a moving from the English countryside to the beaches of Australia up-date x

evening lovely bloggy gals...


it is soooo nice to sit  with you...glass of wine in hand...mince pies & pistachios beside me...

in the wonderful *once-was-victorian-old-now-new* apartment we have moved into...

a little moment to ourselves...after a massive day of helping removal men start to move us back to the 


beaches of Oz...it feels good...it feels exhausting...

it feels like the end of something wonderful & the beginning of something deliciously familiar...

so the apartment is on our village Green, overlooking the Irish Sea...


it is the P.E.R.F.E.C.T place to finish up our 4 years in the English Countryside...

it's simple, beautiful & very different to the *gathered, loved, collected boho* of our house...

i need different at the moment...i need simple & laid out & organised...

the apartment is a big old house divided into 12 huge, individual apartments...

we are a family of 5 living in 1/12th of a house...i cant quite get my head around how one would live

in it's entirity....but people did...

anyway....aside from space & simplicity...according to Miss.A we needed a tree...


i do love me some doilies...{see here, here & here }

& i do love me an instant *god-what-have-we-not-packed* Christmas tree...

we had not packed a packet of doilies & a set of Christmas lights...

the *trunk* was to be binned...one can't take random Scottish drift wood back into Ox apparently... :-(

but i grabbed it outa the bin on my upteenth trip to the apartment from the house today...

ceeeeute huh!!??

so with the *tree* up...i set upon my usual *go-to* packing snack- mince pies...


if you've ever had a virtual Christmas coffee with me {see here & here}...

you'd know that mince pies are my *between-every-meal* sustenance...

i have lived on them for at least the last week or two...

i'm ok with that...the local mince pie makers are ok with that...

i'd send you home with a batch if you popped past the apartment...

i pulled out a fresh batch last night to do a bit of Santa letter writing with Miss.A...


she's 6 & very concerned that Father Christmas may not know of all our moving...

i assured her that 12,000 miles, 5 days before Christmas by a family of 5, does not go un-noticed by

Mr.Claus....she's not quite so sure...

so we cracked open a mince pie & sent him a little reminder of our movements... :-)

super gorgeous sweet...all done with very intense concentration & a lot of photo moments...

the kiddos have been amazing...


the changes are by the hour now...we have moved out of our family home...

but they are ready...they are soo wonderful...

we've had moments...but they all seem on track today...they are all soo excited today...

& let me tell you sweet friends- if you ever move your kiddos across the world, you will know that

you take it one day at a time...

we did that to get here- & we are doing it going home...

Santa has a very special...this is where we are at...letter heading his way...


we have a seriously cool...made out of what we didn't pack doily Christmas tree...

we are having dinners & drinks with all our beloved local friends...

& half our big old country house is packed in moving crates...

life is good...i feel settled tonight...i needed this moment....

& i need a few more this week...

it's lovely to have a moment to *check* in with you all...


to centre myself...have a little *me* time with you here...

i am loving all your messages, emails, comments, tweets...all of it keeps me happy...

all of it gives me a moment *away* from what i have to do each day to get us home...

i love you for that...if i haven't replied- i'm hoping to...but i need to prioritise & have a serious time

frame...

i know you'll be here for me...the boat won't wait...the crates need sorting!

see you over the weekend...love to you all....

xoxox

vintage milk bottles & decorating for Christmas with what you already love...

december *2- vintage milk bottles,  jars,  rolls of ribbon...& Christmas...


there's something about jars & jugs & bottles of greenery at Chritstmas...


especially if you've just lugged a trolley around a huge store loading up for a *Farewell England*

party that you are throwing on Sunday- & then lugged it into the car...& then into the house...

it's just nice to be surrounded by something simple...& Christmas-y...& not to do with

lugging...

all year i love big bunches of flowers...


it's actually the *one thing* i've not really gone a week without, here in ol'Blighty...


especially as the weather really pushes those * i-need-some-colour-desperately-in-my-life* 


buttons... 

wild overgrown peonies in the english summer...

big branches of frangipanni in the australian summer...

greenery & berries at Christmas from the garden...

christmas time is all about *simple* for us...our kids have thought we *under-do* Christmas


since seeing how my gorgeous B.B {british bestie} does Christmas decor...


{& just for the record BB i'm so fine with them loving you more....x}


but it's all about simple- especially this year...with the {move back to out beach house *Down Under*}


simple budget friendly decoration...


simple household items used with a new Christmas twist...

home made goodies thrown together with one or two special pieces that can be pulled out year

after year...

i love anything tarnished...white & this year it seems red....


i pull out the same baubles each year...there's apparently never enough of them nor are they wildly

coloured enough for the kids...in my book this is a good sign ;)

kids & christmas- most of it "perfect"...some of it "hmmmm"...but that's what a playroom is for ;)

so...back to the simple use-what's-around-your-house-decorating...


vintage milk bottles- awesome yes...but i also bung candles in old jam jars...berries in long pasta

sauce jars, greenery in small tonic water bottles & berries in tin cooking pots...

vases are just not necessary when your mixing bits from your house together, uniting them with

a Christmas twist...

this year- because we can't go all out till we get home to Oz- it's ribbon all the way here....

i'll be lugging all these bits to our farewell Sunday- along with some good old fashioned 


paper-chains that miss.6 is crazy slightly obsessed with producing by the acre...


so...rounding up Christmas deco's from round the house is the way to go- up-cycling...recycling...

vintage loving- call it what you like- there is something special about using what you already love

& giving it a Christmas re-vamp...

