A piece of cake!

Well, the summer is here and soon it will be 'Bake-Off' season. I am no Mary Berry, but I do love a bit of stirring, mixing, and cake faffing! The latter being the operative word! I have always tried to make a special effort with the childrens' birthday cakes, since the day I became mum. It's the one thing I love to do for them, because nothing beats the surprise and excitement on their little faces as they puff out those candles! My oldest turned thirteen this weekend...Bear with my while I just sit down for a bit to let that sink in....thirteen...I am the owner of a teenager...Help! Well, of course I had to make a little effort with her cake again, as it's a rather special birthday.

Now, I can't and don't do 'fancy'...My skills don't stretch that far, and smoothly perfected masterpieces is not something I even want to attempt. But I can do rustic! So, with the very popular trend of  'naked cakes' gracing wedding and celebration tables around the world, I thought I'd have a go at making one for my girl. It is a lot easier than having to drape a cake in flawless fondant icing! I merely baked four layers of sponge cake, iced them together with buttercream, and didn't even have to bother with the sides! The idea is to spread none, or just a very thin layer of icing round the sides so that all the layers are visible. Easy..a piece of cake! The fun part was dressing the top. I used fresh roses, daisies, some handpicked sweets, sprinkles, quirky flags and bon-bon toppers. Voila! A very rustic naked cake!

And she loved it...Phew!

Blessings

Slow...quick-quick, slow...

It seems that as I get older, I get a little more philosophical about living life...
I am becoming more aware of the rhythm of my own life, with tendencies to reflect on and ponder over everything...Lately I feel a strong urge to be quite intentional with time and how I spend it. The hours in a day seem more precious than ever, and there is a sense of responsibility to be a good steward of the seconds, minutes, hours and days which I am blessed with everyday. Life to me should be like the 'Quick-Step', to use a ballroom term! The rhythm is slow...quick-quick, slow...It is so important to make time to slow down in a world that is eager to devour every second like a starved gannet. There seems to be a tendency to glorify 'busy'. It's as if people are hanging on to the over inflated importance of being busy. And so we fill our days without taking slower steps to breathe, think and take stock. All too often I have to remind myself to take my time with the slow steps, as I tend to want to gallop away in a Polka! And as I've learnt the hard way...I will fall down in a heap of exhaustion if I don't pay attention to the slow steps!

Over the last  few weeks, I have made a deliberate effort to slow down when needed. Saying 'no' when necessary, and doing so without the urge to feel that an explanation is needed. I am becoming more aware of my limitations, my boundaries, and I am trying to focus on living and resting with intent. A life of balance is a wonderful thing. I am not quite there yet, but I hope that wisdom will be my portion as I take every step...slow...quick-quick...slow...Living Simply...

To be more like a child...To never lose my sense of wonder...

To look up from my screen, and out the window...to see the rain...to smell it...

To enjoy simple pleasures...'there is always time for tea'...

To make time to do the things that really matter...nurturing and nourishing those around me...

To live life a little more simply...

Blessings

Simple sentiments

As a young girl, sometimes my fiery temper would flare at the slightest provocation, and I can assure you, not much has changed! But, by provocation I really mean treading on my moral toes, beliefs I hold very strongly to my heart. In such instances where words are uttered that go against the very grain of my beliefs' core, I would often feel the urge to speak my mind, even though in those instances a quiet answer wrapped in gentleness may have had a better outcome! As I'm getting older, I'm learning that retaliation is not always to best way, and that silence can sometimes be the best answer.

Three words have stuck with me since my volatile teenage years, calm words of wisdom that my dad used to utter when he could see the flames rising in my eyes at the onset of a 'red flag to a bull situation'...

'Be a sweetheart'..........

And now, after a little time spent at the sewing machine, these words are up on the wall as a gentle reminder to 'be a sweetheart'...Be kind, gentle, nice...Yes, sometimes being nice is more important than being right....

Blessings

Saturday...

Saturday...The most blissful of days...Time to slow down...breathe...

Breakfast...

A little mooch around my favourite thrifting spots...Today did not disappoint! I have been looking out for a quirky vintage globe for months now, so imagine my excitement when I spotted a lovely 1960's Chad Valley tinplate globe in amongst a jumble of 'junk'! One man's junk is another man's treasure...

These vintage Coty Talc tins came home with me too. The colours are perfection...

Thrifting was followed by a lovely piece of pie...and a picnic in the sunshine with friends...

Sometimes you just have to stop and smell the flowers, don't you?

I do hope your Saturday has been filled with loveliness too!

Blessings

Light work...

Today is a good day. The sun is boldly strutting in the bright blue sky, and a light breeze is flirting with the leafy trees outside my window, making them sway just ever so gently to the tune of early summer. Perfection. When the days are bright and warm like this, my mind tends to wander all the way down from Blighty to the very bottom of the African continent...my homeland. I get rather nostalgic when reminded of balmy days spent in the southern sun. And it seems nostalgia has gripped my heart strings rather tightly over the past week!

I have been itching to make a new lampshade for quite some time now, a little sewing project that I hadn't attempted before. I had a vague idea of what I wanted to do...some kind of naive applique scene...maybe little houses, or beach huts? Whilst flicking through our wedding album (a little self indulgent walk down memory lane!), it suddenly dawned on me that I could do the little chapel where we were married. It was a beautiful sun kissed day like today, with a light breeze tickling my veil. We said our 'I do's' in a pretty school chapel out in the country, where white daisies framed the entrance to the altar. The church was surrounded by beautiful old Cape Dutch style buildings, so typical of South Africa, and I decided incorporate this into the scene. Yes, I am a soppy girl. A sentimental fool. I do love to add a little nostalgia and sentiment to our home, as I believe it reflects who we are. And of course I've allowed myself a little poetic licence in the design...a few flirty kites stretching their legs above the rooftop, and cheerful bunting blowing in the breeze...

Blessings