These are a few of my favourite things

A recent visit to marvellous mum and dads took in a trip to Bekonscot Model Village.  A place of my childhood, and such fun.  It was as sweet and enchanting as I remember, and as luck would have it, Darling boy and Little brother were enraptured by it too.  The model village is so lovely, stuck in a time warp and featuring the excellent naff puns that always raise a grin.  You can also pretend to be a giant, which is a great past-time.

She is here...

...and she is perfect.

Superhero's super birthday cake

It was Darling boy's 4th birthday this weekend and, being nuts about Spiderman, Superman and all things 'super', he had chosen a superhero theme.  We went all-out for the fancy dress, and, as last time when the theme was pirates,  the kids and grown-ups all dressed up.  We had prizes in various categories, from best superhero accessory, to best mini-skirt in a superhero capacity.

Huge amounts of fun were had by all, lots of chasing around and dashing about- all brilliant stuff.

The cake I made for Darling boy was chocolate- to Darling boys request- was the same recipe as I used for Handsome husbands Granny's 90th birthday.  It was iced in blue buttercream icing, with the customised logo made from royal icing and cut out with an art knife.

The accompanying superhero cupcakes are lemon, with matching stars and home-made superhero comic book style cupcake flags.

The waiting game.

So, we are still waiting for our barn conversion.  Apparently we are close to starting building, but I have heard that many times before- and we are currently looking at saying 'in by christmas', but for the 3rd christmas so I'm not so convinced.  Hopeful, but not convinced.

Baby three is due in August and kicking like a bucking bronco.  The bump is definitely growing and I have already had several total strangers call to me across car-parks, and at checkout queues, etc amusing things like 'look at your bump, its massive!' 'are you having the baby today?  'are you sure its not twins'... Naturally I find this both flattering and hilarious.

As the barn was taking so long, we decided to move to somewhere a bit bigger.  Living in the cottage next door to our homing heroes was fabulous, but with number 3 on the way, we just needed
                                             m     o      r      e               s    p    a    c    e .
We have been in our new place now for nearly 3 months and it's great.  Having a playroom and a grownup sitting room is the most luxurious thing I can think of.  Well, one of them.

So, we wait on.  Is patience a virtue? or is life what happens to you when you are making other plans (as a very wise man once said)

Waiting for our baby, waiting for Handsome husband to finish his course, waiting for Downton Abbey series 3 (exciting people, very exciting) and for the new John Lewis in Exeter to open in December.  We might even be in the new barn by christmas?

There is so much in the pipeline, we just need to remember to enjoy the waiting game.

90 years of birthday cakes...and here is the 90th

It was Handsome husband's Granny's 90th birthday last week and we went on a (super long) road trip to see her.  Oxford and back in one day from Devon is no joke, especially with two under 4 year olds and a big bump in tow.

Great Granny eats like a bird, but has a legendary sweet tooth and so a super-mega chocolate birthday cake was called for.  It also had to be something relatively compact as although we were taking the big car, we were also taking my in-laws too.  Our 7 seater car was to be carrying 6 people, 3 changes of clothes (small boys need wardrobe changes much like Lady Gaga does, though for reasons of water, mud and chocolate, not high fashion so much) plus toys and books to provide suitable distraction for the aforesaid little ones, and, of course the cake.

I wanted to go feminine, but not too girly.  So I opted for a simple round shape, and went with the ribbon effect chocolate buttercream and pastel flowers, with matching glitter.  The cake recipe is one I hadn't tried before, but will definitely be doing again.  Chocolate cake is often not all that chocolately, and more often that not, a cocoa disappointment, but this was everything you'd want a chocolate cake to be, rich, moist, and actually chocolately.

The birthday girl seemed keen on the cake and half of it was eaten on the day by us partygoers, and the rest was carved up and taken home by the rest of the family, wrapped in napkins and stashed in handbags.

I asked Great Granny if she liked being 90 years old, and in true Great Granny style, she quickly said 'No'.  I asked her is she preferred being 89 and she said 'No'...Though she did say her favourite age was 40 years..so as I'm 33 this year, it means I've got something to look forward to!

Onwards and upwards I say.

Exciting news about a new arrival

Well, I haven't been posting much since christmas not because I haven't had anything to say, but because what I have had to say is so exciting, but has also been top secret until recently... It's been hard to think about much else really.

Close friends had guessed it and family are delighted.  Can you guess what it is?

Baby number 3 is on the way!  All things being well our third baby will be due in early August.  Little brother is very excited and is quite keen on having a sister.  Little brother I think vaguely gets it- though he saw the scan and said 'doggie' so perhaps not.

We aren't any closer to the barn conversion being completed, or even started and although we were planning to wait on being in the barn before trying for a third baby, quite frankly we got bored of waiting.    We needed to get on with our lives, and what better way to get on with you life, than creating a new one!



nb, the photo is obviously not baby number 3's fingers, but little brothers- though you get the idea.

