How you doing out there? Yep you on the other side of this screen! Anyone there this morning?
Well I am good and our long long spell of rain and grey skies has gone…I mean I cannot cope with 10 days without sunshine and a blue ocean anymore you know…
Anyway I am here today blogging about my favourite thing…the Lucky Country…that’s what Good Life Wednesday is all about to me and Australia continues to amaze and inspire me every day…
…these are some pics from our Easter days out…we decided to make the best of the beaches and stuff going on around here rather than go away…and we had a real ball…and I realised how lucky I am to have a beautiful family who wanna hang around with me…well at least I think that was the look on their faces when I untied them
We had been out for the day to a water park…my kiddos LURVE water parks…errrrrm probably not one of my favourite activities in life, but one must do what one must do….flying down a water shute in a rubber ring in cold water is not my idea of fun…determined to not be one of those mothers who sits on the side though I tucked in the tummy flab, sucked it up, and thought of England, oops I mean Australia, and actually you know what, at one point where I caught myself running along (with things jiggling) laughing I think I too was enjoying the rush of adrenaline
This was later on, on the way home where we stopped for dinner…the sun was going down and the colours were amazing as we strolled around the harbour…
it seems here that even the places you have heard nothing about and are not expecting too much from are just breathtaking…
Anyway that’s it from me
So let’s see what you’ve going on on that side of the screen…add your BC Good Life Posts below…please link back to abeachcottage.com…
I live in a pretty cool country already…but Australia is my second…oh, we still love Mother England…but we are taught, early on, that
the Aussies were rebellious like us…so, I know my sassy American heart would find kinship there! {Lordie, it’s just gorgeous!}
so it isn’t quite wednesday for me yet… but i feel you with the long spells of rain. i am a california who is living in the pacific northwest. it’s wet! thanks for hosting this. thanks for you inspirations. thanks for the beautiful photos.
Well I love your tours of the “Lucky Country” and I happen to love a Light House now and again. One of my places to visit wishes is Maine where there are tons and tons. I most likely will not get to Australia, but I love seeing it through the eyes of an English girl who took a chance on a dream come true, thanks for hosting this wonderful party, xxx tami
Beauty-full photos, will be getting a long list of ‘to do’s’ in Sydney for my next visit. dropping heavy hints to the hubby for a long weekend in August (happens to be my b-day too!)
f xx
Just wanted to say hello! I have stumbled across your blog this mornig through a bit of blog hopping and I’m so pleased. You have the most wonderful photos to share and I am loving your style!! I have just arrived home from visiting my brother in Sydney (we stayed in Cronulla!) , what a fantastic place to live, i’m feeling the pull! Love Susan x
Gorgeous photos Sarah, you really spur me on to improve my meagre photography skills and get the most out of my new camera. The lighthouse shots in particular are great….I have thoughts of tracking down some old shabby ones here in England…as I’m sure there will be a couple dotted around the coastline. Robx
I know I must sound like a stuck record (remember the days?) but I have to say it again – your photography is breathtaking Sarah, just lovely. You’ll have to start copyrighting your images or you’ll start seeing them on greeting cards in the shops one day!
x
Two classic Australian books you might like are The Lucky Country (by Donald Horne) and The Australian Ugliness, by Robin Boyd. But don’t read them straight after each other!
Great pics Sarah – love the sun reflection on the water – so pleased the sun has finally come out – only good thing about the rain was I got to wear my brand new Hunters!!!! Leanne
What a lovely time you had with your family. And kudos to you for participating in the water park activities. It’s not my thing either but as moms, we are called outside of our comfort zones often! And we usually have fun and surprise ourselves once we jump on in. Your photos are beautiful, Sarah. Thanks for sharing and hosting.
~Lynn
Hi Sarah, lovely photos. I especially like the last one (moonlight reflected in the water). Thanks for stopping by at Polonica: Home Again the other day for a cup of coffee at Cafe Diglas in Vienna. I am linking a wee shopping post today with a coffee twist ending .
hi yep i am here…lol…australia is totally the best place………..but hey love visiting all those other joints……………….love your blog..always a pleasure to drop by…yep life is good
What beautiful photos! I’ve never been to Australia, and woefully, may never get there, but glad to see a bit of it via your blog. I am visiting for the first time. Your photos and your blog are wonderful. I’ll be back again and again. Thanks for hosting!
