Morning all. Phew you gals certainly showed me all yesterday didn't you? Thank you.
We were in fact celebrating a rather big birthday here at the Beach Cottage, so between making cakes, spectacular coastal birthday walks & breakfasts, eating too much at just about every mealtime and opening gifts, I kept sneaking in to take a look at what you all thought of my little antique lady sitting in the bedroom in all her pinkness.
My thought process went. Oh great I'm painting it. Oh great, no I'm leaving it. Oh great, I'm just painting all but the top. Oh I'm gonna definitely whitewash it. Oh I'm definitely painting the whole thing and sanding it to show the pink. Oh I'm definitely definitely painting it with the ice blue. Oh I'm definitely painting it beachy white.
And then today just as I thought it was all over, comment number 100 was this from Susheela Myers
So many impassioned comments- Reminds me a bit of America's Next Top Model-do you get it in Oz?- Every year during the "makeover" week, they take the girl with 3ft. of hair and do a Mia Farrow to her- she is always traumatized, weeping into her pillow, but they are tough as drill sargeants & give no quarter. Often she gets cut from the show soon after and has to go back to Texas & the boyfriend shorn and rejected. Will she ever recover? Why do they do it- we are all screaming at the t.v. "don't let them do it- Run!" The whole enterprise reminiscent of the mob shearing the heads of pretty Parisian collaborators. I'm imagining Pink Dresser slumped in the corner after her makeover, never the same sassy gal again… hee hee
OMG! My poor little dresser in the corner, painted white, stripped of pink, images of the mob, and shears and ahhhhhh slumped over and un-sassy.
So it looks I am back to the drawing board, I'm in an antique furniture blur.
Anyway back to today, I had this morning earmarked for some moving around on the deck, as you can see it's needing a spruce up out there. I have a few of these old cane chairs in the garage awaiting some love, I found them at a garage sale for a dollar and while I've only managed to get one painted and hastily distressed so far, I was itching to get it out there, sadly gazumped though by sheets of driving rain…
This decorating itch was triggered by something exciting that's happening to the Beach Cottage next week (watch this space) and a tiny little fly-by sneak into a new-to-me gifty shop at the village we started our clifftop birthday walk in yesterday morning. I slyly said to Mr Beach Cottage, why don't you get a coffee and I'll just hop over the road to the newsagents? Little did he know I had already spied the driftwood hanging thingy in the window of the gift shop. Mmmm mmmmm…oh and yes a coupla new cushions.
But, what on earth do you do with a driftwood hanging thingy? Well it certainly stumped me. First I hung it on the curtain rail, as seen in a magazine. Nah. Then I hung it on the outside at the front of the cottage. Nah. Slung over the back deck railing. Nah.
And I'm still doing that, walking round, hanging it on random hooks and anything that sticks out really, examining it and then saying nah.
Any ideas? Not of course that I expect you, my poor blog readers, to, every time you surf on in here, have to give me help. Of course not.
oh and I nearly forgot, go stop by and say g'day to Rachel, she's new to blogland, I'm sure she'll be great around here while I wouldn't want to shamelessly plug it, silly old me, of course not,Beach Cottage Inspiration has some nice new shots for you to tumble on through…
Don’t let the nasties get to you. You can plug anything, including your own blogs, it’s your site and if they don’t like it they can just slink away into oblivion. Maybe over the rail is a great place to enjoy the beauty of the driftwood, bit like a lei. If you can’t decide to paint the pink thing or not you shouldn’t. I f you ask someone whether they want a drink and it takes them five minutes to think about it, obviosly they don’t. You will paint it, if and when it gets to you, otherwise enjoy it’s specialness. Confused!! )
Oh no! Overwhelmed with advice. That’s difficult.
Maybe you need to live with the piece a bit and it will speak to you and let you know what it wants. (yup, I’m weird that way)
Your driftwood is just awesome. I love seeing it over the railing, but I immediately thought of something over the bed or behind the bed on the wall. Maybe with some twinkling lights intertwined.
