Oh! G’day Beach Cottage friends, fancy meeting you here
I am writing this post from the beach, I am sitting by the ocean, the sky is a white grey, the waves are big and the air is fresh. I wish you could smell it.
I am here waiting for one of the Beach Cottage Crew to come out of the surf…this gives a whole other meaning to ferrying kiddos around for their activities, I am not sitting in a rainy grey carpark in the depths of old Blighty while by kiddos run around indoors, I am sitting by the sea listening to the roar of those waves. Baby.
So thanks to technology I am on my blog too…yep this iPad has about changed my life…we all knew it was going to.
There are few things I like more than doing the blog thing and sitting listening to the sounds of the ocean.
This then really is the ultimate Beach Cottage Blogging By the Sea.
But, it’s not all roses around here at the mo’.
At home this afternoon I took some time to clean in our bedroom, you see we are having a few problems.
For one reason or another we are having a few issues in the sleep department, I tell you what we might as well have a couple of newborns in the house.
And so today, I cleaned, changed the bed and went out in the garden and picked masses of lavender and put it all over the house, in a hope to calm and soothe.
If that doesn’t work, there is a broomstick in the cupboard that is getting a little twitchy.
I have always been a person who needs a shed-load of sleep, I only wish I could be one of those people who gets by on 5 hours, that has never and will never happen to me, I like nine hours to function and ten to feel fantastic…but right now it’s about seven…in broken stints.
Mr Beach Cottage’s snoring is one issue. I won’t go into it on here. You might be here for too long.
It was good to foof in here though because it got me thinking of our next projects and what I am going to do…that would be our bedroom, sitting room, breakfast room and driveway…all next on the list for a new look…the driveway is mega-boring, who wants to spend 15,000 on a drive? Not me.
But the bedroom, a bit more interested in that. Once the bathroom is finished and the Summer House is painted (more on that to come), we are giving our bedroom some new paint…plus some new furniture…I have been scouring the beaches for old vintage stuff and have found some new paint to try…it’s not Dulux …I haven’t painted anything for a while…it’s time, I am really looking forward to getting stuck into it and on the lookout for a big old chest of drawers to give a new look to…
So that is it for me this lovely day, I hope you enjoy Good Life Wednesday…apologies for last week, wow that Linky thing was a disaster! Hopefully all back to good this week, oh and the spider bite? All healed and done. Amazing how the human body works isn’t it?
Ladies, if you have any sleep help for me, including but not limited to bashing your husband on the head with a whitewashed vintage oar, I’d love you to leave me some advice in the comments…
Be seeing ya lovely Beach Cottage Ladies.
Sarah
A Note on Good Life Wednesday …. I have had some emails from readers re spamming on this linky…please play nicely & do not spam the first few spots if you happen to get here first…it’s cool to let everyone have a fair go…. oh and linking back, yeah you must link back to abeachcottage to take part…that’s playing nice too un-linked posts will be deleted…thanks so much ladies, enjoy yourself some coastal nautical beachy Good Life at my old place today….xo
Aww…wish I could join you at the beach!! We spent the last week in Sanibel Island, Florida. Let’s just say I didn’t want to leave (= I have a sneak peak posted on my blog! The oars you have propped against the wall are gorgeous. LOVE them!
Hi Sarah, my hubby is a pharmacist, I will see if there are any new wonder products out there to help snoring – has Mr BC tried the nasal strips? Not sexy … but hey ho, you might get some sleep! Ahhhhh …. x
Ah, the snoring. The only thing that sort of works for us, as his snoring is the occassional thing so I cannot get accustomed to it, is a nudge with my foot to him and he rolls onto his side and it stops for awhile, if not for the whole rest of the night. We’ve tried other things, but he doesn’t get mad, though a couple of times he has awakened to tell me he was not snoring…yeah, right. Anyway, it is interrupted sleep, but only for a few minutes as I can fall quickly back to sleep most often. Wish I had a better solution, so I will be reading comments in hopes of the “magic cure”, too. I’m like you, I need 7 1/2 hrs. plus – cannot survive on 6 or less and if I go days like that, the broomstick makes an appearance. Hope the sandman visits tonight!