Lovely photographs, Australia’s always been on my wishlist. Your post makes me want to go there even more. And thanks for hosting this link party, got to discover so many wonderful bloggers!
Beautiful pictures my dear friend Sarah. How I wish I could visit you in your Lovely country! It’s on the list!!! One of these day!!
Thank you for bringing me so much joy on such a terrible work day. What a treat to come home and open my emails and see such beauty!! Don’t know how to be part of the link party so I did the best I could and posted a note to you my friend.
Hi there, finally got around to joing in the fun, so okay I do know its Thursday but better late than never huh? Thanks for the wonderful inspiration and reminder that we do in fact live in the LUCKY COUNTRY..it IS a god life!
Sarah, I didn’t get to “visit” yesterday because I was busy taking my Dad to the doctor in the big city. I stopped by today-loved your pink buns - and then had to look back at yesterday’s post. I join the others who commented above, I don’t know much about blogging or how to link and all of that, but I love visiting your blog everyday. I love your pictures of your “Lucky Country”. I too long to visit someday, but for now I’m landlocked here in Oklahoma and can only enjoy through your eyes. Thanks for sharing!
Sarah, Your pictures of the water are so stunning! Thanks for dropping by my blog and leaving a comment. And thanks for hosting the party:) I’m your new follower.
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
I live in a pretty cool country already…but Australia is my second…oh, we still love Mother England…but we are taught, early on, that
the Aussies were rebellious like us…so, I know my sassy American heart would find kinship there! {Lordie, it’s just gorgeous!}
m ^..^
beautiful photos! I have to go to Australia one day!!
Thanks for hosting.
These photos are amazing Sarah! You’ve outdone yourself!
so it isn’t quite wednesday for me yet… but i feel you with the long spells of rain. i am a california who is living in the pacific northwest. it’s wet! thanks for hosting this. thanks for you inspirations. thanks for the beautiful photos.
Kiama? Jamberoo water park??
Lovely pics….. just gorgeous. xx
yep Jamberoo, no Woolangong
Beautiful photographs Sarah. The very last one is my favourite.
Thanks for hosting.
x Marnie
Well I love your tours of the “Lucky Country” and I happen to love a Light House now and again. One of my places to visit wishes is Maine where there are tons and tons. I most likely will not get to Australia, but I love seeing it through the eyes of an English girl who took a chance on a dream come true, thanks for hosting this wonderful party, xxx tami
oh my, the twilight and sunsets were gorgeous. That’s what I’m talking about. Thank you for sharing.
Diane
What simply fabulous shots you have!
Ahhh… to be able to travel there…
A girl can dream right?
Thank you for hosting!
Very cool pics and very different for you ! Love them just the same a different look at your “Lucky Land!”
So very beautiful, thanks so much for sharing. Been working 14 hour days, not seeing much in the way of the gorgeous outdoors right now!
Thank you for hosting and for sharing your absolutely gorgeous photos… so vivid… makes me want to start planning a trip to Australia.
Such amazing photos, dear Sarah…thanks so much for hosting and showing us your beautiful country.
xo bj
Oooh Sarah, I’ve finally found out how to link up, took me a while
Making your chirozo stew as well…fingers crossed xx
It’s beautiful there Sarah.
I’m glad to hear that someone else ties their family up too
Blessings,
Marcia
love this-beautiful photos & a morning story that made me laugh out loud!!
melissa
I reeeeeeally love that picture of the sea looking golden. Wouldn’t that make awesome art? I think I’d want to just sit and gaze at it all day!
Thank you so much for hosting, Sarah.
Sarahxx
Beauty-full photos, will be getting a long list of ‘to do’s’ in Sydney for my next visit. dropping heavy hints to the hubby for a long weekend in August (happens to be my b-day too!)
f xx
ooh my bday is in August…meet up?
Just wanted to say hello! I have stumbled across your blog this mornig through a bit of blog hopping and I’m so pleased. You have the most wonderful photos to share and I am loving your style!! I have just arrived home from visiting my brother in Sydney (we stayed in Cronulla!) , what a fantastic place to live, i’m feeling the pull! Love Susan x
g’day & welcome Susan!
So when are you going to work for Australian Tourism Board? Thanks for capturing a beautiful part of our lucky country.