I just love Outdoor Wednesdays! You have inspired me to get to work on my front porch. I have a “driftwood thingy” on my porch that holds a small pot on the bottom for plants, I think a little whitewash will spruce it right up!
Hello Sarah! I too am new to your blog, but oh have I enjoyed looking through your beautiful cottage. If you weren’t so far away from me, I would stop by for a coffee and marvel at all your wonderful finds.
I love the pink dresser, and I too would wait on painting it. Let it sit in your home for awhile eventually it will tell you what color or stain it should be,as for the drift would, depending on who large your dining room table is, might I suggest laying it lengthwise down the middle. I have a huge table and that would look beautiful down its center. Oooh now I want to go looking for my own diftwood thingy! You have a beautful deck/porch, (Im not sure which it is) and I love the lantern and the plants!
Enjoy your day!
Oh, I am loving (and going back to look again) at Coastal Living’s kitchens in your Beach Cottage Inspiration. Love those kitchens with the cute little additions to make them more useful. As for asking us ladies our opinion on anything, I’ll give you some advice, Sarah, from someone I’m sure is older than you. Sage advice: If you open the door and ask a bunch of women (obviously a bunch of women read your blog…) a question, you will get one hell of a bunch of different answers! So just thought I’d give you the tried and true on that. Hell, just do what I always do. Ask everyone and then do what I wanted to do in the first damned place. Works for me. I like your Beach Cottage Inspiration. It’s my first visit over there, as the other times for some reason I couldn’t click through to it.
Brenda
Gotta love chairs that were only $1! I do love that cane chair though, it’s so pretty!
The girls and I are building DH a deck for Father’s Day (I know you can keep a secret, right?) I’m not as worried about building the thing as I am about decorating it in a simple, airy, country, cottagey way. I know I shouldn’t get all worked up, but to go from a roof over a dirt floor to a completely finished deck in just one day seems like something that could only happen on a TV show. Thanks for the inspiration so that I have a little better vision to get it finished. (Wish us luck!)
I didn’t comment on the pink dreser because I thought you might get 100 opinions…and you did…but isn’t the inside of a sea shell PINK? Very “sea side cottage like” if you ask me! ~~Sheri
Very nice patio. Im sure this patio is somewhere up north. I can imagine sitting there in the Spring time smelling the flowers and hearing the bird chirping… Very calming!
I think you should definately go back and get a couple more and hang them all together down a wall or something. I have seen a few of them hung altogether in shop windows and they look great! Love the cushions by the way, I have been contemplating them myself but I am thinking I have far to many striped cushion covers already to justify them!!!!
I so wish I bought the driftwood hanging from Moontree Candles… it was one of those things I ummed and aahhed over. Your outdoor area has always been lovely and welcoming
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
ModernFurnitureWarehouse.com is a one-stop shop when it comes to living room sets. You can find any furniture ranging from classic to contemporary designs from all over the world. If you are looking for sectional sofas, loveseats and sleeper sofas, they are all here.
G'day! I'm Sarah, I live in a tatty old cottage, near the sea in Australia with a battered old deck & a big old fig tree out the back...stripped wooden floors, old sash windows & a jumble of vintage furniture. [Read More …]
G’day ladies, oooh have I got a good Beach Cottage recipe for you or have I got a good recipe for you. Well it’s actually not Beach Cottage, I cannot claim that… So, a couple of months ago I met up with a couple of blogging friends, AllConsuming and Mrs W for a lil [...]
G'day ladies, let's have a Too Easy Beach Cottage recipe yeah? The original place for Too Easy Recipes on the web ;-)
So, after my last salad went down a storm in my inbox, that's here if you missed it, I had to do this one seeing as I make it most weeks.
