PAY IT FORWARD

When I take our little one to his pre-school, we pass a farm that rears cows, not just any cows but 'Shetland Cows'. Now we all know about the Shetland ponies, just never knew Shetland cows existed. The ones that we see on the farm are like the cows above, all fuffy and hairy but black and white like the normal cows we see. What a joy to see, especially as I found out on the internet that they are becoming a rare breed. Anyway, glad someone near us is helping towards slowing that process down.

So what's that go to do with PAY IT FORWARD, well nothing really, just that whenever I see these 'Shetland Cows' I smile, so why not put a smile on someone's face by 'Paying it forward'.

Have any of you seen the movie 'PAY IT FORWARD' with Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt. I gathered that this was based on a book. It is a really heartwarming story (if you are like me, lots of paper hankies by your side as you watch said movie...) When I can, I'll get the book!

PAY IT FORWARD, is based on doing one good deed for 3 people and asking them to do one good deed to 3 people themselves...before you know it, loads of people are doing good deeds for loads of other people and it spreads... I got the idea from another blog (she got the idea from someone else, and it goes on from there).

There is a whole website dedicated to PAY IT FORWARD, please do have a look, link enclosed, and here is a little bit from the website:

Reuben St. Clair, the teacher and protagonist in the book “Pay It Forward,” starts a movement with this voluntary, extra-credit assignment: THINK OF AN IDEA FOR WORLD CHANGE, AND PUT IT INTO ACTION. Trevor, the 12-year-old hero of “Pay It Forward,” thinks of quite an idea. He describes it to his mother and teacher this way: "You see, I do something real good for three people. And then when they ask how they can pay it back, I say they have to Pay It Forward. To three more people. Each. So nine people get helped. Then those people have to do twenty-seven." He turned on the calculator, punched in a few numbers. "Then it sort of spreads out, see. To eighty-one. Then two hundred forty-three. Then seven hundred twenty-nine. Then two thousand, one hundred eighty-seven. See how big it gets?"

So what am I doing about it? Well I signed up to PAY IT FORWARD on little Foodies blog and am really excited about getting a little gift from her, and my promise to her was to PAY IT FORWARD to three bloggers that are the first to leave a comment on my blog, wanting to be part of PAY IT FORWARD. What will I be giving out, lots of love and hugs... just joking! I'm not sure, it really depends on who you are, I would love to give something specific to you. It won't be a big gift, just something to put a smile on your face and to show you that there is a lot of love out there in the world amid all the wars and suffering. If you like I can even donate a cake to a good cause (note the word good cause!) Put really, at the end of the day, it's all about getting good deeds done all over the globe, so come on, sign up on my blog and be a part of something 'warm and fuzzy' (some amazing good deeds have been done out there due to PAY IT FORWARD)

Remember, you have to be happy for me to have your address to send the stuff to. This you can do via my Website (The shop I'm proud of - top right hand corner of my blog) but leave a comment first on my blog and we'll take it from there....

Below is the link to Little Foodies blog and the PAY IT FORWARD post!

http://littlefoodie.blogspot.com/2007/11/little-foodies-likes-to-pay-it-forward.html

... and here is the link to the PAY IT FORWARD website itself:

http://www.payitforwardfoundation.org/programs.html

...come on, you know you want to :-)

...I survived the 11 cakes

So what were the 11 cakes, First there was the 4 tier wedding sponge cake that you can see above, the bride also wanted a fruit cake decorated so that she could keep it for her 1st year wedding aniversary, and since it was a big wedding, she requested 4 other large cutting cakes, (the cutting cakes are not elaborately decorated, as they are not on display) So that's 9 cakes in total.

I also made their 'Engagement Party cake' which comprised of a Champagne Bottle coming out of the middle of a cake, with the illusion that it was wrapped in fabric - that makes 10 cakes. (I was also asked to make a large fruit cake for her Mum!) There was a birthday cake which was requested by another lady whose wedding cake I had made earlier in the year... the party had a Black and White theme, hence the colours, that makes 11 cakes. All cakes apart from the fruit cakes were baked and decorated during the week - phew, and what a week that was. The week before all this I made a Thomas the Tank Engine cake for a lady who had come across my website but lives in North London - I sent her photos of cakes I had done but that were not up on my website and she loved them. She was gutted when I told her I had moved to Colchester as she really wanted one of my cakes (I was really touched by that!) luckily for us, her sister attends the University over here, so she picked up the cake for me and took it down to London.

For all of you out there thinking of business ideas but never getting round to implementing them, this is for you...

"while I at length debate and beat the bush, there shall step in other men and catch the bird" JOHN HEYWOOD - Taken from the book 'PASSING TIME IN THE Loo' vol 1

Catch you later....

...so what have I been up to?

...well let me start by saying the above is a photograph of my first cake order in Colchester. The young lady had recently come back from a holiday in Australia and loved 'Jet Skiing' there. So her boyfriend ordered her a cake with that theme in mind! She was thrilled with the cake and so were her boyfriend's family - I'm really hoping that I'll get some good 'word-of-mouth advertising here. Talking about advertising I am still awaiting an advert of mine to come out in one of the local publications here. I must give the advertising guy a call to find out what has been happening (I bet you it's got something to do with the postal strike!) Anyway back to the cake, everyone loved the attention to detail I included on the cake. One bit that really stood out was the way I made the rocks and how I placed them on the cake board...

