Does this still exist??

It's so long long since I actually posted a blog update that I've forgotten how!

And I want to change the background and I've forgotten how to do that too!

I came to read past posts here so that I could match photos to years and for that I am pleased I have this blog. Much easier in fact to find photos than FB. But FB is so easy

My poor neglected blog!

So much has been happening, but the real culprit is FaceBook!! I post things on FB but never here

I went to Melbourne in January to visit friends. This photo was taken on the Queen's Cliff - Sorrento ferry. I had a lovely two weeks there catching up with lots of people

 Colin turned 18 and of course I needed to bake a stunning cake for him! This one is a 10" chocolate bottom layer; 8" chocolate-Kahlua middle and a 6" gluten free white chocolate top

 Leavers' Dinner with Colin

My fridge died on Christmas Eve. It gave me over thirty years worth of service so owed me nothing. The problem was buying a new one on Christmas Eve

Colin got two awards at prizegiving: Excellence in Service to Music and the Millward Cup for waterpolo

And more baking - this one was for our Christmas Crop

And another Christmas "cake' - cupcakes for a bbq at a WSD friend's house

Square cake class that I gave to my neighbours

Fun cake for a WSD dinner

Thie birdcage cake took hours to do!

Cupcakes for a friend's 40th birthday party

And life goes on... I bake, scrapbook, teach, got to WSD, movies etc. I will try to update this blog more often

More cakes

I went to Melbourne for a friend's surprise 60th birthday and made this cake for her

The inside - white with red polka dots

Then I went to a class to make a Minion - so cute!

I entered a competition on the Chelsea sugar page to win a Breville mixer ... and I did! It arrived yesterday along with around $70 worth of Chelse products 

Sugar products, two shopping bags and an apron

Apron and mixer

Me - ready to go! What a wonderful machine it is! The beater scrapes and mixes at the same time. it took under five minutes for me to make buttercream frosting

I am so thrilled with my mixer!

Some scrapping

In among my cake baking and decorating, I have also been scrapping. After saying that Project Life was not for me, I have found it fantastic! Most of the photos into PL refills and I scrap some of my favourite photos. I spent the first few days in the holidays doing some scrapping and at the same time finally decided to enter the Challenge Me Happy competition.

This layout is Colin and I in China at the Bird's Nest Stadium in 2011 and 2013. 

I love the reds that I chose to use!!

More cakes

Pink ombre (French meaning fading) made for a friends birthday

And it was also pink inside!

 Vanilla, passion fruit icing and tiny white chocolate bars

They all went done very well!

Formal 2013

Colin has been excited for weeks about it! He was also on the organising committee so spent the morning at the Town Hall helping to set up. There was a flurry of preparations in the afternoon: I had my hair and makeup done and Colin was having an "after-match function" here

Colin and his partner as well as with the rest of his group of friends

Colin 

The venue and dancing

My handsome young man and me! And with a group of his friends

My hair and makeup

My form class

Colin and I

The kids all had a wonderful time - as the usually do!

And another!

New Zealand was warned about a cold front approaching. Wellington got winds - really, really strong and heavy rain on Thursday night. Around 8.30pm our power went out. Ross was at work delivering pizzas. Colin and I got the candles out and eventually showered and went to bed as the power had still not come back on. I woke often during the night because of the wind, to check if the power was back on and to check my cell phone as I was worried I would not wake up to go to school. I did wake and headed straight to the shower. As I got out, Colin called to tell me that school had been cancelled for the day. A few minutes later we heard a loud shrieking noise that appeared to be coming from our old, unused gas heater. We also smelled gas. I opened windows even though it was only 11°C inside. I dialled 111 and asked for their help. The told me that they would send a fire appliance. It arrived about 7.30am with a wonderful crew  who checked my house and decided to turn off the gas main outside.

In the meantime, Ross went down to the train station to go into Uni as he had an exam. I had just got back in to bed (the warmest place) when he arrived back saying there were no trains, Uni was not cancelled and could I please drive him in to town. What a horrible journey! Rain, wind and lots of traffic. Colin came with me and on the way back, we stopped at the Mall and got hot coffee and food and a hot chicken and bread from the supermarket so we could at least have some decent food during the day.

In the meantime, the plumber had phoned to say that they would get to us as soon as possible. I tried phoning my mom, but her telephone was out. Cell phone batteries were fast going down so Colin and I took turns  charging them in the car. Colin took up residence in the car as it was warm!

Around midday Ross phoned to say that he was on his way home and I went to fetch him at the station. Just as he phoned the power came back on. I dropped him at home and went to check on my mother. They had no power but the staff at the retirement complex had organised hot tea and coffee, toast and soup and everyone was sitting in the main lounge keeping warm. The plumber phoned to day that he was on his way. When he arrived he found there was a leak in the gas pipe going to the hot water cylinder and because there is an open flame there, we could have gone "boom" at any time! Scary stuff. They fixed that and soon the heating was going

Outside my icing teacher's studio

 
 

 

What a terrible day! It was the worst storm in 40 years and I was very stressed by it all. I did sleep extremely well on Friday night! I am so grateful to the fire service, the linesmen and the plumbers!

I'm sorry that the photos are all over the place - I can't be bothered fiddling with them to get them straight! The views are from around my suburb

Really? Three months?

Yes, it's that long since I blogged! In my defense, a lot has been going on.

Over the Easter weekend, my mother and I went to Auckland. Did I have a good time? Parts of it, yes. She struggled. She struggled to walk anywhere which made it really hard for me. I went out a few times by myself and she stayed in the hotel room and told me the hotel (Skycity Grand) wasn't great as there wasn't much to do there! We went to St Lukes and there too I had to leave her sitting as she couldn't do much walking. That put pressure on me as I didn't like to leave her alone for too long. We had a great meal at Orbit though and the did enjoy her time in the Casino at the 1 cent machines!

At the same time, my bedroom was getting a make-over. Colin and friends painted my room for me. It looks fab!

Then in the April holidays I went to China again for two weeks on a school trip. I'd go to China again, but never again on a school trip. The kids weren't the problem :-(

At the end of May I went to Rotorua on a Geography trip. That was such fun! I so enjoyed it and it did feel a bit like a mini holiday. The trip back was not so great though because all the roads round those gorgeous big mountains in the middle of the Island were closed due to snow, so we had to come back via Napier. The trip took us nearly eight hours. I was driving the school van and by the time we got back I was sooooo tired!

I am still scrapping but I have a new obsession - cake decorating! I have been to some classes at Stiletto Studio and I simply love it! I also like to have some kind of surprise inside the cake.

 Black cake with pink polka dots inside

Decorating classes - zebra stripes, royals icing roses and brushwork

Pink, black and white stripes inside

 More to come, but I'll leave it at that for now