Robert L. Franklin Blog: January 2017

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Dorking hell

If the players believe in themselves then the fans will follow, just as they did yesterday when over 80 Lewes fans added some noise and verbal encouragement to the afternoon. How much of a difference does that make to the team? An unbelievable difference. Players want to play for teams where the fans care. Opposing team goal keepers certainly cannot ignore the noise and the comments coming from the likes of Cynical Dave standing just a few feet behind them. At our level they simply do not experience that from many sides, especially away support. If every time as a keeper you know that 80 voices are encouraging you to make a mistake, only the strongest characters will be untroubled.

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Saturday, January 28, 2017

Making Butter

As part of our study about how people lived in the past, we made our own butter out of cream. We shook the cream…

…and shook it a lot more…

…until it finally became butter. Yum!

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Thursday, January 26, 2017

How To Make the Creamy, Toasted Coconut Milk of Your Dreams

Let me start by saying, if you already make your own nut milks at home, you have to try this. I mean - walk to your kitchen, turn the oven dial, and get some coconut in there. You have to trust me here. I started making homemade toasted coconut milk a few months ago, and it has become one of my favorite things. It's creamy, rich, nutty, and intense. I enjoy it immensely on its own, and as an ingredient in other preparations as well. It's a real flavor punch. Imagine all the ways you can use it to make some of your favorite preparations even better. It's great in chai tea, in morning oatmeal, baked oatmeal(!). You can use it in a wild range of sweet preparations, but it's also good as a way to add a little je ne sais quoi, to broths, soups, and weeknight curries.

You can see how it comes together in a video of the process here, and you can find the recipe down below, as well as a few notes. Let me know if you make it, and if you do, please let me know how you're using it!

A couple notes. If you want to totally geek out on this, play around with the toastiness of your coconut. If you toast coconut deeply, you're going to have a different profile than a more lightly toasted coconut. I tend to ride the dark side of the spectrum, but it's wild the difference between a milk made with lightly toasted versus dark. Both delicious, just different.

Toasted Coconut Milk

Also, like all pure coconut milk, it will separate. And it solidifies in the refrigerator. Use it as you would canned coconut milk, and expect it to behave similarly (i.e. you might need to warm it up a bit, and give it a good stir before using)...

Continue reading How To Make the Creamy, Toasted Coconut Milk of Your Dreams...

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Wednesday, January 25, 2017

3 Ways Window Treatments Can Make Your Living Room Better

Having a high-end looking home can be difficult, especially if you have a tight decorating budget. Fortunately, there are ways window treatments can help make your living room better. Read on!

Image Source: Flickr

Floor-to-Ceiling Sophistication
Floor-to-ceiling drapes are in high demand right now. Long drapes are more prevalent as homes are being built with higher ceilings and loft spaces become more popular. These drapes offer a sophisticated look, and at many places, can be customized in bright, contemporary hues for an updated appearance. According to Janet Barragan, senior vice president of window design at Curtainworks, “Eighty-four-inch curtains are the U.S. standard, but we now offer 95-inch curtains, and get requests for even longer curtains, from 108 to 120 inches, to accommodate today’s homes.” If you’re searching for long curtains for your windows, don’t be afraid to go custom and get the perfect window treatments that truly fit the unique size of your space. Photo courtesy of Curtain works. Source: HGTV

Establish a Color Palette
The fabric you choose for window treatments helps establish a color palette for the entire room. In this case, the window panels are a solid aqua, but a patterned fabric could be just as influential. The watery shade coordinates with the celadon rug and concrete gray walls, providing a colorful backdrop that’s also soft enough to let bright accents in fuchsia, purple, and pumpkin stand out. Source: BHG

Swing Arm Curtains
Swing arm curtains are one of the more unique window treatment ideas, and they haven’t seen much use in the United States in recent years. They require a special hinged curtain rod that allows you to move the curtain to stand out at a 90-degree angle from the window. Swing arm curtains are a brilliant and surprisingly inexpensive solution for bedrooms where you want to be able to block light easily without having to worry about ruining a carefully pleated or artfully scrunched curtain fabric with daily adjustments. Source: Freshome

If you want to know more about window treatments that can best fit your home style, contact us now!

Contact:
Universal Blinds
601 – 1550 W. 10th Ave
Vancouver, V6J 1Z9
Canada
Phone: (604) 559-1988

The post 3 Ways Window Treatments Can Make Your Living Room Better appeared first on Universal Blinds, Shades & Shutters.

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Saturday, January 21, 2017

White irregularly stacked boxes form social housing in France by Poggi + More

White caged balconies project from the sides of this social housing block by French collective Poggi + More, making it look like a series of irregularly stacked boxes. Read more

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Friday, January 20, 2017

Is the Chinese cash a bad thing for English football?

