chippy crates- beachside finds...

morning y'all....


*cleanup*- ladies it's so worth talking about- an Australian tradition...


a provider of many an up-cycled/re-cycled piece in our house...

so...the way it works, if you are not from our shores, is that local councils determine a day for the houses in their *area* to put their *rubbish* curb side, to be collected by them on a set morning...


but...before that *pick-up*... other locals can trawl through have a look through the neighbourhoods goodies & take any piece they feel they could *up-cycle*...

it may sound foreign to some of you- but it's been a tradition all through my life time...& one happily adopted by all- to the point that i divide my *clean up* into two piles...

one that's worth looking through & one that really is just rubbish...

this is my *find* from yesterday...


it's a time when those that can see past the old...to the chippy & lovely, really come into their own...

& it's so so great for the environment...

for me, a road side cleanup find became my now very-loved-new-to-our-little-beach-house-mag-rack...


it just so happened to be the perfect width for our side table- a find from our English village...

this room is slowly coming together since our move home to the Coast of Oz, from the English countryside...


our country life is merging with our beach lifestyle...i'm feeling more & more settled the more i unpack & the more we merge the two...

if you're on the beaches...& needing a re-cycling fix...

i'll let you know where to loiter roadside next!

i may even share a chippy find or two...

it'd be fun to do it together...

happy wednesday gals

melissa

xoxox

a leetle french gardening on the beaches...

g'day from Down Under sweet bloggy gals...with a leetle french garden twist...!


my day of ignoring cardboard boxes has been just what i needed...

hanging out with the kiddos- getting them a little more organised with school...& bedrooms...&

enjoying nothing time back in our little beach house was just what we all needed...

so...last night, after no unpacking & lugging for the day, i had a little play around with some 


of the bits i had re-discovered on Monday...


{when my *blessed* mother had come & thrown her *motherly* authority around, and 


made me lunch & helped me pack my kitchen into cupboards...}


i am really in need of the fun part now...but the boxes are still there...

even with half of them gone it looks a little to much to be dealing with on a gorgeous *end-of-summer*

day on the beaches...so i'm playing for a while instead...

back balcony & front balcony...

our little beach house has two balcony's-which means the breeze is always on one or the other in


summer, & it's always calm & outa the wind on one or the other in winter...


this was one of the reasons the hubster fell in love with it, when searching for our bit of beach life when

we added the third little bambino to our family...

he pretty much sits out on the front balcony every evening, glass of wine in hand, just looking out at the

beautiful trees that surround our house...enjoying the breeze...

a natural breeze beats a fan burring in the background hands down...as does the feeling of space a

balcony brings to both sides of the house...

so i'm spending a little of my day playing on the front balcony with french bits...

chippy chairs...old tin pailings...herbs...a passionfruit vine...a pot of tea...sunshine...

we have a little *hidden away* garden nursery not far from us, that i'll be visiting for a few pots 

of lavender this week...

i'm thinking, as this front balcony gets so much gorgeous morning sun- that herbs & lavender are perfect

to plonk in french pots dragged back from old brocantes during a french *road trip* we loved with the 

kiddos...

what d'ya think?

dented tin french buckets, chippy chairs & a leetle bit of french inspired gardening...

many of you sent me lovely emails & comments about the *lushness* of our garden...


& in fact, many of you were surprised at just how green & tropical it is...& yes, for those that asked...i'd

love to do a tour of our garden very soon...

in comparison to our back garden, thick & lush, our front is drier in area's & perfect for herbs & lavender

so i'm going to enjoy the differences...

we're also planning to take out the lovely old playhouse timber cubby house that has seen better days in

the back corner of the garden to put in a wonderful big vege garden- inspired by my B.B's wonderful

garden back in our English village...

i'll be keeping you posted & asking for much advice along the way...

bloggy galfriends that also garden get ready for my...i'm gonna be on a steep learning curve!

happy potting at yours

gardening with chippy chairs is my kinda thing!

see ya tomorrow with my next box of goodies...

melissa

xoxox

a virtual coffee-*chippy chairs & bush tea*...

virtual coffee old style...cane chairs...fedora's...loose leaf tea in a pot...


gotta spare hour to come sit in my back garden under the palms...?