A pink and girly cake, for the new girly in our family (that's extended family folks, don't get excited)

As well as the new chicks which arrived recently, a much more exciting and important family member has been welcomed to the clan.  Handsome husband's uncle and his wife have adopted a 3 year old little girl after years and years of longing for children.  It's such wonderful news and it was a real treat to finally meet her.  They live in Germany which means a recent visit over was our first opportunity to meet the loveliness that is Darling boy and Little brother's new cousin.

In honour of our new cousin's first visit to Devon, I baked her a 'Welcome to the Family' cake.  Since I have two boys, I got pretty excited about the chance to 'go girly'.  I was feeling in a novelty mood, so shaped the cake in the silhouette of our new cousin's initial (making good use of my new bundt tin too)  The glittery pink buttercream icing went down a storm, as did the sweeties all over it and the chocolate sponge inside.

chick chick chick chick chicken hatch a little egg for me

For the past 3 weeks, a broody hen at the farm has been sitting on 6 eggs, keeping them warm as the miracle of life (I know, cheesy) works it's magic inside. Rather then becoming scrambled eggs, or playing a pivotal role in a cake, these 6 delicate beauties are going to hatch out as little chicks.

These 6 eggs came from our neighbour and are something of a test run, as our own cockerel arrives later today.  Once the new man in town is settled, it could be that we have lots more chicks.  Lots and lots.  All things being well, by this time next year we could be totally overrun by chickens.

But back to the here and now, these 6 little chicks are due to hatch out next weekend.  Which is perfect timing, as lots of family, including Sister in law and the Entrepreneur are due for a visit.  Arriving next weekend as part of the family is our new addition to the clan... Handsome husband's Uncle and his lovely wife have adopted a beautiful 3 year old girl.  Darling boy and Little Brothers new cousin.  We are delighted and can't wait to meet her.  The boys are really excited, so many new lives joining ours.

And the good news is....

And the good news is that the council have f.i.n.a.l.l.y said YES.  We are so excited.  Our dream, forever-home is now the shinning light at the end of the tunnel.  And although we feel like the waiting game is over, really it has only just begun.

Now we wait for builders.  Quotes are yet to come back and the work is yet to start.  But, we are excited and hopeful.  Interiors are being planned, samples are building up and my scrap book of ideas is bulging at the seams.  I  don't just have a mood board, I have a mood file, with separate sections for each room with additional sections for things like 'style' and 'storage'.  Geek?  moi?

But, we aren't there yet.  There is still a lot more waiting to do and once the builders start there will be more things to wait for, but it will be exciting things, like plaster and paint to dry.  Who would have ever thought that waiting for paint to dry would be exciting?!

The Surprise cupcakes

It was Handsome husband's uncle's Surprise 50th birthday party (the party was a surprise, not that he was going to be 50, I'm pretty sure he knew his age alright)

We were invited and secret birthday cupcakes had been requested.  I was happy to oblige, but nervous of having to travel with them first the 150 miles to my marvellous parents, and then on into and across London via train and tube and shanks' pony.

Anyway, logistics aside, I went for a flavour combination of vanilla on vanilla, mixed with a few cheeky chocolate buttercream iced ones as well.  For the colour scheme, shades of blue in big and mini stars and initials, with matching glitters (of course) kept it about as masculine as you can get with cupcakes (though I'm always on the look out for tiny cutters in the shapes of spanners, etc)

The cupcakes were a big success.  The party was an even bigger success, with Uncle J winning a clear award for 'Surprise birthday party candidate who was the most surprised ever'  We drank champagne and laughed and cried at his lovely speech.  Then toddled back to our hotel for a relax, before heading out for more eating and plenty of cocktails. yum.

And a final word on the cupcakes too, I don't normally go for such bright colours as the blue here on the butter icing, but I think it turned out rather handsome in the end.

White currants and mischief

Whilst on a day trip to our local national trust place, we were strolling in their fabulous walled kitchen garden and by the gate there was a pile of produce and an honesty box.  Always keen to try new things, and feeling peckish I picked up a punnet of white currants.  Darling boy was very keen and nearly ate the whole tub- well it makes a change from cake!  although looking not unlike frogspawn, or alien eyeballs, they are actually pretty tasty.  Sharp, juicy and sweet.

One of Darling boys favourite things to play with is gravel.  Don't ask me why, it's a boy thing I guess.  And what do stately homes have by the tonne? gravel pathways.  Whilst us oldies took a rest, Darling boy busied himself with the gravel at our feet.  Granny, feeling mischievous, suggested he put some gravel in grandad's Crocs shoes- as he had, of course, fallen asleep. As Darling boy was obliging with the stones (the cheeky child's version of a shape sorting toy?)  his Great Granny leant forward.  She is old skool and fairly quiet most of the time.  I was expecting a telling off, but instead with a twinkle in her eye, she pointed out a good hole in which to stuff more stones.  I was amazed and delighted at her joining in the fun and would even go as far as to say I now see her in a whole new light.