Cake World

Hi there, I said that I would put a pic of one of last week's cake up on the blog, so here it is. It was one that Jude ordered for a friend. The brief was to produce a cake for a lady who loves travelling, is a drama teacher and loves her two tabby cats. Luckily Jude gave me loads of notice so I was able to have lots of sleeps to mull it over and this is what I came up with. These cakes are always easier to do when I have lots of time to think about them.

The other cake I did was a last minute hockey cake, it was ok, but not my best, but then I only had a couple of days to think about and make it. Unfortunately the norm seems to be for people to leave their cake orders to the last minute!

I have decided not to take any more orders until the last week of October. I have my first wedding cake which needs to be finished in 2 weeks time. I want to do a good job, so will spend the next two weeks concentrating on it. I have made the cakes and marzipanned them, just need to ice them and decorate them. Fingers crossed.

Not much to report from this week, a run of the mill week, nothing extraordinary other than Matt has a stinking cold and Tom a little cough. However, it is only two weeks until we go to Spain - can't wait. Oh and Debi, my ex boss gave birth to identical twin boys at 30 weeks, so very small, and one with lots of tubes.

A good weekend

Once again, I have lapsed with the blog, but really don't have that much to report and I was busy with cakes - had three on the go, plus my sugarcraft lessons resumed this week, meaning I lost a night, AND we had a long weekend, so everything had to be done by Thursday. Anyway, I got there, was very proud of one cake, I will put up some pics, once Matt is able to process them.

Not much to report from the rest of the week - did the usual things, nothing remarkable happened. Tom is now able to twirl around whilst dancing which is quite cute. He had a difficult week eating - refused pretty much everything I gave him. I was strict this week, not giving in to him and letting him go hungry.

As I said, we had a long weekend this week. Lisa and Cameron invited us to a weekend away with some of their friends. Something they've been doing for a number of years. Some friends pulled out, so they asked if we could fill their places. There were 25 including lots of children. I'm not one for meeting lots of unfamiliar people in one go, but with Tom around, I am much better - he is such a great ice breaker. Everyone turned out to be nice, all easy to talk to - a real mix of ages and personalities, but it worked really well and it didn't take long until we felt comfortable around everyone. I did feel as if we didn't pull our weight enough helping with cooking, tidying, cleaning etc - it is quite hard to fit into a routine that others already know, hope they didn't feel as if we were lazy and took advantage of everyone else.

One couple made a huge curry for the Friday night and we had a bbq on the Saturday night. Lots of people brought desserts some of which were awesome, especially an orange cheesecake which Daniel (age 10) had made. All of us are now demanding recipes.

Tom charmed everyone and made himself at home. We were staying in a farm in the middle of nowhere in Mid Wales (near a hamlet called Pandy) - a beautiful location, we had sunshine the whole time which was fantastic. The house had a swimming pool, sauna and squash court, as well as a huge garden, stream and access to lots of good walks. We took advantage of everything. We all went swimming twice (water was almost as warm as at the HLC which was good.) Tom decided that he was now happy to do the 'Holiday Swim' when he clings on to my back, as I do breast stroke, which was fab, so we went up and down the pool many many times (very good exercise for me!)

We went for a short walk behind the house - looking for badger holes, frogs and other wildlife. Unfortunately, Tom got tired, so whilst the girls were making a den, we headed back to the house and Tom had his nap, whilst Matt and I played squash - we were remarkably good considering both of us are rusty. I almost took a game off Matt which made me very happy.

Anyway it was a good weekend, just the tonic I needed - I was a little down last weekend, I think through boredom. Unfortunately we didn't sleep that well (when I say we, I mean Matt and I, Tom was absolutely fine) so we are shattered, looking forward to a good night's sleep tonight.

Oh, for the first time ever, Tom ate substantial pieces of meat - he chomped his way through the best part of a chicken drumstick on Saturday. We will see if he will do it again - I have a feeling he ate well this weekend as he was surrounded by other children eating the same as him.

Nothing to report

Not much to report from the weekend. Weather not that great, we were going to go to the National Sealife Centre in Birmingham, but then remembered that the Pope was in town, so probably not a good day to visit. Tom went swimming on Saturday morning, and we went to Attingham Park Food Fayre on Sunday but apart from that, not much to report.

Tom is being a little naughty with his food again - refusing pretty much anything unless it is drowned in Ella puree - need to put an end to the Ella thing soon, is a bad habit and costly!

He is also continuing to be a little naughty with his walking, sitting down and refusing to walk when he is perfectly capable. Oh hum, just little niggles to keep us on our toes.

Harry Potter's cake is mega

Not much to report today. I finished the Harry Potter cake I've been working on - it is huge, way bigger that I meant it to be. Oh hum, it is mega heavy as well, just hope the client has strong arms. The cake is supposed to feed 70, I think it might feed 140! Lesson learnt for next time to make smaller cakes. I guess it is better to over cater than to under cater. Here's a pic anyway.

Picked up Tom from nursery at 1. He had had a good day but was tired. The manager of the baby room said something nice: that she would love 15 Toms in her room, as he is a joy to be with. How nice.