This brings me nicely to one of the highlights about being in Colchester - there is a Sugarcraft shop that I discovered about 25 mins drive from us, it's at Clacton-on-sea. Oh, how lovely it was to be able to take our little one down there with me, not only to shop but to let him run around on the seaside, he had great fun throwing stones into the sea and then running away from the waves as they came in. There was also a Pier there with lots of kiddie rides, you just have to be armed with lots of coins and 'Bobs your Uncle' a real fun day out. Come half term when his big sister is at home, we'll definitely be going back there.... and here was me thinking that you can only have fun at the beach in the Summer!

So I guess I can safely say the kids are really enjoying Colchester, our daughter loves her secondary school and new friends. She has also joined St John's Ambulance cadets.... which is every Tuesday evenings. She learns First Aid and other life skills in a fun environment, one evening I had to take her to Colchester's Ambulance unit where the cadets were shown around the Ambulances and the other equipment. It really is a lovely youth organisation. I'll leave a link at the bottom of this post (it's only £1.00 a class and you also get to buy a really snazzy uniform for them).

I have also taken up cycling b..... I had to do something after I went into Marks & Sparks to buy a pair of trousers - I found these lovely black cropped ones (the material is amazing!). As I tried on my normal size I realised I was struggling.... and there was NO WAY I was going for a size up! so I bought them, when I tried them on and showed hubby, he let out a little "oooohhh"...... apparently this meant that they were very nice on me, but a bit too figure hugging in some areas - hips and bum to be precise! (yes I can give Beyonce a run for her money in those areas!) When I asked if they were okay for Church the next day, he said a great big NO! Anyway, the cycling has been fun, especially as hubby bought me an MP3 player to use while cycling. So I'm up at 7am, out of the house for about 7.15am, my cycle route for now is about 24 mins, I get back and do some push-ups, crunches etc and usually ready for a shower by 8.00am.... and then I say to the day "bring it on"

...last week I offered to help for one of the Alpha Suppers in Church, only to be told later that I will be cooking for 40 people (pray tell me why did I put my hand up when they were asking for help?) anyway right now I feel like a contestant on BBC 2's THE RESTAURANT, you know the one with Raymond Blanc... it is a much see for all you foodies.... Wednesdays and Thursdays 8pm. I think there are two more weeks to go till the end. Anyway back to the Alpha supper, that will be Fried Rice and Chicken Stew for all..... I'll adapt the stew for the vegetarians (any ideas?).

So I guess that's it, in a not so 'nutshell'

Here's the link I promised -http://www.sja.org.uk/sja/young-people.aspx

Catch you later....

Relocate, Relocate, relocate....

we've moved! Yes we finally did it, and have now moved to Colchester in Essex. Where we are within minutes to the massive and very popular 'Colchester Zoo', we can get to a beach within 30 minutes and even more beaches up the coast from there, our daughter can walk to school (NO MORE SCHOOL RUN yippee!), when I drive our little one to pre-school I've got to be careful not to run over any wild rabbit that frequently jump out of the fields onto the country lanes! I am sure you get the picture. Actually where we were living wasn't too urban really but over here things are a little more laid back... just a little!

Business wise, I now have to build up a whole new clientele... I still have had a couple of old clients that have placed orders, but I really need to get things moving from this end. I'm working on getting 2 adverts out into local publications that deliver to my surrounding area and luckily the costs won't break the bank. One goes to about 3,800 residents in the area, and the other goes to about 27,000 readers and is a free magazine for parents of kids age 0-16 and it has a 'Party Planners Section'. I am holding off going to Yell.com or Yellow Pages for now as I want to be more specific at targeting customers.

I've been checking out competitors and now know that I have to be very careful in not being put into the same category as the ones I've seen so far.... Target customers for me will be up-market clients who are ready to pay for the creations I make. I know it won't be easy but it's all about making the right moves and taking ONE STEP AT A TIME. I have arranged an appointment with a local BusinessLink advisor for this week, hope he gives me some useful advise or point me in the right directions. Also, my good friend Omara recommended this book to me and I strongly recommend it to any 'Small - Medium Sized Business Owners' out there. It has been a best seller for a number of years and when you read it you will understand why...... it is called GETTING BUSINESS TO COME TO YOU by Paul and Sarah Edwards (& Laura Clampitt Douglas).

Catch you later with updates as to how things are going.

Till then I pray whatever you might be facing right now, that God makes a way for you, as I know he will do for me over here....

...get me to the church on time!

"I'm getting married in the morning

Ding dong the bells are going to ring".......blah blah blah

You know that old english song don't you, anyway in my case it was more like 'get me to the wedding reception on time (or should I say before the bride arrives!)

Last weekend I had a Wedding Cake to deliver. It had been a busy week prior to the weekend, we had family members over to spend some time with us and there was that 'little matter' of keeping all the kids entertained especially as it is still the summer holidays.

The long and short of it was that I had not slept a wink on the Friday night and was still doing last minute stuff as the bride had ordered some extra bits for the wedding.

I was suppose to leave the house around 11am to get me to the reception venue for around 1pm. At 11.00am I was no where near finished, as I was still frantically working away until about 12.45pm (and this is with the help of one of my sister-in-laws). I quickly got myself ready (all at snail pace here as I was sooooooo tired). Anyway hubby has this bright idea that I should use my sister-in-laws 'Satallite Navigation system'.

