We are home from Western Australia and pleased to be back in our old cottage…
Renovation planning has started and back-to-reality life has started already…and I am chasing my tail already…hmmm, not sure quite how that happened…it seems like only a few hours ago I was lying back in a spa gazing at the stars
So just a quick hello from me today and welcome to Good Life Wednesday
…my Good Life this week is about the goings on in my garden…
when you arrive home after dark, in the cold of Winter and before you do anything else go out to check on your herbs, vegies, bulbs and flowers by torchlight you know you may well have a problem…
That is exactly the first thing I did, after the long flight from Perth and the taxi ride home…
all was well, my lovely neighbour, she of pool-building fame, watered all my salads, herbs, flowers and seeds while we were away and I was eager to see how it was all doing…
…suffice to say everything is thriving and green and our first night home, having nothing much but pasta, parmesan in the cupboards and a garden full of salad and herbs, it was just oh-so-wonderful to be able to pick fresh from out there…I know I keep going on about it but it’s true…neither of us had the energy to even think about take-away we were that tired…so the unexpectedness of fresh stuff in our own backyard after a day travelling was wonderful..
sooooo, a gardening post coming up soon, I hope you are interested in my gardening adventures…to be honest it is giving me a whole lot of pleasure right now and we have extended the very small patch that I started with all the way down to the shed and a lot more things have gone in….I am willing these next few weeks of Winter to fly by so I can get tomatoes and summery things in…I have read that in Sydney, in a sun-drenched warm spot (which I have plenty of in my garden) tomatoes will go right through the Winter her so I may just stick one in anyway…
as I was down on my knees in the undergrowth with the torch I spied these little babies….love love love snowdrops…
I thought they’d go nicely with my new vintagey milk bottle.
Anyway I had better be off…back soon, I have got so much to show and tell you, just need time people, it’s those pesky kiddos and their sport again I tell you…
Welcome home Sarah!! Thanks for hosting too. : ) It’s soo funny to hear you talk about winter while I’m enjoying summer here in Calgary, Ab, Canada. I WISH our winter was as warm and snow free as yours. And once again, beautiful pics!! ~ Catie
Welcome home!
Sounds that you had a lovely time in Parth:)
Love the bottles and your shots are stunning as always! Looking frwd to your garden posts!:)
Hi Sarah, Loving the idea of picking some fresh veggies straight from the garden. Especially after a long trip. I can appreciate that enjoyment 100 %. I have a bag of fresh green beans just picked today from my daughter’s garden, and some yummy strawberries out of my back yard.
We have the absolute best tomatoes here in New Jersey, but they are only good in July and August. So good in fact we eat tomato sandwiches. Just salt pepper and mayo with tomato on bread. So good. I’m excited to follow your gardening escapades. I love a sweet garden. Thanks for hosting this party once again.
Beautiful, it seems so strange to me that you have salad growing at the same time as Snowdrops, my Snowdrops are usually surrounded by snow!. anyway your meal sounded wonderful, there is nothin like home grown, you should try early potatoes, there is nothing like it x
Hi Sarah, yep it is nice to get home from a holiday. I have a veg garden and love picking in the afternoon for dinner fresh tast so good. Oh and the tomato plant, I have a self seeded cherry tomato out behind my back fence covered in flowers cant wait to be picking tomatos in the middle of winter.
Dear Sarah,
What a beautiful blog you have – I always get that feeling of summer vacation, when I read it. Strange how you write about winter, with flowers, salad and tomatoe plants as the only residents in our garden in winter are the snow sleighs of the children and a lot of snow.
Greetings from Germany!
Welcome home. It sounds like you had a lovely trip. How fast we can leave a relaxing vacation and get back to our busy lives. I am looking forward to hearing about and seeing your garden.
Gardening used to just be a way for me to share something with my father. Now…I find that I just love it. Hours can pass while I am elbow deep in dirt.
Thank you for hosting such a lovely party!
Kerry at housetalkn.blogspot.com
i’m afraid gardening has lost its charms on me these days. mainly because of the size of our property (wayyyyyyy too big) and the fact that weed pulling no longer has therapeutic effects (it used to actually calm me down, now it inspires cursing).
i was sooooooo excited to find your limoncello post, and can i just say: you consistently win me over with your generosity of spirit, authenticity, and beyond glorious photography! it was like i had no choice and immediately went hunting for organic lemons and a vodka i was sure wouldn’t wreck me with a hangover. i guess the trick is the WAITING…am i right? cannot wait to taste its goodness. thank you so much for this lovely lovely blog!
Welcome back, Sarah and thanks for hosting. It’s nice to hear you are picking herbs from your garden in winter… wish we could do that, it would have been wonderful if it were ever possible…loved how you displayed those milk bottles…. so refreshing and pretty. Looking forward to seeing more of your garden. Have a great week!~Poppy
Welcome back. I visited Perth fr the Travel Australian Business Show in 2000 and have some lovely memories of my trip there. Thanks for hosting another lovely party. Take care Anu
I am so looking forward to reading about your gardening adventures, I live in a bayside apartment so I will just have to watch your garden grow till I buckle in and move to the country!!