until the frenchy looking couches arrive further notice...these are *our virtual coffee* cane chairs...

we can move them round the garden with us- follow the sun...or follow the mottled shade under the 

big ol'jacaranda tree...

i'm big on shade after living in England...big on sunscreen...big on lotsa bottles of water...

anyhoooo....

virtual coffee...by the beaches...in the garden...under the palms...


how are you? like really how are you?

are you enjoying *you* time?

are you on a lunch beak from work?

are you picnic-ing with the kids?

are you sledging on the white stuff?

wherever you are- welcome to out little piece of quiet heaven...tea?

i have found Twinings answer to Australian billy tea...{bush tea- you know made over a fire, in 

bush when camping}...

Twinings *Australian Afternoon Tea*...if you like strong tea served in a posh box- you will love this!

in fact i'm tempted to post it to my English bestie- it's like the Yorkshire Tea we loved in our village but

Australian...

now i've been requested by a few of you to serve lamingtons again- i will be doing this i promise...

it's just that this week has been more about sorting life than baking...

we'll get back to lamingtons

this virtual coffee is about putting out feet up- slurping our strong tea & just catching up a little...

excuse Miss.Lola {the puppy} she's a bit of a cane chair chewer enthusiast! 

so...tea, time, life...it's all easier when it's done in the garden isn't it...

for those of you in the snow...we're going to add extra sugar to the pot...

do you ever have *sugar days*? 

the BB {British bestie} in England used to make tea & ask if it was a *sugar day* or not- i loved that...

it's like establishing how you're feeling in a very *lovely simple way*...

a sugar day required an extra listen...an extra hug...a quieter time than a *no sugar*, right let's get on 

with it kinda catch up....

so are you *sugar or no sugar tea* today?

if we were really having a coffee, or pot of strong tea, today...


i'd ask you if you've ever lived away from the country...town...city or village that you were 


born into...


i'd ask you if you've ever wanted to...

we always wanted to...& now we've done it- i have a sense of calm about being home...

not a *been there, done that* kinda feeling- just a wonderful sense that life is amazing kinda calm...

does this make sense to you- or do you think i just need a bit more *sugar* in my pot today!!??

even the fact that it's been raining crazy amounts a little since being home on the beaches & that our

balcony has looked a little like this at times- has been almost ok with me...

nothing like living with a makeshift laundry hanging above your outdoor dining table to really test


just how happy you are about being home!


it seems i'm pretty a.o.k about it...!

so...thanks for sitting under the palms with me...the puppy needs some *game time*...


the washing needs some sorting...the mail needs some reading & the boxes need some unpacking...

life on the beaches after 4 years in the English countryside is lovely...

especially when i can share it with you in the garden on old chippy chairs...

hugs & thanks for hanging out...

~~~~~~~

if you're still in need of a little more nattering & the coffee-i-didn't-offer-you...

head over to Amy's ...she is the queen of exotic cafe & witty banter...

~~~~~~

see you next week- pot ready, same chairs, more thoughts...

vintage chairs, village markets & a B.B {british bestie}...

our village market- the B.B {british besite} & i are taking you with us this morning...

we want your opinion on this seriously cool rocking vintage chair...

patch-worked by hand- re-stuffed all squishy & perfectly snuggly...

perfect for B.B's bay window...perfect for C.H.R.I.S.T.M.A.S....

you hearing this Mr.B.B ?

i can assure you your christmas will be full of festive cheer ;) if you bobbed down & picked up this 

piece of patch-worked heaven for her...you listening !?

 

this is the same little stall that had the blue side board last week... {here}

& i know from your emails & comments, that  a few of you would've whipped that in the back of your 

people mover.. 

it's also the same little secret spot that the B.B & i got our french potato baskets from...{here}

man do we need to get her this chair...

anyway- the seeds have been sewn with Mr.BB & all 20 of our fingers are crossed...

maybe a quick "how are you lovely Mr.BB- did we mention it's V & A fabrics" text may nail it?

between this gorgeous chair & my big old country house there was also a *house sale* on this 

morning...

i really just needed a wander with her & a look at old stuff vintage bits this morning...

some time out from the list ticking & the endless at times a little overwheliming planning...

we did good....real good...

a great old typewriter & some wonderful old cotton reels for me...