I have never used one before and was a little unsure if it was a good idea. I am generally good with directions as long as it's north of the Thames, south of Thames - I get scared! And the Wedding happened to be 'south of the Thames'. So considering that the wedding reception was to start at 3pm I really didn't think I had much of a choice, so 'Sat Nav' it was. My sister-in-law took it out of her car, did a quick (and i mean quick) run through of how it worked and told me not to worry!

I don't know how you guys find it but honestly once I got to unfamiliar areas, I felt like I was driving blindfolded. I mean this 'thing' that I was relying on could be driving me up the garden path (so to speak) and I'll be obeying every command it gives me! One of the things this 'Sat Nav' does, is that once you are on the right path it does not say anything to you, so you keep going until it gives you another command. Also this 'Sat Nav' was a touch screen thingy bob, you know, where you tap on the screen to navigate around the menu. Well somewhere along the line I must have tapped on the volume unknowingly and muted the silly thing. So it wasn't saying anything to me! Hence I am assuming I'm going in the right direction and I just keep driving following the arrow on the map shown on the screen. I must have done this for ages turning left or right at will! Somehow I realised what I had done, and that the arrow I was following was actually an arrow showing me where 'I' was going. By this time it was about 3.30pm, now I was really panicking, I had no idea where I was, I had visions of the Bride and Groom turning up and no Wedding Cake at the venue...... oh how I panicked!

All I can say is that things turned out okay in the end. I stopped the car and managed after much tapping (or should I say hitting!) on the screen to set the 'Sat Nav' to re-direct me, when I did get to the Wedding reception venue, the hall decorators were still finishing off, and best of all the Bride was 'fashionably late' hence there was loads of time for me to set up.... I tell you that Saturday added years to me. But it was all worth it in the end as the Bride and Groom loved their Wedding Cake.

...talk about missing an opportunity

Hiya all, hope you and your families are all well? We have been fine, a few coughs and colds but that is kinda normal!

What isn't so normal is me developing a really bad sore throat, that lead to me losing my voice for a few days. It was all down to the fact that business has been busy, we Thank God, I ain't complaining, far from it, but we all know how important it is to try and keep healthy. Hence the reason for my 'missed opportunity'.

Two weeks ago, I had 5 cakes to do in a week, normally this would not be a problem but as I had been tutoring a lovely lady (a crash cake decorating course!) during the times my toddler was at pre-school, that meant I had to be up at night doing the cakes! Some cakes take on average about 10 hours to do from start to finish, this includes baking, shaping, covering etc! So as you can imagine, I didn't get much sleep at night, most nights I was getting to bed at around 5am and waking up at 7 am to sort the kids out. As I wasn't able to find the time to nap during the day, this started telling on me! I felt run down and my immune system must have been quite down, voila here comes the sore throat. We mums just get on with it don't we. It then turns out that the following week I get another 5 cakes to do! (2 of them were late orders) with very little sleep I tell myself (and my hubby warns me) that I'm going to have to say no to any orders that come in for that week. I get a call on Monday saying 'is that DHG creations?', before even replying I'm thinking to myself that I'm going to have to refuse this order but lets just see what it is. Well it was only Elstree Film Studios (the studio is about 5 mins from us, great as we get to see loads of soap stars ever so often walking or driving around here). They wanted a 3 tier birthday cake for ......wait for it......the next day! I mean here I am with 5 cakes to do, one for a 1 year old's birthday party the next day which I hadn't started decorating yet! What to do, what to do, I tell you for a split second I really wanted to take it, but I remembered how terrible I had felt the week before cos of my sore throat (I was still talking with a husky voice!).

I eventually said that I couldn't possibly do it due to the short notice, but before they hung up I asked what was it for, all they said was that it was for a Channel 4 programme. Anyway later on a friend calls and I lament to her about the cake I couldn't do, she now says " I'm sure it's for BIG BROTHER......... ". "Oh nooooooooooooo" I groan. My friend says there is a birthday coming up on programme and hence maybe the reason for the need of a cake! As I'm shopping in the supermarket I bump into another friend and I mention to her the call, she looked at me with eyes wide open and said "hope you took it" , she wasn't happy when I told her I hadn't. I was trying to make myself feel better by saying that it's not as if the housemates could say on the show that this cake was made by DHG creations as such advertising isn't allowed on the show! That's when my friend made me feel even worst by saying that they could put that sort of information on the 'Big Brother website'. Even if they didn't at least I could have taken a photo of the cake before delivering it and then put the photo on my website saying 'as seen on Big Brother series 8'

Anyway it's all in the past, I didn't seize the opportunity and I pray I've learnt a lesson or two from all of it. Funny though about a day later I was flicking through a book that had been lying around the house for a while, I randomly pick a page to read and guess what it said....

The Energy to Excel

On our journey towards success it is really useful sometimes to take a step back and look at the lives of those whom you identify as successful people. What is it that really provides them with the power to succeed? Is it knowledge, is it experience, or is it a combination of things including some form of dynamic energy, something that drives them towards the achievement of their goals? Isn't it true that in most cases these people appear to be tireless? They appear to be able to stay focussed on their goals.


Well if this is true, let's take a moment to decide how we might employ this ability ourselves. It has been said that opportunity isn't necessarily a polite thing, it doesn't wear a white tie and tails and a top hat. It doesn't arrive at a mutually convenient time. It is more like a slippery streaker that you have to be quick to grab, by any available part of its anatomy, as it whooshes past you. To do this you need something magical, something special, called stamina.

