The Beach House Outdoor Shower

It's all about outdoor showers today here on the blog.

Blame it on the weather!
Autumn is currently acting like a late Indian Summer..
The kids are all still in the surf...the house still has sandy floorboards and I'm still throwing sunscreen on anyone that stands still in the mornings!

This Indian-Summer-Autumn weather has me throwing open every window in our little beach house and washing blankets to dry in the sun...it made me sweep and sort the side passage and admit that the outdoor shower is still on high rotation, and that it's far sweeter to shower without leaves gathering round your ankles.

Can I just say- there is nothing like an hot water, outdoor shower...nothing!

I really didn't think it would change our life...but oh it so has!
We had a fairly unused side passage- it pretty much allowed the kids to get from the trampoline in the back garden, to the playroom and garden in the front without wiping off their feet or using the house.
It was an unused space for 99.9% of the time...and I love, love, love to use every inch of our land here, be it for herbs and vege, or the kids outdoor stuff, or simple seating spaces...I think to use your land wisely is great for the family.
So...I'd been really trying to make this side space serve some sort of purpose!

It was totally a place to pull the lawn mower and green {garden cuttings} bin up and down...until our plumber came for a totally unrelated reason, and suggested to us to put a handmade copper shower out there!
He totally got us when he suggested that "attached to the hot water inside, it would be awesome"...
I love our plumber.

So...for three long seconds we thought about the lack of wet towels being dragged through the house issue...and how much we'd miss the sand blocking the inside shower and bath pipes...and asked him to get onto it- like pronto!

A HOT OUTDOOR SHOWER- this was the kind of thing I just needed to hear!
The side passage suddenly became a whole *other* space- somewhere new and exciting and so, so practical!

I don't do camping...{I know it's something my kids will totally crucify me for in later life}, it's just not for me...this is as close to outdoor camp life that I now will ever get!

I washed my hair out there the entire past Summer after the beach.
We raced all holidays from the car to be the first under it, salty and happy and warm.

Our giant hot waterfall!
It's handmade copper head has 100 holes hammered into it...it's heavy and indulgent.

AND...it's been swept and cleaned this morning, ready for this afternoons onslaught  line up of sandy children...and I'd say one salty mother!

Happy Thursday from our shower to yours...may you use your garden space wisely!

Melissa xx

Happy Monday by the Coast- Summer vibes here! {smile}

Good morning from the gorgeous winter we are having here by the beaches!

It's hard to spend a moment inside when the *cold* months are this flipping good!

It always amazes me how much the weather influences all our moods. 

I don't know why it amazes me- as it's a well known fact that a good dose of vitamin D gives you untold energy and puts that extra skip in your step.

I've been bouncing around this beach house, and particularly our garden, all weekend!

We spent the weekend cooking- and thanks to some Instagram friends the menu plans for the week are sorted.

Baked chicken, and asian curry, on the agenda regardless of what the weather this week.

We started early with the sports run to the other side of Sydney on Saturday morning.
The time to cross a big city like Sydney, or London, is definately very very early in the morning.
A dream run, and a large coffee kept us all focused on an amazing soccer match and a little car looking.

More on this later! ;)

We gardened for hours in the sunshine...feeling happily exhausted- and with a few high fives and much oohing and ahhing on our part to ourselves- hmmmmm...sure this is not quite right!

My studio space downstairs- really a corner of the kids *playroom* is coming along at last.

We hung two IKEA shelves this weekend, and I'm attempting to sort years of collected fabrics.

Tomorrow I'll show some photos of the space so far.

I managed to cut a huge basket load of flags for bunting.

Spring, Summer and Christmas bunting- and to make some for a party for a sweet five year old.

I also started thinking all things Summer-wardrobe like!

I live in alot of throw-on-easy dresses and kaftan-like tops in the Summer months.

Easy to throw over a bikini ,and easy to throw in my beach bag with the ga-zillion things we seem to lug to the beach for the kids...

OK- here's two I tried over the weekend.

I think I love them both. I'm not sure?

