That’s awful… Don’t you just hate the unpredictability of I.T? I know overall it’s a great thing, but boy can it cause some tears of frustration!! Going to the beach has always been a pick-me-up for me too… That’s why we ended up next the coast here in the States ( the hubby says it’s the only thing he has up his sleeve on *those* days). Chin up. Lx
I also hope you are able to recover your posts. They are such a lovely record of Beach Cottage happenings.
If you are able to recover them, maybe you could have them printed out as a book? I’ve read about some bloggers who have done so, and they said that while it’s a bit expensive, it’s well worth it to have the hard copy.
Oh, no! I’m so sorry to hear that. I would be heartbroken! What happened? I’m glad to see there’s life back at the Beach Cottage today, though. I was getting worried.
I’m sorry this happened…I enjoy your blog…Going forward you could print out your pages as you go along for a back up? Today’s photo is great…Thank you for sharing. Very calming for a Sunday AM here in So. California.
I thought something was up, there seemed to be an unnatural spell of silence from the beach cottage… nil desperandum! Ma boys assure me nothing is lost, just mislaid on the interwebs. Have a hot choc.
Urrrrghhhhhh! What a bummer! All this technology is magical and at the same time maddening! Sorry to hear of your troubles…I do so hope you are able to recover those two years of hard work and memories! Just be that free, soaring, non-blogging seagull for today…we’ll still be hear when you get it all sorted! ;}
Hi, hope you are sorting out all of your issues with your website problems.
How obvious is that bird in the midle of the above photo. Oh derrrr! and I had to go and comment on the obvious.
My # 1 comment doesn’t look, shall I say very bright!!
I hope it can be fixed soon. I was looking for you on the weekend and couldn’t work out what I was doing- didn’t comprehend it was a site problem. So hope you can find all the past things…kisses to you. Emma.
Sarah
here in nz i have not been able to access your blog at all and have only just managed to find it through the French Larkspur link…..hope you get it all sorted out as i am missing your posts……maybe you can find your posts amongst the history link if you don;t delete anything in there……
I haven’t got any of your posts through on my sidebar of my all last week and I was starting to get worried, and when I finally got brainy and decided to actually click on it it appeared you were off the air, even this morning it still wasn’t working yet your post says 15 hrs ago- stupid, computer, stupid internet, stupid blogs! Hope you get all your stuff back, by the way- while now I can see your posts can’t get any pictures.
I am sorry about you losing part of your blog, I would be totally bummed if that happened to me, and my posts aren’t nearly as awesome as yours! But I guess it isn’t about what you have posted in the past, it is about continuing to post in the future, and you can bet your buttons that I will continue to check back here and read your posts no matter what happens, you are the best!
Oh Sarah how terrible to have lost your blog. Surely there is some clever computer guru out there that can find it all for you.
At least a walk on the beach would have soothed your soul.
Alison
Oh my, this is not good. I hope it gets fixed fast. Here, I was thinking it was on my end. Even worried I could never get your posts again. I would be so lost without them. Good luck and know that we do all love you out here!
How frustrating!! But hopefully you can get them back. For now, a long walk on the beach sounds like a good way to spend a bit of time and unwind a little.
so sorry that this happened to you (and your followers). i hope it all comes back, but if not, i am confident you will continue to produce wonderful posts. i wish you persistence and serenity!! jkj
Oh Sarah, what happened? I’ve been checking in, and seeing that there were definitely some problems. I guess I may never host my own site for fear that would happen to me. I’m so sorry this has transpired!
Brenda
Hi Sarah,
Oh my, I thought it was just me. Try not to worry. The stuff is always out there in the internet ether somewhere, it just takes the IT geniuses to find it. You know they can track back, even the things we dump and put in the trash or try to hide ( that’s how they find the bad guys!) . So they (whoever is helping you with this) should be able to find your last two years and back it all up for you – and us!
BTW – the e-mail subscription thingy isn’t working either, sorry to share that on top of everything else.
Thanks for the walk on the beach, if you’ve been by my place you know I needed that this morning. I spent the afternoon doing just that, walking and trying not to think.
XO
Heidi
Oh hon, it will all work out. Sorry you are feeling blue though.
Sending you a bucket full of hugs and a pocket full of sunshine from Idaho!
Love, The Lady of the House
Hi Sarah and good evening from sunny England … as others have said .. you will be able to find the lost stuff somewhere, may take a while, but that’s one good thing about computers … good luck in retrieving! Jules x
Dear Sarah,
Wishing your blog a speedy recovery! Like others here, I was also starting to wonder where you’d got to. I know nothing about IT, but take heart from those who assure you that it ain’t gone for good, it’s just temporarily lost. x
I was wondering where you went again, Sarah. I was having Beach Cottage withdrawal!! Hope you can get all your techno problems repaired and find your past two years of memories!! We’re keeping our fingers crossed!
