G’day ladies, well we haven’t had a gardening post for a while here at abeachcottage have we?
Apparently out of the 84% of Australians that has a lawn we in this old cottage are one of the third who don’t know how to look after it…
To be honest our lawn was an almighty mess…it’s fairly large and when mowed it looks pretty nice and neat…but within a few days weeds seem to grow like crazy, especially this year with the wet Summer we have had…
…and the few years that we have been in this cottage, the lawn has always been on the list to treat and get looking good again…and oh yes I have quite a few lawn treatments lined up in their bottles sitting on the shelf in the garage
there were a few things that were stopping us I guess
1. time…there never seemed to be enough time in the day to spray the lawn
2. I was concerned that if I did this myself everything would die and we would be left in a worse predicament than we were already in
3. really I wanted nice soft English style grass not buffalo grass and I was worried that buffalo would take over after a treatment
I had little knowledge about the proper care required for the lawn nor the type of grass variety best suited to my needs…sometimes then, in life, it’s worth calling in the experts and this, it seems, was one of those occasions.
Enter my friends, this lovely lovely guy from Millers Turf…Chris
Chris came around to our old cottage recently to give us a consultation on our turf, what was wrong with it (to me there wasn’t much right with it and I thought this was going to be a huge and costly exercise, I was wrong) and to advise us on a solution to getting it looking good in the future…
Chris is a man who knows his turf...I love that when someone rocks up and they know exactly what they are talking about, and you clock that right away…you feel comfortable leaving yourself in their hands…and more importantly, I love it when you learn something and you are inspired…I certainly was here…I am now a girl who knows a bit about turf and I will soon be beating the neighbours in the annual best turf competition
Chris took one look at our garden and said we had some nice grass growing on there!
Oh right, that’s hopeful!
He started to explain to me, in easy layman’s terms exactly what was happening with the grass and he pointed out the lovely things going on in my lawn, no, all hope was not lost and yes there were lovely things happening there amongst the yucky stuff
He pointed out the blue haze that runs through the grass, I had noticed this as I trudged up and down with the lawnmower and as we bent down to have a closer look, Chris showed me the finer blade grass with the softness I like that reminds me of my English garden and the blue-y green tinge. That dark green blue-ish haze is Queensland Blue Couch…
….so apparently my grass is a hidden gem amongst lawns for the Australian home, it has a lovely soft texture, mows beautifully and will produce a dense mat to resist weed invasion
Chris took me around and showed me a few other things….he could see exactly areas of trauma to the grass….he knew exactly where the trampoline used to be situated by the state of the ‘grass’, more like weeds, that had grown there as a result of it…and there are a few prevalent weeds…those little horrors are cud weed, oxalis, dandelion and cape weed…but soon they will be no more!
The best bit of news about our lawn was that Chris said it was simple to treat and quick to rectify…you know when you have one of those moments when you think why didn’t we do this sooner? …like the front door, the bathroom, etc etc…well this was one of those moments only the investment would not break the bank…Chris said that you could easily do this yourself with a treatment if you are on a budget…and his team at Miller’s Turf are more than happy to take a phone call/email to advise you on treating your lawn yourself
We were lucky enough though that Chris did ours for us…
So after the initial consultation…which was quick and easy and involved Chris walking me through what was going on and what was needed and if I hadn’t kept him chatting with a million questions about grass it would have been quicker, who knew grass could be so very interesting?
…he came back for our first treatment, that being an application of a broad leaf herbicide
…this will be followed up by an additional treatment after about 10 days and then he will come back for another visit to apply a high-analysis fertilizer for improved growth and plant health and to get this grass of mine looking super healthy
This is how it looked after just 24 hours…the weeds will soon be toast…I am so excited about this…!
as you can see this spot by the lounger under the camellia tree was particularly bad…it’s worked very well here already
I am so inspired by this….and I really wish I had done it sooner….I feel like it’s war on the weeds…they have been the bane of my life, if only I had looked into this sooner…if you have the same lawn problems I can highly recommend this and it’s not a big tough job, it’s a small no-brainer one..this is how my weeds look already!
for more information on what Chris and the team at Millers Turf can do for you and your lawn or if you want to go the DIY route and need some advice on what product to buy/ how to do it, they are happy to help, you can find them here, or you can phone this number 0800 044 510…my consultation/treatment/fertilization cost $160.
