Beside The Seaside

Jul
09

Know its just a broom closet.

I have a small kitchen so all these extra spaces, like the pantry & broom closet are really important, they have to work well & of coarse most importantly look good. Just joking , sort of, but not really.

So my inspiration was

via here

I found the above photo weeks ago & was all keen to ~~nag, woops I never nag~~ ask Mr D’Arcy to fit out our broom closet just like the photo, since then the shop has closed & I’m at home while he has a new job working harder than ever, & we have a budget, so I set to work & did my version, using all that we already had. I started with this, my before picture,

& ended with, my after photo

I guess it doesn’t look much but it’s so much nicer to use because ~~I’ve only hit my head a few times~~ it’s light & bright, I can fit heaps more in there now & it works well. You can’t see in the photo there were some really big holes to fill, just on the right, I need to paint I have some kitchen paint left over, & I have found the old ladder ex shelves from the shop. I misplaced them briefly so maybe I can put them up tomorrow. In the mean time isn’t it nice & bright, clean & practical. My family are due so it will have to do. Can you tell I’m getting excited.

love Jane oxo

Tags: Family, Kitchen, Mr'D'Arcy, Our House, Shop

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Jul
07

Looking back, & the Pantry

by Jane

I have so much to blog about, so much catching up to do, I’m excited. After the shop closed & we finished taking it back to empty, making a blank canvas for some one elses next adventure. I closed the doors for the last time & handed my keys in on the Friday I remember waking up on the Saturday morning & thinking WOW no work to go to, nothing to plan & no hurry because I had day after day stretched out in front of me, if I didn’t finish it today there is always tomorrow. I hadn’t had that feeling for 3 years a long time. I was enjoying the luxury of time

Via

Of coarse I had plenty to do, My family was coming to visit. Yahoo!

Nothing like a visit from the rellies to put that bomb under you self , my house was a mess, my Dads wife & my sister were coming to visit, my brother, my brother in law & my nephews, all together that was 6 people. What a treat. I decided to start small like in the broom closet & pantry it took me 2 days & so worth it. I love tidy cupboards. But first things first, yes first I had to sit down & look for inspiration on pinterest. Aren’t they beautiful , this one is my favorite, though there are plenty more.

via BrightBazaar.

& everyone’s favorite, the most blogged pantry & greatest panty tutorial in the world.

via yes The House of Smiths

To my pantry, here’s the before …………….eeeek a phone photo, to give you the most effect & scarey photo, this is the really before photo, taken when we were renovating the kitchen seen here

To this, newly renovated

to this newly cleaned & tidied.

so proud, & I still have the fun of hunting down a new light shade, I love the hunt for that perfect item, the finishing touch. Jack & I are off to Bunbury for some Op shopping next week.

I’m a hunter gather at heart.

love Jane oxo

Tags: Family, Kitchen, Our House, Weekends

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Jul
06

& natural ending. As one door closes…………..

New in Store

by Jane

This morning is the first morning I’ve woken up & thought yahooo a day to myself. I feel healed & whole again, more like my old self only better for all the things I’ve learnt. I really I hope I’ve learnt them because I don’t want to do this all over again, I want to move on & enjoy life. What next I have no idea, I don’t feel in any rush. Though technically I should because Mr Darcy would love me to get some part time work. He has a new job the timing has been impeccable, amazing & wonderful.

I came across this wonderful saying on pinterest I LOVE pinterest

via pinterest

I was sad when we closed the shop on the 19th of May, though our last week of trading was amazing it was lovely to serve so many customers, even once our doors were closed & we were pulling every thing apart, stripping the stickers off the windows, people kept coming in & fossicking through the left overs.

My shop did look beautiful when it was full, this is an old photo & how I want to remember

Beside The Seaside.

I loved the shop & it was beautiful, I was sad I couldn’t make it work, I know lots of business are struggling but some are doing ok, I wanted to be one of those. I had a dream & I followed it. Dreams are meant to come true, I have a pinterest board full of wise words & saying, “dreams do come true”.

But there are lots of other sayings that are true as well. Me I’m just trying to pick up the pieces & count my blessings.

all via pinterest

I guess what I have chosen to take from our recent failure is ” failing is not always failure” because learning is important too. & I do have my Mr D’arcy.

Love Jane ooxx

Tags: Family, Mr'D'Arcy, Shop

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May
10

Looking Up

by Jane

Where is your safe place?

