Mr Bertie at his birthday party this weekend, looking a little weary it has to be said. It’s hard to know if that was down to having just done his first two days at school…or the vast melt down he’d had earlier in the party for being rubbish at pin the tail on the donkey. Sigh…

I rashly decided to make both my children’s birthday cakes this year, as part of my 39 things to do before I’m 40 project. It was an ambitious addition to the list as I’m rubbish at cooking and baking, and I’d never attempted a birthday cake before.

Diggy’s, back in February, actually went quite well and even tasted good. No one was more surprised than me…

Emboldened by my earlier success I handed the fancy cake book to Bertie and let him choose his own. To be honest I was a bit disappointed he chose something so ‘easy’ (hollow laugh), which was included in the ‘simple cakes’ section of the book. I encouraged him to choose something more showy (thank GOD he didn’t go for it), but he was very firm in his choice of a number 5 shape cake in pale blue. Fine.

It should have been straightforward. Two cakes, one round, one square. Cut the middle out of the circle cake and a bit from the side, cut a couple of rectangles from the square one and assemble in a 5. The cake mix was the same as the one for the owl cake, and the buttercream icing looked very easy.

But it turned in a Whole Big Thing. First of all my mother’s 30 year old electric mixer went on the blink, and would only operate on the first two speeds. Then the first cake, the circle, failed to cook throughout and sank like a pancake when I got it out of the oven. It looked more like an omelet. Why? How did that happen? I didn’t open the oven door until the suggested cooking time was done. It clearly wasn’t done at that point so I left it for another 10 minutes, at which point a skewer came out clean so I took it out assuming it was cooked. Wrong. It did its collapsing act and I started with the heeby jeebies.

Luckily the uncooked ‘omelet’ bit was the bit that needed cutting out anyway.

Then I made the square one. I increased the cooking time but this one, too, sank a bit in the middle and was rather crunchy on the outside…not at all sponge like.  And don’t even get me going on how hard it was to cobble it all together in a 5 shape…

Next day…I tackled the buttercream icing. My arm nearly fell off getting the icing sugar and butter to cream together. And then it was so stodgy I could have laid bricks with it. After a bit of humming and haaaaaring I added a bit of milk and that sorted it out. But it took FOREVER to ice that damn  cake, really fiddly!

And I’d never used food dye before. How scary is food dye? Seems to be a fine line between ‘making no difference’ and ‘looking like something from a horror movie’. And it stained my hands blue, in a way I’ve not seen since 1986 when my Parker 25 consistently leaked ‘royal blue’ ink all over me for a whole school year.

I realised early on the cake wasn’t going to be a masterpiece of understated elegance. To detract from the vile blue crusty omelet, I made some Fimo clay aliens and they were a big hit. Alas they are not edible so people had to, youk now, actually eat the blue omelet. Some kind souls have said it was delicious. I ate some myself and can attest to the fact that it was dire. Even my children won’t eat it and I’ve had to chuck the leftovers in the bin.

I would ideally like the throw the towel in on the whole cake making business, since I found the whole thing so stressful. But Diggy has already been through the book and put in an order for a ‘rabbit cake’ for his next birthday.

Still, could have been worse. While I was going through Cake Hell my neighbour, with whom we shared the party, was hard at work on his masterpiece for his daughter. The dog ate it. He had to start all over again. At least I could just ice over my omelet and call it quits.

x

Fifty. Fifty photographs in Flickr’s Explore since 5 December 2009, my 39th birthday. Another one ticked off my list of 39 things to do before I’m 40.

Tick tock tick tock….hmmm. Seem to be over half way through the year and plenty of that list remains untackled. Hmm.