& just to give you a little insight into what my loving, patient husband walks through & 


around on a regular basis...{yep toilet roll on table & all !}...


god love him- he makes me tea & pours me a glass of wine around all this...

whilst i light the fire...he smiles at my piles of gathered goodies dumped scattered around the house...

he checks in on this here blog & he lets me know what he thinks of the pickies...

he knows that our house is a home because of all these bits...& i love that he smiles & he nods...

& he takes the long way round our sitting room...

happy decorating 

with all the *bits* you already

live with & love

let me know if you've got any plane friendly

20th of December airport appropriate deco's 

i need to be making!

see ya monday

xox

A Giveaway- Christmas Ribbon & Ikea love...

morning from ol'Blighty- where it's getting chillier as the days roll on...


i've got my ikea stash all ready to show & tell...

Christmas decor inspiration i hope...

& also a Christmas *loving-red-&-white* ribbon giveaway...

when i started raving about the BB & my visit to ikea {here} i hadn't actually opened all


my ikea bits up & snapped them for you...


all my pickies of gorgeous ribbon were not from ikea, but a shop in our village...

they were the start of my love affair for all things red & white this Christmas...

but- since you were all so in lust with the ribbons- i've got a pack to give away this week along


with some other {Miss Sew & So} Christmas bits...


{be a blog friend here & on face book {here} & of course let me know what you think of my


ribbons...}


so...here's my swedish Christmas stash....

the lead up to Christmas is always full of extra's...


extra people dropping by...& inevitably extra meals thrown between the standard one's...

these napkins are totally Christmas with no effort at all...


white tablecloth...greenery in jars up the middle of the table & these gorgeous paper napkins...

& yep the BB & i bought a few...

i'm not a massive tinsel lover...our kiddos are...


i try- but it just doesn't ever do it for me...


too bit-sy...

too shiny...

too tinsel-ey...

then we found this...

white...sweet...perfect...my kinda tinsel...

the other thing the BB & i wanted was reindeer...


they are huge pretty big in Christmas decor over here...


since we moved here from Oz, we've seen plently of wild deer & stags in our trips to the Outer

Hebrides off Scotland {here}

the kids truly fell in love with them in the wild...

& i want to take that love home with us to the beaches of australia in all shapes & forms...

these are divine... & the paper print is gorgeous...

now...as you know we are packing to head home to Oz after nearly 4 years here in the english 


countryside...


this means no more unnecessary purchases- i get that...

but these Christmas glasses were soo flippin lovely & so cheap inexpensive, that i figure we'll just use

them to keep the kiddos feeling Christmas-ey here & then add them to the BB's stash later...!

the perfect 6-pack ;)

&...lastly these little hanging peace doves that i've bought each year we've been here in 


england...


they are beautifully simple...light to take home...& one little miss.6 loves making their wings for

me...

i don't really need any other reason to throw these in my hand luggage back to sydney...

so...i'm hoping...thinking...that there may be some ikea-love from some of you here...


i'm gonna send out the ribbons below just to get you started...

leave a comment...be a FB friend...& i'll draw the Christmas Ribbon Giveaway at the end of the

week...

leave a comment each day for extra entries...every day counts...

little miss.6 & i spent an hour in front of the fire on sunday afternoon hanging & tying 


& talking Christmas as only kids can...


i felt inspired- bless her...

go get yourself to ikea if you can

&

if not...get into this giveaway to start your inspiration for christmas

...ikea is my *favourite & best* at Christmas...

xox

~~~

pop over to my gorgeous friend Maureen's {here}

she's got some more fave & best goodies she's sharing...

~~~

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

 

virtual coffee- i love you bloggy gals...

if i could just reach out & hug all of you i would...

thank you for being so *there* for me when i shared our news {yesterday}

i've bought you a coffee...an amaretto coffee no less for being just so wonderful & 

supportive...


a christmas coffee for you full of blog love & a good shot of italian amaretti...

sharing that huge, life changing {again} move back to the gorgeous beaches of sydney, australia

has just got me back on track here...

i love you guys- & i love to share my life here in the english countyside with you daily...

for the last little while i feel like i've not been acknowledging this massive decision with you gals that

are so much a part of my day to day here...

