Merry Christmas from the Boatshed

Finally, for those of you who have requested it, here is the article on the boatshed from Australian Country Style from December 2008.

Click on the pages for a larger version. Thank you everyone for stopping by my blog in 2009. I hope you have a great holiday, and see you in 2010.

Beth xx

Images courtesy of Australian Country Style magazine.

How Not to Cater for a Party

Well it finally happened. Last Friday I graduated after 6 years. On Saturday I had a party for 70 of my friends and family who I had made suffer throughout my study. I was highly organised. I had all my colour-coordinated plates in pink and yellow tones that I had collected over the past few years, all lined up and ready:

Then everything went wrong. There was ham and mango salsa that didn't even make it to the table . . .

Nor did the camembert and quince paste on wheatmeal biscuits that I forgot about till everyone had gone home . . .

This is only a quarter of the 8 kilograms of prawns. There were 16 dozen oysters of which barely anything was eaten . . .

There were five of these quiches (thanks, Bob, for trying to style it for me, but the bin and tea towel got into the photo somehow), and six fritattas, which hardly anyone touched . . .

Then there were three of these gigantic pizzas, of which two remained untouched:

That's because I also ordered 100 each of satay chicken sticks, spring rolls, curry puffs and fish cakes, which were quite a hit (Sorry I don't have any pictures of them). Not to mention a gigantic flourless chocolate cake, a citron tart, a triple chocolate cake and a whole lot of Madeleines:

Luckily I have many family members and friends to help eat the leftovers. The moral of this story is: Decide what you want and divide it by four and you'll probably be OK. Then you won't be left with 4 dozen oysters and 4 kilos of prawns hiding at the bottom of your fridge after everyone's gone home.

Amazing New Stuff

Something quite amazing happened today. I walked into an op shop that I haven't been to for a while and found some very cool stuff. In fact I'd given up going because all I kept finding was hideous nineties bric-a-brac that was horrible the first time around. But there was this art deco mirror in the shape of a scallop shell for $15:

And this quilt for $6:

And I fell in love with this quilt for $4 which I'm sure is from the 40s. And the wheely thing - is it called a tray mobile? - I'm sure it's art deco as well. The dilemma for me was that, while I was happy to buy the quilts and the mirror, I drew the line at $40 for the tray-on-wheels. Then I got to the cash register and found out that everything was half price today. You fellow bloggers who frequent thrift shops/op shops/rummage sales etc will understand that I just had to run back through the store and grab the wheelie-tray. I apologetically told the sales lady that, while $40 was unthinkable, $20 was very doable indeed. How sweet is it?:

Here is a closeup of the fabric I fell in love with:

So I walked out of the shop with these four items for the grand total of $32. You gotta love that!

Feathers, Fur or Fins

Take your pick, we've got them all here. Yesterday I photographed these delightful ducks, who we call Daisy and Donald, in front of the boatshed:

As for fins, there are plenty of fish in the basin. And furry friends are everywhere. These curious creatures appear every couple of days. The keen kangaroos (Kevin and Katie?) come to the boatshed door when they're hungry:

As does Kramer, the friendly neighbourhood dog. Just like the crazy character from Seinfeld, this laid-back labrador lands on our doorstep every night before dinner, eager for treats:

With many thanks to Megan, who provided the inspiration for this post.

At the Bottom of Our Street

We've just spent a few days in Sydney and while I was there I got to thinking about the idea of being a tourist in your own town. So I decided to try and see the sights I was so familiar with through the eyes of a tourist. Our boat was moored at the bottom of our street, and looks quite good against the local harbourside parkland :

And against the backdrop of the city skyline:

We've just refurbished the interior so here's a peek. We had the cushions covered in a charcoal- coloured Warwick fabric and I made a curtain and cushions from some striped fabric from No Chintz:

Coming ashore at the jetty, you stumble across Bellevue, a gorgeous Victorian house. You can just make out the boat through the trees:

And here is a view of the Anzac Bridge from the shady front veranda:

Bellevue is owned by the City of Sydney and was restored a couple of years ago, but remains empty. I love the way they maintained the 'rough luxe' look by leaving the internal walls with layers of peeling paint like a palimpsest:

And close by is a secret garden, lovingly maintained by our friend Tass:

Seeing your city as a tourist certainly makes you appreciate your surroundings. I thoroughly recommend it.