After his nap, we went to Telford Town Park. We were going to go for a walk in the Japanese Gardens (they are looking really pretty at the moment as the trees are all turning red, brown and orange). Got there to find they had been locked. I asked why at the information point and was told that they were closed due to Health and Safety. When there is heavy rain, the decking gets slippy and it is too dangerous for the public. There wasn't any heavy rain - just a light shower. Phaaaaaaaa! Tom had extra time on the swings as a result, not a problem, but we both enjoy stomping around the gardens.

Stomping in puddles is fun

Not much to say this week. Tom and I went to Messy Mondays, unlike last week, it was packed. However, we bumped into a couple of people and babies that we haven't seen for ages which was good - everyone has grown so much.

We were at a loose end in the afternoon now Hoo Farm is closed. Ended up going to one of the retail parks witha mission to find Tom a waterproof suit he can wear when it is rainy and muddy. I had been told to try Tescos or Asda. Tried both of those and Matalan, but no luck.

Tuesday, Tom went to nursery whilst I set about putting the Harry Potter cake together. Oh my god, think I made the cakes too big, it is huge!!!!! Oh well, hopefully the client will be happy - will be getting more than they expected I think.

The afternoon saw us in Hoo Farm, well it would have done, except it is closed. It is now closed Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays - humpfh!!!! We ended up in Granville instead, and Tom discovered puddles. I got some footage on film.

Good, but tiring weekend

So we had a busy weekend, so much so that we were in bed at 9pm on Sunday evening, completely zonked out!

Saturday started with a swimming lesson for Tom, during which he was very well behaved again, and then off to Wellington to buy ribbons and have lunch (we both had sandwiches which were very average - note to selves - only eat chicken wings there, they are very good).

During Tom's nap we had a 'useful' session, getting those little irritating jobs done. Then we took Tom on a route march around Granville in an attempt to tire him out so that he would sleep through Rachel Z's babysitting stint. He didn't really enjoy himself, but did walk quite a distance.

7pm saw us all glammed up - me in my first long black dress (unfortunately you can't really see it in the photo - it looked better when I was standing up). Rose then took us to RAF Cosford for our Battle of Britain dinner. It was a good do. We felt very young for the night (a good thing these days), and managed to sit on a table with some nice people. Matt won a self help book for organisations?, I didn't win anything and we watched wealthy people bidding silly amounts of money for one off experience days. We had good nosh - most of my favourite food items were on the menu. At one stage we were singing "There'll be blue birds" and "Pack up your troubles" etc. I hit a wall at 11pm and couldn't stop yawning, but Matt managed to keep up the conversation until the taxi arrived to pick us up at midnight. A good evening. Thanks to Pat and Bob.

Sunday saw us in Malvern for "Vanfest" a birthday day out for me from Matt. It was a beautiful day, so the campervans were looking good. Had a good look around the stalls, bought a little fleece for Tom (he needs to grow a bit before he can wear it), had lunch, looked around the Show and Shine vans, where we both fell in love with various vans. We quickly looked around the vans for sale area, but managed to leave without buying one. (£20,000 + for a splitty, £15,000 + for a bay window, £7,000 + for a more modern one). We both have in our minds what we would like, just need to win the lottery now!

Came home, played with Tom, put him to bed, made our dinner, put ourselves to bed. We were shattered.

Sandwiches are now in vogue

So we had another break through today. I took Tom to Jungleland this morning for breastfeeding group. I ordered some food - cheese sandwich for me and some chips - Jungleland has the best chips in town and Tom has missed them during the school holidays - it's always been his treat. Anyway as you know Tom has always considered sandwiches as evil: food of the devil. Never looked them in the eye - rather starve than eat them. WELL, he ate half of the round of sandwiches I ordered for myself. I ended up hungry, but hey, it doesn't matter, maybe he has realised that he is English after all - I mean have you ever heard of an English person that doesn't eat sandwiches! Fingers crossed it wasn't a one off. As you can see, I was soooooo excited that I took a photo as evidence.

Oh, bad news - my hand whisk broke yesterday which is a mini disaster as I use it for everything cake related. However, luckily enough it is just still in guarantee, so I wrapped it up in copious amounts of bubble wrap last night and took it to the post office this morning. Lets hope they can mend / replace it. I put out an emergency email to the girls last night to see if anyone has one they can lend me and Rachel M has come up trumps. I am seeing her this afternoon to pick it up - phew as I have some cupcakes to make tomorrow.

Exploring flowers

As Tom is getting more active and the days are getting darker and rainy, thought I should find out about some more groups to take him to. Found one called 'Messy Mondays' at the HLC, so took him along on Monday morning. Wow - did he have a good time! He was sooooo excited he didn't know what to do - darting here and there. There was painting, play doh, animals in shaving foam, felt tips, home area (oven and bbq) as well as books and toys. Tom didn't fancy the really mucky things (but he's a boy?!) but enjoyed he bbq and just generally running around. Mae also went - she managed to climb on the painting table when no-one was looking and got very messy! We stopped for a snack - pancakes and strawberries and then did nursery rhymes. Very good considering it was free.