(from Personal Success Tips by Brian Larcher)

I've added a couple of photos of some of the cakes that had kept me busy!

Catch you later

...can't believe I was away for so long

You know when I really started to get into this 'blogging thing' I could be on the computer for ages, even if I didn't have something to post, I'd get carried away reading other peoples blogs. I remember thinking to myself that I was becoming a bit of a computer addict.... I'd even try and stop myself for a couple of days but that didn't last long. Anyway here I am, with my last post being over 2 months ago - 8 whole weeks! There were a number of reasons that led to this but I won't bore you with the details. Instead I have enclosed a few photos of some of the cakes I've been working on. Taken with a lovely Digital camera I got anonymously in the post - I later found out who sent it to me, my lovely friend Olive who realised I was having a hard time with the camera I was using at the time....

Anyway folks I hope you are all well, I have had a quick look at some of your blogs and will be getting back to them real soon to have a proper read... ahhhh it's good to be back.

"Swiss you..."

My little two year old has really started saying words and putting 2 to 3 words together. It is always so sweet, funny and heartwarming when you hear toddlers learning to speak. "Swiss you" is actually my son's way of saying BLESS YOU, after he hears someone sneeze! And this is quite an achievement because before this, if he hears someone sneeze he cracks up laughing....seriously, uncontrollable laughter which ends up with him getting hic-cups! The other day, we were shopping in our local supermarket and this lady let out a loud sneeze, oh boy, that was it oh! My son couldn't stop himself! the poor lady had to stop dead in her tracks and look at my son - (the hic-cups had started by this time) and said "are you laughing at me" (she was pretending to look very shocked! at least I hope so!)...His big sister, when she was his age was such a shy little thing, but oh no not him!

Anyway, remember in one of my earlier posts 'From the Heart....' I had mentioned that our landline was down due to us not having enough money to pay the bill! and I was sooooooo upset as I felt I would lose a lot of business! Well, landline is still down (should be up and running soon God willing) but I tell you I haven't had some much business come in at one time as it has over the last 2 weeks! PRAISE GOD.

Infact as we were waiting for my hubby's payday - by this time food was nearly non exsistant in the house etc, payday came and hubby calls me up on my mobile sounding very 'cheesed off' with the fact that 'there was no money in his account'. New policy in his hospital is for everyone to fill in timesheets - this is despite the fact that they are permanent staff!

Most of the staff had been ignoring it as it seemed so ludicrous! but payroll decided to get tough! I tell you, when even the things you rely on without even thinking, are suddenly not there for you, what do you do? You look up to God and say 'It is only you God that can get us through this' and he did. The clients that came through, didn't need my landline, they found other ways of getting in contact with me as they were either friends of friends or people that I was recommended to through others that knew of my cakes!

So I want to say a big thank you to all who sent me encouraging comments and a very big 'God Swiss You'... I mean 'God Bless You'

p.s: Sorry, no photo's of my cakes yet. The digital camara I've been using is really messing up, and to top that, right now it cannot be found, it's lerking around the house somewhere. So I've been using my daughter's snazzy mobile phone to take photos (hand me down from an Aunt of hers!) hoping to e-mail the images to our computer, but it's all been proving rather difficult... so until this picture taking saga has been sorted out, please have a browse of previous cakes from 'shop I'm very proud of' on top right hand side of this blog :-)

oh to find peace and tranquility

...my 10 year old daughter was sitting outside our bedroom, I had just got her little brother to sleep and was coming out to say my good nights and prayers with her. What was she doing out there - she has this massive phobia of spiders. There was one on the ceiling of her bedroom which she had tried to get rid of but couldn't. One way of confronting her fear is trying to get closer to them, but she just couldn't do it, so she had been sat outside the door for ages! I got rid of the spider for her (with a massive amount of tissue between me and the spider, not liking spiders myself thank you!) but she still looked miserable, I asked her what was wrong, after much coaxing (by now tears were falling down her face) she told me that she really really tried to get rid of the spider by herself, but couldn't and she thought I'd get cross with her for not doing so as sometimes I (the Mummy) get upset with her for not being able to do it herself!

Oh my gosh! I felt terrible, why, because yes I have in the past been upset with her, but not for her phobia, which I know is a massive one, but because sometimes I'm just soooo tired and being asked to chase after an 'incy wincy tiny spider' when all I want to do is just put my feet up after a long day seemed to get on my nerves a bit - and I guess my frustration at this showed greatly on my face!

I have long looked at myself and wondered where the sweet happy go lucky me went to - and I've realised that I chased that person away with all the extra pressure I put on myself. I am aware that a lot of times when parents get a bit short with their kids is because they themselves are stressed out and tired!

When I had my Pharmaceutical Sales Representative job, yes there was all the glamour of snazzy company cars and trips aboard BUT there was the dreaded DEADLINES and TARGETS, getting out of the house at ridiculus times to meet doctors. I once had to stand outside a GP's surgery at 6.30am on a very icy cold wintery day to get to see 2 target doctors!...and gosh what some reps would stoop to to get sales was weighing me down, and it showed in my home life - don't want to go back there again.

So I am going to do all that is humanly possible to make my business a success, and I pray when it gets to the stage of employing people, I'm damn well going make my company a seriously family friendly place to work! If there's no peace at work, it tends to find a way of spilling over into family doesn't it!

