Member of the Month for May

Well here we are at the start of another month and time for a new M.o.M.
Who will it be this time?

Monique and her helper, Ryan, put all the names in that beautiful bowl and once again, stirred and stirred and stirred.

Check out our team FB page to see the photos.  (Monique uses one of her gorgeous creations) and her son has fun helping. 

Then ..... the name was chosen...................................................................Hayley! Yay!!

Hayley is our team founder and has two fabulous Etsy shops 

the hope tree 

hope and vanilla 

.... selling not only her wonderful French vintage finds but also her unique & artistic paintings.  A very talented lady indeed.  

We will be featuring her shops in our treasuries this month, posting items on her very own Pinterest board and generally spoiling her as much as we can.  :)  

Please check back to see what progress we are making.. we will be adding items along the way
.

Hayley is from South Aftica and loves to paint from her heart... this painting shows her talent.

original African face painting

    Jan, our member of the month last month,
found these cubed sugar tongs and chose them to feature:..she is also a collector of vintage.





One of my personal favourites
is this corkscrew
made from hardened grape vine.

tire bouchon

Julie chose this fabulous collection; in fact it is one of Hayley's personal favourites too!

One of Hayley's favourites.

antique lFrench rouleau lace collar

Delightful!  Is how Shirl described this vintage collar.
Yes, absolutely lovely!




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Hayley  grew up in South Africa and has sent us a recipe... one she remembers enjoying particularly on school days.  



South African RUSKS
They’re perfect for dipping in tea or coffee and are a great healthy-ish afternoon snack. They keep well if you store them in an airtight container.

Ingredients :

* 6 cups white flour
* 2 cups whole wheat flour
* 7 tsp baking powder
* 2 tsp salt
* 2 cups sugar
* 1 cup sunflower seeds
* 3 cups all bran flakes
* 1 cup chopped pecan nuts (optional)
* 500 ml buttermilk or plain yoghurt
* 250 ml oil
* 300 g butter
* 3 free-range eggs

Mix all the dry ingredients together, and melt the butter and allow to cool. Beat the eggs.

Mix the wet and dry ingredients together to make a dough. Divide the dough in half and flatten in two roasting pans that have been lined with tinfoil and greased. Cut the dough into rusk-sized shapes before placing the tins inside the oven to cook for 1 hour at 160 C.

Once cooked, the rusks need to be lifted and placed upright in the roasting pan and returned to the oven at 100 C for a further 2 hours. Turn off the oven and leave the rusks in there overnight so that they are able to dry out well.

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 Sally noticed this unusual item:

vintage key

Looks like a vintage key but is actually a corkscrew/bottle opener!
What a fabulous find!!






So many more items were chosen this month to be featured.  Hayley's shops are looking fabulous.
This set of stamps is one of my favourites

Embroidery Stamps

Hayley has a few lovely purses.

Antique Coin Purse

This beaded coin purse is a popular item. A couple of our members picked this one out to highlight.


Click on it to get a better view... it is really pretty.

Here is another lovely purse
French Clutch Evening Bag.

French Clutch Evening Bag

Variety of three bags

... and this lovely selection of three little clutch purses.

Of course, this is just a small taste of the wonderful selection of vintage items the hope tree has to offer.


Check it out for yourself and don't forget to visit
hope and vanilla also to see antique religious items and lovely linens.

Keep up the good work Hayley, bringing us all these wonderful items.

Posted by Linda of JustOneLook for Etsy Expats

GOING ORANGE

Queen's Day, Netherlands

By Shannon Meyer

Today, the blaring of horns is not a traffic jam. Driver's are celebrating the Dutch national holiday, Queen's Day.

“We celebrate the birthday of the Queen,” explains an Alblasserdam resident. “Actually, it's the birthday of her mother. She kept the 30th of April as Queen's Day as a remembrance of her mother.

Big rigs parade around the city of Ridderkerk, their horns echoing through the neighborhoods.

It has been celebrated in this way during Queen Beatrix's 33 year reign. However, next year will be different. Today Beatrix will step down and her son Willem-Alexander is to become king, the first Dutch king in 123 years. Maxima, of Argentina, is his queen.

