Elizabeth R

 Of all the Tributes to the Passing of Queen Elizabeth, I loved this one the most.

"Come on  Ma'am - Your Job is Done"

Matthew 25:21

Sorry Santa.

It was December 2014 when I posted that DH had (bless him) told me to take over the Lounge Room for a dedicated Sewing Room. And in that Sewing Space was the Feature Wood Burner Fire Place.  All cleaned and prepped and ready to light one day. . .

Well - One bitterly cold July day with the wind coming "straight off the Antarctic" we thought it would be nice to light the fire.

Bad Idea - Very, VERY Bad idea.

Instead of a nice warm glow my Sewing room filled with Black Smoke. There was so much that we could not see the fireplace from the door.

This was the last straw in a very long list of my growing dislike of the fireplace - It has to go!

* * *

It is not just the fireplace - It is removing the Chimney as well - which has issues of it's own in the Driveway.  Lets just say I don't back the car up the drive if I am tired.

This is NOT a DIY job (note the Underscore NOT).  This needs professionals and permits and scaffolding and a whole heap of other things.

I am very happy to let someone else do this one.

So - Sorry Santa, I will leave the "Magic Key" out for you. 

Or you can just outsource my pressie delivery to Australia Post!

Little Miss A is turning 2.

And as this was the first opportunity for her to have a Party 

- Her Cake had to be awesome.

I had always planned on using the Top Tier of DD's Wedding Cake (which had been vacuum packed) but 8 years was too much and although it looked fine - it just didn't taste good.

Plan B - Outsource the base cake from a company that makes Cakes to decorate.  

I still needed height for the cake and made a Gluten Free layer to sculpt.  Keeping it away from the Caramel Mud was a challenge but achievable.

Thursday Night:  I had the 2 layers together, sculpted and Crumb coated with (GF) Buttercream, and covered in Fondant.

Friday Morning was scheduled to help clean and prepare DD's house for the Party. 

I could spare the morning but not getting home until 4:00 pm meant I would be burning the Midnight Oil to get this cake made. 

By dinner time I had the bones of the Cake's main feature taking shape.

11:30 pm  It was not just Dragon who needed propping up for a sleep but he was done all but the Dusting and that could wait until the morning.

It is amazing how a touch of Colour (applied not unlike Makeup) can bring a model to life.

I was extra pleased that He actually looked somewhat like the photo in The Book!

(Enchanting Magical Cakes by Debbie Brown)

Happy Birthday was Sung 

(in a Surprisingly Tuneful way) and the Cake was cut and devoured in less time than it took to make.

Little Miss A's comment of 

"Dragon asleep on Mountain" 

made it all worth it.

And a Cake Review from one of the Guests (Ryan 7)

"That Cake was amazing.  It looked so good and tasted good but I think it looked better than it tasted that's how good it looked". 

Um? ... I'll take that as a Compliment. Thank you.

* * * * *

Footnote:  

This post is dedicated to 'Auntie' Em.  

Who lost her Mum the day before and still came to the Party.  Love and Hugs.

A much awaited Arrival

The problem with getting Married during a Pandemic was - Not everyone could come and with Our International borders closed it meant that Our D- DILs Mom could not be present at the Wedding.

Which meant … 

There was One Very Important Person missing from the Wedding Photos!

So on a Sunny 4th of July we all dressed up in our Wedding attire.

And got those all Important Mother and Daughter Photos.

Was all the work in the Garden worth it for just a few hours?

To see Her SO happy?
That's a "YES" from me!

The Secret Garden

In Summer when our Japanese Maples are in full leaf, they make a beautiful canopy that you can hide under.   

Now we have little ones - It is time to finally turn it into a Magic Secret Garden.

With the trees bare it's a good time to get in under there and do some SERIOUS weeding.

I have no idea how the Violets arrived, but they are hard to get rid of.
Somewhere under here are my Hellebores.

Time to turn the problem into an asset and just leave it.

(Considering a 6"pot of Common Violets is AU $ 8:99 - I have a small fortune here!)

And I don't have to worry about them getting trampled! 

We pulled out enough to find the Hellebores and create a path. 

The old Step has, once again become a seat.

Now a Secret Garden would not be complete without a Guardian.

THIS is Colin - 

We didn't find him - he found us.

(And I know Colin is an odd name for a Battle hardened Dwarf but --- the sales guy said he looked like his brother....)

Add some Night Ambience 

and Wait for the Canopy to once again hide the Garden from all the "Grownups".

In the Meantime ...

Apparently, 

No.#1 Granddaughter considered that she was being neglected so deciding to take matters into her own hands, built herself a Car and when asked Where are you driving? Casually replied "Grandma's!"

(I think we are going to have to keep an eye on this one!)

 

Catching up with The Garden.

I was going to do a post about what we have been up to during May/June but on looking back over previous Blog Posts I came to realise that I haven't done any updates on our last Garden Makeover, which was back in July 2019.

As I left it, The Garden was rather bare and waiting for things to grow....

And Grow they did.

For a while, It all looked quite lovely. But it became rather overgrown. 

The Happy Wanderer happily wandered everywhere and crowded out the Magnolia

And the Standard Grevillea, which would have been a nice Lawn Specimen had we planted it in the Lawn 20 years ago, became a Blob that just got in the way.

They had to go!

And one day we had the excuse to do something about it.

Wedding Photo Shoot!  No, we don't have anymore Children to Marry off - Just a re-run of the last one.  This time with the Mother of the Bride present!

First to go was the Grevillea.  It was of course, rather top heavy and didn't need much convincing to give up its position.  

We transplanted one of our Grass Trees into that spot and immediately the Garden started to open up!

Next to go was the Arbour. 

"If it's not working - Don't keep it"

We decided it had done it's job of protecting the Magnolia while it got established.

And the Happy Wanderer?  

It certainly didn't mind it's massive prune and is happily sitting in it's pot - In flower and thinking about wandering somewhere else!

The Magnolia can now stop hiding in the background and show off her Flowers.

The timber 'Jetty' got a makeover, replacing the old Step with a Red-Gum Railway Sleeper.

It is now much safer - and looks like it has always been there.

A few more plants here and there and some Black mulch to create pathways.  

And the little Red Car - has always been here. A  Family heirloom that once belonged to DH's older Brothers, now has somewhere to permanently call home.

And just one finishing touch - Lighting!

We are absolutely delighted with the results.