I love flowers, Daffodils are one of my favourites

... this may seem like a long read, but it is really worth it.

It is for all of you out there trying really hard to achieve one thing or the other in your lives or in the lives of others! It was sent to me as part of a newsletter I get giving me information on Social Enterprises (a business trading with a social or community interest)


The Daffodil Principle
by Jaroldeen Asplund Edwards

Several times my daughter, Julie, had telephoned to say, "Mom, you must come see the daffodils before they are over." I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from my place by the beach to her
lakeside mountain home.

"I will come next Tuesday," I promised, a little reluctantly, on her third call. The next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and so I got in the car and began the long, tedious drive.

When I finally walked into Julie's house and hugged and greeted my grandchildren, I said, "Forget the daffodils, Julie! The road is invisible in the clouds
and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and the children that I want to see bad enough to drive another inch!"

My daughter smiled calmly, "We drive in this all the time, Mom."

"Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears and then I'm heading straight for home!" I said, rather emphatically.

"Gee, Mom, I was hoping you'd take me over to the garage to pick up my car," Julie said with a forlorn look in her eyes.

"How far will we have to drive?" Smiling she answered, "Just a few blocks, I'll
drive ...I'm used to this."

After several minutes on the cold, foggy road, I had to ask "Where are we going? This isn't the way to the garage!"

"We're going to the garage the long way," Julie smiled, "by way of the daffodils."

"Julie," I said sternly, "please turn around."

"It's all right, Mom, I promise, you will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience."

After about twenty minutes we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church I saw a hand-lettered sign ...

"Daffodil Garden"

We got out of the car and each took a child's hand, and I followed Julie down the path. As we turned a corner of the path, and I looked up and gasped.

Before me lay the most glorious sight. It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it down over the mountain peak and slopes. The flowers
were planted in majestic, swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, white, lemon yellow, salmon pink,
saffron, and butter yellow. Each different-colored variety was planted as a group so that it swirled and flowed like
its own river with its own unique hue.

Five acres of the most beautiful flowers I had ever seen!

"Who planted all these?" I asked Julie.

"It's just one woman," Julie answered, "She lives on the property. That's her home," and she pointed to a well-kept
A-frame house that looked small and modest in the midst of all that glory.

We walked up to the house and on the little patio we saw a poster ...

Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking

50,000 bulbs
one at a time
by one woman
2 hands, 2 feet
and very little brain
Began in 1958

There it was ... "The Daffodil Principle"

For me that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than thirty-five
years before, had begun - one bulb at a time - to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountain top.

Still, this unknown, old woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. She had created something of magnificent
beauty, and inspiration.

The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration:

- learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time,(often just one baby-step at a time)
- learning to love the doing,
- learning to use the accumulation of time
- When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of
daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things.

We can change the world!

"It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Julie, "What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five
years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb at a time' through all those years. Just think what I might have been able to achieve!"

My daughter summed up the message of the day in her direct way, "Start tomorrow, Mom," she said, "It's so pointless to think of the lost hours of our yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson a celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask ... "

"How can I put this to use today?"

For a virtual visit and information for a real visit see ~ The Bauer's Daffodil Garden ~
http://www.geocities.com/thedaffodilgarden/

...it's all good!

...cute photo isn't it. The weather over here is really picking up, lots of sunshine and warmer days. So I've been doing more walking and visiting parks with my little one while my older one is in school. And recently when we go and pick my daughter up from school (with two other kids I drop off home) I've parked the car a distance away so that on our way back we can walk through the fields... there's this lovely path that goes through the back of a riding school so you get to see and feed the horses grazing in the fields, the kids love feeding them, especially my little one, who pulls up the grass (or should I say a couple of blades of grass) and with his little hand reaches up to feed the 'hoss' as he puts it! (I pick him up and we both reach out to the horse... it's a bit scary at first cos you're worried about having your hand chomped off, but we've got the Knack of it now!)

I really have slowed down a bit, and made sure to enjoy everything around me... times too short. This is from one of those forwarded e-mails I got recently, it's been around for ages but this bit stood out...don't dance so fast, time is short, music won't last. When you run so fast to get somewhere, you miss half the run of getting there'

So all the 'not so nice' bits that have been happening so far in my life I know is part of the journey which I've decided to refer to as an adventure now, not a journey (Omara knows what I mean - Leicester life adventure and beyond)

While awaiting my next client, I've been putting a few business ideas together which will move things forward a bit and bring in some more money. And hopefully when I'm buoyant enough, I'll implement them, but most importantly, I've stopped and smelt the roses...

Catch you later...

Thanks Nael!

...all is well

...as you could tell, I was having a bit of a 'woe is me' moment. I was down (and this blog is about my highs and lows) but you know what, as more things are thrown at me - I just lift my hands up and say - Lord it's in your hands.

Seriously, I ain't no super human being and when it's tooooo much, just Let Go and Let God.

So I've got my glad rags on (well not quite as I'm off to sleep in a sec) but you know what i mean, a smile on my face and a prayer in my heart...

The video clip below is old - I remember the first time I heard this song, I was doing my NYSC in Ibadan, Nigeria (that's working one year with the government upon graduating from University or Higher Colleges), I must have been a UK size 8 (seriously, my waist was tiny!) I'd walk down the Bodija streets of Ibadan with my earplugs of my walkman glued to my ears oblivious to the world and some of the back alley Bodija boys making snide comments - It was that late 80's era and I loved my brightly coloured clothes (remember those colours, well they're back now and that's what my 10 year old daughter wears!). I had my favourite track on and everything was alright with the world.