Grass love the stuff, if my girl and I find a particularly nice patch we ‘love’ to do handstands and cartwheels. It’s amazing that I can still do them, she is so impressed. We always end up in a giggly mess.
Sarah you are taking the whole de-cluttering mission to a new high lol! De-cluttering your lawn from un-necessary weeds! Genius! lol
When we fist moved in we (meaning mainly me) spent a year in the sizable (what a waste) front and backyard physically removing weeds and spraying some too… It has been a massive (job!) improvement (as many people who knew the home/garden before we moved in will tell you)… I am so glad you posted this! I didn’t know there were people out there that did this and it’s actually budget friendly! I’ll be putting this info im my special renovations contacts book .
I answer to your question may I say all of the above! I love to grab an old rug we have… Lay it on the grass, sit with the kids and play tea parties… Other times just laying on the hammock (and many times falling a sleep with the kids in it lol)…Sitting on my cape cod chair (wrapped up in a shawl yesterday – too cold) reading a quick article or two while drinking me coffee or tea (depending on my mood) whilst muttering swear words under my breath at the bloody mozzies eating me alive – note to self must get a citronella candle or ten…
Loving this give away! Thanks!
Now back to my nap, still recovering from several nightmares involving me being swallowed up by the earth and turning bright red and bursting into flames and lots, lots of spiders!
Late on a summer afternoon when the heat is lifting or on one of those beautiful clear winters days, we love to play badminton on our lawn. We have a dreadful old net and a big old metal washing tub that holds the bats and shuttle cox. We plonk oursleves down on the bench seat on the side line, drinks in hand whilst cheering on the fun.
All months of the year, the girls and I pack our rickety ol cane picnic basket with freshly baked goodies, china teapot is an essential, a thermos of boiling hot water and cups and saucers together with the old woollen cheque blanket and have a picnic on our grass. Its looking good at the moment, nice length, green and cool to touch, not bad for the end of the Australian summer! Every few weekends all the family enjoys a bash with the crochet set as we are blessed with a nice flat area, loads of fun and laughs! My children are now in their late twenties, still coming home for the picnics and now grandchildren on the way to continue and enjoy our little family fun on the grass.
Not sure if I qualify for the Bunnings since I’m not in Australia but just wanted to say I do love the smell of some freshly cut grass. After just mowing I love to lay back in the hammock with a cold beer and watch the clouds go by!
Laying in the warm summer’s sun dreamy of fun days to come, and the warm breeze swaying the trees back and forth at play, reading wonderous adventures in the book of the day! Oh the memories on fresh cut grass, blonde dogs rolling around in the grass, and coming up green, perfect for saint patty’s day! Cool popsicles, and sprinkling sprinklers, as wet as can be, such imagination at play. As nightfall would set and sun goes down, cooler air rolls in, bundled up outside admiring the millions of stars, a roaring bon fire and smores being made, as giggles and chocolate covered faces, off to bed we go for the end to a perfect backyard day!
when we lived in the city as young gorgeous newlyweds, we loved nothing more than lying on the lovely lawns of centenniel park with some cushions and a good book…..now we live on the coast, we’ve got our own little lawn, and we still do the same wonderful thing, cept we have to sneak out when the kids are having their afternoon naps.. some things never change!!
never knew grass could be so technical, sarah!! looks like you got the right man for the job…lookin good!! oh yeah, the lawn looks good too ..lol
Jack Johnson on the radio, cossies on, Vodka and Soda on hand, some scatter cushions and a rug, a few of my fave housie mags, ipad to check every now and then, kids and hubby nearby in the pool providing awesome background sounds and me barefoot lounging around.
