16 Bucks and 4 Days

Over the weekend it became apparent that we were completely broke.  Some months we budget really well- other months we don't. This was one of the other months, we had $16 and 4 days till pay day. We needed a plan of action. Eating from the pantry and the garden were our only solutions. We got busy harvesting the best of the green stuff and turning our excess tomato stock into passata and sauce. Bread was baked and pizza dough was made. We boiled fresh eggs for snacks and indulged in pikelets for supper

Sometimes its lovely to only have a little, to have to make do. We spent our time together, making the most of what was at our fingertips.

Retro Dreaming

Ever since scoring this new cabinet I have been dreaming of retro furniture... and all of it is some shade of turquoise.

I simply can not get enough of this fruity shade. I painted a feature wall in our bedroom this colour, the prints in our study echo the same thing. I don't think I can stop.

also, i'f you haven't  voted for The Beetle Shack over here, i'd love you to!

Oh and this weeks giveaway ends tomorrow. you don't want to miss it.

The Cheer

The Beetle Shack has been added to the (very long*) list of nominees for Apartment Therapy's best family blog award- it's a vote based thing and I need to ask you to... ehum.. you know... vote.  So, the only way that this is really going to work is if you imagine me in full 'cheer leading' regalia (yep, i'll be the one with the nasty complexion and heavy set thighs).  I've got my pom poms at the ready and am yelling 'V.O.T.E, V.O.T.E, V.O.T.E  FOR ME!!' over and over and over. it's loud, it's obnoxious and it's not going to stop until you do - so it'd be best if you just head over here a and put a tick next to The Beetle Shack (or don't - no pressure).**  

phew. that was awkward.

*Our friends One Claire Day and Che and Fidel are also on the list so make sure you pop a tick next to their name too. Geez, you'll be feeling like a kindergarten class teacher in no time.

** i'll post something worth viewing later on. please excuse my tireless self promotion.

also, The Beetle Shack is being featured on the decorating forum this week. 


Is it strangely appropriate that The Beetle Shack can be shortened to The B.S? 

Vintage Sunday

When I haven't been snuggling with the youngest one i've been spending some quality time with my sewing machine. Vintage linens have been calling and who am I to refuse them? 

The results are below.

 The lady baby has been trotting around in one of these rompers for a few days now. Its a whole outfit in one and looks super cute on so I've made a few extras in a range of sizes for the shop. 

Koala Cuddles Explained

On Thursday the lady baby was listless. When i put her down on the couch she curled up and went to sleep. When I sat with her on the bed she snuggled into my chest and slept a little while longer. This followed a week of especially clingy behaviour - a couple of trips to the doctors and an x-ray later i was informed she has pneumonia. As a result, things have been pretty lazy around here. We've been hanging close to home, listening to these melodic tunes, working in the garden and relaxing in the shade of the magnolia, only heading out for fresh coffee and supplies.

if you're on instagram you would have been bored by the bombardment of koala cuddles, but if not- this has been the general state of affairs.

How's your weekend shaping up friends? 

Did you catch some sunshine today?

did you enter this giveaway?

Sarah Humphreys - Australian Music Giveaway

As we were going through our cd collection the other night we found a selection of albums recorded by some of our very talented friends; Sarah Humphreys is one of them. She is a mother, blogger, babe and music maker. Her sounds are warm, endearing and love filled. You can perve on her doing her thing here, download her music here or read about her magical life here.

Sarah is generously offering two readers of The Beetle Shack the chance to win a collection of her latest records. Simply like her facebook page if you're on facebook and while you're at it- why not visit her blog and say hi. Then leave me a comment below telling me your all time favourite band/song/musician.

 You really do want to win this giveaway - trust me.

* Winners are Kesh and Anon commenter Michelle. Hit me on the email peeps!

Music- The Memory Keeper

photo's by tim coulson from our last family session

Dave and I have spent the past few evenings transferring all of our music back onto the big mac after this disaster. We thought is was going to be an arduous task with hours upon hours sitting in front of the screen - insert disk, eject disk- repeat.

 How very wrong we were; instead we found ourselves reminiscing about days past*.  Memories of being awkward teens listening to punk rock came flooding back. We remembered the endless evenings we spent in our tiny apartment drinking red wine and listening to Vince Jones, the long drives up north with nothing but Silverchair, Beth Orton and The Shins to keep us company. Our first dance as a married couple - just us and Ben Harper's 'By My Side'. And possibly the most memorable of all, my pregnancy with Zephie during which Ben Kweller's 'Changing Horses' was on high rotation; when he was a new born we would dance him to sleep with that record and to this very day he still asks us to put it on.
In fact, last night while we were drinking tea and listening to music, the young man emerged from his room and asked 'can I dance with you mummy and daddy?' Naturally we indulged him and swayed around the lounge room for a little while. He went to bed happy and so did we.

