Miscellaneous 59

You guys! I am UP. Vertical! It’s a freaking Christmas miracle after two days of being completely wiped out. I don’t know if it was all baby, or some bug, but I was SICK. But now, well now I feel OK! I got up and I made lunches and I cooked breakfast, made beds, walked the dog to school, dealt with tantrums AND watered the pots. A veritable Christmas miracle!

And would you take a look at what was out there when I was watering….my climbing icebergs are starting to come into bloom! One of them is looking fabulous and the other? Well the dreaded black spot has hit over the last few days. What’s best for that all you gardeners out there? A spray of sorts I am imagining. I was talking to one of the school mums this morning about roses and how the older we get, the more we appreciate them. Are you like this? I know I am!

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You know what else? I got a text message from my husband! He’s been away for 8 days and I have missed him SO much. MY visions of watching whatever movies I wanted every night didn’t quite go to plan seeing as I was in bed sick most nights at 6.30pm…oh well! Late tonight he will be home. He is NEVER to go away without any kind of contact again. I can do solo parenting with phone/internet access, but not without.

I was sent these cute little earrings last week from a reader Sian who has launched a new business this week. She has free shipping until the end of November as well. Time to get started on that Christmas shopping perhaps? You can check out her website here. Good luck with it all Sian!

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Speaking of online shopping, can we all take a moment to bow down at the altar of Anthropologie? Somehow I stumbled upon the work of NY designer Mara Hoffman who collaborated with Anthro for some pieces and DEAD SET I am in love with the lot! I’ll take one of everything! Except I won’t because I can’t afford it, nor would I fit into it, but it sure is nice to dream isn’t it? You can view the collection here.

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Daisy woke up last Friday morning asking whose turn it was to make her birthday cake next year. I had to have a think about it, then realised that it was Rob’s turn (we take turns with each kid each year). THANKFULLY. She has requested a WW1 cake, a trench scenario with sandbags, soldiers and some guns. Um, OK…this kid is obsessed with history – just adores everything to do with it – her favourite show is Horrible Histories. I’m not sure if we will need to do a war themed party, but the cake will definitely be a talking point.

You can see some of the cakes that Rob and I have made before here. We actually used to do cake off’s when we just had one kid and had LOTS of time!

Daisy’s 1st birthday ladybug cake
Daisy’s 2nd Humpty Cake on a wall versus Rob’s shark cake
Daisy’s 3rd (infinity bloody edge) Pool cake by Rob and my Princess castle cake 
Daisy’s 4th pig cake made by Rob
Daisy’s 5th love heart cake 
Daisy’s 6th pussy cat cake made by Rob
Harper’s 1st number 1 cake
Harper’s 2nd Rainbow cake
Harper’s 3rd tiger cake made by me
Harper’s 4th Peppa Pig cake made by me
Harper’s 5th gymnastics cake made by Rob

Dear lord, that is a WHOLE lot of home made dodgy cake making. At least it was all made with love though right?

I am DETERMINED to get organised for Christmas this year, because I always have best intentions and then find it’s the 15th December and I haven’t started at all. So this week I started! Well I got started on some book shopping at least. I purchased all these through Booktopia as they had free shipping (which I found out through Megan from Children’s Books Daily) you should follow her blog if your kids love books…she always has such great ideas! Some stuff for both girls…and I also splashed out for Daise on the box set of Harry Potter books…I think it’s time!

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What’s your plans for the weekend? We have NOTHING on and I can’t wait. I might even take myself out for a few hours ALL BY MYSELF-ES. I hope you have a great one!

What’s your best tips for black spot on my roses?
Do you make your own birthday cakes?
Started any Christmas shopping? Share your tips PLOISE.

Comments

  1. whaddya know about transformer cakes. You have a week to get back to me. Thx.

  2. Of course I love roses more as I get older. I even started a little #roselove last night with Tracie Ellis from AURA because we both obsessed with our Pierre de Ronsards. Google it baby. You’ll love them.

    So glad you’re up and about. Hooray to Rob coming home. At least you know you love him if you miss him that much.

    Just back from a breakfast shin dig with your lovely Lorraine. Hope the next one is in Sydney so we can meet!

  3. Bought myself two new roses just yesterday! I spray white oil, not sure if that’s the thing though??? Glad you are feeling a bit better and Rob is finally on his way home. Congrats on the smudge (that’s what ultrasound pics look like to me).

  4. I’m always so jealous of your flowers! I only have a balcony… 🙁

  5. We are doing Elf on the Shelf with the girls this year!! Can’t wait!! I have been busily gathering ideas for the mischief that our Elf can get up to!!

