Welcome, Kia Ora, Boas-vindas, Bienvenue, G'day!

Just wanted to say hello to all the lovelies who have recently hit the follow button...

I'm a bit full on today as it's off to my new job tomorrow and as usual I've left most of my organising until the very last minute.  I'll be back soon with an update on how I coped with high heels for an entire day, but in the meantime....





Welcome to the Beach Hut

  

Still thinking...

2) Reading

One for all, and all for one!

John Lennon said, ‘Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans’. What a properly, clever bloke!

Whilst I’ve been focusing hard on little clumps of time, the atmosphere has been filling with all sorts of big stuff and last weekend the heavens opened!
I’d only just got my head around a 4 day job fix when I got a bloomin’ offer. Unbelievably, blogging helped the interview process as the position is within IT and my new boss needs someone who can feel her way around a web page. It’s a fantastically exciting, challenging and frankly, a pant wetting career move. It’s also full time, in the city and requires high heels, posh frocks and make up…YIKES!
This should be enough, shouldn’t it? I thought so; however the same inbox that held the job offer also threw out an invitation to appear in a new British craft magazine… I KNOW!

A rather lovely lady spotted a photo of my shelves and has asked to put it in Mollie Makes. How cool is that… of course there’s a very good chance that it’ll hit the cutting room floor, but Crikey Dick, I am seriously flattered. The upshot of all this is I’m coming home and will be posting in the Beach Hut once again as my 4 day fixes have proved so successful that I won’t have a great deal of time to blog about them daily. I’m amalgamating. I’m still changing, but perhaps a little more slowly as I’m a bit of a whirly gig at present.

Here's a sneaky peek...!



beach hut kitchen



Choo Choo... there goes my bathroom

I'm knee deep in a bathroom renovation that feels a bit like I've jumped aboard a runaway train. The job description for Project Manager should really just read 'experience coralling cats would be helpful'
I'm not sure if a collective noun for a group of different tradesmen exists, personally I like to call my band of men a 'tutting' or a 'teabreak', both activities of which they are all inordinately fond!
It's been a while since I frittered away an afternoon with my favourite set of brushes although I can now boast to being a dab hand with a paint roller and a tin of pigmented sealer.

Bathnight... 5 days and counting!

A fashionably rainy day

Today sees a real turn in the weather. Dark clouds loom overhead and the weatherman warns of a stormy weekend.I pop a whole bucket of corn and liberally sprinkle chilli salt and icing sugar; don't knock it 'til you try it, there is something scarily moreish about this hot, sweet, salty combo. We settle down to a cinematic afternoon of DVD's and snacking whilst the wind rages outside. A break in the clouds lets me rush around the garden gathering tools, washing and tennis racquets forgotten in yesterdays sunshine. Unfortunately, the just raked leaves have escaped their tidy piles and are once again a swirling, crunchy carpet.

With the cat hot on my heels I make it back inside just as the heavens open, not that it matters. An enjoyable film, goodie bowls and a blanket mean I won't be venturing out again for a while.

Saturday night and it's my first real excuse to dress up this year. Does that sound a little sad? It makes me think that I should forgo the excuses and occasionally vacuum in killer heels. We attend a fashion show as part of NZ Fashion week and although the models are easy on the eye, the real entertainment is to be seen in the audience. Free champagne, a smattering of Auckland's beautiful people, a slightly creepy paparazzi, infrequent finger food and badly signposted toilet facilities makes for real theatre.

Sunday pottering becomes a relocation exercise when Olli asks to switch bedrooms. I grunt and heave at an old welsh dresser before realising my teenage removal man has wandered off on his fifth teabreak of the morning. Eventually the hardwork is completed and I settle down to a few happy hours of sorting through old drawers and piles of boxes and paperwork until my new office/studio/stock room emerges.

Time for some Nana love...

I found this delightful picture on the web today... inspirational for so many reasons!
Trelise Coopers caravan was decorated for The Breast Cancer Cure Research Trust... isn't it gorgeous?

I'm a paid up member of the bunting fan club... our verandah is strewn with the stuff.

I thought about draping Nana with the fabric variety but soggy bunting isn't that appealing and if Trelise says painting it on is all goods, who am I to argue?

A banana and fig day

The veggie plot is newly staked and almost weed free. Tomatoes glisten after their watering and the smell of basil in the late afternoon sun is overwhelming. Autumn means everything has become a little overblown; it feels like time to start cutting back and hunkering down.