Instead of escaping the hum drum of life through our computer or telly, because after all we love to participate in other peoples lives, it’s so much easy than tackling our own real life. though when we do, we sell our selves short, believing that other people are more interesting or important than our selves. I read this morning, instead of finding our safe place via a man made thing, like the telly or internet, make your safe place a beautiful beach, or under a tree in you own garden, do you have a natural place of beauty close by, a lake, or park. we are so lucky in this world we never have to look far to find a pocket of nature, just look up. By connecting with nature, we can connect with our selves, our world & our life.

Look up, it’s beautiful.

Busselton 2011.

Love Jane oxo

Tags: A beautiful gift, Being a Mum, Family

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Mar
17

It’s a green day today

Uncategorized

by Jane

& I love green

Via

The perfect green, Happy St Patrick’s Day

& enjoy your weekend.

love Jane oxo

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Mar
08

A beautiful girl

Family Life.,
Home

by Jane

One of my beautiful girls Ellie, just bragging. Doesn’t she look lovely, sometimes she is & sometimes she isn’t. But I always love her, & I always will.

Ellie

Look at the light in those young eyes, happy healthy children are one of our greatest blessings.

A few weeks ago Ellie was feeling the stress of the TEE, she’s just started year 11 & was seriously considering changing to a vocational coarse. I have always wanted her to be able to do her TEE & go to uni. But after the weekend of tears, I had to question myself, I know we want what’s best for our kids & I know Ellie will be able to do the work if she sets her mind to it. But it comes down to if she wants to & at what stage do we butt out of our kids life & support there decisions, instead of trying to influence them , in the end I did say to her, it really didn’t matter to me & I know that she can do what ever she wants with the best of her ability. Yes I want her to aim high, but they are my expectations, what’s important to Ellie? that’s more important to me, because I really want happy kids. Happy in that they experience the joy in life, the beauty & sheer pleasure of being alive. Life is a gift, lets enjoy it together.

Ellie went off to school feeling much better, & after school she said, I had a much better day I think I’ll do my Tee. She has started to do her home work in the kitchen, we have an old fashion kitchen, a big table & less distractions than her bedroom. When you do your home work on a lap top there are so many distractions like Facebook & games & movies & but in the kitchen Mum’s there to say OMG what are you doing now.

My beautiful daughter looked up at me & said “Mum I’m really happy I’m doing my TEE, because think of all the things I’ll learn that I would never know. I can read a weather map, I know about the world I live in. ” & I thought Ellie you are amazing & you have just learnt one of the most important things in life. Knowledge is good.

Enjoy your children.

love Jane oxo

Tags: A beautiful gift, Being a Mum, Children, Family

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Mar
07

A wonderful weekend

by Jane

We enjoyed a wonderful long weekend at the seaside, the weather was bliss, the water was crystal clear, we saw so many fish, didn’t need a mask & snorkel, just stood still & waited for the fish to swim on by.

Beautiful Eagle Bay in WA

We had an unexpected visitor,

Isn’t he grand, he was huge & so tired, the sea lion lay in the sun while people came up to him some times they stood very close & he just gave a warning yarn. We felt very privileged to have been there at the same time as him.

Our boys had fun, actually they were very tired & sulked & winged for ages while my friend Natasha & I ignored them, The boys wanted waves to body board in. This beautiful beach was toooo hot, & toooo boring. Until they found there own pace & decided to enjoy them selves anyway, they skimmed there boards in a shallow pool & we had to drag them away at the end of the day.

Jack

& Josh

Enjoying a lovely day at the seaside. Beautiful.

Love Jane oxo

Tags: A beautiful gift, Family, Touring the Sth West., Weekends

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Mar
03

Happy long weekend.

Home

by Jane

This is a message to me,

www.tumblr.com/tagged/surfboard?

I need an action plan. I’m off home to clean, chuck out & reorganize my self ~~& Mr D’Arcy.~~

Look what I want, Mr D’Arcy is going to make me this, this weekend. Wish me luck he thinks he’s got this afternoon off, cause he’s working every other day.

milkandhoneyhome.com

Enjoy your weekend.

Love Jane oxo

Tags: Mr'D'Arcy, Weekends

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Feb
15

Shop Front

New in Store

by Jane

Enough of my family, it’s time I got back to my shop”Beside the Seaside”. I love it so much, it’s a beautiful shop. Full of colour, scrumptious smells, friendship & goodness.

New in store this week , as it was Valentines Day I’m enjoying a week full of that loving feeling.

See me hiding in this beautiful nickle heart, $45 ea