake until outside has crisped and bottom starts to pull away from parchment paper, 15 to 20 minutes.
6) Remove cookie sheet from oven. As soon as clusters can be moved, use a spatula to transfer them to a rack and let them cool. Enjoy cookies right away, or store when completely cool in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. Yield: 18 cookies.


If you love wonderful recipes, be sure to visit Mary at OnePerfectBite. I follow her by email just so I can start my day wishing I had what she was cooking. Writing this post before breakfast is not making my bowl of oatmeal sound quite so yummy this morning.


Linking today with:


Tasty Tuesday
Family Time Tuesday

 

let's shop

Yesterday my post was about paying it forward.  Every Monday I share lovely finds from Etsy. Etsy is a wonderful place to find quality handmade and vintage items and to support our economy. Sharing these finds is a way for me to pay it forward by supporting  and promoting the sellers on there. Because of Etsy, I have been able to pay my bills the last few years, when, like many others in this economy I was unable to find employment. It hasn't been the kind of income that I was used to, but there is a feeling of community there and I am grateful to have the opportunity to do something I love. 


So, today, like every other Monday, I am sharing lovely Etsy finds. This week I am yearning for Spring, so this posting definitely has a Springy vibe. The rest of the week, to share the love we feel around Valentine's Day, I will be paying it forward by promoting other blogs. I think it will be a fun week.


(Please click on the price to view the item and the shop name to see other pretties from the seller)


vintage style step stool

$27
Circle Creek Home

yellow mustard melmac

$18
Carnival of the Maniac

rain boots yellow bumble bee

$30
Now Vintage

kitchen chalkboard in yellow

$46
Route 17 West

the rucksack in organic honey mustard

$185
Infusion

100% pure unrefined shea butter

$5.95
Supple Skin

Nils Thorrson bird shaped vase

$160
Pillowsophi

 

pay it forward

I woke up this morning thinking about paying it forward and I found this image that speaks of the interconnection between all people.

source

I used to think that paying it forward was somehow about money. You hear of people who randomly buy someone's dinner in a restaurant or pay off their layaway bill at Christmas, and while these are wonderful acts of paying it forward, I know that I don't have the financial means to do this. 

So I started wondering about how I can and do pay it forward. 

Sometimes it is about the sharing of knowledge, freely given without any strings attached. 

Other sellers on Etsy will often ask me about an item I have sold. How much did I sell it for? What kind of information can I give them about the item? I always respond to these questions and give them as much information as I can. I know that I have in turn asked other sellers and sometimes, they don't respond. I always wonder why. Yes, I know that we live in a competitive world, but do they see the sharing of knowledge as a bad thing. 

source

For me, knowledge is something that should be freely shared. So this is one way that I pay it forward. 

Paying it forward can also be as simple as smiling at a stranger or saying a kind word. 

source

Smiling is contagious and I know that is not only makes me feel better, but it can also make someone else's day a little better. Have you ever had a day where you were the biggest grump ever? I certainly have had my share. Then some random stranger will come along and smile at me and suddenly my day is transformed. Did all the reasons I had for being a big grump disappear? No, but suddenly they don't seem so important.

When I was a counselor, I was labelled a feminist counselor in a cognitive framework. What does that mean? Well, contrary to what most people think feminism is, it is about valuing everyone as individuals and the cognitive part is about changing how we think about things. So when I am paying it forward, I like to think that I am valuing that other person and that maybe through sharing a bit of love for them, it will change their perspective. 

So each day I will try to continue to find ways to pay it forward. Maybe you have some ideas that you can share with us on ways that you pay it forward. I would love to hear them.

On an added note, today is special for me. It is the day that my youngest daughter was born.

from a sweet, adorable baby

to a little girl, dancing and acting her way through Hollywood

to a teenager and young woman

to the beautiful, compassionate, and intelligent woman that she has become, she has given me unlimited joy. That has been her way of paying it forward to me. Happy birthday, "Rudy". I love you.

 

patience is........

.....definitely overrated. I know, you thought I was going to say a virtue, and I wanted to say that, I really did, but I am just not feeling the love for patience at the moment. You are probably saying, but Laura, you usually have such a sunny disposition. ( give me a moment while I admonish my two grown daughters over the internet for laughing) 


This is how I have been walking the last two months.

Yes, I have been limping around town with a cane. When I took my sister to the orthopedic doctor for her broken ankle, the nurse came in, looked at us, and said "you two are just like a Cadillac with two flat tires". 

She was right, we were all dressed up and couldn't move. Speaking of flat tires, I went out to check on my van, which I haven't driven for a couple of weeks and, yes, you guessed it, it has a flat tire. Really?? That little ordeal is going to have to wait until after the freezing cold snowy weekend we are having. I will be virtuously patient for that. 


Okay, so what is it that I am having such a problem being patient about. Well, as you know, I went to see the ortho doctor on Thursday. I had told him that as bad as my right knee is, with the cartilage tearing off, my left knee is actually worse. Okay, he agreed to xray it. He sheepishly entered my room and pronounced. You know, you were right. Your left knee is worse!!! I'm sending you to the knee replacement doctor. Hallelujah!!!!  finally I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. 

This is where the patience part comes in. You see, it is a really long tunnel. They have agreed to work me in to see the surgeon on March 26th...... Excuse me, isn't that over six weeks away? I am really in pain. I can't walk. I need to be seen......Nurse Ratched very sweetly replied, "I know, but the doctor is actually booked until May. This is the first day we can possibly make room for you."  Are there really that many people walking around (and I use the term walking, loosely) with knees that need to be replaced?  Has the entire state of Kentucky worn out their knees? Have they all been mountain climbing, running marathons, what is it?


So here I am, on this cold, snowy February day, (yes my family does have a very strong drama gene) looking forward to spring. Spring will bring an appointment with the Pope  surgeon and who knows, by summer I may get the actual surgery. 


In the meantime, I refuse to mention my knees anymore. This is the last you will hear about them until the appointed day. (maybe, I hate making sweeping statements)

displays under glass

I thought I would expand on yesterday's post on vintage photo displays and look at glass cloches and all the lovely things we can display in them.

Glass cloches originated in France and were originally used to protect garden plants from cold and frost. Kind of like a mini greenhouse. Today these beauties are a perfect way to showcase everything from antique pretties to nature collections.

source

source

source

source

source

I am always on the lookout for vintage cloches, and after seeing these fabulous displays I am going to be even more diligent in my search.


Linking with:


Vintage Inspiration Friday
Feathered Nest Friday
Inspiration Friday
Potpourri Friday
Home Sweet Home

 

antique photo displays

I love old photographs. Whether they are of my own ancestors or someone else's, I love to look at them and imagine the stories they have to tell. I am always looking for ways to display them. 


I love this idea of hanging them like clothes on a clothesline.

source

This is a display of mine, where I combined photos with other antique and natural finds.

So lovely when displayed in glass bottles

source

and jars

source

Here, the photos are displayed with some of the cameras that may have been used to take them.

source

and of course, they are always beautiful grouped together on a wall. Like this.....

source

or this...just hung in a collage with push pins

source

Have you found any unusual ways to display vintage photos?


Linking with:


Vintage Inspiration Friday
What's It Wednesday
Farmhouse Friday