  6. I love making birthday cakes – up until about the day of requirement and I think ‘why didn’t I outsource this like the clever people seem to…?’
    And so we have created princess cakes and Peppa in this house too, along with Mike the Knight, butterflies, and a ‘great big talk purple Barbie cake’. And like your husband, mine has also taken on a cake challenge. My daughter requested a tractor for her 3rd birthday and so my husband attempted to deliver – do you know it takes a WHOLE BOTTLE of supermarket bought ‘pillbox red’ good colouring to get the white icing to the correct shade of ‘Case tractor red’ so you can begin icing a Steiger shaped cake?
    Bravo on getting vertical! And totally agree on the solo parenting – I had 8 days husbandless with 4 kids and I’m not sure he thought phone/Skype contact was good – most calls were kids or me in tears or with wine at an inappropriate hour of the day (me- not the kids, although if it had meant migraine inducing #4 hadn’t got up 47 times before going to sleep and 5 times during the night I would seriously have considered it! Lol)

  7. You’ve certainly earned lots of all by yourself-ES time! Enjoy x

  8. Praise be to St Nick for your verticality!
    I too like flowers more as I get older – roses, peonies, other stuff I can’t name.
    Books. Books are the BEST.
    Today someone sent me a few pages of an old Frankie magazine about the history of baking, as inspiration for #sundaybakingsunday. In the mail, with a handwritten letter…. how super SWEET is that!?
    Weekend – no plans. Hooray.

  9. I enjoy the garden so much more as I’m getting older. My mum gave me lots of pots of hydrangea’s when she moved house, and now I’m almost obsessed with them!!!! I can’t wait for them to flower, and when they do, I feel so proud lol!! I love that they come from my Mum too.

  10. Lisa Mckenzie says

    I love all flowers more as I get older,especially roses I haven’t got any but my Dad does.I am glad you’re feeling better Beth maybe you had a virus or something,the womens weekly birthday cookbook is the best for kids cakes I have my vintage copy.
    Have a wonderful relaxing weekend Beth and enjoy Rob being back home and going out all by yourself Xx

  11. I’ve started Xmas with book shopping, it’s such an easy thing to do by internet and hopelessly addictive. Thank god my kids are readers.

  12. I love all your cakes! What fun you guys must have with them

  13. laurie-anne says

    Started my christmas shopping today. I always have made my girl’s birthday cakes all sorts of things over the years. They loved the women’s weekly birthday cake book. I made their wedding cakes too. Now they are married one emails me pictures of cakes to make her & she makes me a beautiful cake on my birthday.

  14. You’ll have to look at Delbard roses. They are all named after things ‘french’. We have Claude Monet / Parfum de Paris / Alfred Sisley. Truly divine. They are beautiful and stripey and mottled and just majic. The pale pink, climbing ‘nahema’, smells like the girls’ grandma (so they say)!!!!

  15. AWWWWWWWWWWWW shucks! You’re the loveliest! I love banging on about kids books…SO MUCH. I love your icebergs…mums garden is full of standard bushes of iceberg roses and I adore them. My children like to pull all the flowers off…as you do.

  16. Baby Mac – let me say how jealous I am of you having another baby… My hub and I have pondered and wondered whether to have a 5th … Our 3rd was twins.. so have left it at that but since my elder sister ( by 11 months) had her 3rd baby 3 months ago, its got us all clucky again.
    Ohhh how I love babies esp newborns!! My 4 children are obsessed with their new cousin and keep pestering every night for another new baby brother or sister…. Ohhh it’s so tempting.
    Any hoo, I just wanted to say congrats and how happy I was to read your news and I don’t even know you !
    My sister and I squealed with excitement at coffee the other day ( as if you were our friend) which I know you would be if you lived in Brisbane.
    love reading your blog with your posts on kids books, food, recipes and garden.

    Margie xxx

    • That is SO lovely…I love that people know me like a friend…I am!! Thanks ladies x

    • I ummed & aahed about having #5 for years. It felt like such a big decision. We ended up not having another. I do love hearing about others who decide to have more as I.love large families. Our #4 is six today & I feel sentimental thinking about what if we’d had #5. Oh well, I will just enjoy my sisters third when it arrives in January, which is very exciting! Goodluck with your decision 🙂

  17. So glad to hear of other dad’s getting involved with the birthday cake making! My husband & I split it – I do the cake baking – he does the cutting/engineering & decorating! He is way more patient then me! Happy to hear you are upright again & congrats on the baby growing! I Love babies!!!

  18. Love your cakes Beth! (and Rob’s cakes too). I’m glad you decided to give yourselves a break and take turns – mummy & daddy definitely don’t need the stress of 2 cakes to prepare for every birthday party!

  19. Woman’s Weekly Children’s book was my bible at birthday time when my kids were little, but at 24 and 21 it doesn’t really get used anymore. I just wished that I took photos of each cake that I made.

  20. Spare a thought for us single parents…. We get to do this all by ourselves 365 days/nights, in sickness and in health, rain, hail and shine. Sucks hardcore.
    I miss having someone to commiserate with…and what I wouldn’t do for someone to make me a cuppa tea at the end of a day. Or even at the start of the day.

    • Allison I think you are AMAZING! Seriously, all the mums that do this by themselves deserve a bloody medal. Here’s a virtual cup of coffee to start your day with x

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