Ooooh dear…no you are not going mad and yes this post was up for about 20 minutes yesterday and then poof, gone… eaten up by cyberspace! …and to those of you who read that post, added your link and left me a comment, I am very sorry but poof they were eaten too!
Thanks for all of those who have emailed me about being missing-in-action, I am fine…the shared server I was on was not…you see I have had to upgrade my server to my own one ‘cos I had exceeded the bandwidth on the shared one…still with me? …or am I speaking gobbledeegoop to you?
…basically I have had to do techie speak for the last two days, and I ain’t too good at that…hopefully all is now working smoothly and normal transmission will resume from now on in
So I decided to still do Good Life Wednesday, only now it’s Thursday night, well at least it is in Australia, I guess for some of you reading this, it’s still early on on Thursday…
Anyway, welcome to the Good Life…and I am not including getting one’s own server and migrating to it in that …at least I was a grown-up, didn’t whine and best of all didn’t blame it all on Mr BC…are you suitably impressed? I do hope so.
When I came to Australia the first time, it was after the 6 months Mr BC had spent networking with Australian business contacts and we were on our way to a new life in the sun…we had booked a holiday, staying by the sea, near the city and Mr BC was hooked up for meetings about potential jobs…
Sitting on the plane I opened the magazine in the back of the seat…you know the ones provided by the airline, that after 65 hours of boredom you pick up in desperation? That’ll be the one…
Well, this time, there happened to be something that took my interest…it was an article on someone, I can’t remember who, but knowing this blog someone will be able to enlighten me, about a guy who started writing thank-you notes and how it changed his life.
I mused it for just about the whole plane ride..and almost immediately I began to think about all the good things in my life…and my life was not, and is not now perfect...but right away I looked at things differently...wow how grateful am I to have the opportunity to be sitting on this plane, with my 3 healthy children on the way to a new life Down Under by the sea!
Don’t get me wrong. I am not about to go all moochy-moochy-pyscho-babble-moo on you…it isn’t all roses in my life and I can and do frequently whinge on for England about things and I do bleat on and on to Mr BC when it isn’t going how I want it to go…
…but looking at the small things, the everyday things with new eyes has changed my life...like completely…
We arrived in Australia for this holiday and from that day forward I began every night to write down something I was grateful for in my life…I didn’t have a special book or anything…in fact being away from home, I didn’t have anything and I used one of those little hotel booklets that you get by the side of the bed.
The very first thing I wrote in that book was that I was grateful for the surfers! How very very strange…here I was an English girl, her first night in Australia and I wrote that I was grateful for the surfers…but I remember overlooking the sea that first morning, very very early about 5.30am and being totally floored by seeing people all over the place...the little black dots of the surfers on the waves and it made me smile…and I was grateful to witness that…
…as I began to write those things down every night I was AMAZED at how differently I looked at my life…it seemed almost as if literally my eyes opened to a whole new world…and on and on it went…from big things like being on the Manly ferry, turning the corner and seeing the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge to little things like the colours in a flower, a cup of tea and the food we were eating…
Back home in England I carried on with writing down every night the little things in my day that I was thankful for…I kept it small and I kept it in that scruffy little notepad…I resisted all grand ideas for a big journal or turning it into a project or joining one of the sites that I have since come across that are all about just this…I knew that if I did that, made it all official I would quickly lose interest…
and the funny thing was, that time and time again, what came up, was not material things, things I had bought or possessions but what repeatedly hit that little pad was firstly nature…a flower, the country lanes I took walks on in England, trees….the weather…clouds, sunshine (if I was lucky) and the rain…my kiddos health & silliness, things we were eating and little vintage things I had come across for pennies on my treasure hunting escapades..
After a while, I stopped physically writing down those things…I kinda found that I didn’t feel the need to actually put it down on paper, that now, especially since the discovery of my camera I saw the little things more anyway
…and I think this blog became the place where, though I didn’t actually write it down in words, I wrote my gratefuls…and because of this blog, the freedom to write, the blossoming of photography I have found beauty in everyday things in life…and consequently it turns up in all manner of places…constantly surprising me..
Doing the night-time gratefuls thing made me look at this tatty old cottage in a different way…I focused on the good things about it..I thought about what I was thankful for….I revelled in finding old vintage furniture for it and instead of bleating on about the bad things about it, of which there were plenty (and still are)… I decided to be grateful…that we had reached our dream of moving to a new life in the sun…it wasn’t quite perfect…but baby this would do...we had an old cottage….fairly near to the sea…in the Lucky Country…we had beautiful weather nearly year round, we were living an outdoor lifestyle, we had the wooden floors and sash windows I had always dreamt about, oh and a huge old fig tree..