Call me when dinners ready guys, I might join you … then again I might not!
My favourite thing to do on grass is just have a massive roll around and pretend like I’m 10 again when sitting/lying/playing/rolling on grass was a bit part of my everyday life! Those were the days!!
Today for the first time in aaaages I went outside on my lunch break and sat cross-legged on the grass under the shade of a big tree. The temperature was perfect and it was so nice to be outside! I don’t have any grass in my little courtyard at home (plenty of plants though).
I grew up in the hills Sarah and there is nothing more beautiful than walking on soft grass barefoot. The crispness under your feet, I love feeling it. Then sit on it with a few cushions like you and read a book with a cup of tea. It is pure luxury. There is nothing else in the world that is as tempting to me as this.
I love to mow……I won’t let anyone else do it. I think I am the only one that does it right. I have a riding mower and then I do all the close work with a power mower and sometimes I trim with scissors….Yep I have a little OCD. Oh I can’t wait for winter to end here in Kansas
My current favourite thing to do on grass is to watch my two young Grandchildren perform in their “Concerts” especially choreographed for Nanny and Papa – the innocence and antics of little ones is both precious and priceless.
Just stand barefoot on the grass and curl my toes around it and just kind of “earth” myself.
Does that sound all mung bean and hippy fied?
Well I am not a hippy, just an earth sign that recognises when I need to reconnect with the earth again.
Simple and good for the soul
Ps Would LOVE another fashion post!!
Am also so pleased that you have the bath in!!
I love Bunnings! We have a lovely patch of grass in our back yard that I like to lay my blanket on and read my book or build the kiddos a cubby on. I also love finding little black beetles amongst the blades of grass (don’t ask, my dad was an entomologist, relic on my childhood). Finding them can make my day.
That is such a good idea! I wonder if someone in Queensland does the same thing? Our front yard is a crazy mishmash of all kinds of grasses/weeds. I love that he posed for you!
When we first bought our house we had a jungle for a backyard. We couldn’t see the back fence for all the trees and overgrown weeds. The previous owners loved it, we just wanted fresh grass! It took the Mr months and months of covering the back yard with black tarp (not a good look!) and then pulling up the dead weeds, laying new grass etc etc. My favourite thing to do with our beautiful new backyard is to stand on the back deck and just watch. It is so nice to stand there and see all that all the hard work has paid off.
Now we just need to re-fence two sides of the backyard. Chicken wire fencing isn’t such a good look, but that’s another story …
I LUUUUURVE mowing our grass, we have a handmower ( no motor ). I love the smell of the freshly mown lawn, our mower cuts like a pair of scissors. I love the satisfaction of neat little clippings falling on the grass. For my 40th birthday, a few years ago, we had a yoga party on the lawn, 20 amazing girlfriends in blissful, serene meditation. A day I shall treasure forever, as I rarely walked barefoot on the grass until then and now I love it.:)
Last year we excavated our back yard to finally make it flat – involved a large retaining wall and lots of turf, let alone work and $$$. Then low and behold, a torrential downpour late last year combined with the neighbour’s drain being blocked resulted in collapse of the new wall and most of our grass being ruined!. Just been redone and returfed, so we are enjoying nothing better than having a wine or beer sitting on the lawn watching the kids go mad playing soccer and football!! No weeds yet but my hubby is being totally pedantic with the lawn so far – let’s hope it lasts!!
This year we had a Teddy Bears Picnic for my daughters 3rd birthday. Everybody, kids and adults alike, got out there in bare feet and played with the teddies and tea sets for an afternoon – a great day!
I am so jealous of your lawn – my beach lawn is sand and holes from the dogs. AND looks really terrible at the moment because the lawn mowing guy has gone awol (my dh is not the lawn mowing type). I was just thinking that a nice tough bit of buffalo grass was what I needed ).
My favourite thing to do on the grass (sans dogs) is to lie on it at night and look at the stars – which reminds me I haven’t done that for a long, long time!!!