With Chinese clubs happy to raid the Premier League on a regular basis perhaps the clubs will invest more in the pathway for the development of their players. Instead of simply stockpiling young players who are loaned out until their value drops to a point where they are simply released, clubs will give the youngsters a chance. The more young English players that are given the opportunity to play in the Premier League, the better it will be for our National side. In addition, clubs will be more willing to work with grassroots clubs in the development of players through that channel. With potentially less cash available for wages, hopefully the players that come through will be more “balanced” and more in touch with the fans. Again, look at the situation in Germany where the majority of the team that won the 2009 UEFA Under21 Championship were also part of the 2014 World Cup winning squad – all of whom bar one (Mesut Özil) plied their trade in the Bundesliga.

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Wednesday, January 18, 2017

A Glow-promoting, Luminizing Breakfast Beauty Bowl

One of the very best ways to work toward beautiful, luminous, glowing skin is through eating well and mindful hydration. Your skin is often a direct reflection of the internal eco-system of your body, and, being nice to your inside is one of the best ways to positively impact your outside. It's the foundation you need to support good skin, bright eyes, strong hair, thick eyelashes, healthy nails, and on and on. Eating a seasonal, plant-centric, whole foods diet is a great place to start, but I thought I'd take today to highlight a few skin-friendly superstars in this Luminizing Breakfast Beauty Bowl - they're extra beneficial and skin-supportive, and quite easy to work into your day to day.

The base of this beauty bowl is a simple mixed berry smoothie boosted with some chia. The berries are compact, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory powerhouses, rich in cleansing fiber and collagen-boosting Vitamin C. I use mixed berries (blackberry, blueberry, strawberry) for a bit of diversity (and because they're quite easy to come by in most freezer sections) but if you really want to step up your Vitamin C game, you might trade in acai for the berries now and then. Switch it up - diversity in your is also important.

Luminizing Breakfast Beauty Bowl

Use whatever plain, unsweetened, yogurt you prefer - coconut yogurt, Greek yogurt, nut milk yogurt, or sheep or goat milk yogurt - the probiotics here are a big help in balancing out your inner digestion and overall internal ecosystem. Use whatever yogurt works for you. Chia helps with tissue repair and skin regeneration. That's the foundation here.

Beyond that, you can boost your beauty bowl with as few or many other ingredients as you have on hand. Pick at least a handful. Here (pictured) you see digestion-friendly pineapple wedges, pomegranate seeds (thought to help reduce UV photo damage), Vitamin C-rich citrus (blood oranges and mandarin segments), a sprinkling of nuts and granola, some crushed dehydrated raspberries, and a sprinkling of bee pollen.

Luminizing Breakfast Beauty Bowl

I love serving this sort of thing as a DIY breakfast option. You can make a big batch of smoothie (pourable straight from the pitcher), and then offer up a "buffet" of toppings. Everyone can customize their own bowl to their liking ;)!

Continue reading A Glow-promoting, Luminizing Breakfast Beauty Bowl...

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The Snow Clothes Challenge

Putting on and taking off our snow clothes consumes a significant amount of time in our classroom. This week, we decided to challenge ourselves to see how fast we can do it if we really try. Can you beat our time?

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Tuesday, January 17, 2017

3 Reasons to Choose Roman Blinds

Choosing which type of window treatments you’d like for your home can be a bit daunting because of the number of options available. However, there is something special about roman blinds which makes them so popular. Below are 3 reasons why roman blinds may be your best bet:

Image Source: Flickr

The Goods on Style
Roman blinds come in an array of materials and styles, making them a good window treatment for many spaces. For the industrial or minimalist home, you might choose sleek, solid-colored linen blinds, or opt for satin weave with a subtle stripe or check pattern. For a traditional, country or shabby chic abode, consider blinds in rich tweed or woven jacquard with high cotton content for warmth; embossed faux silk filters light and offers a subtler look. Lined, light-blocking versions allow you to darken bedrooms or enjoy living room privacy from passersby. In damp areas, such as the kitchen, laundry room or bathroom, Roman blinds made from easy-to-wipe-clean synthetic material that’s less vulnerable to mold are a smart choice. Source: Homeguides.SFGate

Privacy
Roman shades offer a large amount of privacy and light blockage. The full fabric panels filter sunlight as it enters the room and prevent outside passersby from seeing into the home. For even more light blockage, most special order Roman blind manufacturers offer a blackout shade, constructed with a special lining that blocks out all light from rooms that need a complete room-darkening feature. The room darkening option also keeps shadows from being cast to the exterior at night when lights are on in the room. Source: eHow

Timelessness
One of the biggest advantages to using Roman shades on your windows is their timeless style. Romans have been around for decades (in their present form) and tend not to cycle in and out of popularity with the latest trend. A wise fabric selection will extend the life of your shade by keeping it from becoming too trendy. Source: ALittleDesignHelp

If you’re still not convinced, we can help you pick out the best window treatment option that has all the characteristics you are looking for. Contact us!

Contact:
Universal Blinds
601 – 1550 W. 10th Ave
Vancouver, V6J 1Z9
Canada
Phone: (604) 559-1988

The post 3 Reasons to Choose Roman Blinds appeared first on Universal Blinds, Shades & Shutters.

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