Thursday, April 26, 2012

The Colors of Nature


I was going through some of my photographs this morning and I came across this one that I like a lot. I took it last summer while Brit Boy and I were out around Wiltshire. I took it from the car as I am fond of doing when we are out and about :-) It's rather blurry, but I love the colors of nature and it was just a beautiful day that day. Seeing this photo again instantly takes me back to that day and how I felt as Brit Boy drove along. I look forward to getting some more photos like this hopefully this summer, and if I do, you know that I will share them here! :-)

Have a wonderful Thursday!



Sunday, April 22, 2012

Happy Earth Day

I'm sending out some love to our beautiful planet!


HAPPY EARTH DAY


Photo: Courtesy of NASA

Friday, April 20, 2012

The Fabulous Wanda B. Wonders Books

Today I’d like to share two fun books that I’ve read recently and I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed both of them. The two books are, Wanda B. Wonders Speaks Her Mind and Wanda B. Takes the Cake, both by Claudia Moss. Each book acquaints us with the wonderful character Wanda B. Wonders, who is a social commentator of sorts who speaks her mind on a variety of subjects and does it with humor and a zest for life.

The author shares her inspiration for creating the character of Wanda in the notes to Wanda B. Wonders Speaks Her Mind. She writes that she sees Wanda as a “contemporary twin to Jess B. Simple, the beloved Everyman of my literary mentor, Langston Hughes”. Hughes’ character, Jesse B. Simple's stories take place mostly with Mr. Simple sitting in a bar discussing his take on life. However, Wanda B. chats up Miss Lady, the owner of the establishment, as she sits in the nail salon. This makes for a very enjoyable read because it’s like you’re sitting there in the salon a few seats over as you take it all in. Wanda tells stories and gives her view on a variety of subjects as Miss Lady engages in conversations with her about a little bit of everything.
Wanda is a bold and loveable character who speaks out and doesn’t hold back on her views about anything and I like that about this character. Her authenticity is definitely to be admired! It’s hard to decide which book I like the most because the first continues so seamlessly into the other. It’s like having a long conversation with a friend as you sit on the porch on a summer’s evening with a cool drink nearby.
To give you an idea of some of the subject matter, I’ll share some of the story titles. In Wanda B. Wonders Speaks Her Mind, there are titles like: ‘Blue-Collar Husband’, ‘Face on the Cover’, ‘A Virtual Reality’, ‘No More Salad, Please’, and ‘The Deal Breaker’. And in Wanda B. Takes the Cake, there are engaging titles such as: ‘Bag of Blessings’, ‘Cuzin Bozwell’s Mean Mug Blues’, ‘Patriotism’, and ‘Pride Prunes’. The titles of each story are gems on their own that lead us to a vibrant world that the author shares with us on every page.

Claudia Moss is a masterful storyteller and her absolute skill shows through in each story. Even though the character Wanda B. Wonders is a woman that speaks her mind and doesn’t hold back, she is not a harsh character. She just tells it like it is. She gives off this vibe of love, humor and hope, as well as a love for life throughout both books. She is rightfully named, as Wanda does continually wonder about life and our world and the people we all meet each day. In a nutshell, Wanda tells us about the world as she sees it and it’s an enjoyable ride to take along with her.

So please check out these fantastic books by Claudia Moss! Each is available at Amazon in paperback here and here. They are in addition available on Kindle here and here!

Also, here’s a bit about the author Claudia Moss...

CLAUDIA MOSS is a novelist, short story writer, poet, blogger, motivational speaker and talk show host. She is a former English educator. Ms. Moss is independently published and is the author of the Amazon bestselling Kindle novel, If You Love Me, Come.

You can visit her at her blog www.thegolden-goddess.blogspot.com .

You can also follow her on Twitter : @TheLadySiren and you can follow the fabulous Wanda B. Wonders @WandaBWonders .

Disclaimer: I was sent both books free of charge. However, all opinions are mine and mine alone :-)

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Cookie Recipe


Hello :) I wanted to share the chocolate chip cookie recipe from an earlier post. I promised in the comments that I'd post the recipe here. It's certainly not my very own recipe, but it's one that I've made quite a bit back in my teen years. It's a classic recipe from back home and so I'm sure that many of you already know this recipe well, but for those of you who are from elsewhere and may not be familiar with it, here it is. As I noted within the recipe, I had to substitute the main ingredient in the recipe since I'm not able to get the chocolate morsels here readily. However, the cookies turned out great and I look forward to making some more some time in the near future :-)

One more thing, I've also included a conversion tool here to make the measurements easy to calculate for everyone if needed. Click here for the site. So without further delay, here it is :-) I hope you enjoy giving them a try and if you do try to make them, please drop by and let me know how they turned out!


Original NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Chocolate Chip Cookies

Prep: 15 minutes
Baking time: 9 minutes
Cooling time: 15 minutes


Ingredients
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.)NESTLE TOLL HOUSE Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels (I can’t get these here, so I substituted another brand of chocolate chips)

• 1 cup chopped nuts

Directions
PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

FOR HIGH ALTITUDE BAKING (5,200 feet): Increase flour to 2 1/2 cups. Add 2 teaspoons water with flour and reduce both granulated sugar and brown sugar to 2/3 cup each. Bake drop cookies for 8 to 10 minutes and pan cookie for 17 to 19 minutes.

**If you'd like to see the link to the website where I got this recipe, click here.

Sunday, April 08, 2012

Happy Easter



Happy Easter from the Yellow House, to all who celebrate this glorious day!

And to everyone, Brit Boy and I wish you a wonderful Sunday! :-)

Wednesday, April 04, 2012

Book Review: The Niche Expert


I’ve been given the opportunity to share a great book with you all that I’ve just finished reading called, The Niche Expert by Rachel Henke. It is a fantastic book! It’s just 150 pages, but is chocked full of great information to help anyone out there who is interested in creating an online presence for their business. It really speaks to you if you have an inner entrepreneur inside of you just waiting to get out. So if any of you are interested in entrepreneurship or using the power of the internet to promote your projects, this book is a wise investment. I found the book very informative and very accessible. Some of the tips that were given in the book were ones that I was already aware of, but some were new to me or I saw things in a new way.

The Niche Expert lays out step- by- step guides on how to build your own social media and online marketing plan. In order to give you an idea about the contents of the book, here are a few of the chapter titles: ‘The Power of Niche’, ‘Unleash Your Inner Expert’, and ‘Convert Prospects into Clients’. It sounds quite business-driven and it is, but don’t let that drive you away if you don’t think of yourself as the business type. The book is actually a fun and accessible read. It covers things like improving your Twitter presence and learning the power of key words to use in your blogging. It makes you think about how you might want to present yourself in the online world and the book helps you make your own road map.

This book is great at giving a detailed explanation of social media tools, so if you’re less familiar, it guides you right along towards understanding. All of the information is presented in a non-intimidating style. The Niche Expert is a great go-to book to keep on hand and refer to for some helpful hints.

When I think of this book, the main words that come to mind are ‘strategy’ and ‘planning’. I’m a person who loves to make lists and think things through on paper, so the ideas presented within The Niche Expert are great in planning which way you want to go in business or with any projects that you want to present to the world through the internet. I think this is a superb resource for helping anyone out there who wants to rev up the marketing of their products and services.

To purchase your copy, visit: amazon.co.uk or amazon.com

Other books by this publisher can be found at: bookshaker.com

*Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book free of charge by the publishers. All opinions are mine.