There is a problem with this salad and kiddos though...it looks, well, it looks, kinda yucky...but once they try it, they'll ask if and when they are next having it....at least that's what happens in this ratty old cottage...but I must interject here that my kiddos are 'good eaters'? ...they didn't get a choice in that ;-)
Now, stop, don't start running and hitting that next on your blog reading list, pulses are your best friend in the Too Easy Dump & Go kitchen for the busy mum, or busy anyone for that matter...that reminds me I must blog the garlic canneloni Go To for when you forgot to do dinner, feel like a bath but have three ravenous young Beach Cottage Kiddos on your hands...another day.
I am almost embarrassed to tell you how easy this is, we have it so much that I always have a couple, make that six, cans of lentils around and a jar of goat's cheese in the fridge...the great thing about this is that it's all too easy to get ready in just a few minutes, but it looks, tastes and seems like you did oh so very much more than that.
You can obviously too change it up a bit depending on what you have to hand in your kitchen, and I must say that is how I settled on this version...because one day when I made it I didn't have enough Parsley in the garden and so I chucked in some basil too, and liked the Summer feel it added.
I think of this as being a rather posh salad, not sure why, because it couldn't really be further from the truth...the great thing is that it works so well for an average run of the mill day, (when I did this for this blog post, it was a hot Sydney Sunday and I did it just simply to go with Rosemary & Garlic stuffed pork, you can see that pork here),
...but just as easily it works on a regular old Wednesday night when you have lost all enthusiasm for rustling up yet another meal, or indeed on Saturday night, when your friends are on their way over for dinner and you my friend, are in your new vintage inspired clawfoot bathtub (that's me in a few weeks time, k?) without any clothes on, a tipple and no idea what to cook for dinner...
I have a complicated and ever-changing relationship with goat's cheese...it never fails me in its performance and it never fails to impress me (you can find out a bit more on what I like in food here if you like) and I kinda collect it...because it's very easy to collect and has a fairly long fridge-life, I love trying out different ones and there's not many things I love more than goat's cheese on sourdough...but I think the best thing about it is not thinking about it exclusively in the toast/salad department...I've stuffed it in chicken and all sorts of things as a last minute and it's been fab.
But let's get down to the nitty gritty of this super salad that makes you look like an angel who has been on her knees all day scrubbing the front step when really you are in the digital world and spent most of ...
G'day Beach Cottage ladies, howdy, howdy howdy today for a Beach Cottage Too Easy recipe.
If you like cake, cream, sugar and chocolate, make this.
This is, rather than a recipe, a putting it together...as you know I am no dessert maker, but, I do make quite a few sweet things, because, somehow I have ended up with kiddos, who in their roles as offspring, believe that part of the deal, is that not only do I feed them a home-cooked meal with a few homegrown ingredients in there, yes, they also believe that dessert and not the kind that comes out of a packet is included too in this All-Inclusive Deal they call Parenthood.
So, this, for sure, is no culinary masterpiece, but if you are looking for something that is so very easy, dump-able, uses everyday ingredients and at the same time makes you look like you spent hours pulling things together plus tastes good....well, then this is for you.
Best though, you don't make this for yourself, if you have spent the most part of your week sitting on your derriere reading blogs...this my friend ain't low in the calories department...if, however, you are treating yourself to a delight in a mason jar, this is so for you.
I first had a version of this when at dinner back in Old Blighty with a girl, I once, in another life, caught the train up from our village to London with...she was a funny thing really...I am not quite sure how we got on...she was kinda prissy and a bit bothered by too much...I would run to the train flustered, having got up late, and she would have a spreadsheet on the train times, if you know what I mean.
Anyway, a few years later when we both had bambinos, I bumped into her again and we met up for playdates and dinner sometimes....this particular night, after a lovely meal she served up little bowls of creamy, cakey fruity stuff topped off with chocolate flake...it was delicious!
She didn't serve hers in little jars like this, hers were in a champagne glass and not quite so layered as these ones, plus she used tinned fruit not fresh or frozen.
Years later when said offspring kept requesting dessert, one day I wangled together somehow these from what was around in the fridge and they've been with us ever since.