…don’t get me wrong, I certainly do not sit here ensconced in white thinking about how wonderful everything is, while angels flit around playing tunes…I have a whole long-as-my-arm list of things I want to do to this place, an even longer list of places I want to visit, an even longer list of things I want to try…
my life is far from perfect…
but I am living it
I hope to be back tomorrow…if that Server Boy don’t start acting up again…
I have someone really really really really really really really lovely to show you in this old cottage…
p.s. pictures of little white things around and about my place that I am thankful for…
I am adding the linky thing below, even though it is not Wednesday…
hmmm… timely post my friend….. I had a whinge for England {I am half English after all *wink}…. just this past Monday….. but have taken stock well and truly by today and am quite back on track about how wonderfully blessed we are.
That server thing would definitely have been gobbledeegoop to me, but then the rest of your beautiful post, icluding the photos, just made total sense. I love that you wrote everything down in the way you did, and know what you mean about the photographs taking over. When I find myself obsessing over tiny details in my photo, and looking at everything with fresh eyes, I know I’m more aware of everything around me. And I am truly grateful for all my riches.
Amanda x
Sarah, you are so right. There is so much to be thankful for and the breath-taking beauty of creation is full of reasons to smile. Thanks for the reminder
Look forward to what’s coming next.
Being in the throes of pnd last year taught me to appreciate the little things in life and so I started jotting down one or two things that I was grateful for every night….it’s still something I do nightly and like you I look at life in a completely new light now. How blessed are we to live in such a beautiful country …not that NZ isn’t gorgeous, the opportunities are just better here.
So nice to hear all about your big move…..
I dream of moving away but always think I would miss my hometown too much! Glad to know you miss yours but that you’re still happy with your move!!!
Lovely…Lovely photos too!!!
ps….i’m have a give-away at my blog!! Stop on over if you get a chance:)
We are in sync. I was feeling poopy and down yesterday so when I went for my evening run/walk around a pond I listened to inspirational music and thought of everything in my life that I was grateful for. It was amazing how long my list was and how much better I felt when I was finished. Who doesn’t feel uplifted watching duck, geese, turtles, and heron? Thanks for letting me get a glimpse into your life.
Megan http://cottagebluedesigns.blogspot.com/
Congrats on your bandwidth upgrade. This was a fantastic post, Sarah. The pictures are gorgeous, and may even inspire me to run outside with my camera and capture some of my flowers before the heat destroys them! I have been pondering writing a gratitude “journal” though, like you, it would have to be less structured and “official”. So many times I feel grateful for some little thing, and then the feeling and the memory of it are pushed out of my mind by everyday worries and cares. If you write it down, you can go back and revisit it.
Great post Sarah. I don’t think I’ll make it to the party this week.
I’m having trouble seeing most of your photos in this post. Thought you might like to know. Have a great weekend.
x Marnie
Was just thinking the same thing – been out for lunch with a friend I haven’t seen in ages and sat outside on an English summers afternoon. Life is as good as you want it to be sometimes and remember – It’s never too late to be who you want to be.
i have 25m grandkids and 2 greatgrands with 3 more on the way. i take many many pictures of them. love your bolg here in ga. and just love the way u look at things
Yeah! So glad you are back Sarah! Isn’t it frustrating though? Honestly, I don’t know how things don’t disappear more than they do. I can’t get over all the blogs there are now! It must be hard to get everything perfect. Have a wonderful rest of your week Sarah, and thank you for hosting. Your friend out in California ps if you are ever here in the States, please look me up! I live about 2 hours from the coast and we would have a blast together I am sure:)
Hi Sarah. I’ve been lurking around your blog for awhile now… mostly through my phone’s rss reader. Actually I think this may be the first time I’ve ever visited via the computer. I love relaxing with a glass of wine in the evening and reading about what you’re up to and seeing your great photographs. I don’t even remember how I found you, probably via a link on one of the other popular coastal blogs. Anyway, I just wanted to stop for a second this time around and say “G’day” (I’m not from Australia but man I really adore the accent). Even if you don’t hear from me much, I’ll still be lurking around here regularly and thoroughly enjoying myself doing it.
I love that we understand one another’s ‘move’ so well-I get ALL your very wise words about moving away, your love for non-material
possessions & how blessed you feel…but what I love most is that Australia will always be HOME to us both- I feel blessed to travel & to live in hour old stamping ground with our three Kiddos…. But hat I love most is that their hearts will always lay firmly in 2 wonderful countries….
As I said….lovely to have you back….happy Thursday in Oz…from earlier Thursday in ol’Blighty…
Errrr… I also love my I-phone like life itself- but can’t bare that it changes all my spelling to what it ‘thinks’ I am trying to say!!!!!! Grrrr-hope you can ‘read’ the comment above!!!!!!!!!!!!