Aww… I am really sorry to hear that you have had computer problems and have possibly lost TwO years of your blog. That is really the pits…thanks for the lovely photo above, nothing like a walk on the beach.
Hugs, Cindy S
Sarah
sorry things are on a blip with this here black square box…i have a had problems with mine recently i know that when mines down i feel like i lost a connection to the world!! lol I am sure it will all get worked out! the pics of the sea are just gorgeous i like the one of you and the dog! soo cute!!!thats you right? kinda far away to tell…. the cart /horse thing too! kinda neat to see that at the beach! stay warm and wrapped up in a blanket with a good cup of tea!!!!!
glad you are back!!
g’day
kim xoxxoox
Sarah:
I’m back from my motorhome holiday in Australia. I hadn’t heard about your blog breakdown, it must have been terrible!
I just wanted to tell you that you are so lucky to be living in that wonderful country, the beaches are incredible!!! We went from Sydney to Melbourne, then to Tasmania, back to Melbourne, then to Adelaide, down the coast wherever posible, except for our escape to Bendigo for the Sheep and Wool Show. I’ve come back with a whole new energy and i’m sure your life by the sea will soon have you, too, back and running again!!!
Oooops!! I’m from down under Argentina. And have a beach house in Uruguay, I love the way you decorated your house and have given me new ideas for mine!
I hope everything is back to normal again.
Many hugs
Fede
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 …]
Beach Cottage ladies, we have some vintage linen and some wood/twig washed up on the beach today here in Beach Cottage Land….don’t say I don’t keep you entertained now will you . Come on in. So, yep I have posted about colanders on this blog, about things sourced from the side of the road, about [...]
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
Lost two years of this blog!!! how what why???
You poor darling, hope all is rectified pronto.
xx
That photo is absolutely spectacular..and…I reckon that bird is right smack-bang in the middle.
I do hope all goes well with your website problems, good luck with it all.
Your photo today is spectacular. Hope your issues get resolved soon. We stateside like to go back and reflect on all of your lovilies.
That’s awful… Don’t you just hate the unpredictability of I.T? I know overall it’s a great thing, but boy can it cause some tears of frustration!! Going to the beach has always been a pick-me-up for me too… That’s why we ended up next the coast here in the States ( the hubby says it’s the only thing he has up his sleeve on *those* days). Chin up. Lx
always missn’ you
I also hope you are able to recover your posts. They are such a lovely record of Beach Cottage happenings.
If you are able to recover them, maybe you could have them printed out as a book? I’ve read about some bloggers who have done so, and they said that while it’s a bit expensive, it’s well worth it to have the hard copy.
Peace be with you and enjoy your day.
Oh, no! I’m so sorry to hear that. I would be heartbroken! What happened? I’m glad to see there’s life back at the Beach Cottage today, though. I was getting worried.
Sarah,
I’m sorry this happened…I enjoy your blog…Going forward you could print out your pages as you go along for a back up? Today’s photo is great…Thank you for sharing. Very calming for a Sunday AM here in So. California.
I thought something was up, there seemed to be an unnatural spell of silence from the beach cottage… nil desperandum! Ma boys assure me nothing is lost, just mislaid on the interwebs. Have a hot choc.
Urrrrghhhhhh! What a bummer! All this technology is magical and at the same time maddening! Sorry to hear of your troubles…I do so hope you are able to recover those two years of hard work and memories! Just be that free, soaring, non-blogging seagull for today…we’ll still be hear when you get it all sorted! ;}
m ^..^
Comment #2
Hi, hope you are sorting out all of your issues with your website problems.
How obvious is that bird in the midle of the above photo. Oh derrrr! and I had to go and comment on the obvious.
My # 1 comment doesn’t look, shall I say very bright!!
sarah! i just found your beach cottage so i hope to see you soon.
Oh Sarah,
I hope it can be fixed soon. I was looking for you on the weekend and couldn’t work out what I was doing- didn’t comprehend it was a site problem. So hope you can find all the past things…kisses to you. Emma.
Oh dear….maybe the computer fairy got cross?!
Sarah
here in nz i have not been able to access your blog at all and have only just managed to find it through the French Larkspur link…..hope you get it all sorted out as i am missing your posts……maybe you can find your posts amongst the history link if you don;t delete anything in there……
hello again have clicked back on my link and got your blog with todays pictures but none on any other post….how frustrating for you!!!
I haven’t got any of your posts through on my sidebar of my all last week and I was starting to get worried, and when I finally got brainy and decided to actually click on it it appeared you were off the air, even this morning it still wasn’t working yet your post says 15 hrs ago- stupid, computer, stupid internet, stupid blogs! Hope you get all your stuff back, by the way- while now I can see your posts can’t get any pictures.