Hi Sara,
Had to pass on my lifesaving sleep aid- one benadryl taken when I go to sleep, and I stay asleep all night! Waking up at 3am was beginning to be a bad routine, and my one benadryl nipped that right in the bud! Hope it might help you…
Missy
Snoring – we actually sleep separate because I am SUCH a light sleeper! That’s only SLEEPING of course…heh….
Seriously, though, I hear you on the sleep deprivation. It’s a killer! I too need at least 8 or 9 hours a night. Is it cool enough in your bedroom? Remove all the electronics and anything with an LED. Sound machine? And how about some mediation or a bit of yoga each day? Cut back on the coffee/caffeine?
Sounds familiar here, too. I am a night owl, but I still need the 8 or 9 hours to feel functional. The red LED lights from the alarm clock are a problem, so I put a dark colored cloth over them. It’s easy enough to lift up, if I do need to see the time.
The snoring used to really bother me, but now, I find such comfort in it. I spent many years alone as a single Mom; and longing to be married again to the right man. Well, I found him! We have been married 9 years now. When I crawled into bed last night, he was snoring. I snuggled down to read my book (till it falls on the floor, and wakes me up, because I dozed off!). But I realized what a comforting sound his snoring was to me, because it was an audible sound that I am no longer alone.
Our youngest son is leaving home in 3 weeks, so this is a hard transition for me (7 kids between us!), but it will be my first time alone, with no kids in the house, in 36 years! So hearing, and feeling my husband’s presence is something I have really come to treasure. I will pray for you, Sarah, that God will give you a peace about this, so that you no longer hear an irritating noise, but a great comfort, instead. We never know when we will find ourselves alone again. A dear friend got married at the age of 52 for the first time. She was married 4 1/2 years, and he died in a trucking accident at work one day. It was a hard thing for all of us to face, but it really made me look at the things I let irritate me about my husband. Last fall, that same friend lost her younger brother, in a freak accident, as he cleaned the rain gutters after a storm, he was electrocuted by a live wire he didn’t know had fallen. He had been my friend, too, and we had gone to high school together. He left behind a wife and 3 adult children. He was only 54.
Any way, I didn’t mean to carry on with a lecture. Sometimes we just need a different perspective…..
Your blog inspires me daily. I thrive on your photos, and writing. You area blessing to me, and to so many others!
Gotta say I have the Tv on all night in the bedroom, have done ever since a very stressful time when my mum died, a very good friend was senselessly murdered and we had an attempted robbery(all in a very small period of time), it was the only thing that worked for us both, and we haven’t stopped it. The beauty of it is that you hear nothing else, it drowns it all out, robbers trying to get in, dogs barking and the occasional snoring episode. I’m more than happy to let the German shepherds take care of anyone creeping around and when I do wake up, the shopping network or whatever’s on just lulls me back to sleep. You just have to think really hard about what might work for you both.
mm i have a husband that snores too.i used to kick him but now i just pull the sheet and he turns over lol! then i pretend im asleep if he goes crook hahahaha.
Try Bach’s Rescue Remedy Night – it’s homeopathic so nothing nasty in it, just a few drops on your tongue and it calms you right down. It works a treat for me when my mind is buzzing or something has woken me up.
Your bedroom looks gorgeous, so I don’t think you have to worry about that being the cause
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 …]
Well G’day Beach Cottage ladies. Of course some of you guessed correctly, no flies on Beach Cottage gals are there? A Summer House window dressing, beach vintage style. One that I got very wrong. I’ll keep this short and sweet The vintage crochet patchwork curtain? Love. Pure love. But, put it this [...]
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
come on down to join us…Beach Cottage Club Newsletter 
un-linked posts will be deleted…thanks so much ladies, enjoy yourself some coastal nautical beachy Good Life at my old place today….xo
Aww…wish I could join you at the beach!! We spent the last week in Sanibel Island, Florida. Let’s just say I didn’t want to leave (= I have a sneak peak posted on my blog! The oars you have propped against the wall are gorgeous. LOVE them!