]]> http://www.spudballoo.com/2010/08/fifty/feed/ 2 http://www.spudballoo.com/2010/03/ramblings/ http://www.spudballoo.com/2010/03/ramblings/#comments Mon, 22 Mar 2010 07:50:01 +0000 spudballoo http://www.spudballoo.com/?p=1327

It’s been a funny old week what with one thing or another. Mostly dominated by a client photoshoot and frenetic pre-holiday preparation.  I’m not sure why packing for trips is such a Whole Big Thing for me, but it is. I’d like to blame it on having to pack for an entire family but, if I’m honest, I’ve always been like this. It got a whole lot worse when the boys came along, but the low level packing hysteria has been part of my modus operandi since time began.

Really, there’s no reason for it. I ought to be a packer extraordinare given the huge amount of time I spent travelling for work in Days of Yore. But I never got the knack, more’s the pity. I’d like to be able to report the packing angst means that I’m one of those super organised souls who arrives on holiday prepared for every eventuality (you know, those who arrive with travel wash, travel clothes lines and pegs) but that’s not the case either. I’m pretty good at forgetting to pack something quite crucial (underwear was a notable low), or wildly over or under packing. I only took two pairs of trousers for a week long holiday when Bertie was a baby. A shame as he weed on one pair on the first day, and the second pair on the next. Lovely.

Anyway, so the Great Pack is in progress. A little slower than I’d like for some reason…

Despite this, I’ve managed to tick off (or nearly tick off) a few more items on my 39 things to do before I’m 40 list. I’m slowly starting to make inroads in to it…

1. Learn how to use a sewing machine (February)
2. Learn how to crochet (January)
   
3. Make a blanket from crochet granny squares – work in progress as of 8.2.10
4. Go to Sutton Hoo
5. Go to Cove Hyth
6. Have a family holiday somewhere hot (March)
7. Have a night away from the boys with MrSpud
8. Take the boys to Banham Zoo
9. Complete all my Christmas shopping by the end of November
10. Make my boys’ birthday cakes – one completed (7.2.10)
11. Learn how to use the Lensbaby (6.1.10)
    
12. Visit my family Up North
13. Make a wedding photo album
14. Join a choir
15. Replace ancient framed photos in the house with more up to date ones (photos not frames)
16. Make a photo wall in the kitchen
17. Decorate office and install Craft Corner
18. Go to Lavenham
19. Learn how to use flash
20. Get 5 mentions for my client in the Financial Times (boring, sorry) – one done, two interviews awaiting publication
21. Take the boys on the train for a day trip
22. Go to the cinema with MrSpud
23. Give Chez Spud a makeover (cheating, this is work in progress but who knows given previous track record) (19.12.09)
24. Ride a horse - (21.3.10)
25. Sit on a beach and read a book on my own
26. Ditch o2 for Vodafone – after much thought, stuck with 02 and upgraded my phone. V boring.
27. Make biscuits for the first time (yes, really)
28. Take a ’star trails’ photo
29. Take a ’smooth’ water photo
30. Drink a peach bellini (make that 4, in quick succession might as well finish up the bottle right?)
31. Watch 5 films I haven’t seen before – three done
32. Do the Secret Blog Project I’ve had in mind for a while
33. Have a pedicure (22.3.10)
34. Sleep in a tent in a location other than the garden (sigh)
35. Go to a fireworks display
36. 50 photos in Explore on Flickr – 31 done
37. Make felt figures
38. Buy a summer dress and wear it
39. Learn how to use our alarm clock. We’ve had it 2 years. It’s probably time.

So, I can 1. use a sewing machine (even managed to turn up a pair of trousers yesterday without ruining them…resultl!) and 2. I’ve finished all the squares for my granny blanket.  They are awaiting sewing together:

Oh but what’s that in the background? I have naughtily started another crochet project, a ripple blanket using the Attic24 neat ripple pattern. I wanted an easily transportable project for holiday. Yes, you read that right…I am now so obsessed with crochet that I’m taking it on holiday.  SEND HELP.

I’d hoped going on holiday somewhere hot would naturally lead to “38. Buy a summer dress and wear it” being ticked off. I just can’t seem to find anything that doesn’t make me look like mutton dressed as lamb or a sack of potatoes. Might have to deploy “1. Learn how to use a sewing machine” and make one.