 

i just feel like we are now all on the same page of my crazy book & that we can all do this 

together...blogging all the way!


so...if you're happy to be along for the ride, grab that coffee for our weekly virtual catch up & i'll


share a few things...

i know so many of you have loved daily visit to my little piece of the english countryside for a looong

time now & i know there are some of you i've just met...

i want to take all of you on the journey from this life here in the countryside of england ...

back to our life on the beaches of australia together...

we're working like crazy people here, as you may well imagine...

we fly home to Oz december 20- yep 5 days before the big man himself arrives...

mad i know- swig that coffee gals- there's more...

so...i'm planning packing, crating, last minute collecting ;) , kiddo-ing, school sorting on two sides of

the globe, christmas gifting....& massive emotion dealing each & every day at the moment...

this little spot of mine is going to carry me through it all...

you'll all help carry me through it all...

i have endless idea's for christmas still swimming round in my head, though in reality this year, 

all the moments i love are going to really be left up to someone else {thanks mum!}...


so i figure...this little ol'blog here is going to allow me to still indulge in all the things i love whilst


still ticking off that flippin massive pretty long moving list...

i've left my christmas deco's from the last few years, collected here in england, in their boxes &

i'm just going to have the simplest of things around us...

the kiddos are still gonna want some festive in their days-& to be honest i need it as much as they

do...

so you & i can still share all out christmas crafting & present thoughts...

& i can attempt to not go overboard...

the last thing we need is yet another crate of goodies to lug home!

{see my sweet, patient man- your words really do sink in...}

so...if we were really sharing italian cookies & an amaretto coffee dear bloggy friends...

i would let you have a leetle go of my stamping set...


courier type face is one of my fave style of lettering...

i use these stamps constantly pretty regularly...these are the start of my christmas tags...

i bought the fab little library-card-pocket-bags from my very inspiring, table decorating wiz of a blog

friend leanne- who's shop & blog is {here}

i have had these month- in anticipation of christmas tagging...

i'll show you the finished tags this week with some christmas wrapping to get us all off my list ticking!

& 'cause the amoretti has gone to my head- man those italians do it strong- i would also let 

you have a bit of a stamp with my french numeral stamps...


these are on hessian for my advent calender...the one i'm desperate to make amongst the list ticking

& endless-do-we-need-this-on-the-beaches-of-sydney decision making...

that's gonna have to wait till the end of the week...as i'm learning the serious art of prioritising ladies...

{yep heard that *at last* sweet man o'mine!}

so...if we were really meeting for our weekly virtual coffee i would hug you tight again - just in 

case you missed the first one...


i'd take you for a walk up our village high street together...just 'cause we can & soon we can't...


&

i'd ask you to take this big journey home with me...'cause the thought of doing it together sounds so


much more lovely than doing it without you...

happy tuesday from the english countryside gals...

x o x o x

for more swilling coffee's & goss

head over to see my lovely friend amy {here}

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

virtual coffee at my local food market...

mooorning- ready for a virtual coffee...autumn style....vintage china...crisp air...chippy chairs...?


welcome to our little part of the english countryside...


let's have a little wander with our coffee's today...

a market wander - you know that little local produce market i keep mentioning - well i think you should

grab your hat & scarf & come take a lookie for yourselves...

it's officially winter- we've had our first proper frost across the school playground, on car windows

& the garden this week...i think it's pretty & signifies the seasons are changing yet again...

so...with winter here, i don't want you to miss our local monthly market before it get's to cold...

you gals from *down under* won't want to see it in a week when you're back at the beach every day!

come on...this is one of my fave bits...the cheese stall...

the produce here is gorgeous...you can pretty much taste test the entire haul here- the guys who run it

are lovely...they know their stuff...& i can never come away empty handed...

they still wrap butter the old way- in paper...local farm butter in paper...

heaven for an aussie beach girl who'd only ever bought her butter in plastic containers till moving


*up here*...

if we were really having a coffee & a market wander this morning...i'd probably ask you 


where you are heading back to...as the goodies at this stall are going to tip your luggage quota 


over just a leeetle...


this is the stall where i lunged upon found {this} hessian farm sack... & {these} vintage 


potato baskets...


it is an ever changing inspiring little stall that i could pretty much buy from every month...

perfect for {coastal farming} inspiration...

now...if we were really rugged up, arms linked, wandering round our village square i would buy 


you an old oar...some quail eggs...some local meat...& lend you my hunter wellies...


i would want you to know for a day- what it's like for a beach reared gal from Australia, to wander up

the road in her village, to a local produce market & to shop for her family...

it's not too bad is it....!?


so i'm going to leave you to keep wandering...i'm going home to put on a casserole...& to find you

another case for all your excess luggage...

...thanks for dropping by....

&

sharing a coffee round my little part of the globe

~~~

happy tuesday

xxx

~~~

there's some more coffee's & gossip to be shared 


{here with the lovely miss.amy}

& some reflecting on the good life 


{here with the inspiring beach loving miss.sarah}