Hope you like it and I wish the lady also appearing in the video - a speedy
recovery!

Bebe and Cece Winans (& guest) - I'm lost without you

From the Heart.....

No I haven't gone all preachy preachy... this reading comes from daily 'thoughts for the day' I get via e-mail from our church, and it kinda spoke to me in a way, read on and you'll see why!

Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. (Hebrews 10:32-35)

The writer to the Hebrews reminds his readers of how they were when they first became Christians, standing up in the face of persecution, suffering, loosing their property & possessions all for the sake of Jesus.

I haven't lost property and no one has been persecuting me, but I do feel quite at a loss right now. Why, okay in previous posts I had said, ...I will be sad no more, at least I'll try but you know how we humans are. I got back from a lovely Easter break spent with family up North to find that our landline phone isn't working. Why, cos we have a hugh bill to pay and unfortunately due to lack of funds we hadn't be able to pay it. When I told my hubby about it, (remember he works quite a distance away from home so he stays there and we see him usually every 2 weeks) he said, well there is nothing we can do about it till the end of the month (pay day!) Hello.... I could be losing valuable business here! Seriously the last few months have been tough (...I know, we all say that) but I guess you get to a stage when you think, oh boy, I can't take anymore of this... I do have a mobile number on my website, but if I were a client, I'd rather ring the landline not the mobile...the message on the landline says "this number is out of service" what does that portray to clients! Will they even bother to try the mobile after that. In the Yellow Pages that I advertise in, only my landline was given!

You know I've come to a stage when sometimes I think, does prayer really help, cos right now, all my prayers and tears ain't doing jack! Business has been good but it's been sporadic! and when money has poured in, I've used it for bills that really needed to be sorted! So unfortunately, the money hasn't gone back into the business to help it grow. Having said that, I got a lovely thank you letter and text from the Mum of the little girl I made a beautiful Princess Doll for..... they loved everything about the cake and loads of people were asking for my business cards (I normally drop off business cards when I drop off a cake, for whatever reason, I didn't this time!)

I just feel sometimes that I try sooooo hard to make things happen, yet all these 'things' just happen to stop my progress! Yes my confidence has been knocked, and yes I know there are worst things that are happening to people out there - but hey, I'm only human, and I'm telling it as it is....from the heart!


p.s - the cake got to the States, but all mashed up! My friend still took it to the party and they ate it.... and loved the taste! at least that's something, but I'm now on Royal Mail's case!

...wishing you all a very happy Easter

I'm only just recovering from a busy week... it's not so much the amount of work I had to do. It is more to do with the time I have to do it. As usual I had about 3 nights on the trot where I only had about 2/3 hours sleep at night! I'd work through the night, sleep around 4 or 5 am and get up 6.30am/7am. My little two year old will be going for 2 sessions a week now at his pre-school which he started two weeks ago... that means I'll have time during the day to work on my creations!

...so why was I up most nights? Well I had an adult cake-decorating workshop to run over the weekend, all the ladies (and one gentleman) loved their creations, I was showing them different cake decorating techniques and the theme was 'Easter'! ...before that I had 2 cakes for 2 different clients from two different continents.....

That's right, one beautiful princess cake for a beautiful blonde 6 year old... her mummy wanted the upright princess cake in baby pink and white....I was up ages doing the cake as my cake suppliers had sent me the wrong doll, so I had to find a way of using a different technique (the cake decorating doll I got had hair that was more red than blonde... I couldn't use it as the little girl I was doing the cake for is well known for her long curly blonde hair)

Then I had this other cake to make, which was going to America (remember I live on the outskirts of London)...It's my second cake to the States.....the first one got there in one piece, I'm praying this one does too, it's a bit more delicate and I was asked to make a cake based on this ladies PASSION for shoes! The lady has no idea this cake has been made for her yet, her sister's-in-law had to find a way of getting into her wardrobe and taking photos of the shoes they suspect she loves the most - hard choice with soooooooo many shoes around!

So I have included a photo of the shoes (and bag) that were photographed and the cake itself, which is on the right hand side of the blog titled 'the cake 2 the States'...what do you think!
Because we wanted to keep the cost of transporting the cake down, we had to do away with the bag... so what you see is a shoe daintly resting on a white cushion....everything you see is edible!

...we're all doing some serious praying that this cake gets there unscathed - will keep you posted!

Wishing you all a very Happy Easter.....go easy on the Easter Eggs!

All I need is you

Having a bad day?

When things get way too much for me to handle, I look up to the sky and say "it's only you that can help me out here Lord"

...i did it, and boy was it fun!

The run up to me being on the show was hectic, to say the least. I work from home, which means I have my toddler with me 24-7. Apart from the normal stuff of looking after him, the home and my daughter, I had a two day business workshop to attend on Thursday and Friday. Which meant I had very little time during the day to work solidly on the cake I was taking into the studios and also a cake I had for another client. As you can imagine when night came I could only do so much, as I was knackered.

Friday night came and I was adamant that I would be in bed by midnight latest so that I'll look fresh and have a clear head for when I was filmed the next morning! Man proposes right! I did not sleep a wink, I went to the studios feeling like a zombie! Not good when you know you're gonna have camaras focused on you.

