Missing the South Coast

I recently went down the South Coast for a week and have been craving going back already. I love the South Coast. We started at Berry and tried a different cafe, ‘The Stuffed Olive,’ very cute and great coffee. 

 

We then drove further south to Bermagui which was to be our home for the next week. I thought I hadn’t been there before, but as soon as I saw the beach I remembered that when my family and I were travelling to Victoria years ago we stopped in Bermagui for a swim. It was an exciting feeling to think I was rediscovering this place as an adult.

The weather fluctuated from hot and sunny, to sometimes pretty cold, and it was surprisingly very very windy, but apparently that’s pretty normal. I loved Bermagui and the cute cafe and being so close to the gorgeous beaches. Each afternoon the sun seemed to pop through, no matter what the day had been liked, so we would take our books down to the beach and enjoy the rays of sun. 

My family have always had Boxer dogs so when I saw this little guy on the beach with his family, needless to say I was smitten. He was the cutest dog and so well behaved. He is going to be a big boy though, check out this paws!

We spent a day at Bega which was a bit disappointing, particularly the cheese factory which was very commercial, but we did find this little treasure in town and spend many hours flicking through magazines and drinking coffee. It was a really alternative, arty type cafe that would have been well suited in Newtown or Glebe, so I loved it.

I was so excited that it was cold enough to light the fire a few nights. Is there anything better than sitting in front of any open fire. Simple delights.

I loved this town and can’t wait to get back there.

My Creative Space- 1 hour painting

I love Thursdays. Knowing Thursday is ‘posting’ day I often ask myself ‘what have I been doing this week that is creative?’ Because most of my creative endeavours are writing based and not very visually exciting for a blog, I often search for another example of creativity. This week other than expressing my creativity by getting my home cleaner and more in shape, and spending countless hours making photo gifts for Christmas, there was nothing else to report. So I set myself a challenge- a painting in an hour.

I set my egg timer for 5 mins to sketch a vase of flowers in my dining room and then sat on my balcony and painted it. It was really fun and I find a time limit works well for me because I have to shut off my inner critic. It also made me realise that if it only takes an hour to dabble in some paint and pencils, then I should really set my egg timer and do it more often.

Hope you have all had a great week, check out what others are up to on Kootoyoo. 

My Creative Space: Beauty

This week I have focused on trying to clean out what is not necessary in my home and finding ways to bring more joy and beauty into my space. I love flowers and love them scattered around my place, so today I bought a gorgeous big bouquet and broke it up into a few vases. I also had some dried natives from a few weeks ago that had seen better days so I revived them in one of my favourite vases which uses a spike to secure the stems of the flowers. It is a really easy and fun way to play around and arrange flowers. Seems flowers and nature have featured strongly in my last few blog entries- I must be getting excited about summer getting closer.

It has also occurred to me this week that there are a lot of simple pleasures in life that can be easily overlooked. After having a gorgeous communal dinner with some friends over the weekend and enjoying some lush dates, my love of dates was re-ignited. Since the weekend I have found myself enjoying a cup of tea and dates on my balcony as the sun goes down. Life could be a lot worse I suspect!

I have started a ‘doodling’ project which I pick up every now and then. I remember doing this in high school art class and I loved the end result and the ‘mindless’ place your brain goes into as you make patterns and use colour. So easy and so relaxing.     

I hope you have all had a lovely week- how quickly they fly by. Check out what other people have been up to this week at Kootoyoo.

Creative Space- Garden Growing

With all the unexpected rain Sydney has been getting over the past week, my little garden is going very well indeed. These are a few pictures of my Mandevilla and miniature roses.

My Buddha isn’t bigger, but I think he is big enough! 

I hope you have all had a great week. Check out what other people are up to at Kootoyoo.

My Creative Space- My Garden

This week my creative focus was on my balcony. As the weather gets warmer and summer is fast approaching I decided it would be a good idea to get my balcony as bright and colourful as I possible with some potted plants. During summer I spend a lot of time on my balcony reading, eating, drinking, and generally watching the world go by so I want it to be a really lovely space. This is the before shot;

This is the after shot;

And my all time favourite- orange and red floating lotus flowers made from fabric and foam. So cute. I love the contrast with the blue bird bath. 

It’s a work in progress but I have a few more ideas involving more colourful plants and some fairy lights, so I will wait and see how it evolves. If you are playing along this week, check out Kootoyoo. I hope you have had a great week.