Most likely, if you ever come here for dinner, and shock horror, you dont' bring the dessert with you, this, if you are lucky, will be what you will get.
Throw it all together, sprinkle a lil bit of chocolate on the top and the blog reading past-time you so rudely left in order to make this, is my friend, your oyster.
Beach Cottage Too Easy Layered Raspberry, Cream & Sponge Dessert
1 small maderia or butter cake or a pack of cupcakes (or of course make your own)
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
8 tbsp fruit
1 x chocolate Flake or chocolate bar for grating
1. beat the cream cheese until it is soft
2. whip the cream until soft peaks form
3. combine & add the sugar through
4. cut your cake into portions
& layer into the bottom of your jar
5. add a tablespoon of fruit
6. layer on top the cream combo
7. repeat
8. grate chocolate or Flake on top
*Beach Cottage Recipe Notes : this is just a guide really, you can use any cream that you have on hand...I have made this with clotted cream (don't even go there unless you want to seriously get these babies on your thighs), with double cream and I have even, in desperate times squirted in that, ...
G'day Beach Cottage ladies, well I thought it was time for some blogging tips here today, alongside a few nice flowers and shells ;-)
I was recently part of a blogger discussion group over at Kidspot and a couple of hours later had a few questions from girls who couldn't make it to the live chat, one was on my Facebook page and one via email, the Facebook one I will deal with in another Real Girl Blogging Tips post...the email one asked me what essentials do I think every blog needs?
Well I have been around here for a while now doing the blogging thing, so I should know this, yeah and I mused this on my walk by the sea this morning I thought well what do you only need?
...I think it is really very easy when blogging, whether or not you are blogging up there in the lofty heights of the Super Bloggers or you are just dipping your toe in the water, to get side-tracked by 101 million different things that are 'essential' to your blog and if you are someone like me who actually gets a thrill from reading blogging tips then you are in an even worse place because you will find yourself literally buzzing with these essential things to add/do/implement on your blog.
However, walking along, gulping down that brisk sea air today (no sunshine & clouds) I thought you actually don't need any of that professional blogging stuff to be successful...but there are a few things that are pretty much crucial ...and once I started to think about it I got it down to about 5 - these are the only things that you need to concentrate on...once you have read through take a look at some of the big girl's blogs...you'll see that actually they don't have bundles of stuff on their blogs...but they do have all of these...
So here are my top things that your blog must have
1. About Page
There are all sorts of About Pages out there, and if you search on it there are many different tips and ideas for what to have on yours
Whatever blogging platform you use, adding an About Me Page is easy, quick and simple and will do everything to grow your blog.
I like a long-ish About Page, I am inherently nosy and I like to know a bit more about the person but at the least you should have on it your name and where you are located. I also think a photo is good too...over the last year or so I think this has become more important in blogging - if you are hesitant about that as I was, you can try using sunglasses or a behind shot until you get comfortable.
There is nothing worse than stumbling upon a new blog and going to find out more to only be faced with a piddly little one liner About Me Page...well there is something worse, not having one at all!
2. Contact Page
The chances are someone, somewhere will want to contact you and you will be surprised what lands in your inbox once you put yourself out there on the world wide web with a blog.
Many bloggers also use this page to include details for PR's/brands that may want to contact them and some bloggers put their stats on there too.
A short, to the point and simple Contact Page works really well...whenever I have wanted to contact another blogger I am often very busy and have limited time so I don't want to hang around sifting through information looking for an email address, so concise and clear ...
G'day lovely Beach Cottage lovelies.
So, yeah, so on a roll people, so on a roll.
I feel kinda home accessory wired right now.
I am always telling people, if anyone ever listens, that blogging is all about passion, not that sort of passion, but about passion that makes one tick.
Things like this make me tick tick boom.
I love finding things that suit my budget and let me treat my home but look amazing too.
So without further adieu I introduce you, ladies of the beach, to the blue vintage glasses that I have been stroking for about a week or two now...
