G'day you lovely bloggers, how's it going out there in reality? Good? I hope so.
Now I have to tell you that lately I seem to be obsessed with a few things that have little relevance to what is really going on in my life at the moment…I find myself thinking in vintage quilts, hydrangeas, French lavender and mostly ponder on a Junking Tour and look at people who converse with me in normal language as if they are somewhat strange. Do they not talk junk?
It all started years and years ago (and has recently been re-fuelled by various blogs), my longing to do proper junking and the more I think about it and the more I feel there are reasons why I can't do it the more I feel I just must hire myself a ute (& if like me once you don't have a clue what a ute is, it's a backless, tho it may be filled in, van – normally driven by how shall we say an idiotic man – aka in England White Van Man).
Because just going treasure hunting doesn't quite feel good enough, I mean I fit that around my normal life, I wanna go on an adventure. Yep all very well, but where would I go, I'm thinking along the lines of one of those 100mile long garage sales in the States, though I've never seen those here…or to one of the French Brocante's, though that includes a plane ride too….or an English boot fair full of old junk…hmmm…watch this space…I'm cooking this one up…what to do you think? Beach Cottage On Tour…hilarious…just have to tell Mr BC
Now onto dressing tables, this was the one with the slow cooked chicken…nice and easy pretty plain and using a new vintage plate circa 100 yrs old and thrifted for $2 at the weekend as the centrepiece and various thrifted vintage bitst thrown around and about. Like it?
Had a feeling some Cheer would end up on the table. I’m curious, do you know the botanical name? It’s such a fresh color & lends itself well to your natural toned, pretty tablescape.
Beach Cottage on Tour? That is the greatest! And such a beautiful tablescape – i could linger there over dinner, drinks, and dessert for hours and hours.
I’ve always wanted to go on one of those 100 mile long garage sales, too. The problem I might have….Mr J is talking Camaro….in other words, he’s talking getting rid of the truck. How do I go junking without a truck!!! I’ll probably manage!
Sigh. French Country isn’t my top favourite style, but I still find myself scrolling all the way down to the bottom of the pages whenever I visit your blog. I think your home is gorgeous, and you’re a great ambassador for thrifting!
Sarah, you should do your own tour/miles long garage sale, etc. I really do not know the area you are in, but perhaps you could get the word out to all of the bloggers and other folks around to pick a day and all could put their items out for sale. With plenty of advertising, I am sure you would be a success. The power of the Blog is amazing. A blogger in Texas posted her garage sale and I believe people had to stand in line to get to it. I am not suggesting a garage sale as much as I am a by the street kind of sale. Again, I don’t know how populated your area is or what the local laws are about that sort of thing. But, it has amazing potential.
Thank you for your kind words on my blog.I come upon your blog because your photos give a feeling of lightness and Holidayfeelings. I love it!
Kind regards from Germany.A previously undisclosed reader.
Never thought that I would hear white van man and car boot sale mentioned on a blog !! Your table looks lovely and not only are your photographs brilliant but I love the way you write. You have a great sense of humour. XXXX
I like, very very much! I dream constantly about having a workspace out in a yard or attached to a house (I currently live in a highrise apartment) where I could re-purpose to my heart’s content. I think a Junk Tour would make for great blog fodder!
Hi Sarah, There is the odd car boot sale here but not like the one’s in the UK, there is also a furniture market on once a month which I havn’t been to yet but people tell me is great, also have you been to the auction house in Alexandria? That is worth a look or you can just look up the council websites, find a chuck out day and off you go!!! There are other people that do it to as I see the same people driving around in their Ute’s and white vans but you can get some great stuff if you get in early. Go for it….it will be a beach cottage adventure!!
I find myself thinking in vintage etched mirrors and McCoy pottery! Your pictures are just gorgeous, as always, and you really know how to pull everything together so effortlessly!
Not sure if I have seen a potential junking tour opportunities around these parts but the hills around Melbourne, Healesville, Daylesford, or Mt Martha would be a good bet, along with way too many wineries to keep you fuelled. If Gwyneth Paltrow can sell a tv show about her travels, why couldn’t the Beach Cottage?
This is absolutely lovely. Lucky me, you were the commenter above me at SITS today…I’ll be back. Decorating is not my forte, so I need as many ideas as I can get!
Now seriously Sarah…. do you need a gal pal to help haul the junk into the back of that ute… ’cause I’m thinking I’m that gal!!! Heck, I’ll even sit in the back of the ute with the junk.