Excuse the white legs and the ballet flats!

Orange is so becoming a fave new colour- but I know I'll get so much wear out of the black!?

Hmmm...maybe I'm starting my Summer shopping just a little to early!?

Anyhow...

now you've seen the winter legs, and my jeans hanging up there in the change room, I guess I'll just
get back to my washing and all things Monday!

Hope you had a lovely weekend!

Melissa x

PS- Excuse the i-phone images (yep all of them)...my camera is having a moment- she's thrown in the towel for the last week- but I'm onto it as I miss having her in my bag!!

Our garden plot {create}

Morning from Down Under...
It's Monday...
It's raining...
and I'm just embracing it today...

We're a week out from my birthday here in the beach house- somehow this is my measure that we are in the depths of winter...

After living in the Northern Hemisphere for quite some time- I now truly know what the depths of winter feels like...and quite honestly this ain't it!

However...it's all relative to what you've left behind...

An English countryside winter may be long, wild, and storybook exciting to us Southerners, but after a long, hot Australian summer...I am now almost over this Australian version of winter...

Give me a proper winter, or let's just get back to the months we do really well- all the rest!

This is true weather whinging as only a born-and-bred-on-the-beaches kinda girl can do!

In patches, the past weekend weather was clear and blue, and we got out in the wettest garden by the Coast to start the winter clean up....

We live by a natural waterfall- in a culdasac....all lovely in summer, spring and autumn- not so in winter!

Any rain fall over flows the waterfall, and our entire little village of a street becomes less gorgeously tropical and more just...WET!

So gum boots on, I trudged through the front garden...and then thought better of it.

Rather than tackle an entire front garden- I decided to just tend to our garden vege plot out the back.

Needless to say I'm a summer salad and vege grower, and a herb grower at best over the colder months.

I'd like to conquer it all year round, to date this has not been the case in neither our big old English house over there, nor our little coastal beach house over here!

Here's out little corner of winter goodies...

We built this little allotment for my birthday, the first year we moved home from the English countryside...

It was so great to be out there creating something that would feed our family for years to come...

We had a fabulous summer of salads, tomatoes and herbs.

This coming summer I'm hoping the passion fruits I've planted will take...and I'm thinking of growing some flowers amongst the beds.

Our two lime trees have also been fantastic- and used in endless Asian dishes over the years.

It's so great to plan the summer garden, our smallest Miss.8 particularly loves tending to it with me.

So in the depths of an Australian winter I'm planning our summer garden...hoping that waterfall just slows down a little, and just asking for a birthday next week of blue skies and winter sunshine...

Last day of school hols for one little girl in this house...

The last week for one big girl...

and

The fourth day on the sofa for one very poorly boy, whose been whacked with the good old fashioned flu!

ANY tips...thoughts...essential goodies to plant etc...please let me know.

There is nothing like hearing from people who actually grow their own at home to inspire a few hours in the garden.

HAPPY MONDAY!

Melissa x

virtual coffee-a vege plot & Coastal farming...

virtual coffee time...our weekly catch-up...


grab a coffee from the kitchen- i'll meet you at the soon-to-be vege plot in the garden...


we're starting a little *coastal farming* here in this little beach house!

this gals, is the back of our garden...jacaranda tree & previously loved, totally falling down cubby...

we bought this beach house 2 years before we moved to the English country side, with 3 much littler kiddos in tow & not a great deal of time, nor need, to alter the garden...

the cubby was loved, the garden held parties, soccer matches & camp outs...but the kids were smaller...

so much smaller...

now...

ball games only happen in our bigger front garden...the cubby is no longer as stable as it once was & really this back garden, off the kitchen & decking, is needing a bit of a re-think...

we're using it very differently than we once did, since returning from England...& it's exciting to make changes to it for the next part of our life in it...

so...

change one- a vege plot in the sunshine, under a gorgeously big jacaranda tree...

a day's work over the weekend saw the cubby down & the timber sorted into piles...

pieces for up-cycling...& pieces to be thrown out...much of it had rotted over the years, but many pieces will be used again in the design of the fencing & garden beds...the swing gate & some fence brackets...