Great post and I like the way Chris was such a willing model for your photos!!
What i like to do on my grass in the sun is:
Lie down flat on my back, close my eyes and inhale the smell of freshly cut grass. Feel the heat of the sun sink in through my clothes and skin, right in to my bones. Listen to the sounds of the kids playing , birds singing, insects buzzing around and lawnmowers working in neighbouring gardens.
Oh Lordy, you have we wishing it was summer right now and all I see out my window is grey Irish misty rain.
But on the bright side, its the grey misty rain that makes the summer all the more welcome.
Roll on summer!!!!
My favourite thing to do – grab some books, some nibblies, my precious boys and sit out there reading, laughing and playing then lay down and watch the clouds go by together! Of course to do that it needs to stop raining in sydney – at the moment my grass doesn’t exist – it’s all mud
Nothing better than to lie back on gorgeous grass and watch the clouds or the stars. Stars are my favourite. However, where I am in Qld I need to take care not to plonk myself on an ant nest – those critters are the destroyers of peace and bringers of intense pain!
Hi, Sarah…have you abolished GOOD LIFE WED. ? I’ve linked a couple of times but find it isn’t here.
If it is NO LONGER, I’ll take it off my Linky list.
Thanks….and have a great rest of the week.
xo bj
I would love to run naked and lay on the grass. But I’m pretty sure my neighbors would not appreciate it. Or they would, and then that would ruin the fun of it for me!
Seriously.
And don’t think I’m weird. I live where it rains 9 months out of the year. So sunshine and pretty, non soggy grass just evokes all sorts of unrestrained emotions in me.
I never thought thinking about and looking at a lawn could be so interesting! When it stops raining here in little old Aukland, NZ (did I mention our non summer !@#$%) I will venture out and have a proper look at ours … thanks Sarah.
My partner has a passion/obesession for GREEEN, weedless, perfect looking grass… takes after his Dad! When we moved in 2 years ago the grass was so-so, very weedy but thick and green. The man of the house who hates any weeds anywhere did just what you were afraid you’d do to your grass, he sprayed all the grass with weed spray, whcih was fine, but then instead of being patient and waiting the 7 days, he decided that after 4 days the weeds werent dying quick enough, so he sprayed it all again…. we then referred to our backyard as the desert! Brown, dry, barren, no lives could be saved! Its was so ugly, but a lesson was learnt. We then started from scratch and grew a beautiful lawn from seed…he did very well I must say =D
We now love to drink beer, in the sun, barefoot on the grass. We love playing under the sprinkler on a hot afternoon with our friends little 2 year old. We really enjoy watching all the native birds that come into our yard and forage around on the grass for food. Having a bit of a snuggle on the hammock watching the rain fall onto the grass or a storm is great as well
good luck with grass!
Morning Sarah, and the BC team, you will have a bowling green soon if you keep this up, and leave the rest of us to shame. Way to go.
Nothing better than the smell of freshly mowed lawn, its clean and tidy, and all you want to do is look at it and enjoy.
Even the dog agrees, he runs around like a mad thing.
Ours was mowed yesterday, and then heaps of rain overnight, so she is very green. xx to your lawn.
Ah well….my hubby and I love to work in the yard on nice spring days, gardening, digging, squirting the water hose at each other ….and after a long day of that I love to sit on my front porch rockers just after I’ve watered all my new plantings and grass and take in the wonderful smell of wet earth and wet grass, sip sweet tea (I’m a Southern girl) and admire all our handiwork and enjoy the fresh breeze. The girls play outside while we sit and rest and chat with neighbors who are out walking their dogs. It really makes for the most lovely evening!
Nothing better than a freshly mowed, beautifully green grass .. except a freshly mowed, beautifully green grass overlooking a beach! Oh how I miss living on the beach!
I love to have a weed free lawn but since buying horses two summers ago I love to lounge in the grass while my horses eat it. Cant spray when I know my beuties are eating it. It’s more fun to hang with my horses (2) then cutting the lawn.
