Sunday, 6 April 2014

A Birthday and a Spot of Gardening

Thank you all so much for your lovely and encouraging comments on my last post. it really does mean a lot to me, thank you :)

Firstly let me tell you about the magnificent Mother's Day present my wonderful lot bought for me. I've coveted these from afar for quite a while, but this is mine... yea...



It's a KMix from Kenwood, the design is fire cracker. It's proudly sitting on the kitchen counter, though I do still need to find a good place to store the attachments for it. I couldn't wait to use it and as my son was about to turn 26... time for a birthday cake methinks...

It was a family affair, as birthday cakes here often are



lots of chocolate just like the one we made for Imogen last year as Adam had requested the same (without the 1 Direction decorations)



The easiest cake I've ever made, it was quite mesmerising to watch


All contributing, Daddy adding the icing sugar to the buttercream


Imogen doing the important taste test and bowl scraping...





Adam was really pleased and very happy to wrap it up and take it home with him, Imogen would have been more pleased if he'd forgotten to take it!


I haven't put as much time into the garden this year as I probably should have. I was hoping for a warmer weekend on Saturday, it was a bit grey and dull, but not cold. I spent the afternoon in the greenhouse replanting my baby petunias and lobelia.




I love to see pots full of colour when we're in the garden, and hopefully these will continue to grow and flourish. I wish now I'd planted more seeds, especially some vegetables. we do have some tomatoes and garlic




I also picked up this bargain tomato planter



With a photo of how the tomatoes should grow from under it



I've planted a tomato plant in it though it didn't seem very happy hanging there upside down. My camera needed fresh batteries so I can't show you how forlorn it looked, but when I checked it this afternoon it looked much more chipper, so fingers crossed! I have visions of buckets full of tomatoes and me cooking up lots of tomato sauces to freeze.

I've enjoyed touching base with everyone again though I still have lots of blog reading to catch up with.

Here's a happy picture of one of my baskets to end with



Take care
xxx


29 comments:

  1. Your new mixer looks really cool! I like the colourful design. Yummy looking cake too.
    Marianne x

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  2. Lucky girl I am sure you will love your new mixer ..I called mine Maud "she" is a real help
    Thea xx

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  3. Fab looking cake and good luck with your plants too. I'm sure the mixer will be well used and cherished.

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    1. Thank you, just need a bit more sunshine for our plants now x

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  4. What a fun mixer! So colorful. I'm sure you'll love it -- and no better way to break it in than a birthday cake. And love your basket of pansies. One of my favorite flowers.

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  5. Nice mixer! I got one a few years ago and I looove to use it. Your flowers are really pretty.

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    1. I feel very spoilt, no excuse not to do lots of baking now x

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  6. Happy birthday to your son, the birthday cake you made looked and can only imagine tasted good yum.You have gotten further than me this year in the garden, I need to catch up.Do not think im planting cabbages this year, so put off the last by a serge in the cabbage white butterfly. Lastly what a well planted hanging basket, very cheery x

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  7. Wow ... I am in awe ! That is a thing of beauty.Enjoy it.
    Kate x

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  8. Love your new mixer, very snazzy.
    Anne xx

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  9. Ooh! Love the mixer - a far cry from the stark white they always used to come in. There is a cake/bread mixer here... me...perhaps it's time to retire it and buy the Kenwood I've been wanting for decades?
    The cake looks yummy. I'm with Imogen here. A quick verse of Happy Birthday Dear Adam and then cutting a slice each would have been my style too!
    Let us know how the upside down tomato growing goes, please. Have thought about doing that too, but always end up planting ours upright in pots.

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  10. I have a mixer like that, different brand, but same type of mixer and I LOVE IT! It fell on the floor (vibrated off of the shelf it's on while mixing some meat for meatloaf) so my husband bought me a new one for Valentine's Day! I use it all the time. Cake mixes, pie dough, bread dough (well....I haven't made bread in ages, but if I did...) meatloaf, meatballs.....everything. Love it.

    Cindy Bee

    PS - Gorgeous flowers....can't wait to get my hands dirty! It's been a long winter.

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    1. What a lovely husband, I'm planning to make bread dough with mine too x

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  11. Love your mixer, very stylish, and obviously makes very good cake!!!! It looks as though you are very busy with all of your garden plans, you will have lots of lovely things growing all summer long! xx

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  12. Very envious of your lovely mixer - fab colours! Your cake looks yummy and making me feel hungry again. I haven't started any of my seeds off yet. I'm going to do it over easter which is probably a bit late but it's still been frosty here in the mornings. No tomatoes though as I don't have much luck with them - of course we'll probably have a long hot summer now! x

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  13. You lucky lady that mixer looks fab. Trouble is I would want to be making cakes every day. Good for the ingredients seller, good for DH but very bad for my poor waistline. Hope you have success with the tomatoes. Looks very interesting. We grow all ours in hanging baskets and usually get bucket loads. I agree theres nothing like homemade tomato sauce so hope we have a good harvest this year too!

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    1. I know what you mean, we have to give some away to my son and his family x

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  14. What a great mixer and what a fab Mother's day gift! Your birthday cake looks lovely too.
    I tried planting tomatoes either last year or the year before with very little success, hope you have much better luck than me :))

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    1. Thank you, I'm hoping we'll have lots of tomatoes this year x

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  15. Cheryl, congrats on the great mixer and your lovely lot who got it for you! I cooked quite happily all my life without a heavy-duty stand mixer, but after getting one last September, well, I just love it!

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