Hugs ~ Kerryanne
What great pictures…love the table dressing term, I will have to remember that! I have never been on the 100 mile garage sales here in the states, but I would love to go sometime, I would need a truck to haul all of my treasures home!!
HI Sarah. I love your 1st pic. It is all your lovely bits rolled into one gorgeous pic! I have the same striped chair covers. But mine are a little sad now, i tried to dye them using tea.. yep… make sure you strain it ‘well’ or you end up with blotchy patches!!! They’re only good for the balcony now!. Have fun.. Julie
Sarah, I always know I’m going to see elegance in your own unique way when I come visit you! And I know I’ll go away chuckling. So pretty, everything you do! I love your beach cottage. By the way, in the consignment store the other day I was looking at some quilts. Thought of you. Hope you find some soon!
Brenda
If you ever make it to the US I know there are many of us who would be more than happy to show you the sights (good thrift and junque stores) and maybe a National monument or two
very clean, classy and inviting.Love the way youve worked on this .
P.S. I’m coming over from SITS….bunny hop over to find out how you can get 50 free photos and enter 4 great giveaways:http://energizerbunnysmommyreports.blogspot.com/(Dr Hippo books, CoverBee Laptop sleeve, Chex Mix bars, Piggy Paint- 10 winners in all!!):CoverBee and Dr Hippo books end on Sunday :>
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. Â 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? Â 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. Â 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
Â
6. layer on top the cream combo
Â
7. repeat
8. grate chocolate or Flake on top
Â
*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 ;-)Â
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. Â 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.Â
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. Â Oh yeah. Â 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. Â 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
Had a feeling some Cheer would end up on the table. I’m curious, do you know the botanical name? It’s such a fresh color & lends itself well to your natural toned, pretty tablescape.
What time is lunch?
Beach Cottage on Tour? That is the greatest! And such a beautiful tablescape – i could linger there over dinner, drinks, and dessert for hours and hours.
You’ve given the term ‘dressing table’ a whole new meaning to my life!
Best blog ever!
the stripes here sing to my heart….
This is just amazing, Sarah!!
I’ve always wanted to go on one of those 100 mile long garage sales, too. The problem I might have….Mr J is talking Camaro….in other words, he’s talking getting rid of the truck. How do I go junking without a truck!!! I’ll probably manage!
You make a table so pretty, it would make peanut butter and jelly look glamorous!!
Hugs,
LeAnn:)
Pop over to my blog and you can see one that you can fly right into and then I could show you around.
I really love your style, thank you for all the lovely ideas for my new house.
I just started with my blog so its still pretty empty there.
Feel invited to visit my page
Regards
Danijela
Beautiful find, as always! You? On tour? What a concept, and I would love to see the results!
Sigh. French Country isn’t my top favourite style, but I still find myself scrolling all the way down to the bottom of the pages whenever I visit your blog. I think your home is gorgeous, and you’re a great ambassador for thrifting!
Sarah, you should do your own tour/miles long garage sale, etc. I really do not know the area you are in, but perhaps you could get the word out to all of the bloggers and other folks around to pick a day and all could put their items out for sale. With plenty of advertising, I am sure you would be a success. The power of the Blog is amazing. A blogger in Texas posted her garage sale and I believe people had to stand in line to get to it. I am not suggesting a garage sale as much as I am a by the street kind of sale. Again, I don’t know how populated your area is or what the local laws are about that sort of thing. But, it has amazing potential.
Love your photos today!
Cheers from Texas!
Thank you for your kind words on my blog.I come upon your blog because your photos give a feeling of lightness and Holidayfeelings. I love it!
Kind regards from Germany.A previously undisclosed reader.
loves it! Might have to copy this soon!
Susan @ http://www.peanutpetunia.blogspot.com
Love, love, love!
Rachel
Never thought that I would hear white van man and car boot sale mentioned on a blog !! Your table looks lovely and not only are your photographs brilliant but I love the way you write. You have a great sense of humour. XXXX
I like, very very much! I dream constantly about having a workspace out in a yard or attached to a house (I currently live in a highrise apartment) where I could re-purpose to my heart’s content. I think a Junk Tour would make for great blog fodder!
I used to have a pick up trucker (ute) but I’v graduated to a 4 wheel drive Jeep. Gets muddy at those outdoor markets, you know.