M x
I looove this post so much Sarah! I started a gratitude journal a couple of years back, which I do on and off, and I can also honestly say that it has transformed my life (and my marriage) without any exaggeration. I think for me too, taking my life into my own hands and moving across the ocean because we wanted to has changed my outlook. We really are as free as we think we are (like a saying that I read somewhere said).
Your photos are gorgeous by the way! And thanks for sharing so honestly. It can be easy to assume things about each other, like thinking that your life is a lot more perfect than mine because your blog is so beautiful…but the truth is we’re all living life with its ups and down and making the best of it with what we have. You do seem to do that very well, though! Thanks for sharing and inspiring.
I totally get what you’re saying, Sarah. There’s an U.S. author who hosts a TV show who wrote a book on being grateful for everyday things. Even the tiny, miniscule, non-descript things. She wrote that when we look at life with gracious gratefulness, that our whole outlook on life – through all the bumps in the road that tend to throw us off kilter – tends to be happier, brighter, and more loving. We become the people that God wants us to be. Thankful, happy, and giving. A direct reflection of who HE is! ♥ xoxo laurie
Ohhhh so glad I was not going totally mad – was sure I had seen, read and loved your post! Decided to join in …after all we northern beaches girls certainly get the “good life”! Glad to hear all your techno issues are better, have a wonderful weekend, looks like the weather is a changing – yay!
What did you do with all your little notes…did you keep them hidden away somewhere…can you imagine when you have gone to that white beach cottage in the sky and your grandchildren are going through your stuff….do you think that they will think Grandma was a little nutty…can you see the raised eyebrows…’grateful for chippy bits of furniture’!!…poor Grandma… Robx
I have been sending people thank you cards and letters, sometimes anonymously, for a couple of years now. I get such a buzz out of it.
Sometimes my cards and letters lead to unexpected and wonderful experiences. Once, quite by chance I heard one of my cards read out as part of a very funny radio program promotion.
I am very keen to get a copy of that book you mentioned. I’ve noted the details supplied by Fiona in her post.
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
…at least I was a grown-up, didn’t whine and best of all didn’t blame it all on Mr BC…are you suitably impressed? I do hope so.
hmmm… timely post my friend….. I had a whinge for England {I am half English after all *wink}…. just this past Monday….. but have taken stock well and truly by today and am quite back on track about how wonderfully blessed we are.
thanks…… x
and… your photos… girl you are getting goooooooooooood xx
thanks
bet I can whinge more than you
x
You just made me smile
I’m grateful for a lot of things and one of them is having your blog to escape to on my lunch break!
Cheers,
Siggie
That server thing would definitely have been gobbledeegoop to me, but then the rest of your beautiful post, icluding the photos, just made total sense. I love that you wrote everything down in the way you did, and know what you mean about the photographs taking over. When I find myself obsessing over tiny details in my photo, and looking at everything with fresh eyes, I know I’m more aware of everything around me. And I am truly grateful for all my riches.
Amanda x
Sarah, you are so right. There is so much to be thankful for and the breath-taking beauty of creation is full of reasons to smile. Thanks for the reminder
Look forward to what’s coming next.
Being in the throes of pnd last year taught me to appreciate the little things in life and so I started jotting down one or two things that I was grateful for every night….it’s still something I do nightly and like you I look at life in a completely new light now. How blessed are we to live in such a beautiful country …not that NZ isn’t gorgeous, the opportunities are just better here.
I love those measuring cups!
x
it’s nice to see that your dream of living so far away are still making you happy. Lovely photos once again.
So nice to hear all about your big move…..
I dream of moving away but always think I would miss my hometown too much! Glad to know you miss yours but that you’re still happy with your move!!!
Lovely…Lovely photos too!!!
ps….i’m have a give-away at my blog!! Stop on over if you get a chance:)
We are in sync. I was feeling poopy and down yesterday so when I went for my evening run/walk around a pond I listened to inspirational music and thought of everything in my life that I was grateful for. It was amazing how long my list was and how much better I felt when I was finished. Who doesn’t feel uplifted watching duck, geese, turtles, and heron? Thanks for letting me get a glimpse into your life.
Megan
http://cottagebluedesigns.blogspot.com/
Congrats on your bandwidth upgrade. This was a fantastic post, Sarah. The pictures are gorgeous, and may even inspire me to run outside with my camera and capture some of my flowers before the heat destroys them! I have been pondering writing a gratitude “journal” though, like you, it would have to be less structured and “official”. So many times I feel grateful for some little thing, and then the feeling and the memory of it are pushed out of my mind by everyday worries and cares. If you write it down, you can go back and revisit it.
Great post Sarah. I don’t think I’ll make it to the party this week.