Your home and the images are like a fairytale and always make me smile
Hi Sarah, my hubby is a pharmacist, I will see if there are any new wonder products out there to help snoring – has Mr BC tried the nasal strips? Not sexy … but hey ho, you might get some sleep! Ahhhhh …. x
Ah, the snoring. The only thing that sort of works for us, as his snoring is the occassional thing so I cannot get accustomed to it, is a nudge with my foot to him and he rolls onto his side and it stops for awhile, if not for the whole rest of the night. We’ve tried other things, but he doesn’t get mad, though a couple of times he has awakened to tell me he was not snoring…yeah, right. Anyway, it is interrupted sleep, but only for a few minutes as I can fall quickly back to sleep most often. Wish I had a better solution, so I will be reading comments in hopes of the “magic cure”, too. I’m like you, I need 7 1/2 hrs. plus – cannot survive on 6 or less and if I go days like that, the broomstick makes an appearance. Hope the sandman visits tonight!
Hi Sara,
Had to pass on my lifesaving sleep aid- one benadryl taken when I go to sleep, and I stay asleep all night! Waking up at 3am was beginning to be a bad routine, and my one benadryl nipped that right in the bud! Hope it might help you…
Missy
Snoring – we actually sleep separate because I am SUCH a light sleeper! That’s only SLEEPING of course…heh….
Seriously, though, I hear you on the sleep deprivation. It’s a killer! I too need at least 8 or 9 hours a night. Is it cool enough in your bedroom? Remove all the electronics and anything with an LED. Sound machine? And how about some mediation or a bit of yoga each day? Cut back on the coffee/caffeine?
Sounds familiar here, too. I am a night owl, but I still need the 8 or 9 hours to feel functional. The red LED lights from the alarm clock are a problem, so I put a dark colored cloth over them. It’s easy enough to lift up, if I do need to see the time.
The snoring used to really bother me, but now, I find such comfort in it. I spent many years alone as a single Mom; and longing to be married again to the right man. Well, I found him! We have been married 9 years now. When I crawled into bed last night, he was snoring. I snuggled down to read my book (till it falls on the floor, and wakes me up, because I dozed off!). But I realized what a comforting sound his snoring was to me, because it was an audible sound that I am no longer alone.
Our youngest son is leaving home in 3 weeks, so this is a hard transition for me (7 kids between us!), but it will be my first time alone, with no kids in the house, in 36 years! So hearing, and feeling my husband’s presence is something I have really come to treasure. I will pray for you, Sarah, that God will give you a peace about this, so that you no longer hear an irritating noise, but a great comfort, instead. We never know when we will find ourselves alone again. A dear friend got married at the age of 52 for the first time. She was married 4 1/2 years, and he died in a trucking accident at work one day. It was a hard thing for all of us to face, but it really made me look at the things I let irritate me about my husband. Last fall, that same friend lost her younger brother, in a freak accident, as he cleaned the rain gutters after a storm, he was electrocuted by a live wire he didn’t know had fallen. He had been my friend, too, and we had gone to high school together. He left behind a wife and 3 adult children. He was only 54.
Any way, I didn’t mean to carry on with a lecture. Sometimes we just need a different perspective…..
Your blog inspires me daily. I thrive on your photos, and writing. You area blessing to me, and to so many others!
I use ear plugs for the snoring.
Wish I was at the beach, Sanibel sounds good to me!
Or the Florida Keys!
Gotta say I have the Tv on all night in the bedroom, have done ever since a very stressful time when my mum died, a very good friend was senselessly murdered and we had an attempted robbery(all in a very small period of time), it was the only thing that worked for us both, and we haven’t stopped it. The beauty of it is that you hear nothing else, it drowns it all out, robbers trying to get in, dogs barking and the occasional snoring episode. I’m more than happy to let the German shepherds take care of anyone creeping around and when I do wake up, the shopping network or whatever’s on just lulls me back to sleep. You just have to think really hard about what might work for you both.
mm i have a husband that snores too.i used to kick him but now i just pull the sheet and he turns over lol! then i pretend im asleep if he goes crook hahahaha.
Try Bach’s Rescue Remedy Night – it’s homeopathic so nothing nasty in it, just a few drops on your tongue and it calms you right down. It works a treat for me when my mind is buzzing or something has woken me up.
Your bedroom looks gorgeous, so I don’t think you have to worry about that being the cause
Melatonin works for me
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/940.html