Positive outcomes of the lack of sleep were, first I was able to finish both cakes to the standard I was proud of. Secondly, what came across as me being calm, collected and assured in my answers when being questioned, was actually the effect of me being naturally sedated from lack of sleep. It really helps your nerves, you are just too tired to fret! (I don't recommend you try it though, especially as I had over nearly 3 hours of driving that day!)

One thing I was nervous about were the questions I was going to be asked. This is because in my intial communication with one of the presenter's, it came to light that at times when things were really tight and I had no money to get my son disposable nappies, I've had to cut up towels to wrap his bottom in till I got enough money.

To the presenter this was a serious talking point, as here I was married to a medical doctor and I being a holder of an M.Sc blah blah blah yet we had such financial difficulties. The focus of my being on the show was to inspire others and to talk about how I overcame these financial issues to set up a business. Now I'm all about inspiring other people (take this blog for example), but my dear hubby was not happy about such information being broadcasted for all to see. I had to find a way of not upsetting my dear hubby and yet being able to inspire others. I was also quite nervous as to how the questioning will go.

I think I was more worried about my hubby's ego! ...and boy should I have been worried, he hasn't seen the recording of the show yet as he has been at work, but his sisters have seen it and they said I did well, so hopefully he should be fine with it. But there was a question that I was asked and it came out like this " In this day and age where marriages are falling apart because of financial difficulties, how was I able to overcome such adversity?....some other women would have turned around and told their husband's that you are not a 'man' as you cannot provide for your family properly, what do I have to say about that" Well you can imagine the thoughts in my head (HELP!) I pray when my husband hears my reply he will be fine, with it.

I replied along the lines that "my husband is the breadwinner of the house, and he is doing his very best to bring the money in - sometimes things just don't balance up. Also he works away from home so that sometimes we don't get to see for ages. I'm not ashamed to say that things got so tight hence the nappy stuff, but things get tight for lots of people. The important thing is what actions you take, to overcome such financial difficulties" There were a few other questions, including one on how did I go about setting up the company. Here, I mentioned places where I got business support (I would go to such places with a screaming baby in the buggy, and it wasn't a problem for them). I talked about how the whole idea came about, and the passion one has to have to get you through and so on.

It's not has if I'm rolling in cash right now, and times still get rough, but at least I'm doing something about it and I pray this came across on the show. So that others thinking of taking that plunge into 'self employment' can do so! Apart from that tricky question, it really was an enjoyable day. I was able to see what goes on behind the scenes of television shows, all the crew and the presenters were lovely, and the CEO was a really lovely and humble chap. I met some interesting fellow guests, who do great stuff out there, one lady is an author of a book called 'Out of Slavery' which is used in the National Curriculum, and tells the history of British Black Caribbean people in a fascinating and thought provoking way. There was a lady poet, I must tell you about her another time, I was really intrigued at her creativity. And another lady who is following her dream business wise.

...oh and they loved the cake! As it was Mothering Sunday the next day, the cake was themed on that but with an African touch... (excuse the date on photo, I'm convinced we need an new digital camara - the buttons to manually change the dates are stuck)

...oh boy, I'm going to be on the telly!

Oh I may be excited alright but boy am I quivering in my boots! Remember in my earlier posts, I mentioned that I had been commissioned to do a cake (with a Valentines Day Theme) for a channel on SKY re: ...so I managed to do the cake! The deal was, I donated a cake for the show and they'll mention my company and have my details in the credits @ the end of the show.

Well it all kinda went pear shaped didn't it, I was a little upset but a least I was able to do something positive about it.

Well guess what, I got a call from one of the presenters, to say please could I come in and BE A GUEST on the show and also still bring in a cake for them to showcase! I'll be asked to tell my story about how and why I set up the company, and my journey so far......Amazing.

So why am I quivering in my boots.... PASSION TV the channel the programme is on, goes out to North and West Africa, the UK, Ireland and other parts of Europe, that's a lot of viewers, and wait for it..... it's going to be aired LIVE (no room for mistakes, or Ibon's as they say from my neck of the woods - grammatical errors to others!) As a woman you also think, oh boy! I've got nothing to wear, what about my make-up blah blah blah blah blah. But I know I really want to get up there and inspired other ladies to get out there and believe they can do it no matter what. Let's hope so.

I've decided not to think about it, and concentrate on the work at hand, I've got a business seminar to attend this week, and I have two cakes to get ready for Saturday plus all the other stuff like being a mummy and wife!

For all the UK SKY viewers, PASSION TV is channel 183. The programme is a morning talk show called ARIZE and will be aired on Saturday 17th March 9am - 11am.

Wish me luck...and if you don't get to see it, I'll keep you posted! (Literally)

How to save a life

...i stumbled upon this music video the other day and was quite taken by it. I wasn't too sure what it was on about but I think it was more the text shown during the video that got me.

'How to save a life'

By THE FRAY

(I've posted video link at end of the post, hope it works!)

A couple of days ago on the radio the band was interviewed and the inspiration behind the song was revealed. It was to do with the journey of recovery of a drug addict youth and how this member of the band was able to play a part in that road to recovery.