I love to eat with friends at a table on a lawn at an outdoor cafe like Megalong Valley Tearooms (NSW Blue Mts) overlooking the paddocks or in the beer garden of a country pub like Burrawang Pub in the NSW Southern Highlands overlooking the rolling green hills. Time stands still. BLISS.
memories of my childhood….laying on the grass peering at the blades as they stood tall and matted attached to the earth and watching the occasional ant crawling past….a micro moment that I love about grass….shame I can’t get down there as easily these days….but a happy memory nonetheless!!!!
oh I used to be obsessed with finding a four leaf clover. Little did I know that clover in the winter lead to bindi eyes in the summer. Oh to be young again.
ha ha Mrs BC do you want the G rated version? jokes..
I myself do not much like to sit on the grass as I get those horrible grass marks that look like cellulite but I do love watching my kids have running races from one fence to the other barefoot. And if it was like it was here this afternoon in the rain after they spent a good hour running around having nerf wars.
Great post will be getting the Mr to have a quick read of this one tomorrow.
p.s I did some de cluttering today twice *gasp* my desk and sewing table. Horrible horrible jobs but it did feel good afterwards.
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 …]
Helloooo lovely Beach Cottage ladies, some blog tips for real girls from this old cottage broadcasting from deep Down Under this morning. Now, I love blogging, I think that is pretty much obvious now for sure, for me it has opened up a world of opportunities that simply were not available in any shape [...]
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
Grass love the stuff, if my girl and I find a particularly nice patch we ‘love’ to do handstands and cartwheels. It’s amazing that I can still do them, she is so impressed. We always end up in a giggly mess.
Sarah you are taking the whole de-cluttering mission to a new high lol! De-cluttering your lawn from un-necessary weeds! Genius! lol
When we fist moved in we (meaning mainly me) spent a year in the sizable (what a waste) front and backyard physically removing weeds and spraying some too… It has been a massive (job!) improvement (as many people who knew the home/garden before we moved in will tell you)… I am so glad you posted this! I didn’t know there were people out there that did this and it’s actually budget friendly! I’ll be putting this info im my special renovations contacts book
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I answer to your question may I say all of the above! I love to grab an old rug we have… Lay it on the grass, sit with the kids and play tea parties… Other times just laying on the hammock (and many times falling a sleep with the kids in it lol)…Sitting on my cape cod chair (wrapped up in a shawl yesterday – too cold) reading a quick article or two while drinking me coffee or tea (depending on my mood) whilst muttering swear words under my breath at the bloody mozzies eating me alive – note to self must get a citronella candle or ten…
Loving this give away! Thanks!
Now back to my nap, still recovering from several nightmares involving me being swallowed up by the earth and turning bright red and bursting into flames and lots, lots of spiders!
Late on a summer afternoon when the heat is lifting or on one of those beautiful clear winters days, we love to play badminton on our lawn. We have a dreadful old net and a big old metal washing tub that holds the bats and shuttle cox. We plonk oursleves down on the bench seat on the side line, drinks in hand whilst cheering on the fun.
All months of the year, the girls and I pack our rickety ol cane picnic basket with freshly baked goodies, china teapot is an essential, a thermos of boiling hot water and cups and saucers together with the old woollen cheque blanket and have a picnic on our grass. Its looking good at the moment, nice length, green and cool to touch, not bad for the end of the Australian summer! Every few weekends all the family enjoys a bash with the crochet set as we are blessed with a nice flat area, loads of fun and laughs! My children are now in their late twenties, still coming home for the picnics and now grandchildren on the way to continue and enjoy our little family fun on the grass.
Hi Sarah,
there is a magnetic attraction of freshly cut grass and a deep inhale followed by removing my shoes to feel the newness underfoot.
You see I love the feeling and tenderness it has to it.
Fresh cut grass also reminds me of sand underneath my toes and just freshly laid carpet.
Have a wonderful day,
loulou, hereiamloulou blog
x
love the lawn mowed… and then to sit on it to garden…a very relaxing passtime!
