Scarecrows

Cupcakes ready for consultation

We had a busy day today.  I had a wedding consultation this morning.  This was for cupcakes for a gluten free & lactose free bride.  She had requested autumn themed toffee apple cupcakes so I had spent quite a bit of time on r&d as this isn't my specialism.  I learnt what to do to get good gluten free cupcakes and also spent a while working out how to spin sugar, to caramelise apples and make buttercream made with Pure (dairy free marg) taste vaguely nice.  It was a success as they went away having ordered all gluten free & lactose free cupcakes and buttercream.  Just need to write down what I did now so I don't forget - their wedding isn't until November!

Signal Man Tom

As I was rushing around finishing off the cupcakes, Matt took Tom to Settle Station where, every Saturday they open up the old signal box for viewing.  I guess by the photo you can see that Tom enjoyed himself.  He had to undertake a test and came home with a certificate stating that he performed satisfactorily as a signal man - not bad work for a Saturday morning.

They then went to visit the big toy shop in Ingleton.  I had been told by another mother that it is really good - full of Bruder toys.  Apparently it is amazing.  It's a strange place, run by a strange person (it always looks closed from the outside which is why we have never been in it) but it is a boy's delight.  Tom has been getting better and better with his wee at night time, he's using his potty more and more and his nappy has been getting lighter and lighter, so we are thinking that this is the time to try and get him nappy free.  We've told him that if he manages 3 nights dry without a nappy he can choose a toy from the shop - he has gone to bed tonight nappy free.  I wonder what will happen...

Trip, trip, trap - where's the troll??

Matt and Tom arrived back just after my couple left.  We decided to head out to Wray and the Scarecrow Festival which I had heard about.  We had lunch on the way at the Bridge Inn in Tatham - which was a real find, a very welcoming landlady and very good food at very good prices (we won't be having dinner tonight).  Tom as usual got the best lunch (a mixture of the two) and ate a ridiculous amount.

Scarecrows

We then headed to the festival and were really really impressed.  The WHOLE village had got behind it, nearly every garden had a scarecrow of some sorts in it.  There were ones of every variety: Mrs Thatcher, George and the Dragon, Humpty Dumpty a brilliant Call the Midwife scene including a flying stork, a gruffalo, Peter Rabbit, lots of '50 Shades of Wray' themed ones, a Hobbit & Gollum, witches, Harry Potter, the Owl and the Pussy Cat, a helicopter pilot - there were literally hundreds of them and we spent a good number of hours strolling around the village looking at them all - and what a lovely village it is too - full of cottages, not a shabby house in sight.  It was a very pleasant afternoon - we walked a fair way as we went down every street, into every close, along every footpath.  As part of the festival we had to vote for what we thought were the 3 best - it was an impossible task.

Looking at the programme we actually did this on the worse day - all through the week there have been extra events, there is a vintage fair there tomorrow and the village fair on Monday.  Next year we will go on one of these days and spend the whole day there, it was certainly very good.  I understand now what Ingleton aspires for with the Easter Egg Hunt - it has a long way to go to get this good.