The afternoon saw us at Hoo Farm - last Monday it is open which is a shame.

Tuesday and Tom went to nursery whilst I did cakey things (made cats for a cupcake order and marzipanning some fruit cakes for next week) The afternoon saw us in Telford Town Park exploring the Japanese gardens. Tom trotted around the whole garden and really enjoyed the flowers (geraniums I think?) as you can see. Unfortunately the heavens then opened so we had to take shelter which Tom didn't really enjoy. We managed a quick swing before returning home for dinner - fish pie and fruit cake off cuts for Tom, all of which were consumed with vigour - he is eating for England at the moment and, we think putting on weight.

Monster Muncher

We decided to take Tom back to the town of his birth today, mainly because we wanted to treat ourselves to a big lunch and there's nowhere better for that than The Armoury. We arrived too early for lunch, so took Tom for a loon about in the kiddies' playground in the quarry, which he enjoyed very much despite the weather. He still loves the swings but has also become quite accomplished at climbing up steps to get to the top of a slide. We did that several times, even with lots of bigger kids running around. We had a quick look round the shops, including an unsuccessful attempt to buy something with the £50 M&S voucher I won in a photo competition. The shopping centres were surprisingly empty, and His Nibs had a great time walking everywhere. He walks really well now, despite the fact that he still tries to go faster than his legs are capable of, meaning that he does go down front-first from time, but it doesn't seem to phase him.

Anyway, thence to the pub, where he polished off a good-sized pot of tomato pasta and three bread sticks. That in itself would have been OK, but he seemed to take a real fancy to what we ordered (a gourmet burger and some posh fish 'n' chips) and helped himself to a good portion of each, especially the bread and butter that came with the fish 'n' chips. I drew the short straw and lugged him back to the car in his rucksack, a mercifully short journey. Nik sat in the back with him on the way back to try and keep him awake until we got home. This she did by tickling him, but by the end of the journey he appeared to be giggling in his sleep as his armpits were being tickled. Still, he went down for a good kip in his cot.

We had a bit of a play in the garden before tea, although we tried to get him into his wellies again, which he did NOT appreciate.

Anyway, he's now asleep, so it's just me here as Nik's out babysitting.

Oh yes, we forgot to mention that while we were having lunch at The Green Wood Centre in Ironbridge on Friday, one of the big coal trains that serve Buildwas Power Station came rumbling slowly right past our picnic table. Tom was fascinated by the huge diesel engine and gave an enthusiastic wave to the driver, who, to his credit, waved straight back and tooted the horn. I think Tom was very pleased.

6 years ago today...

Today, Matt and I have been married 6 years! How on earth did that happen? Where has the time gone. That also means that we have been living in Telford for 6 years - so much for the quick stepping stone half house out of London - one more year here and I will have matched my longest stay in any one place. Not a great list of places: Wokingham and Telford, although have to say I definitely prefer Telford and since I have started to really live here I've discovered that it really isn't that bad a place - has everything you need and plenty of nice people (although it does have to be said that there are plenty of chavs here)

Matt took the morning off work and the three of us headed to the Green Wood Centre to go for a walk around Ironbridge. Discovered another part of Ironbridge we didn't know existed - very nice. Had a good view down over the power station at one stage. Tom was in the rucksack for most of the walk, but did have a toddle on a flat bit and managed NOT to pick up or sit in any cow pats - so a great success. We had lunch back at the Green Wood Centre, including naughty cakes (well we aren't eating until late tonight). They had a community notice board, so I put my card up on it. Had a chat with the cafe manager, she said that she had come across me as she had been researching suppliers for a Christmas market they are holding in December. That has got me thinking - would I be able to do something like that - what volume of cakes etc would I need to do? I don't think I would do it this year, but think I might go along to the market to find out how big it is and the sort of people that go. Might be something for me to think about for the future.

Tom behaved very well. I took a pot of his favourite risotto with me today, so we had no trouble feeding him - why does he like that and hate everything else I cook for him? We then went down to the park for a play before heading home. Tom is now in bed, Matt back at work and me catching up. I've got a client coming to get her cake at 3pm. A small cake with handbags and shoes on it. I took the photos this time and discovered that my photography skills are rubbish compared to Matt's - hence why I haven't bothered to put a photo up here. Hope the client is happy with it - the icing cracked again!!!!

Tom has been on good form this week - sleeping through and generally happy, although he hasn't liked it when I've had to wake him for one reason or another - I had a good 40 minutes of crying yesterday and 10 minutes this morning. CBeebies sorted him out both times - so will keep that in mind if he is like that again when I get him up this afternoon. Oh - this week for the first time Tom ate baked beans. I've given them to him before, but they have come out of his mouth faster than they went in and a look on his face of complete astonishment, wondering why on earth I put this vile foodstuff in his mouth. Anyway hope he continues to like them - is a nice and easy dinner. He has also started to turn in circles and to trot - not quite running, but definitely faster than walking.

Rachel M is coming round this evening to babysit and we have a table booked at Odfellows in Shifnal (one of the places we failed to get into last week). It is Rachel's Wedding Anniversary on Sunday so I'm baby sitting for her then.

This pic is from Saturday.