& a perfect vintage milk bottle that we worked out was over 50 years old and that was produced for

the dairy farm not far from the B.B's folks house- for her...

i love that...the history & connections...

so...another gorgeous crisp wander through my little part of ol'Blighty...

with thoughts of both days on the beach in Australia & days snuggling up with mulled wine & the 

BB on this chair dancing around in my head...

yooohoooo...Mr.BB this is for you...

the BB & i are bringing you back here over the weekend

for the lighting of our village christmas tree

&

a mulled wine or two

you in?

xxx

 

coastal farming-the look of an ocean-loving-country-living gal...

coastal farming- where our love of the ocean lives alongside our love of the countryside....


brought up on the coast- salty sandy feet...freckles on the nose...& now thrown into the gorgeous

countryside with wellies at the door...it makes for a lovely way to live...

it makes for a house of treasured collected pieces that make up these two sides of our life...

i now have *two passions* for how i want us to live- and *coastal farming* seems to encompass 


them both...


if i could find us a little farm on the coast somewhere- that's where i'd see out my days...

we could have horses for *the girls*...a football pitch for *the boy*...

& an ocean for *us all*...

so...till that little piece of heaven falls into my lap...


i am surrounding us with *a way of living* that embraces that...


seashells & french farm chairs...

drifted wood & farm milk crates...

it gives me a sense of *what we've done* moving abroad...

a balance of what is now *the two sides of my heart*...

what now *makes up our children*...

my surroundings are paramount to my daily attitude...


i'd like to say i don't mind how we *live*...

that it's not important how *things look*...

that i'm just happy we're all here together...but that would be quite a lie- i admit it...

the rest of my life is good...really good, when i'm visually surrounded by things that i love...

the things that make me smile...that remind me of wonderful memories...

if it all looks good...i feel good...

shallow? not in my book...content....absolutely

i can be momentarily flippant- when i flick through a magazine & see a wonderfully modern, simply

laid out room- for just that second- i think aaahhh perfect- that's what we need...

we've all had those moments...

i can fall in love with a whallop of totally different looks as i flick through one magazine, but i know

what rocks my boat...what makes our house our home...

so...as i can't give up my milk crates...or my array of white farm chairs...or my treasured shells...

or my drift wood collection...or my french farm crates...or my striped cushions...or my collection of

beach frocks...i have decided that *coastal farming* is the way we shall live with, or without, that little

place of heaven on the ocean front...

a bikini & hunter wellies- now there's a fashion statement to represent our house!

happy weekend lovely bloggy friends

i have something really really really big to share on monday

&

i just may need you a little more than usual

xxx

x o x o x

chippy chairs...roses & late summer sunshine...

it's back...a little pre-autumn sunshine...

i love the that moment, at the end of an crazy busy morning...

groceries stacked in the back of the people mover...

P.O & banking done...computer ink sorted for the kiddos homework...

village local food market in the back of my mind for before school pick-up...

that moment...when i just stop with a cup of tea...a bunch of *chuck-it-in-with-the-shopping-roses*...and all my chippy bits in the garden...& some blessed sunshine...

i truly thought we'd seen the last of it for a while...i'd even changed my birky's for ballet slippers...

but we are being blessed with another late late late summer early autumn dose of it...

warm enough to open all the windows & doors...heaven for this aussie girl...

so...tea in hand...groceries chucked in the kitchen for the maid later...

i just played around in the sunshine...with the camera...& enjoyed the moment...

i've been up here in the north for long enough to realise that it ain't gonna last baby!

it's ok to put things on hold for a little heart warming...make-me-a-happy-mamma sunshine isn't it?

i mean i have lugged & carried & shopped & cooked & planned the entire day from sun up, till we hit 7:15 tonight & the last bambino has been collected from her last extra curricular activity for the day...

the moment when i pour myself a big glass of french vino...

so...really a little chippy chair loving & playing with flowers in the sunshine is a pretty tame vice...

wouldn't you think?

you know i'm in my de-crappifying  sorting the house mode...

so it's good for me to get outside and just smell the roses ;)

to leave the *god-where-does-all-this-stuff-come-from* piles inside blocking the doorway...