I am sorry about you losing part of your blog, I would be totally bummed if that happened to me, and my posts aren’t nearly as awesome as yours! But I guess it isn’t about what you have posted in the past, it is about continuing to post in the future, and you can bet your buttons that I will continue to check back here and read your posts no matter what happens, you are the best!
Oh Sarah how terrible to have lost your blog. Surely there is some clever computer guru out there that can find it all for you.
At least a walk on the beach would have soothed your soul.
Alison
oh lord! 2 years of stuff? soo sorry to hear of this. will keep fingers crossed that this is the last of the problems. sending love your way. jeanne
All I can say Sarah is lots of hugs!x
Oh my, this is not good. I hope it gets fixed fast. Here, I was thinking it was on my end. Even worried I could never get your posts again. I would be so lost without them. Good luck and know that we do all love you out here!
oh darn it Sarah….i hope Darcy can get it all figured out for you. Isn’t it nice to have her…
xo
p.s. your subscribe button doesn’t seem to work.
..OUCH!…hope you can find everthing!….beautiful picture!
How frustrating!! But hopefully you can get them back. For now, a long walk on the beach sounds like a good way to spend a bit of time and unwind a little.
so sorry that this happened to you (and your followers). i hope it all comes back, but if not, i am confident you will continue to produce wonderful posts. i wish you persistence and serenity!! jkj
Oh Sarah, what happened? I’ve been checking in, and seeing that there were definitely some problems. I guess I may never host my own site for fear that would happen to me. I’m so sorry this has transpired!
Brenda
Hi Sarah,
Oh my, I thought it was just me. Try not to worry. The stuff is always out there in the internet ether somewhere, it just takes the IT geniuses to find it. You know they can track back, even the things we dump and put in the trash or try to hide ( that’s how they find the bad guys!) . So they (whoever is helping you with this) should be able to find your last two years and back it all up for you – and us!
BTW – the e-mail subscription thingy isn’t working either, sorry to share that on top of everything else.
Thanks for the walk on the beach, if you’ve been by my place you know I needed that this morning. I spent the afternoon doing just that, walking and trying not to think.
XO
Heidi
It seems to be back for me! AND I can see pictures again. Hoping the worst is behind you now.
Hang in there, and take lots of pics!
Hugs, Fi
Oh hon, it will all work out. Sorry you are feeling blue though.
Sending you a bucket full of hugs and a pocket full of sunshine from Idaho!
Love, The Lady of the House
Hi Sarah and good evening from sunny England … as others have said .. you will be able to find the lost stuff somewhere, may take a while, but that’s one good thing about computers … good luck in retrieving! Jules x
Oh no, thats awfull!! Hope things get better soon. I am hosting a jewelry giveaway on my blog. Would love to see you there!
Yeah!! It went right to your homepage…hopefully you are back on track down under…love your daily posts.
Dear Sarah,
Wishing your blog a speedy recovery! Like others here, I was also starting to wonder where you’d got to. I know nothing about IT, but take heart from those who assure you that it ain’t gone for good, it’s just temporarily lost. x
….as is often the case, I spoke too soon. Looks like all is back to normal now. Hope so!
A Beach Cottage is back! Yay for you! How relieved and excited you must be. Looking forward to some great pics and inspiration for a beachy feel soon.
I was wondering where you went again, Sarah. I was having Beach Cottage withdrawal!! Hope you can get all your techno problems repaired and find your past two years of memories!! We’re keeping our fingers crossed!
xoxo laurie@heavens-walk
Aww… I am really sorry to hear that you have had computer problems and have possibly lost TwO years of your blog. That is really the pits…thanks for the lovely photo above, nothing like a walk on the beach.
Hugs, Cindy S
Sarah
sorry things are on a blip with this here black square box…i have a had problems with mine recently i know that when mines down i feel like i lost a connection to the world!! lol I am sure it will all get worked out! the pics of the sea are just gorgeous i like the one of you and the dog! soo cute!!!thats you right? kinda far away to tell…. the cart /horse thing too! kinda neat to see that at the beach! stay warm and wrapped up in a blanket with a good cup of tea!!!!!
glad you are back!!
g’day
kim xoxxoox
Sarah:
I’m back from my motorhome holiday in Australia. I hadn’t heard about your blog breakdown, it must have been terrible!
I just wanted to tell you that you are so lucky to be living in that wonderful country, the beaches are incredible!!! We went from Sydney to Melbourne, then to Tasmania, back to Melbourne, then to Adelaide, down the coast wherever posible, except for our escape to Bendigo for the Sheep and Wool Show. I’ve come back with a whole new energy and i’m sure your life by the sea will soon have you, too, back and running again!!!
Oooops!! I’m from down under Argentina. And have a beach house in Uruguay, I love the way you decorated your house and have given me new ideas for mine!
I hope everything is back to normal again.
Many hugs
Fede