Yesterday I ticked off “24. Ride a horse”

I had a little ‘helper’ as you can see, and he was in charge of producing photographic evidence. If you squint, you can ‘just’ about see me…

I haven’t been on a horse for 27 years, I was surprised how quickly it came back. It felt the same but a LOT higher up, presumably because I wasn’t handed an enormous Cobb to ride when I was 12 years old. Coco is pretty chunky

Mounting and dismounting was quite, erm, interesting. I’m surprised I didn’t get a nose bleed I was so high up there. I felt a little ‘anxious’ and definitely wasn’t up for more than walking, steering, going backwards and stopping. Coco had a few other ideas and there a couple of moments of panicked trotting (me panicked, her trotting). But it was a lovely way to enjoy the warmth of the early spring sun.

Spring is definitely here. We went to the beach twice last week, admittedly a bit breezy, and the garden is full of spring flowers now; banks of snowdrops, narcissi, daffodils, crocuses, first signs of hyacinths and, quite suddenly, a carpet of sweet smelling violets. Skippy days xx

How can a little badge be so sweet and yet so needy all at the same time? I hear the words said in a whiny voice, “I thought that you didn’t like me” which surely begs the response, “Actually, I don’t…you moaning minnie”.

That’s an aside. My point is that, hoorah hoorah, here I present wibbly wobbly not very good evidence of another tick on my 39 before 40 list: ‘learn to use a sewing machine’. I bought one, studied the manual, wound the bobbin up (without having to pull..pull…clap clap clap…etc etc), managed not to sew my fingers together or any passing children and made a valentine’s garland.

And then I sewed buttons on wonkily and stuck on a moany badge. Ta da.

Finally I plonked it on the mirror and nearly broke my arms lifting up that vastly heavy Big Girl’s Camera, standing on tippytoes trying to get some half decent shots.

My biceps were screaming by this point, but vaguely this is what it looks like…excuse weird perspective issues. I’m too tired to fix them, you get the idea.

I think I’ll call it my Irony Garland, on account of the moany badge.

Sunday…Diggy’s 3rd birthday…I made a birthday cake, the first one I’ve ever made (and one of my 39 before 40 tasks)…it turned out better than I dared hope and tasted pretty good (faints in amazement)

And then we had a little teaparty for him with a couple of friends. They played, they jumped, they danced, they ate, they ate, they ate, they ate, and then they passed the parcel wearing a variety of hats:

Digby. Diggy. Diggs. Diggydo. Diggers. Diggery. Diggerygo. MrGrumpy. MrWonderful…

Three years old and how time has flown/dragged since you rocked up. You are so willful, feisty, grumpy, delightful, charming, hilarious in equal measures. ‘Good value’, that’s what we say about you….no half measures…all or nothing…a whirlwind, a hurricane….our little miracle baby.

We are so glad you came along, with your white blonde “springs” (curls) and eyes as blue as the sky. We love your lisp, your earnestness, your huge enthusiasm for life and your total and utter lack of any kind “sense of consequence” (as Batman used to say).

You charm us with your unwavering love for your girlfriend Clara, the way you worship your brother and your insistence on “not LOADS of kithess….jutht only one”  You know your mind and you have done from the second you were born. Long may it continue.

Happy Birthday Baby Boy xx

Before I begin…this is my 200th post. That’s a lot of wittering in 6 months…

Anyway…and I’m off! I’ve made a start on my 39 things to do before I’m 40 list. This afternoon I lay on my bed and quietly, and badly, learnt how to crochet. It wasn’t easy, or pretty, and I didn’t make a lot of progress if I’m honest. But there was definite hookyness going on. Ideally I’d have a photo to share but then Parker, the cat, started to ‘help’.

Here he is thinking about his technique…

…trying it on for size…how do I look?

…then he went in for the kill…

…faster than the speed of light…look at him go…KILL KILL KILL (the crochet)…

There, done it. Crochet…it’s lip smackin’ good..