Hi Sarah, There is the odd car boot sale here but not like the one’s in the UK, there is also a furniture market on once a month which I havn’t been to yet but people tell me is great, also have you been to the auction house in Alexandria? That is worth a look or you can just look up the council websites, find a chuck out day and off you go!!! There are other people that do it to as I see the same people driving around in their Ute’s and white vans but you can get some great stuff if you get in early. Go for it….it will be a beach cottage adventure!!
HI Sarah oh what fun a 100 mile long garage sale would be.
Beach Cottage on Tour would be a blast
Alison
I love my ute, great for junking around. What a blast you will have with this adventure.
Love the touches of brown. Very cool and summery.
I find myself thinking in vintage etched mirrors and McCoy pottery! Your pictures are just gorgeous, as always, and you really know how to pull everything together so effortlessly!
What a peaceful room!
Everything is so nice and crisp looking! Would never know that it was vintage.
Such a lovely and tranquil room. Love the stripes. Enjoy your junk hunting travels!
Tina
So lovely and fresh looking!
Katherine
Very pretty Sarah! Love your writing style too…:)
Oh! I JUST adore your table! Can I lunch weekly? I get such inspiration from you!
You had me at “junking tour,” LOL!! Your table looks lovely as always. You have such a great eye for partnering your pieces together.
Not sure if I have seen a potential junking tour opportunities around these parts but the hills around Melbourne, Healesville, Daylesford, or Mt Martha would be a good bet, along with way too many wineries to keep you fuelled. If Gwyneth Paltrow can sell a tv show about her travels, why couldn’t the Beach Cottage?
This is absolutely lovely. Lucky me, you were the commenter above me at SITS today…I’ll be back. Decorating is not my forte, so I need as many ideas as I can get!
Now seriously Sarah…. do you need a gal pal to help haul the junk into the back of that ute… ’cause I’m thinking I’m that gal!!! Heck, I’ll even sit in the back of the ute with the junk.
Hugs ~ Kerryanne
What great pictures…love the table dressing term, I will have to remember that! I have never been on the 100 mile garage sales here in the states, but I would love to go sometime, I would need a truck to haul all of my treasures home!!
Have a great VTT and a wonderful weekend.
Very soothing tablescape!
Carolyn
All your pictures are so lovely … so homey and comfortable.
Have a wonderful VTT and weekend.
Cathy
HI Sarah. I love your 1st pic. It is all your lovely bits rolled into one gorgeous pic! I have the same striped chair covers. But mine are a little sad now, i tried to dye them using tea.. yep… make sure you strain it ‘well’ or you end up with blotchy patches!!! They’re only good for the balcony now!. Have fun.. Julie
This is so pretty….so completely fresh. I love it!
Barb
Such a fresh, clean, and elegant decorating style. Just lovely! Amy
EVERYTHING looks FAB… sooo clean and white!
So clean and frash! Happy TT to you!
You blog is just beautiful and each time I visit, I want a home near the beach. *sighs..
Happy VTT..hope your weekend is a lovely one.
Great tablescaping, beautifully photographed and written — really has the feeling of a magazine layout. Congratulations!
Bill @ Affordable Accoutrements
Really beautiful! When should I arrive? ha.
Sarah, I always know I’m going to see elegance in your own unique way when I come visit you! And I know I’ll go away chuckling. So pretty, everything you do! I love your beach cottage. By the way, in the consignment store the other day I was looking at some quilts. Thought of you. Hope you find some soon!
Brenda
Wow. Visiting this blog is like taking a vacation. What a beautiful table.
Pretty! If only I could do that….
Ahh I always breath easy when I come here to see what simple beauty you display! You have a creative eye and have mastered this style well…
So pretty and calming! Crisp and serene.
If you ever make it to the US I know there are many of us who would be more than happy to show you the sights (good thrift and junque stores) and maybe a National monument or two
Happy VTT!
Great way to dress the table! Love the white and browns together.
DD
very clean, classy and inviting.Love the way youve worked on this .
P.S. I’m coming over from SITS….bunny hop over to find out how you can get 50 free photos and enter 4 great giveaways:http://energizerbunnysmommyreports.blogspot.com/(Dr Hippo books, CoverBee Laptop sleeve, Chex Mix bars, Piggy Paint- 10 winners in all!!):CoverBee and Dr Hippo books end on Sunday :>