Not sure if I qualify for the Bunnings since I’m not in Australia but just wanted to say I do love the smell of some freshly cut grass. After just mowing I love to lay back in the hammock with a cold beer and watch the clouds go by!
Love to lie on the grass gazing up at the sky to cloud watch and try and work out what they look like.
My favourite thing to do on grass is simply walk on it barefoot! As long as there’s no fear of prickles of course.
Laying in the warm summer’s sun dreamy of fun days to come, and the warm breeze swaying the trees back and forth at play, reading wonderous adventures in the book of the day! Oh the memories on fresh cut grass, blonde dogs rolling around in the grass, and coming up green, perfect for saint patty’s day! Cool popsicles, and sprinkling sprinklers, as wet as can be, such imagination at play. As nightfall would set and sun goes down, cooler air rolls in, bundled up outside admiring the millions of stars, a roaring bon fire and smores being made, as giggles and chocolate covered faces, off to bed we go for the end to a perfect backyard day!
when we lived in the city as young gorgeous newlyweds, we loved nothing more than lying on the lovely lawns of centenniel park with some cushions and a good book…..now we live on the coast, we’ve got our own little lawn, and we still do the same wonderful thing, cept we have to sneak out when the kids are having their afternoon naps..
some things never change!!
never knew grass could be so technical, sarah!! looks like you got the right man for the job…lookin good!! oh yeah, the lawn looks good too ..lol
Jack Johnson on the radio, cossies on, Vodka and Soda on hand, some scatter cushions and a rug, a few of my fave housie mags, ipad to check every now and then, kids and hubby nearby in the pool providing awesome background sounds and me barefoot lounging around.
Call me when dinners ready guys, I might join you … then again I might not!
I doubt they are wanting to come to Canada but I am literally counting the days until I can be under my pergola with the grape leaves above me :0)
Saw the instagram preview but can’t wait for the full reveal. Mind you I did just turn 42 so….
My favourite thing to do on grass is just have a massive roll around and pretend like I’m 10 again when sitting/lying/playing/rolling on grass was a bit part of my everyday life! Those were the days!!
That should say BIG part (not bit part!) Ooops
Hello!
You have wonderful blog and I love beach house styling.
Today for the first time in aaaages I went outside on my lunch break and sat cross-legged on the grass under the shade of a big tree. The temperature was perfect and it was so nice to be outside! I don’t have any grass in my little courtyard at home (plenty of plants though).
I grew up in the hills Sarah and there is nothing more beautiful than walking on soft grass barefoot. The crispness under your feet, I love feeling it. Then sit on it with a few cushions like you and read a book with a cup of tea. It is pure luxury. There is nothing else in the world that is as tempting to me as this.
I love to mow……I won’t let anyone else do it. I think I am the only one that does it right. I have a riding mower and then I do all the close work with a power mower and sometimes I trim with scissors….Yep I have a little OCD. Oh I can’t wait for winter to end here in Kansas
My current favourite thing to do on grass is to watch my two young Grandchildren perform in their “Concerts” especially choreographed for Nanny and Papa – the innocence and antics of little ones is both precious and priceless.
I’m always happy if my puppy wee’s on my lawn instead of my carpet! x
Just stand barefoot on the grass and curl my toes around it and just kind of “earth” myself.
Does that sound all mung bean and hippy fied?
Well I am not a hippy, just an earth sign that recognises when I need to reconnect with the earth again.
Simple and good for the soul
Ps Would LOVE another fashion post!!
Am also so pleased that you have the bath in!!
I love Bunnings! We have a lovely patch of grass in our back yard that I like to lay my blanket on and read my book or build the kiddos a cubby on. I also love finding little black beetles amongst the blades of grass (don’t ask, my dad was an entomologist, relic on my childhood). Finding them can make my day.
That is such a good idea! I wonder if someone in Queensland does the same thing? Our front yard is a crazy mishmash of all kinds of grasses/weeds. I love that he posed for you!
