any excuse for cake

finally there's some sewing on this blog,



two little (50x50cm) quilts for twin babies



not sure how practical the white will be



these new mums, don't they know about the staining powers of carrot puree....

I just need to finish sewing the binding on them. I can't decide how I feel about hand sewing, in some ways it's so lovely; it's quiet, it's more sociable, you can sew whilst watching tv, or at the children's swimming lessons, and it's quite nice to have a slow pace, but in other ways it's soooo slow, and whilst my machine can make lovely even stitches I can't and it never seems very strong.

but a quilt with a hand stitched binding always seems like it's finished with love, so I guess there's nothing for it.....

and afterwards there's always a cup of tea to revive you - this tea cosy's for a friend, J asked last night after the tea went cold, why we don't have a tea cosy, and do we know anyone who makes them... I guess that's what he's getting for Christmas then!




I've just realised I've missed by a couple of days my blog anniversary, can't believe it, a whole year, it's been such a joy to make so many friends, so thank you, all of you, for making it a truly special year, and in true blogger style, help yourselves to a piece of anniversary cake.

wedding flowers

the meaning of flowers continued:



white roses - purity, innocence



delphiniums - ardent attachment




eryngium - believed in the 17th Century to be an aphrodisiac



purple roses - enchantment, permanence, enthrallment

heather - good luck



lavender - constancy



cala lillies - beauty







the idea was to match the Scottish landscapes, purple heathers, blue skies........ where are those blue skies?

wedding cake

the meaning of flowers - the daisy

purity

innocence



sharing of feelings



cheerfulness



loyal love.....

scottish highlights no. 1

I downloaded 187 photos from our trip to Scotland, way too many!
These are from day 3 - when we walked to Kilfinnan beach, and almost caught the most enormous sea trout, picked the most delicious blackberries which we cooked for tea, and Miss K lost a tooth on the beach.



after a week of wet wild and windy weather in north west Scotland, I am still in love with it enough to want to buy this old broken down shed in the middle of nowhere...



with this for a front garden



and that for a view,



ok so the local "shop" that K and E set up only sells rocks and shells,



but who needs anything else when you have a whole basket full of tartan rugs to snuggle under...

a new week

after last week's cake stresses I have decided that this is a new week, and that I'm going to start looking forward to the trip to Scotland, and the wedding. positive thinking!
first step to recovery - retail therapy!
first on the list, a jumper for E, how hard can it be to find a smart jumper for a 7 year old boy - the answer is very, the fashion this year seems to be for stripes, lovely but not what we wanted. This cosy cuddly number was the best we found, and he likes it, which is a good start!



next, some new trainers for me, as mine are very old and although not for doing anymore serious exercise than walking to school I figured everyone else was getting something new so..... and they were in the sale...



a sparkly headband for Miss K to go in whatever hair style she chooses,



and then what follows is what happens when you are feeling distracted and thus allow the family to put whatever they want in the basket at the shops, because they have told you it's for the car on the way to Scotland




a ridiculous assortment of sweets



very sticky cakes



crumbly chocolaty biscuits



at least this is a bit better



something for me



and I hope J is planning to drink these when we get there, and not as part of the picnic..........

some when I hope there will be some more sewing on this blog, I decorated 48 beautiful napkins for the wedding, and gave them to the bride without photographing them. There are two baby quilts in the making for a friend, so I shall definitely photograph them!

one cake, two cakes, three cakes

number of websites visited to try and find a local replacement for the raw wedding cake: 9000?

number of supermarkets visited to...... : 4


number of farm shops visited to ....... : 4


cost of replacement cake in Betty's : way too much...........


numbers of offers from friends to bake me a cake: 2 - I know they don't read this, but I thank them.


number of miles driven today to fantastic deli where they had perfect cakes: 23


number of happy children who got to visit castle near perfect cake shop and clamber on ruins, and play in the moat: 2


number of happy children who got to go and see a exhibition of Quentin Blake illustrations near perfect cake shop :2



amount of money I wasted by not cooking cakes properly : we won't go there....


number of cakes marzipanned and ready for their icing next week : 3




number of extra wrinkles/stress lines/ grey hairs : can't count........

preparations

after yesterdays cake disaster I needed to find some positive things to think about regarding this wedding we're going to/helping organise/supposed to be helping cater for before I messed up the cake...........

so here are some of the many sugar daisies I've made to decorate the cake, the plan is to have rows of the little sizes around the tiers, and a cascade of all the sizes tumbling down one side. My confidence in my ability to manage this is currently at an all time low, but I'm hoping that if I manage to get all the bits safely to Scotland ( I've only got to pack everything to survive a 8 hour drive and a trip on a car ferry, no problem) then a large glass of wine will help with the assembly process.......



and here's a shot of Miss K with a practise hair do, one of the plans is to french plait the top bit (well her auntie is going to do that, she's better at them than me, but she doesn't know yet....) and then leave a pony tail, which will be curled. Plan B is to make 2 little plaits, and bring them round the back to made a little crown, but then I think the length of hair will be too long to curl, and Miss K thinks she might want curls, and then she changes her mind.......




and here's my borrowed dress, back from the dry cleaners, and all ready to wear,



I've been trip trapping round the house all morning in my new shoes trying them out, and working out if I'll get blisters.

tomorrow we go to collect the wedding dress, and then go and buy lots of lovely food for the buffet, oh and a new cake...

bother

one of the many million things on my to do list for today was marzipan the cakes for my hubby's sisters wedding which is in 2 1/2 weeks. I made the cakes a while ago, and they've been maturing nicely. so far so good.......
so this morning, first day back at school, get K and E ready, take annual first day back at school photo in the front garden, drop them off, where they are excited to see all their friends, and go running off with hardly a backward glance (sigh........), walk home, right cakes.
Cake 1 - spread with apricot jam, marzipan it, put it box. OK
cake 2 - this one is to be cut into 2 smaller squares to become the middle and top tier of the cake.
measure, cut.


not cooked


bother...


guess I'm going to Marks and Spencer's......