I’m having trouble seeing most of your photos in this post. Thought you might like to know. Have a great weekend.
x Marnie
Was just thinking the same thing – been out for lunch with a friend I haven’t seen in ages and sat outside on an English summers afternoon. Life is as good as you want it to be sometimes and remember – It’s never too late to be who you want to be.
hi Sarah, i read that book last year. 365 thank yous (or something like that by John kralik. Great book and a worthy practice.
Cheers fiona
Fiona
Thanks for the book details.
Alison
i have 25m grandkids and 2 greatgrands with 3 more on the way. i take many many pictures of them. love your bolg here in ga. and just love the way u look at things
Always love coming over for a visit and learning a little more about your fabulous life and of course seeing your beautiful pictures!
XO
kristin
Yeah! So glad you are back Sarah! Isn’t it frustrating though? Honestly, I don’t know how things don’t disappear more than they do. I can’t get over all the blogs there are now! It must be hard to get everything perfect. Have a wonderful rest of your week Sarah, and thank you for hosting. Your friend out in California ps if you are ever here in the States, please look me up! I live about 2 hours from the coast and we would have a blast together I am sure:)
Hi Sarah. I’ve been lurking around your blog for awhile now… mostly through my phone’s rss reader. Actually I think this may be the first time I’ve ever visited via the computer. I love relaxing with a glass of wine in the evening and reading about what you’re up to and seeing your great photographs. I don’t even remember how I found you, probably via a link on one of the other popular coastal blogs. Anyway, I just wanted to stop for a second this time around and say “G’day” (I’m not from Australia but man I really adore the accent). Even if you don’t hear from me much, I’ll still be lurking around here regularly and thoroughly enjoying myself doing it.
Honey-Soo lovely to have you back Sarah…..
I love that we understand one another’s ‘move’ so well-I get ALL your very wise words about moving away, your love for non-material
possessions & how blessed you feel…but what I love most is that Australia will always be HOME to us both- I feel blessed to travel & to live in hour old stamping ground with our three Kiddos…. But hat I love most is that their hearts will always lay firmly in 2 wonderful countries….
As I said….lovely to have you back….happy Thursday in Oz…from earlier Thursday in ol’Blighty…
Melissa x
Errrr… I also love my I-phone like life itself- but can’t bare that it changes all my spelling to what it ‘thinks’ I am trying to say!!!!!! Grrrr-hope you can ‘read’ the comment above!!!!!!!!!!!!
M x
haha happens to me all the time!
x
I love the white flower with blue photo. So perfect.
I looove this post so much Sarah! I started a gratitude journal a couple of years back, which I do on and off, and I can also honestly say that it has transformed my life (and my marriage) without any exaggeration. I think for me too, taking my life into my own hands and moving across the ocean because we wanted to has changed my outlook. We really are as free as we think we are (like a saying that I read somewhere said).
Your photos are gorgeous by the way! And thanks for sharing so honestly. It can be easy to assume things about each other, like thinking that your life is a lot more perfect than mine because your blog is so beautiful…but the truth is we’re all living life with its ups and down and making the best of it with what we have. You do seem to do that very well, though! Thanks for sharing and inspiring.
thanks Jadyn!
x
I totally get what you’re saying, Sarah. There’s an U.S. author who hosts a TV show who wrote a book on being grateful for everyday things. Even the tiny, miniscule, non-descript things. She wrote that when we look at life with gracious gratefulness, that our whole outlook on life – through all the bumps in the road that tend to throw us off kilter – tends to be happier, brighter, and more loving. We become the people that God wants us to be. Thankful, happy, and giving. A direct reflection of who HE is! ♥ xoxo laurie
Ohhhh so glad I was not going totally mad – was sure I had seen, read and loved your post! Decided to join in …after all we northern beaches girls certainly get the “good life”! Glad to hear all your techno issues are better, have a wonderful weekend, looks like the weather is a changing – yay!
So serene and beautiful…..lovely images.
What did you do with all your little notes…did you keep them hidden away somewhere…can you imagine when you have gone to that white beach cottage in the sky and your grandchildren are going through your stuff….do you think that they will think Grandma was a little nutty…can you see the raised eyebrows…’grateful for chippy bits of furniture’!!…poor Grandma… Robx
Thank you for being the hostess with the mostest!
Kerry at housetalkn.blogspot.com
I consider, that you are mistaken. I can defend the position. Write to me in PM.
Sarah
I have been sending people thank you cards and letters, sometimes anonymously, for a couple of years now. I get such a buzz out of it.
Sometimes my cards and letters lead to unexpected and wonderful experiences. Once, quite by chance I heard one of my cards read out as part of a very funny radio program promotion.
I am very keen to get a copy of that book you mentioned. I’ve noted the details supplied by Fiona in her post.
Alison