I cut a few banana leaves to liven up this evening’s dinner table and as my day in the garden draws to an end I rub my aching back and head for the shower.

An unexpected but much loved guest pops in with a gift of figs, fresh from her garden. We can’t help but eat them straight way. Creamy, slightly salted Havarti cheese, toasted ciabatta and juicy figs, heaven food. I manage to stretch the Thai Chicken Curry a little further and Alfie cuts me an extra leaf. He thinks I’m bonkers, but the table looks pretty.

The figs reappear accompanied by glasses of my favourite dessert wine and we sit outside until the autumnal chill in the air becomes uncomfortable. The washing up can wait; I boil the kettle and hunt for the hot water bottles stored away last spring. I climb into bed, warm, tired and content. A cup of tea and a bedtime story; a good day.

Shoes, spoons and soup...

I'm starving!
This silly summer cold has really knocked me for six. I drag myself out of bed whilst most people are enjoying their morning tea. With the boys all suffering too it means the fridge and pantry have been left bare and at the thought of the supermarket, I want to scuttle straight back to bed. My stomach rumbles and drastic measures are taken with left overs... a potato-ey broth warms me up from the inside and I start to feel a little more human.

I self medicate. Watermelon bursts with anti oxidants and now is the season to buy them in bulk. Half now and half in the freezer, where the cold turns my slice into an enormous ice lolly.

Whilst I have my camera in hand I take a picture of handles. These old kitchen tools have been collected over the years and are still regularly used. I'm not sure what appeals to me so much about this tiny corner of my kitchen, I don't analyse it.

Incredibly, new shoes have the ability to make my red nose and saggy pyjamas look almost stylish! I parade around the laundry before admitting that they're too pointy for my flip flop feet. I sell them in my shop, my loss will be someone else's gain.

Have a fantastic weekend!

a fuller figure...

Hellooooo February!

With January's goals going better than expected, I'm hoping to keep momentum up and sort out my wobbly bits and my bank balance...

"Back up the truck", I hear you roar, (sorry, a newly learnt colloquialism that I've been dying to fit into a sentence), "your figure and your finances... are you mad?"

Actually, I'm quite excited about the coming month. At long, long last the opportunity has arisen for me to put my love of all things real estate to good use, I'm doing a Sarah Beeny! We've decided to renovate the beach hut, sell and then go again with a couple of quick do up's back to back. Although we're not new to the property development market (the beach hut is house #9 already) properly project managing the jobs with deadlines and budgets will be a little different from the suck it and see approach I've used up until now.

Watch this space...



As for my expanding waistline; I'm sort of hoping that the demands of a 'developing' life will take their toll and the weight will fall off. Although knowing my luck I'll probably just end up with a builders bum.

Oh well, if all else fails I'll just have to manage my cake intake a little more stringently, up the level of edame bean consumption and occasionally try and break a sweat on the beach... happy days!

january roundup...

Well, January is coming to an end; so how ordered and organized have I become?

Surprisingly I've done quite well… I say surprisingly as my track record with resolutions is pretty poor. I haven't cleared my list completely but the yuckier jobs have been ticked off and I've designated one remaining job to each month for the rest of the year which allows for alot of procrastination should the need arise (it will, of that you can be sure).

So with clean and ordered shelves;

(here's a close up especially for the divine dancing bun)

a folded, contained fabric stash; a sparkling pool; a manageable paper trail;
and a pantry that has been exorcised (it used to behave like a landlocked Bermuda Triangle);

I am striding towards February with a spring in my step… work it baby!

the joys of procrastination...

Once you've admitted to being a neglectful gardener, what else is there to do but don those gumboots and start digging?

Weeeeeelllllllll.....

there are colourful pencils to be sharpened,

books to be consulted,

pretty plans to be coloured in with the aforementioned pencils,

seeds to be bought,

wine to be drunk,

blogs to be consulted,

more pencil sharpening and more wine buying, and then... and only then, can the gumboots be donned and the digging started.

Oooops, hang on...

I might just need to pop out and buy a new pair of gumboots x

the naked truth…

This is a tough post for me to write…

I realize that the Gok lovers out there enjoy bearing it all; however, I am not one of the afflicted. I much prefer to keep the unattractive pieces of me under wraps; hidden away in a drawer with my snuggy pants and elasticated trousers.
Today though, I'm on a mission.
Today, I woke up with the scent of spring wafting through the window.
Today, I bounced out of bed and decided that a spring clean was in order.
Today, I threw open the curtains and blushed; "Hello, my name is Jus and I'm a neglectful gardener"
Time to get down and dirty…

happiness is new wallpaper...