Gorgeous photos Sarah, you really spur me on to improve my meagre photography skills and get the most out of my new camera. The lighthouse shots in particular are great….I have thoughts of tracking down some old shabby ones here in England…as I’m sure there will be a couple dotted around the coastline. Robx
I know I must sound like a stuck record (remember the days?) but I have to say it again – your photography is breathtaking Sarah, just lovely. You’ll have to start copyrighting your images or you’ll start seeing them on greeting cards in the shops one day!
x
your blog makes me want to go to the shore again… living in Norway it is never far away, but still too far for my liking… sigh!
Two classic Australian books you might like are The Lucky Country (by Donald Horne) and The Australian Ugliness, by Robin Boyd. But don’t read them straight after each other!
thanks, I’ll look ‘em up
Great pics Sarah – love the sun reflection on the water – so pleased the sun has finally come out – only good thing about the rain was I got to wear my brand new Hunters!!!! Leanne
I love seeing your photos of Australia – just beautiful!
Makes me want to go to Australia. Lovely photos and great description on the water park…made me laugh!
What a lovely time you had with your family. And kudos to you for participating in the water park activities. It’s not my thing either but as moms, we are called outside of our comfort zones often! And we usually have fun and surprise ourselves once we jump on in. Your photos are beautiful, Sarah. Thanks for sharing and hosting.
~Lynn
I shared our Easter trip to Charleston, South Carolina. Hope you enjoy your virtual tour!
Just stunning. I really want to visit your gorgeous part of the world.
I am in Southern California and my latest post is about getting ready for summer–not exactly pertinent to you–but it IS a beach cottage.
Your images are amazing!!
beautiful pictures again!
Hi Sarah, lovely photos. I especially like the last one (moonlight reflected in the water). Thanks for stopping by at Polonica: Home Again the other day for a cup of coffee at Cafe Diglas in Vienna. I am linking a wee shopping post today with a coffee twist ending
.
Beautiful shots, love how you have captured the fading light on the water x
I absolutely LOVE the golden water shots! Oh how I want mild weather to come. And I want to be near the ocean!
hi yep i am here…lol…australia is totally the best place………..but hey love visiting all those other joints……………….love your blog..always a pleasure to drop by…yep life is good
Love these pictures–so beautiful. What a lovely way to spend the day! Thanks for hosting–
Mary
What beautiful photos! I’ve never been to Australia, and woefully, may never get there, but glad to see a bit of it via your blog. I am visiting for the first time. Your photos and your blog are wonderful. I’ll be back again and again. Thanks for hosting!
What a wonderful way to spend Easter – together and having fun. Thanks for hosting the linky party.
Hi,
Beautiful post! Stunning pics !!
Have added a link here..on you fun party
Now, following you too..
Hope to see you on my blog.
G’day
Sanghamitra.
http://rainbow-thecoloursofindia.blogspot.com
Lovely photographs, Australia’s always been on my wishlist. Your post makes me want to go there even more. And thanks for hosting this link party, got to discover so many wonderful bloggers!
Beautiful pictures my dear friend Sarah. How I wish I could visit you in your Lovely country! It’s on the list!!! One of these day!!
Thank you for bringing me so much joy on such a terrible work day. What a treat to come home and open my emails and see such beauty!! Don’t know how to be part of the link party so I did the best I could and posted a note to you my friend.
Love and hugs…..Sally
xxxxxxxx
Hi there, finally got around to joing in the fun, so okay I do know its Thursday but better late than never huh? Thanks for the wonderful inspiration and reminder that we do in fact live in the LUCKY COUNTRY..it IS a god life!
Sarah, I didn’t get to “visit” yesterday because I was busy taking my Dad to the doctor in the big city. I stopped by today-loved your pink buns
- and then had to look back at yesterday’s post. I join the others who commented above, I don’t know much about blogging or how to link and all of that, but I love visiting your blog everyday. I love your pictures of your “Lucky Country”. I too long to visit someday, but for now I’m landlocked here in Oklahoma and can only enjoy through your eyes. Thanks for sharing!
Sarah, Your pictures of the water are so stunning! Thanks for dropping by my blog and leaving a comment. And thanks for hosting the party:) I’m your new follower.
Good post, but much too much.