I’ve tried starting tomatoes from seed in August, but here in Western Sydney, it’s a fraction too early and they don’t grow well. Your climate is a bit milder than mine, so perhaps you could manage it!
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
Welcome home Sarah!! Thanks for hosting too. : ) It’s soo funny to hear you talk about winter while I’m enjoying summer here in Calgary, Ab, Canada. I WISH our winter was as warm and snow free as yours. And once again, beautiful pics!! ~ Catie
Hi Sarah,
*sigh!
just simplicity at it’s best.
I luuuuurve the colour the bottles give off.
To me it’s a blue-green shade. I call it Seafoam.
I did a post on it yesterday actually.
thank you – good luck with the schedule
x
Loulou
Love the bottles. When I have my dining table actually back I’ll be copying this idea right away.
Welcome home!
Sounds that you had a lovely time in Parth:)
Love the bottles and your shots are stunning as always! Looking frwd to your garden posts!:)
xoxo
Sanghamitra.
Thanks for hosting, Sarah. Glad you’re back safe n’ sound.
x Marnie
Hi Sarah, Loving the idea of picking some fresh veggies straight from the garden. Especially after a long trip. I can appreciate that enjoyment 100 %. I have a bag of fresh green beans just picked today from my daughter’s garden, and some yummy strawberries out of my back yard.
We have the absolute best tomatoes here in New Jersey, but they are only good in July and August. So good in fact we eat tomato sandwiches. Just salt pepper and mayo with tomato on bread. So good. I’m excited to follow your gardening escapades. I love a sweet garden. Thanks for hosting this party once again.
Welcome home. You will be settled in no time with all your energy. Happy to be here again this week. Thanks.
So glad you had such a nice vacation. Welcome home, Sarah…:))
Love your bottles and snowdrops..and can’t wait to see your garden.
xo bj
I love the simplicity of the bottles, beautiful. Thanks for hosting this party….always so much inspiration from your blog!
Looking forward to your gardening stories.
Beautiful, it seems so strange to me that you have salad growing at the same time as Snowdrops, my Snowdrops are usually surrounded by snow!. anyway your meal sounded wonderful, there is nothin like home grown, you should try early potatoes, there is nothing like it
x
Welcome home! Love the snowdrops.
Hi Sarah, yep it is nice to get home from a holiday. I have a veg garden and love picking in the afternoon for dinner fresh tast so good. Oh and the tomato plant, I have a self seeded cherry tomato out behind my back fence covered in flowers cant wait to be picking tomatos in the middle of winter.
Dear Sarah,
What a beautiful blog you have – I always get that feeling of summer vacation, when I read it. Strange how you write about winter, with flowers, salad and tomatoe plants as the only residents in our garden in winter are the snow sleighs of the children and a lot of snow.
Greetings from Germany!
As usual, your photos just blow me away…they are so lovely. Thank you so much for hosting! I hope you have a wonderful rest-of-your-week!
Welcome home. It sounds like you had a lovely trip. How fast we can leave a relaxing vacation and get back to our busy lives. I am looking forward to hearing about and seeing your garden.
Gardening used to just be a way for me to share something with my father. Now…I find that I just love it. Hours can pass while I am elbow deep in dirt.
Thank you for hosting such a lovely party!
Kerry at housetalkn.blogspot.com
great inspiration!
So simple and lovely. Bottles and flowers
hi sarah.
i’m afraid gardening has lost its charms on me these days. mainly because of the size of our property (wayyyyyyy too big) and the fact that weed pulling no longer has therapeutic effects (it used to actually calm me down, now it inspires cursing).
i was sooooooo excited to find your limoncello post, and can i just say: you consistently win me over with your generosity of spirit, authenticity, and beyond glorious photography! it was like i had no choice and immediately went hunting for organic lemons and a vodka i was sure wouldn’t wreck me with a hangover. i guess the trick is the WAITING…am i right? cannot wait to taste its goodness. thank you so much for this lovely lovely blog!
michele
Welcome back, Sarah and thanks for hosting. It’s nice to hear you are picking herbs from your garden in winter… wish we could do that, it would have been wonderful if it were ever possible…loved how you displayed those milk bottles…. so refreshing and pretty. Looking forward to seeing more of your garden. Have a great week!~Poppy
http://withadashofcolor.blogspot.com/
Good Wednesday to you, Sarah! Gorgeous pics. Looking forward to seeing your gardening adventures. Thanks for hosting.
Jeanni
Welcome back. I visited Perth fr the Travel Australian Business Show in 2000 and have some lovely memories of my trip there. Thanks for hosting another lovely party. Take care Anu
I am so looking forward to reading about your gardening adventures, I live in a bayside apartment so I will just have to watch your garden grow till I buckle in and move to the country!!
I’ve tried starting tomatoes from seed in August, but here in Western Sydney, it’s a fraction too early and they don’t grow well. Your climate is a bit milder than mine, so perhaps you could manage it!