Music for us is a memory keeper. Records remind us of a specific time and a place and in my memories, these places are always happy.

Tomorrow the next giveaway will be launched and you'll have the opportunity to win a bundle of cd's from one of my favourite musicians.

In the mean time -  i'd love to know what music means to you. 

*whilst going through said cd's we discovered disk upon disk of early '00 (yes, before 00 simply indicated a child's clothing size) photo's and videos- you will be punished for visiting here and be forced to see them. mark my words.


also, i found my best of roxette album. i'm thrilled, dave is less so.

Potty Pants

We've been toilet training for about a year now. It's a tumultuous journey with ups and downs, temper tantrums, wet floors and more washing than I care to recall.  It's taken the natural progression, you know- with the battle of the wills, the Young Mans love/hate relationship with nappies, the potty and me. Oh and the odd ehum, poo on the floor.

At 18 months Zeph stopped wearing nappies when he was awake, about 10 months later he stopped wearing them for his day sleeps. And for the past few weeks he has been wearing no nappy to bed. That's no nappies at all, peeps. Excellent stuff. So what if I have to change his sheets every second morning.

 What a little legend.

I can't get enough of his early morning face and his 'mum, i haven't seen you in 12 whole hours' smile.

Seriously, there is nothing better in the entire universe than my kids your own kids.

New Digs

Have you noticed the changes around here? Things have been freshened up thanks to Talia Christine. I have loved her blog ever since finding it shortly after Tim went to visit. Their house is total perfection, her husband has a ginger beard to envy, Audrey is the sweetest little button and they bake their own bread.

Talia whipped the new design up like a pro (oh wait, she is a pro). Firstly she sent me a range of colour schemes, then the header design and before I knew it, everything was pretty and new. You know what my favourite part is? THE BUTTONS. I've always dreamed of having a blog with its very own buttons and now I do. So please, add one to your side bar (or don't) - there are 3 fruity flavours to choose from. I'm pretty sure you simply copy and paste the code into your design thingie in the dashboard section... and you know... like add a gadget or something. Actually, I have no idea how you do it.

Make sure you have a click around and check it out. Also, I have heard whispers that Talia is willing to do a little more of this blog revamping, so shoot her an email if your interested!

Tell me friends, how do you like it?  

Make sure you let me know if you have success with the button thing!

New Retro

try not to hate me but I picked this up at a garage sale for a steal....

... oh okay, hate away.

Don't forget to head over here today to enter and check back this even to see if you've won.

Inspired By Nature

"Look at nature, nothing matches. I think gardens are God's way of teaching us that you should be more relaxed about life and design."

source

What a fabulous house. First published in Vogue Living and then featured on apartment therapy. 

Those of you who did one of these, i think you are awesome. I'll put a post of links up later in the week so we can all indulge in a little more voyeurism. If you've been planning to do one- do it now and add your link. go on, do it for me.

In other news, I found THE most amazing retro sideboard today- it's magic and i cant wait to show it to you tomorrow. 

What did you do today?

p.s what the hell are we doing at home on a saturday night?

At The Art Gallery

Today Jo and I headed to the Art Gallery Of NSW to see Masterpieces from the Musée National Picasso, Paris. With four cheeky children in tow we viewed the extensive collection - it did not disappoint, we saw colour, line, texture, form and nudity at it's very best.

The kids were exceptionally well behaved, Zeph even took his new Jonah's out for a run.

If you have not yet seen the Picasso exhibition, you have until the 25th of March. I suggest you pack up the kids and get there. Jo and I take our littlies to the gallery every now and again and it's always a fun morning out.

p.s do yourself a favour and see Kesh and Tim's accent vlog here

Forever Fruit

It's so last year, baby, but Sass and Bide's 'The Winning Day' collection will never cease to delight and inspire my senses. Such fruit. Honestly- it's fruity perfection.

Do yourself a favour and check out boogie & the historymaker and the current collection. You will be hitting 'pin it' like a mad woman.

Want some fruity shoe goodness for free? Head over here to enter.

also, you'll be seeing a 'new look' around here soon. 

watch this space, or don't.