Many Dutch remember Queen Beatrix's reign fondly. “They have a lot to live up to. The legacy they are inheriting is significant.”

Queen Beatrix on the Dutch Euro coin.

The Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy, and Dutch royalty has no official political power. However, unofficially, they have influence through their relationships with other monarchies and world leaders. Hearkening back to the country's roots in trade and commerce, the resident remarks, “The other thing, why it's important to have a monarchy, is we are a very small country. Our biggest asset is trade. You do business with friends.”

Many houses display the Dutch flag today.

The streets are lined with fluttering red, white and blue Dutch flags topped with orange “wimpels,” the color of the royal House of Orange. Orange is to be seen everywhere as shops string up orange balloons and people don orange shirts, feather boas, fedoras, and even hair. Communities big and small are alive with activity.

Orange clothes are worn in honor of the House of Orange.

While the Dutch are proud of their culture, such showing of national symbols is uncommon. “Here in the Netherlands, the flag with banner complete is typically something for Queen's Day...I would say it is a very modest [national] pride. We don't go 'oooh, look at us.' We don't advertise.”

In line with the tradition of commerce, a typical Queen's Day event is community rummage sales where anyone can lay out their used items to sell. The town of Ridderkerk has organized several such sales, where one can find everything from an antique sewing machine to a bucket full of smurfs. A large screen is set up in the city center, showing the coronation ceremony as it happens in Amsterdam.

One man's trash is another man's treasure.

A crowd gathers as the ceremony begins with the Dutch national anthem, Wilhelmus. Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Maxima move across the screen. In attendance of the ceremony are many other members of royalty, including Britain's Prince Charles and Camilla, as well as prominent people such as Kofi Annan. Even the elusive Princess Masako of Japan is attending, her first trip abroad in seven years. The Alblasserdam resident re-iterates his earlier remark: “It is very important to keep relationships in good order.”

Ridderkerk city center.

Many Dutch are gathered today with friends and family to watch the proceedings and share “tompouce,” an orange-frosted puff pastry. Elsewhere are parades, and everywhere bustles with activity and people out to celebrate. At one point, a distant band enthusiastically belts out “Sweet Home Alabama.” The day will conclude with fireworks, bidding a final farewell to the reign of Queen Beatrix, and the Netherlands will look forward to next year's King's Day.

Tompouce.

Shannon Meyer is an American artist living in Holland. She is the owner of SilentMagician Fine Art. Her work can also be found on Etsy.

RECIPE: Dutch Pancakes

BASIC DUTCH PANCAKES

..200g flour
..400mL milk
..2 eggs
..dash of salt
..olive oil (or frying oil of choice)

1.  Combine all ingredients with a mixer until smooth

2.  Heat oil in a frying pan over Med/High heat. Pan should be hot enough to solidify batter very quickly.

3.  Add just enough batter to coat bottom of frying pan with a thin layer.  Tilt pan as needed to cover the bottom evenly.

4.  Flip once top is dry, or check that underside is golden.

5.  Serve with sweet toppings.  (Some Dutch favorites are syrup, chocolate sprinkles, anise powder, apple syrup).

Variations: Add slices of fruit or bacon to the pancakes while frying.

Contributed by:  SilentMagician

Monthly Team Challenge: "April Showers May Bring..... "

original cat etching... singing in the rain

Our team challenge was the first Monday in May..... May 6th.
Hope you managed to come by and vote !

We had so many entries this month that we had to have a second treasury.  Not enough to fill two but it was fun finding items that fit the bill and what a great showing we had!

Treasury Part One can be seen here and Part Two you can view here.

So many choices and finally the votes were tallied and we had a tie!
Tailorbirds' umbrella and raindrops cushion was a huge success as was atelier28's etching.

Rhiannon's lovely pillow was so appropriate.

Congratulations both of you Rhiannon and Andrea!...

April showers brought out quite a variety.... including these two items too.

Karen's bridal wrap was popular as were Katrin's pretty painted sandals.  Another fun, diverse challenge.

Hope you all manage to come by next month for our May challenge.... "Going In Circles" ..... we are already off to a good start with several entries and it's only week one!!

See you then.......

Posted by Linda of JustOneLook for Etsy Expats