to have just a little downtime...you know, get my enthusiasm back to unpack the shopping i just lugged...

i'd really rather just finish my sewing & sit in the sun...

curse me!

life is sometimes too full- or maybe i just need more time...hours...hands...!?

 so...i'm thinking a little balance today is what i need...


i'm on a roll & then come 8 o'clock i'm being put to bed by the kids...

not a cool look...makes me seem a little errrr...old apparently!

who taught those children to have opinions!

so...just for a bit i'm getting a good dose of northern english countryside sunshine...

just what this beach-reared mama needs...

hope you're getting out in it

playing with flowers

loving your old bits ;)

&

enjoying the moment

xxx

melissa

chippy old boxes & plimsolls...

so...the lovely miss.audrey got the plimsolls & i got the old box...
if the rosey sandshoes had fit me, i have to admit gals...i would have got both ;)
that's the beauty of being six & seeing nothing odd about your mummy loving an old box the same way you love flowery rosey new shoes...

so...over our weekend at the seaside, a little welsh loveliness was thrown into the back of the car...
the locals giggled at me...
in fact, our dear, unknowing ;) welsh friends ribbed me quite a bit...
but i knew that this little box was a hidden gem...
actually they'll probably still giggle at it...& definately at me...
but i'm ok with that...
cause i got the box...
& my kid got the shoes...!

remember my chippy ol' painted ladder with numbered steps that i {& quite a gang of you!} loved *here*...?

well i haven't had much use for the gorgeous swirly-curly french number *five* in the stencil set i used for this...

but i figured...there are five of us...& since we drag out stuff to the front garden in various boxes & milk crates most days...

i thought i'd add this as a very *make-me-happy-alternative* to an ugly plastic serving tray...

full of napkins, tea towels, crappy kids plastic ikea cups...& french kid cups ;)

i used the same french stencil patterns that i used on the step ladder & various other battered vintage french tins that i've managed to sneak into this old house...

they are super simple to use & rinse off in warm water...

i bought them on etsy *here*...& use them pretty regularly round here...

so...sweet bloggy friends...

my oh so humble words of wisdom are: if you see an old box for a fiver & your welsh friends start giggling...

nab it...chuck it in the back of the car, under the kids feet with the sunscreen & that mountain of sand the kids felt a need to share...

& then smugly come home & stencil it...

then invite them round for a corona & lime served from that box...

they'll still giggle...but they won't say no to the beer...

& they may even try to smuggle home the box...

& 

maybe even the kids plimsolls

the ones that were really meant to be mine anyway

~~~

do you ever do that?

buy it for your babies only 'cause it doesn't fit you?

i've been doing it for 13 years

&

i still haven't tired of it!!

