Cupcake Class

I demanded a cupcake class for Christmas. Tonight was the night! I was not disappointed. There were just two of us, and I got my money's worth by asking lots of questions. I'm such a dorky, keen student.

The place was a treasure trove.

We started by making the cakes.

I loved making messes and then magically a clean bowl would appear at my work station.

I was expecting to learn about piping and other decorative techniques. I did. But I learnt a couple of other good tips. Curious? Beat the heck out of the butter and sugar at the beginning. Get plenty of air in, and get that sugar totally broken down. Don't mix in the flour for too long. Make icing/frosting with a whole lot less icing sugar than I have been if you want to be able to pipe etc well, and get the decorations to stick. Hold a tea-towel over the bowl when mixing the butter and icing sugar. Don't under-estimate the power of a palate knife.

And here's the grand reveal:

OK, I know that last picture isn't great, but they're better than usual, right? iPhone 4S is not disappointing.

Happy Birthday Tom!

Tom's 1st birthday is actually tomorrow, but we celebrated over the weekend.

Readers, all 3 of you, you will be very pleased to hear that Oxford Grandma was in residence, and she brought her camera.

It was a lovely family party. Oh so much more fun for the adults when we outnumber the children, and we are related to them all. I hope we'll be able to get away with it for two more of Tom's birthdays. Just sayin'.

I'm not usually one for sentimentality, but really, how damned lucky are we?

HOWEVER. What is with everyone saying that they can't believe it's been a whole year since Tom was born? All those people who talk about how the time flies when your kids are young -- ARE YOU ALL SMOKING CRACK? I love my kids and all, and I wouldn't want things any different, but these have been the S.L.O.W.E.S.T 4 years of my life.

Trains

How long will this last? Harry has an obscene number of Thomas trains.





This is a selection, not the whole lot. If I think about how much money this represents, I feel a bit ill. But. He plays with these suckers for at least an hour every day. Per use? Not bad at all. If anything I regret buying a lot of the other toys. The boy knows what he wants. Strange, I wonder where he gets the obsessive streak from.

Guilty Pleasure

On Christmas day, when Sian was opening presents that she had bought FOR HERSELF, I finally had a brain wave. A new bigger telly. It's good. Really good. And here's the side benefit:


Yep, old tv in our bedroom. Tonight we watched bridesmaids. Two enthusiastic thumbs up!

Knitting Small

I'm a little obsessed with knitting small things right now. Like the teeny tiny mittens. I have also decided to start a bee-keepers quilt, made of hundreds of little hexagonal puffs of loveliness. Said puffs are made with leftover sock yarn. Imagine my delight when my stitch-n-bitch co-founder brought me two cute little mini-skeins back from her hols. Sooo cute!


You can tell the size even better here.


I am serious about this project. Even knitting a gauge swatch.


So pleasing. I'm also very happy that I am due a phone upgrade in a month. Better camera with a flash.

Decluttering Finds

I am a natural declutterer (there must be a better word), but some gems do deserve a photo before they hit the scrap-heap. In my office, I said good-bye to a decade-old floppy disc collection. Don't they look more 1990 than 2001?


Last week Mum gave me some of my knitting pattern books from the 80s. Boy did I love me some Patricia Roberts:


Actually, I'm not quite ready to toss the books. What marvels of shapeless intarsia. In other news, Tom is just past 11 months, and a recent measuring has him at 9.6 kgs. He is in fine form, and starting to climb. Stair gates go up this weekend. I can't remember how long this goes on for. 18 months? Ah well.

Back to Normal

I know I'm still feeling the holiday vibe because I didn't cry when the bus was too full to stop for us today. Instead, Harry and I killed time in the time honored tradition.


One last Christmas treat.

I am still coldy, and now that the children are back in the hands of professionals (hallelujah), my plan is to leave at lunchtime and spend the afternoon in bed. I'm salivating at the thought.

For now, busy busy!