sydney is built on huge amounts of sandstone & our garden is laden with it...


it's a beautiful creamy, white stone that looks fantastic as edging...garden paths & stone walls...

we'll be creating a path under the tree, & through the centre of the vege beds, to tie it all in with the surrounding garden...

coastal farming on the beaches...

so...if we were really slurping a *builder's tea* in the land laid out for out plot...


i'd show you my English tools-the ones Customs allowed us to crate home- & chat in the sunshine about your gardening experiences...

i'd love your suggestions on layout...thoughts on what to grow...

we managed tomatoes & herbs in the coutry side...the seasons being so much more extreme meant us beach reared Aussies couldn't really get our heads around more than that!

so...this is a love of labour & an important part of our *coming home to the beaches* settling process...

making our life in a bigger city simpler....more fulfilling- with less food miles & an understanding for certain little people {Miss.6} that good food can come from the ground beside our kitchen...!

of course...this garden plot will lead to other longer term changes around the garden...but as the kids say- *we've travelled for the last four years mum- & we aren't going anywhere for ages*...


bless them - they remind me daily that everything doesn't need to be done today...we can spend as much time as we like on it all- as we're not going anywhere!

they are right- we're home for good- but a little travelling on the side will always be part of our family life...

it's actually raining here this morning- all good for a garden plot in the making!

it's school holidays on the coast- gorgeous in all weathers...

~~~~~

grab yourself a piece of sandstone on your way out

& 

let me know if you have any BIG ideas, for a little garden plot, on the coast of Australia

~~~~~

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

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

a life made lovely in an english vege garden...

hello sweet bloggy friends...
i'm sitting in the kiddos playroom...looking out the big bay windows at our little garden allotment...
it's a new thing for us...growing our own vege...
&
believe me, if i can do it, anyone can...
not that i don't have a green thumb- i just had a mental block thing happening...
it's taken me three years of living in the english countryside to start thinking like an english gal...
not a beach-reared...do-not-water-anything-with-the hose-unless-it-is-after-5pm-&-a-monday-or-a-friday-kinda-aussie-gardening-gal...

you see...in Australia water restrictions are pretty normal...
well...they were three years ago when we made the big move north of the globe...
i was able to water my garden two afternoons a  week, & only after 5pm...
car washing on the drive- was a seriously big no-no...
kiddos thrown under a sprinkler for the afternoon- even bigger!
memories that i had made growing up were not being made for our kids!

so...now we find ourselves in the land of water...
endless water where kiddos are free to live under a running-non-stop-sprinkling-system...
but for our aussie beach-reared kids this luxury is missing one element-constant hot warm weather!
this does all work for an english vege garden though, i now know...
it's the summer rain...sun...rain...sun thing that get's everything up & thriving...
three years folks & at long last i have cottoned on to why my BB (british bestie) has the coolest home vege garden i've ever seen!

so...i now find myself sitting, tea in hand, watching over our garden of vege smiling to my self...
audrey has discovered that not all green food is *disgusting*...
(yes i have to sadly admit that our littlest lovely has used this word many-a-time when faced with a plate piece of greenery on her plate!)
she scored a pretty cute little metal watering can & a tin bucket to go vege & lettuce picking & it's working!
she gathers herbs for every meal...& has pulled her elder sister & brother up on the herb names & what *mummy actually asked for*!
should have pulled my finger out a few years ago...& we'd have had years of success at the dinner table with her greens...

so...i'm smiling big that we have got there in the end...
we've had other big moments over the last three years...
maybe i appretiate this little allotment in our front garden a little more as the journey's been longer...
the gardening journey...
the one that can involve lots of lovely water...
a garden sprinkler & laughing kids...
&
french watering cans of love...

a life made lovely monday

a thriving vege garden in the english countryside

watered endlessly by aussie beach-reared kiddos

&

eaten by a very fussy 6 year old cutie

that's gotta be good for the soul

xox

{head over here to check out some other lives made lovely}