~~~

go buy some frenchy stencils on *etsy*

they are soo addictive

...enjoy...

~~~

xox

melissa 

vintage milk crate love...

well...these are the little things that make the move abroad, 12,000 miles from home pretty lovely...
vintage milk crates & garden roses...
don't get me wrong...the experience is what we're really doing it for... ;)
but when an english vintage goodie finds me- it really does just send that message home that travel is heaven...
especially when it surrounds you with chippy old things to one day take home to the beaches on the other  side of the globe...

when we first started talking to people about our move to ol'Blighty three years ago...

we talked about travel...country living...the experiences that would shape us as a family...

what we didn't talk about...what we hadn't really considered was our day to day life here in the english countryside...

we'd had other friends live abroad...they did it all with Ikea furniture & a time frame...

we've done it with neither...& it's worked for us...

we've slowly gathered *bits* of england & europe that will continue to take us back to our time here when we are once more living with sandy toes & beach towels on the line...

so...with a beach house of our life stored back in Sydney...

we have gathered here a ridiculously huge lovely big whallop of vintage english life to add to it all...

our beach & country chippy bits, will one day all be thrown back in together & i'm hoping my usual *don't follow anyone else- just collect what you love- & it will all work* theory will kick in...

it's funny how a broken old metal milk crate can really make my day...

& it's even funnier that it now makes the hubsters- ok maybe not *makes*...but it's on his radar at last...

truly...the man walked in from work & instantly spotted the random roses & crate on the table...

"love that...!" he shouted to the kitchen, on the way to put out the re-cycling...

to be fair...he didn't stop & examine it as i had all day...

but girls...he noticed it and he commented...!

see...priceless memories...

i will recall his very interested slightly rushed comment when i see this sitting on my table, with shells & sandy beach towels, sunscreen & freckled faces one day back in Sydney...

"love that...!"

so...i guess the moral here is

buy chippy lovely old stuff that makes you happy

&

one day *others* will love you a little bit more for the memories

what d'ya think??

xox

check out other shabby goodies with a pot of tea
&
a chippy old crate of something
at
the shabby creek cottage

vintage potato basket love & my thrift-hunting perfect kid...

mooorning....
this is what i'm shouting up to my babies all snuggled upstairs in their beds, windows open listening to the british summer rain...
so...mooorning across the countryside & globe to you lot...

i have a lovely story, with a wee make-over thrown in for y'all today...
i don't know if you have sons or daughters or not...
or if you just *borrow* little ones when you need an excuse to...you know...see Toy Story 3 over the hols...or to buy the giant sized pop corn *for-the-kids* ;) at the movies...
but i have both...& my boy just keeps on giving...
Sol is a well-trained-vintage-spotting-kid...
he spotted these two little gems at 50 paces in our village market last week...

potato picking baskets...
i'd alluded to them many times round the garden table...
i'd mentioned many times the one frenchy potato picking basket i had seen at a vintage shop up the road...
i thought no-one was listening...
well i was wrong...big time!
the kid was listening...
we were heading up to the weekly farmers market in our village square...
it's getting bigger & more varied as summer rolls on...
not that we gave two hoots about the blocks of farm butter or endless strawberries when we spotted these gorgeous things...

he bolted raced calmly up to the vintagey stall & nabbed those babies...
one over each arm...& grinned at me...
i honestly didn't care how much they were- he was so delighted with himself i would've paid anything...
{just for the record Ritchie honey- not really anything!}
the one i had been lusting over *up-the-road* was £50...that's a lot of potatoes!!
i readied myself...spotted the line at the bank...& nearly fell over when she said that he could have them both for £15...!

the kid is a up-cycling-make-mum-delightfully-happy-vintage-spotting-genius!
look at these lovelies....!

but...yellow is probably my least fave house colour & whilst i love red...it's just not me...
i lived with them like this for the weekend...
i moved them around & talked myself into the virtues of yellow & red sitting alongside our mix match of loved goodies...
but it wouldn't last...& again the genius kid suggested i paint them white...
i seriously love this trained up boy...
& then, to nail the decision, i came across this stuff...
Painter's Touch - multi purpose spray paint in *heirloom white*...{check it out here- Rust-oleum}

it is heaven & convenience in a aerosol can...
it's instant...consistent & perfect for fiddly jobs like old wire potato picking baskets...
i am buying shares in the company...
how brilliant is this stuff!!
you can spray wood, metal , ceramics- virtually anything...
it's my new household drug of choice...

the gals beds are up soon...
black to white wrought iron...
then that lovely little steel-legged school desk in the playroom...
those rotten photo frames tossed in a  box in my sewing room...
there is no stopping me...
all thanks to my gorgeous boy!

what d'ya think?
don't you adore a story of love, family, potato baskets & awesome time-saving spray paint...
a little make-over encouraged by a soccer-scooter-skateboard-park-mad-10-year-old-kid...
it made my day!


so...
next time you see a perfectly shaped-hideous coloured jug at a market...
grab it...& spray the little treasure...
stash that wicker basket -it's too easy to paint now...
throw that stool in the boot...
they can all be changed to perfectly vintaged & lovely in 10 minutes tops...

p.s....

i've got my new FB page up & running...

i'm putting up extra blog *photo shoot* pickies & other creations...

great websites i shop on & blog discoveries...

love to hear what you think on all these things & more...

come & say hi...

xxx

p.p.s...

i dropped my canon dslr off a park bench a week ago- that's how much i love watching my kids do skate tricks in the park- i jumped & dropped my camera!

so you'll have to bare with me & my i-phone pickies this week as my beloved never-leaves-my-side camera is at the *canon spa*!

~~~

linking up today *here* at

*my uncommon slice of suburbia*

head over for some seriously gorgeous inspiration