Hooray....the heating's fixed!

Mr BoilerMan arrived and fixed my broken boiler for me ....HOORAY. Now me and the kiddies are lovely and snuggly warm tonight.

My dear friend Denise came round this afternoon, and she stayed for dinner. It was lovely for us to have a guest, and I think (I hope!) it was lovely for her - she is a HUGE Archie fan, and he was definitely showing off to her this evening.

I made her some cakes (just basic vanilla cupcakes with buttercream icing) and she took some home with her. There were some left over for us, and the girls have enjoyed a couple each - I daresay Archie will tuck in tomorrow. Tonight he was too busy with the Mr Men to worry about food.............he just LOVES Mr Men & Little Misses and knows all their names (although some of the pronunciation leaves a lot to be desired..............Little Miss Daredevil is "Little Miss Dare-Double" for some reason!!).

I have cakes to make tomorrow - so at least I may have some "new" photos to share.

It's SOOOOO cold today!

OK - so this is an OLD photo...............but it FEELS like it's snowing here today it is so cold! Yes, the boiler repair man arrived yesterday.........and took TWO HOURS to diagnose what Rob next door had guessed it was in about 30 seconds over the phone. He then said that he would have to "try" to get the replacement part, but didn't know how long it will take because it's "rare". Just my luck...........having a rare boiler. Anyway, he managed to leave it so that we have hot water, but no heating - which sounded like a good idea (and IS - for the washing up!) BUT, none of us are brave enough to have a bath because of how freeeeeezing cold it will be once we get out!

Still, I managed to warm up in the car this morning. They have closed my road for "retexturing" and although the man who sits guard at the top of the road let me through, I got to within 100 yards of my lane and the workers wouldn't let me though............so I had to back and take the diversion and go the other way.......which added 3 miles to my journey!! gggrrrrrr.

Well - I'll be back later - just wanted to get my thoughts down (and keep my fingers working LOL).

Bob the Builder Cakes

I like to put photos on here (adds a bit of excitement to the dreary boredom of my writing!), and, although most of them won't be brand new, they are things that mean something to me. These two are of two VERY difference Bob the Builder cakes I recently made.

There's quite a funny story behind it. Somebody asked me if I would make a Bob cake for her little boy, Albert, which I agreed to do. I found and bought a book - for inspiration AND modelling help - all about Bob the Builder cakes. So far so good.............. until my now 4 year old (at the time 3 year old!), Archie, got hold of the book, went right through it, and decided he wanted me to make him the "snowball" cake for his birthday (which was on 28 Jan). I kept trying to put him off, offer him various alternatives, bribe him - anything........... but he was insistent. It HAD to be the snowball cake. Which to me, looked like the most difficult thing in the world. I was worrying over it so much. One of my friends even suggested I could make it an avalanche cake - just a BIG heap on a board.

Well, I tackled it - and, as you can see, it came out OK....................but I am glad it was only for one of "my own" - and not for a paying customer!!!! Archie was thrilled with it, and that's the main thing.

On another note, I am sitting here waiting (in the cold) for the boiler repair man to arrive. Last night, as I went to wash up, there was no hot water. I KNEW we couldn't possibly have run out of oil - it was only delivered last week. Anyway, the heating was working, so it wasn't that. So, I rang my WONDERFUL neighbour, Rob (you'll hear lots about him over the weeks and months, no doubt - he rescues me from all sorts of fixes!) who said it sounded like a valve had gone wrong, and that I needed to call the repair man. There we were, thanking goodness that we still had heating............when I noticed that the radiators were getting HOTTER AND HOTTER - so I had to turn the heating off too. I guess it might be more than one valve that needs fixing or replacing................ but I should find out today, as the repair man is coming over asap.

Chicken, Cheddar and Sage Tart

Here is my version of a wonderful recipe I found on a LOVELY blog http://ayearatoakcottage.blogspot.com/

Marie has a whole range of scrummy recipes on there - and I just could NOT resist having a go at this one (although I was really short of time yesterday and decided against making my own pastry, substituting pre-packaged filo pastry instead). It came out really well - and there was (amazingly) a slice left so I can now test out what it's like cold too.

Do check out Marie's blog - she has really lovely recipes, and a blog that makes me want to pack up and go and visit her, so I can experience life in her happy home.

Tilt Shift Photos and other stuff

Well, have a look at this!! Less than 24 hours after seeing my first "TiltShift" photo (which is what I now know they are called), I've managed to do one of my own! To be fair, it wasn't exactly rocket science - there is a wonderful website that allows you to uploads your own photos and then it just gives it this effect....so it's a bit of a cheat really (but I still feel like I'm clever!!!). Here's the link to this fab website, if you fancy having a go yourself

http://tiltshiftmaker.com/photo-processing.php



You will notice that my photos is NOWHERE NEAR as good as Nigel's (below), but this IS my first attempt, and done with a photo that wasn't really that good in the first place! Incidentally, the photo is of the gorgeous gardens at Bressingham in Diss, Norfolk. We went there for a day in the summer - it's great. Steam train rides, a beautiful old carousel ride, a fantastic garden centre and the delightful gardens....something for everyone.



I haven't spent ALL day looking at photos to tilt-shift (if that's the right term). I've also had a productive day getting things ready for a cake I have to make later on in the week. I always thought I would hate making "number" cakes - and then someone asked me for a "60" a couple of months back. Then, the same lady asked me for another "60" (the first had been for her dad, the second for her father in law) a few weeks back. Now, someone else has asked for a "65" for her dad.......... so much for not wanting to do number cakes. Actually, I quite enjoy doing them - they are certainly a challenge when it comes to icing them. I also quite enjoy the fact you have a large board - so it gives scope for more varied decorations.



I am off to make dinner now - a slightly altered version of a Chicken, Cheese and Sage Tart that I saw on another blog. I say altered because I decided to save time and not make my own pastry, but to buy ready made filo pastry...also should be a bit more slimming than making my own!



I'll be back on here later with the verdict. Watch this space.........

tiny harbour

tiny harbour
Originally uploaded by NigelBread

How COOL is this? Leading the sheltered life I do, I have never seen these sort of photos before, but I discovered this on flickr just now and I LOVE IT!! It's of one of my favourite places in the world - Broadstairs. It also looks like it's a model village - another thing I REALLY love........so what could be better?

Well, they say little things please little minds - and I guess this proves the point quite nicely.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Well, when I say "Lazy" what I really mean is "worn out, but not finished yet"!! I've just taken a break from washing, ironing, housework and finding things for everyone else in here who think that I know where everything is!

So, last night I made some cupcakes (and a large sponge cake, at the request of Archie, my 4 year old son). I just about managed to get Alice (the 13 year old) to snap some photos of them before she took the box to her friend's house with her, and Archie devoured the summery one - having conveniently forgotten that the "plain" sponge was what he had asked for!

Alice stayed over at her friend's house last night, and this morning she reported that everyone loved them, her friend's mum asked if she could keep the card I had (very slyly!) popped in the box, and wanted to know if I take orders. Errr................YES! I'd LOVE to. I guess it will just take time to spread the word. In the meantime, my family have to be chief samplers...........which they don't seem to object to!