These glasses are from a little boutique I sometimes happen upon, this boutique sells also pet accessories, carpet cleaner, bras and compost...it's quite unique though.
And, thanks to my friend Marnie (she blogs over here, go take a look at her praying position, interesting), who just so happens to be one day having me over for a lil' Greek dinner, has let me in on the fact that we call Kmart....The KMart...with an accent ....as in 'I love The KMart'...just like her MIL does. Oh yeah. Love that.
So I have had my eye on reproduction vintage glass blue wine glasses and being trying to find real true vintage blue glasses for like ever.
Oh yes I have spied them in Frenchy boutiques, I have lusted after them in stores that I shouldn't even enter and I have put them back pretty quickly in those shops with the hand-written price tags. C'mon, you know the ones.
And, though all of the above have tempted me, muchly, really, even with my wardrobe stashing skills I just thought that, actually, I'd rather be saving that casherooni for our next trip overseas..
Hello The KMart.
Tick Tick Boom
Vintage style blue wine glasses.
Do not come to my old place and think you might pick up one of these and smile with pleasure at their handblown quality, their weight, and be secretly jealous that my wine glasses cost more than your car...friend, that would not happen...these do not feel like that...indeed these in a funny way reminded me of my baby girl, she was a tiny little thing, with stick legs, the tinsssssssiest ankles and wrists you ever did see, she slept sideways in her cot wedged in between rolled up blankets and would only settle attached to Mr Beach Cottage or I or a (dirty) pj top of mine scrunched up under her nose...the first few times I picked her up to cuddle, being used to Honeymoon Baby who weighed in at 9lbs at birth and has never really stopped growing, I nearly threw her little bird-cum-rat down covered body over my shoulder.
These glasses are like that...be careful or you might lose your wine down the front of your shirt.
But oh baby, we are not talking picking up here, we are not talking quality, we are not talking house accessory snobbery.
Beach Cottage ladies, we are talking aesthetics.
And this is what I need in my cottage.
Blue vintage style glass, paired with coastal / nautical / beach stuff on my deck.
It's The KMart.
Tune in tomorrow, tomorrow, I have more budget foofing for your home, or maybe it will be the dress that wraps me up in supermarket-chic and makes me feel like me again.
Good Day to you my friends, wanna come hang out on my deck, talk house accessories, The KMart and drink some wine from blue glasses?
Sarah
Really cool porch! I’d love to come and sit a while!!
Hugs,Lisa
That’s such a fun deck! I love all of your pictures. That cushion is wonderful!
Happy OW…
XO,
Sheila
hi Sarah, loving your house, what about at the end of your deck, maybe get three and hang them at different heights?
The driftwood ‘thingy’ looks interesting but I love the new cushion cover. Very crisp, fresh and beachy.
Hugs ~ Kerryanne
Happy Outdoor Wednesday Sarah! Your deck is very inviting! Thanks for sharing your photos.~ Susan
Don’t let the nasties get to you. You can plug anything, including your own blogs, it’s your site and if they don’t like it they can just slink away into oblivion. Maybe over the rail is a great place to enjoy the beauty of the driftwood, bit like a lei. If you can’t decide to paint the pink thing or not you shouldn’t. I f you ask someone whether they want a drink and it takes them five minutes to think about it, obviosly they don’t. You will paint it, if and when it gets to you, otherwise enjoy it’s specialness. Confused!!
)
Oh no! Overwhelmed with advice. That’s difficult.
Maybe you need to live with the piece a bit and it will speak to you and let you know what it wants. (yup, I’m weird that way)
Your driftwood is just awesome. I love seeing it over the railing, but I immediately thought of something over the bed or behind the bed on the wall. Maybe with some twinkling lights intertwined.
I just love Outdoor Wednesdays! You have inspired me to get to work on my front porch. I have a “driftwood thingy” on my porch that holds a small pot on the bottom for plants, I think a little whitewash will spruce it right up!
Hi Sarah, wonderful pictures. I adore blue and white. Happy Outdoor Wednesday.