When we first bought our house we had a jungle for a backyard. We couldn’t see the back fence for all the trees and overgrown weeds. The previous owners loved it, we just wanted fresh grass! It took the Mr months and months of covering the back yard with black tarp (not a good look!) and then pulling up the dead weeds, laying new grass etc etc. My favourite thing to do with our beautiful new backyard is to stand on the back deck and just watch. It is so nice to stand there and see all that all the hard work has paid off.
Now we just need to re-fence two sides of the backyard. Chicken wire fencing isn’t such a good look, but that’s another story …
x Jasmine
I LUUUUURVE mowing our grass, we have a handmower ( no motor ). I love the smell of the freshly mown lawn, our mower cuts like a pair of scissors. I love the satisfaction of neat little clippings falling on the grass. For my 40th birthday, a few years ago, we had a yoga party on the lawn, 20 amazing girlfriends in blissful, serene meditation. A day I shall treasure forever, as I rarely walked barefoot on the grass until then and now I love it.:)
Last year we excavated our back yard to finally make it flat – involved a large retaining wall and lots of turf, let alone work and $$$. Then low and behold, a torrential downpour late last year combined with the neighbour’s drain being blocked resulted in collapse of the new wall and most of our grass being ruined!. Just been redone and returfed, so we are enjoying nothing better than having a wine or beer sitting on the lawn watching the kids go mad playing soccer and football!! No weeds yet but my hubby is being totally pedantic with the lawn so far – let’s hope it lasts!!
This year we had a Teddy Bears Picnic for my daughters 3rd birthday. Everybody, kids and adults alike, got out there in bare feet and played with the teddies and tea sets for an afternoon – a great day!
I am so jealous of your lawn – my beach lawn is sand and holes from the dogs. AND looks really terrible at the moment because the lawn mowing guy has gone awol (my dh is not the lawn mowing type). I was just thinking that a nice tough bit of buffalo grass was what I needed
).
My favourite thing to do on the grass (sans dogs) is to lie on it at night and look at the stars – which reminds me I haven’t done that for a long, long time!!!
Aisling (NZ)
Great post and I like the way Chris was such a willing model for your photos!!
What i like to do on my grass in the sun is:
Lie down flat on my back, close my eyes and inhale the smell of freshly cut grass. Feel the heat of the sun sink in through my clothes and skin, right in to my bones. Listen to the sounds of the kids playing , birds singing, insects buzzing around and lawnmowers working in neighbouring gardens.
Oh Lordy, you have we wishing it was summer right now and all I see out my window is grey Irish misty rain.
But on the bright side, its the grey misty rain that makes the summer all the more welcome.
Roll on summer!!!!
My favourite thing to do – grab some books, some nibblies, my precious boys and sit out there reading, laughing and playing then lay down and watch the clouds go by together! Of course to do that it needs to stop raining in sydney – at the moment my grass doesn’t exist – it’s all mud
Nothing better than to lie back on gorgeous grass and watch the clouds or the stars. Stars are my favourite. However, where I am in Qld I need to take care not to plonk myself on an ant nest – those critters are the destroyers of peace and bringers of intense pain!
Hi, Sarah…have you abolished GOOD LIFE WED. ? I’ve linked a couple of times but find it isn’t here.
If it is NO LONGER, I’ll take it off my Linky list.
Thanks….and have a great rest of the week.
xo bj
Hi bj
I am having a few problems, can’t say too much about it right now
thanks for the understanding, sorry if you wasted a trip to my blog
xxo
I love walking through the feshly cut grass and oh the aroma! Love love love!
I would love to run naked and lay on the grass. But I’m pretty sure my neighbors would not appreciate it. Or they would, and then that would ruin the fun of it for me!
Seriously.
And don’t think I’m weird. I live where it rains 9 months out of the year. So sunshine and pretty, non soggy grass just evokes all sorts of unrestrained emotions in me.