When I say I'm going to do wallpaper... I mean it!

This is the sight that greeted my fellow beach hutters when they arrived home last night. Reactions were varied and a full gamut of emotions was displayed,

from "Bloody Hellfire... through "Why, Mum, WHY?"... to "(please insert gagging noise here) you are joking"... finishing with happy squeaks and giggles, obviously that would be me.

Note to self; If you are going to wallpaper a wall as a surprise for the men in your life, make sure to have vast quantities of red wine, pizza and chocolate on hand to soften the blow, x

the decomposing mrs l...

I think it was meant as a compliment, to make me feel better perhaps; and it worked!

As I was simultaneously coughing and cooking up a storm (admittedly, an offputting image but necessary to my plot) a loud bark of a laugh, followed by a squeaky "Ma!" issued from the living room (teenage boys mean rather a lot of hearty barks and squeaks in the same sentence... aaaah, the joys of puberty)
"Quick, come look at this.... a taller, skinnier, younger, blonder, better looking version of you is on the tele...."

And there she was, Sophie Dahl, also cooking up a storm in a kitchen that looks frighteningly like mine!

Of course, I was beside myself with glee... in NZ I sometimes feel a little lonely in my love for all things clutter and bunting, but no longer. The delicious Miss D has come to 'vintage' us downunder... hurrah!

I smirked into my Lemsip all night!

nautical thrifty goodness

There are some days when you can trawl the op shops for hours to no avail...
...there are others when you rush in during a free moment to find more seasidey treasures than you know what to do with.

These are the moments which you need to grab a hold of.

Others include;
a parking space where there are usually only cars,
a beautiful eye fillet marked down by 50%,
a basketful of homegrown veggies left on your verandah by a mystery benefactor,
a job where part of your job description is to find school uniform dress ups for 5 adults, i.e. op shopping (legally!) in worktime,

These are the moments where a heavenly choir of angels tra-laa! overhead, and I know it's going to be a beautiful day.

A girl can never have too much tra-laa-ing!

new lampshade... i thank you

How to turn a boring, white drum into a gaily ribboned, gypsy lampshade...

Double-sided sticky tape and Martha's on-sale ribbon... an hour well spent.

vegging out...

I'm awash with courgettes and radishes...bliss!

Pomona gave me some very helpful advice regarding the virtues of raised beds so the spade brigade got going and we are now the happy beneficaries of baskets full of fresh veg. We've always grown lemons, potatoes and salad and tomatoes in pots but this year we really went to town and are growing a little bit of everything. Slap took charge of the choosing and planting, hence the beautifully straight lines and specific plots for each vegetable. Next time we are having a bed each as I'm more of a shove it in with gay abandon and add a lavish sprinkling of flowers for good measure.

As Alfie chants whenever there's a heated debate at the dinner table,

"Who's gonna win, who's gonna win!!"

bunting and fairy lights...

On a recent op shop expedition I was lucky enough to come across an old fabric sample book; obviously there is only one true use for an old fabric sample book.....
BUNTING!! miles and miles of bunting,

So the Sunday sum is...

fabric sample book + pinking shears = triangles. (divide triangles between old ribbons and the occasional pretty button) + needle and cotton + midsomer murders and a wet afternoon

= happy verandah.

I've sprinkled in a few fairy lights for good measure...happy, happy, happy verandah!

it's very you!

What does that mean?

Is it a compliment or a polite way of saying,
'Ye Gads! Who in their right mind would get rid of two very functional but horribly boring brown, sliding wardrobe doors and replace them with topsy-turvy curtains made from a couple of old table cloths, a sheet and some ticking?
I'm going to take it as a compliment....so there!

movie poster makeover...

I have been hanging out for this weekend!
It's been so busy recently that I feel I've barely spent a minute at home, and I've missed it horribly.
Today though has been perfect. It's overcast and gloomy, so the siren call of the beach has been easily ignored. I've sewn, painted, glued and just generally pottered....bliss!

This is the perfect project for a grey day.

Buy some cheap and cheerful movie posters (I found mine on Trade Me, $5 each)

Paint a couple of canvasses and mount the posters.

Hang above your blogging bay and enjoy!

Have a perfect, pottering weekend!