Here we go!

Not quite sure how this will go but
heyho!


Tuesday 30 August 2011

Is it ok to have the heating on in August????

This time yesterday I was sunbathing by a beautiful pool in 38 degrees of sunshine, daydreaming and trying not to think of coming home...
Now I am huddled up in pjs and bed socks with the heating on and Jo Malone candles burning for extra heat (and a beautiful smell) at the end of August!?!
What on earth happened to our summer?????

Two and a half weeks away and I come back to really chilly weather - not really liking this at all!
I bet the sun will shine the day the kids go back to school....

So a busy month and lots of cakes to fit in before I went. I almost didn't make the airport as I was still finishing a cake off five minutes before we left... a bit too close to the wire!
I'm not really sure where the summer holiday has gone and as usual it has gone far too quickly for my liking. I suppose a mixture of school work, marking coursework, planning, cakes, meeting friends and spending a bit of time with the twins( gorgeous!!) and my sister meant that time flew by.
Still it was all worth it and I feel a bit more relaxed (well I did until I got back to chilly weather and a long long list of things to do over the next few months!)

So back to school and the end of term was fab if not manic - staff leaving, afternoon tea, French breakfast, end of year barbecue and leavings parties...Not to add work experience, exams and looking after my amazing girls (well done Blue am very proud of you!!!).
Our fabulous librarian retired just before the end of term and we celebrated in style with a lovely afternoon tea and lots of cakes. We'll miss you Anne!
I couldn't have managed any of the end of term festivities without my two amazing girls helping me. They were absolute stars and I have never made girls doing work experience work SOOOO hard!
The summer is a time for graduations and I had two cakes to make, one a simple one and the other a stacked cake with lots of detail.

Next was a lovely combination of princesses and pirates for a birthday party. It was fun to do (apart from delivery) and all I can say is "Thank goodness for my amazing and patient dad" (whose car ended up covered in glitter I am sure!)
I was a little stressed to say the least and dad saved the day - again!
Lots more cupcakes for a 50th birthday in pink and purple delivered to the Clarendon and then an elegant birthday cake for a dear friend and colleague. She is a star!

So near to the end of term... I seemed to get busier and busier and my home was still covered in sparkly glitter and so was my car, my classroom and my office and anywhere else I went...
The wedding cake for Laura was very delicate, very ivory and pink and VERY sparkly. It was a cake for a princess and Laura looked like a princess. She was beautiful!
All of the roses were made from sugarpaste and took hours of rolling, curling, veining, glueing and glittering...
It was labour of love and original...


 The top two tiers had to be assembled at the venue and I just hoped that all of the roses stayed in place all afternoon and evening. Three more wedding cakes to go....

James' cake was an open laptop with YouTube on the screen...lots of detail and fiddly bits and the cake was chocolate fudge cake so very gooey inside. It was fun making all the icons and lettering and yet again dad came to the rescue with a custom-made cake stand (he is so clever!).

I had to call on dad again for another cake stand as the next cake was giving me a bit of grief to start with. I knew what I had to make but wasn't sure how to make it sturdy, steady and able to be transported safely for hours in a car. It also required lots of research as I am probably the least musical person about other than singing very badly in the car (when I have a voice!) and I know nothing about grand pianos!!!
The last one I made was when I was 18 years old and I am sure it wasn't as detailed.
Still I managed it - just and loved the result! If you are a pianist, don't look too closely at the inside workings!!!
I wanted it to be fab as Clifford and Phyllis were celebrating a very special birthday. When I got home today there was beautiful thank you card from them so it was all worth the effort and worry that I had the right amount of keys on the piano (I had to look up how many black and white ones but am now ready for any quiz with that question!).

I was looking forward to my holiday and thanks to the amazing staff at work it would be even more special, but still lots to do. After a few days at work trying to clear out and clear up I had to make 120 cupcakes and a giant cupcake for an 18th birthday in fuschia pink. It was a vision in pink!
Luckily my nieces managed to get a cake too!
The cakes look a bit purply but they were all pink!
More cupcakes for a birthday but this time in cream and black and stupidly I forgot to take a photo. A shame as they were quite elegant all on the stand with black ribbons (note to self - take photos before they are delivered!!!!!)

Lucas' christening was a lovely event and made even lovelier by the fact that the top tier of the cake was in fact his parents' top tier of the wedding cake which I had decorated too. I made cookies too and gift-wrapped them for the children at the christening. Lucas was a star and so gorgeous in his little outfit!
The whole family are so lovely!
Three more cakes and models for a wedding cake (forgot to take a photo again!) and countdown to holibobs!!!
A wonderful evening out with Sue and cocktails and a delicious meal in a five star hotel, lunch with my nieces and sister-in-law, lunch with a dear friend and a day with my sister and the ever-so-cute twins and then I was beginning panic about getting everything done before leaving. If only there were eight days in a week when it's the holidays!!!

A birthday cake for a friend's husband who loves golf, is very involved with the church and also with amateur dramatics and who also nearly always plays the Dame in pantos gave me lots of ideas....
I don't know what I would do if I saw a Dame on a golf course, I wouldn't be able to stop giggling!
Two to go...
A welcome cake for a family with lots of international ties...England, Pakistan, USA and Brazil made me think about hanging out the bunting and celebrating so that's what I did. Asif designed the cake top so I followed his design as closely as I could. Another lovely family...
One more and yet again I didn't take a photo. Not surprising really as I was still decorating as I was trying to pack and make sure I had the factor 15 and my passport ready..
Thank goodness for Sue who collected the cake and took it to the 50th birthday party as I was just getting on the plane...
So a bit of a manic time, serves me right really but saying "no" was never one of my strengths!!!

So it's the end of August and school is just round the corner again...
I have a feeling that September and October are going to be interesting but I am ready (ha ha not really as am still in holiday mode!!!!)
Think I will blow out the candles now as the whole place smells of pomegranate noir and its delicious...
Have missed my friends at work and am looking forward to seeing them again whilst secretly still wishing I was still eating paella and drinking sangria with my very own "Rick Stein"  xx