Look What Mama Made!

More Mama love in this post I'm afraid! This delightful chicken (from Anna Maria Horner's gorgeous book 'Handmade Beginnings') was meant to be among the presents my parents gave to M for her first birthday. When I conveniently got a nasty bout of tonsilitis in the week leading up to P's birthday, my lovely mummy flew to the rescue, driving 5 hours up the motorway to look after the littles and in the process ran out of time to sew the chicks in time for M's birthday the following week. As a result, the finished birdy, complete with six chicks with Velcro wings to nestle safely under their mummy's wings, arrived today in the post, no less special for its tardiness. It must be a good week for chickens, as our dear old hen Penelope has decided that she will honour us with a precious few of her rarely laid eggs- three in a row!

Birthday at the Farm

Our wee boy is three! As usual with parenting moments like this, it feels like ages and yet no time at all since he was in an incubator in Royal Glamorgan Hospital having surprised us all by arriving 2 months before his due date. It's fair to say he hasn't stopped since, with the fading remains of a black eye appearing in all his birthday pictures as evidence of how he throws himself full tilt at the world (the injury occurred during nap time for goodness' sake!). This year he had a party at his Granny and Grandpa's farm, with a tractor and lambs in the field next door, a straw bale fort to play in and just the right amount of sunshine for a lovely day. Despite a nasty bout of tonsillitis during the previous week I somehow managed to pull off the 'Combine Harvester' cake I'd been planning so I felt I did my bit, but it was a host of wonderful family and friends who really made his day.

Birthdays!

Our baby girl is nearly one! With her brother turning three the week before it's going to be a busy time. Somehow I've managed to swerve organising duties on both counts, as each of the grandmothers are taking a turn at hosting. All I have to do is send out the invitations, make a few cakes (including one like a Combine Harvester, gulp!) and turn up with the little ones. As we're not exactly sending out a huge number of invites to M's party, I had a go at making my own cards today, doodling with some felt pens. The theme, like her Christening is 'All Things Bright And Beautiful', partly because she's a summer baby who arrived with the flowers and partly because she is just that...bright and beautiful.

Cake!

I'm posting this at the risk of spoiling the surprise, but in the hope that a dodgy internet connection means the intended recipient won't be reading this. It's either a birthday cake or, if there are too many of those about, an Easter cake. Whatever the official designation, it's a big lot of chocolate yumminess!
I used Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Fudge Cake recipe from Nigella Bites. I halved the ingredients as, despite her claims that if dumped you could eat this yourself in one sitting, in my experience, the full monty feeds a lot of people. I also substituted the dark chocolate in the frosting for white chocolate, partly to ring the changes, but mainly to achieve the correct colouring for the sheep. A little extra melted white chocolate for the legs and to stick the sugar flowers on and some dark chocolate for the face completed the effect.

When the weather gets tough, the tough get cooking

Well, it was a weekending of wonder. First, on Friday a joyful and lovely wedding then braving some wild weather over the weekend, culminating in a probably foolhardy drive back from Windermere, negotiating winding country roads, in the dark and rain, through floods and standing water! This after an abandoned attempt at walking at Tarn Hows (called off due to wind that would have felled a toddler, even in his rainproof suit and wellies) and a too-late attempt to visit Blackwell (we went to the teashop instead and have promised ourselves a proper look soon). Having braved the floods on the way in, we didn't want a completely wasted journey, so we ended up at the Water Mill at Ings, where the micro-brewery beers were responsible for me being named driver!
As peace (of a sort!) descended on our house once again today, the weather had other ideas. As rain lashed against the window panes, we settled in with tea and the radio to catch up on some cooking and tried not to think of how Granny and Grandpa are by now sunning themselves in Barbados (Happy Honeymoon!). I decided to improvise with the contents of the two pumpkins and made a soup flavoured with a red chilli, grated ginger and thyme. If we decide to brave it for a walk tomorrow, I think this will be in the flask.
Also on the stove- butternut squash and red pepper curry with coconut milk and a vegetable stew. We can now just about see into the fridge again, and the freezer is comfortingly stocked up.
As you can see, after all this industry a nap was called for, which gave me the chance to start yet another knitted birthday project. Which reminds me, on Friday I'll be able to show the last one, as the birthday girl will have seen the results of all that cabling.