When it’s warm enough (which as you know is rare!) we like to do the usual Brit madness …. BBQs, beer, etc, usually followed by rain! Jules x
I never thought thinking about and looking at a lawn could be so interesting! When it stops raining here in little old Aukland, NZ (did I mention our non summer !@#$%) I will venture out and have a proper look at ours … thanks Sarah.
P.S. I’m hanging out for the bathtub blog ….. x
My partner has a passion/obesession for GREEEN, weedless, perfect looking grass… takes after his Dad! When we moved in 2 years ago the grass was so-so, very weedy but thick and green. The man of the house who hates any weeds anywhere did just what you were afraid you’d do to your grass, he sprayed all the grass with weed spray, whcih was fine, but then instead of being patient and waiting the 7 days, he decided that after 4 days the weeds werent dying quick enough, so he sprayed it all again…. we then referred to our backyard as the desert! Brown, dry, barren, no lives could be saved! Its was so ugly, but a lesson was learnt. We then started from scratch and grew a beautiful lawn from seed…he did very well I must say =D
We now love to drink beer, in the sun, barefoot on the grass. We love playing under the sprinkler on a hot afternoon with our friends little 2 year old. We really enjoy watching all the native birds that come into our yard and forage around on the grass for food. Having a bit of a snuggle on the hammock watching the rain fall onto the grass or a storm is great as well
good luck with grass!
Morning Sarah, and the BC team, you will have a bowling green soon if you keep this up, and leave the rest of us to shame. Way to go.
Nothing better than the smell of freshly mowed lawn, its clean and tidy, and all you want to do is look at it and enjoy.
Even the dog agrees, he runs around like a mad thing.
Ours was mowed yesterday, and then heaps of rain overnight, so she is very green. xx to your lawn.
Ah well….my hubby and I love to work in the yard on nice spring days, gardening, digging, squirting the water hose at each other
….and after a long day of that I love to sit on my front porch rockers just after I’ve watered all my new plantings and grass and take in the wonderful smell of wet earth and wet grass, sip sweet tea (I’m a Southern girl) and admire all our handiwork and enjoy the fresh breeze. The girls play outside while we sit and rest and chat with neighbors who are out walking their dogs. It really makes for the most lovely evening!
Nothing better than a freshly mowed, beautifully green grass .. except a freshly mowed, beautifully green grass overlooking a beach! Oh how I miss living on the beach!
I love to have a weed free lawn but since buying horses two summers ago I love to lounge in the grass while my horses eat it. Cant spray when I know my beuties are eating it. It’s more fun to hang with my horses (2) then cutting the lawn.
It’s a WIN WIN for all of us.. LOVE GREEN GRASS!!
I love to eat with friends at a table on a lawn at an outdoor cafe like Megalong Valley Tearooms (NSW Blue Mts) overlooking the paddocks or in the beer garden of a country pub like Burrawang Pub in the NSW Southern Highlands overlooking the rolling green hills. Time stands still. BLISS.
memories of my childhood….laying on the grass peering at the blades as they stood tall and matted attached to the earth and watching the occasional ant crawling past….a micro moment that I love about grass….shame I can’t get down there as easily these days….but a happy memory nonetheless!!!!
oh I used to be obsessed with finding a four leaf clover. Little did I know that clover in the winter lead to bindi eyes in the summer. Oh to be young again.
That was inspiring. Our grass is pretty much dead and we don’t have the money for it right now. But, you gave me hope!
My favorite thing to do on the grass is to play with my two kiddos…either a game of catch or tag!!
ha ha Mrs BC do you want the G rated version? jokes..
I myself do not much like to sit on the grass as I get those horrible grass marks that look like cellulite but I do love watching my kids have running races from one fence to the other barefoot. And if it was like it was here this afternoon in the rain after they spent a good hour running around having nerf wars.
Great post will be getting the Mr to have a quick read of this one tomorrow.
p.s I did some de cluttering today twice *gasp* my desk and sewing table. Horrible horrible jobs but it did feel good afterwards.
Favorites: Listening, Smelling, Dreaming, and looking at the twinkling stars.