Barb
ooooooo… I want a driftwood thingy too! Draped over the railing is cool, makes you look twice. Seems to be inviting you to fumble around with it.
Happy Birthday wishes
Love your new treasures!!! Especially the driftwood thingy…maybe drape it across a headboard ?
Toni
Hello Sarah! I too am new to your blog, but oh have I enjoyed looking through your beautiful cottage. If you weren’t so far away from me, I would stop by for a coffee and marvel at all your wonderful finds.
You have a beautful deck/porch, (Im not sure which it is) and I love the lantern and the plants!
I love the pink dresser, and I too would wait on painting it. Let it sit in your home for awhile eventually it will tell you what color or stain it should be,as for the drift would, depending on who large your dining room table is, might I suggest laying it lengthwise down the middle. I have a huge table and that would look beautiful down its center. Oooh now I want to go looking for my own diftwood thingy!
Enjoy your day!
Oh, I am loving (and going back to look again) at Coastal Living’s kitchens in your Beach Cottage Inspiration. Love those kitchens with the cute little additions to make them more useful. As for asking us ladies our opinion on anything, I’ll give you some advice, Sarah, from someone I’m sure is older than you. Sage advice: If you open the door and ask a bunch of women (obviously a bunch of women read your blog…) a question, you will get one hell of a bunch of different answers! So just thought I’d give you the tried and true on that. Hell, just do what I always do. Ask everyone and then do what I wanted to do in the first damned place. Works for me. I like your Beach Cottage Inspiration. It’s my first visit over there, as the other times for some reason I couldn’t click through to it.
Brenda
Gotta love chairs that were only $1! I do love that cane chair though, it’s so pretty!
The girls and I are building DH a deck for Father’s Day (I know you can keep a secret, right?) I’m not as worried about building the thing as I am about decorating it in a simple, airy, country, cottagey way. I know I shouldn’t get all worked up, but to go from a roof over a dirt floor to a completely finished deck in just one day seems like something that could only happen on a TV show. Thanks for the inspiration so that I have a little better vision to get it finished. (Wish us luck!)
I didn’t comment on the pink dreser because I thought you might get 100 opinions…and you did…but isn’t the inside of a sea shell PINK? Very “sea side cottage like” if you ask me! ~~Sheri
I really love the pictures of your porch. You’ve made it cool and inviting
. Have a wonderful day.
Gorgeous Outdoor Wednesday post!!!!
Hey Sarah! Love your cute deck and the white cane chair! Thanks so much for popping over for a visit and for mentioning my new blog…so sweet of you!
Blessings!
Rachel
Very nice patio. Im sure this patio is somewhere up north. I can imagine sitting there in the Spring time smelling the flowers and hearing the bird chirping… Very calming!
What great looking pictures and a lovely blog. Happy Outdoor Wednesday! I am participating and showing my white peonies. xo Joan
The pictures are lovely. It looks very cozy there, would love to be on that porch….away from the boyhood angst.
Visiting from SITS.
I Think it has to be hung….somewhere.
I love the colors in your cushsion. What a wonderful place for a bunch.
I think you should definately go back and get a couple more and hang them all together down a wall or something. I have seen a few of them hung altogether in shop windows and they look great! Love the cushions by the way, I have been contemplating them myself but I am thinking I have far to many striped cushion covers already to justify them!!!!
I so wish I bought the driftwood hanging from Moontree Candles… it was one of those things I ummed and aahhed over. Your outdoor area has always been lovely and welcoming
Comment #100 is hyssssttterrrical! I may never be able to paint a piece of furniture. Ever. Again.
Was it a big birthday for YOU??? Happy bigh birthday to whomever at the Beach Cottage!
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
ModernFurnitureWarehouse.com is a one-stop shop when it comes to living room sets. You can find any furniture ranging from classic to contemporary designs from all over the world. If you are looking for sectional sofas, loveseats and sleeper sofas, they are all here.
Jenni
http://www.modernfurniturewarehouse.com