Now all my volunteering work has been to do with the youth, be they troubled, under-privilaged or just plain bored ones! But I don't know if I've really made a difference in their lives, sure I might have helped (alongside a load of other people) to make a couple of hours in their lives a bit more enjoyable.... but I'm sure there is more to be done. I am working on that and I pray my Social Enterprise business can help in some way towards that.

I also pray that whatever work, business or home situation you are in, find a way of having a hand in helping out our younger generation. You never know, you might cause a ripple effect that would eventually 'save a life'

I'll leave you with this, hubby showed it to me, it's from The Word For Today' Tue Feb 13 2007

Aim them in the right direction

Raising your child 'in the way he should go' means recognising four things:

1) Strenghts, At two, Van Cliburn played a song on the piano as a result of listening to teaching in the adjacent room, His mother noticed, gave him lessons, and the kid from Kilgore, Texas won the first international Tchaikovsky piano competition in Moscow.

2) Topics, John Ruskin said, 'Tell me what you like, and I'll tell you what you are'. What do your children like? Numbers? Colours? Activities? Study them! The greatest gift you can give them in not your riches, but revealing to them their own.

3) Optimal Conditions, A cactus thrives in different conditions to a rose bush. What soil does your child grow in? Some kids love to be noticed. Others prefer to hide in the crowd. Some do well taking tests. Others excel with the subject, but stumble through exams. Winston Churchill repeatedly failed tests in school. We each have different optimal conditions. What are your children's?

4) Relationships, What phrase best describes your child? 'Follow me, everybody...I'll let you know if I need some help...Can we do this together?...Tell me what to do and I'll do it.' Don't characterise loners as aloof, or crowd seekers as arrogant. They may be living out their story. What gives your children satisfaction? What makes them say 'yes!' Do they love the journey or the destination? Do they live to keep things straight or straighten things out? What thrills one, bothers another. Parent resist the urge to label before you study. Understand the uniqueness of your child.

'TRAIN UP A CHILD...(IN KEEPING WITH HIS INDIVIDUAL GIFT OR BENT)...Proverbs 22:6 AMP

I say...understand the uniqueness of EVERY child/youth, be they yours or not!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKxnJ5iyC-w

...don't quash the dream

...watching the Olympics on telly was a big family thing when I was little, my dad would rally us around to watch it. I loved it, and the events I really liked watching were swimming and athletics - the sprinters especially. When it got to the medal races I would cry for joy when a runner crossed the finish line and got Gold. Crying for joy is properly understating my true feelings. I was overwhelmed with some feeling or the other and the only way to release it was to cry! I remembering discussing with someone years ago about watching the Olympics and telling them that I tended to cry when the runner wins. I got this really strange look from the chap!

Now I've just finished balling my eyes out because I've watched Alaine being booted off of American Idol - Yes I love all these singing talent shows (American Idol, I love you the most), and yes I cry my eyes out when I watch them..... whether it's that a person wins, or the wrong person gets booted off (i.e Alaine - American public hello!) or it's a single mother talking about how life has been rough and she's doing this for her little girl....those tears flow man!

..but I have realised from watching these shows why I cry, it's because at the end of the day, these are people dreams that they are trying to achieve, a sprinter puts so much mental and physical energy into crossing that line and you can see it is their eyes when they do, that it was ALL WORTH THE JOURNEY THEY TOOK TO GET THERE...

A couple of months ago I got talking to a lady who, successfully runs a kids cookery party business and her products have been stock listed in celebrity cooks books , one being Nigella Lawson. She has appeared on SKY's Food Channel etc, we got talking because I contacted her by e-mail about joining her UK team of cooking party organisers (you get money for every party you organise) I needed the extra money and I thought I could do with the training they were offering. Thing is, part of my business involves workshops with kids but not parties and I don't intend to go down the party route, but I needed the extra cash, and would find the training very beneficial. Which I mentioned in my e-mail to her - yep I know, I can feel you cringe, but that's me! At least it warranted a call from her as she was very interested in me! We got talking, she's really a lovely lady who has a real passion for kids, and anyone else who has that passion she has a lot of time for! The only thing, is that If I did get onto her team, I would have to stop the workshops I run as our businesses would compete (she does workshops as well)... I thought about it and said, do you know what, "I don't want to give up my dream..."

She asked that we keep in touch, gave me advice about a business case I was having with our local council (I told you she was a lovely lady) and I'm glad I had that honest chat with her because whenever things get tough with this business thing... I remember what I told her...
I don't want to give up my dream

....can't life just be simple for once

...we all know there are not enough days in the week, hours in the day, minutes in an hour! Yet things continue to happen that need your attention.

I had my Afro-Caribbean woman's networking business advisor around today and the 2 and half hour session went really well, especially considering the fact that the lady came round to the house for the meeting and I had my 'just turned 2' year old with me. The lounge might still be in a bit of a mess right now, pens, crayons, colouring books, A4 papers, alphabet shapes, books, train sets, rice crisps...all scattered around, but hey, it kept him busy.

My dilemma before the lady came was to figure out if I wanted my company to remain a Ltd company or did I want to go down the 'Social Enterprise' route. What is a 'Social Enterprise', well it really is a 'Company with Interest in the Community' A proper Social Enterprise business is one with a social purpose that work with the aim of delivering social or environmental change rather than maximising profits for shareholders...(that was a mouthful!) or you could say, it is a business whose ethos is ...when profit isn't the bottom line.

Yes it is a nice heart warming thought - the celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's restaurant called 'Fifteen' is a social enterprise, as he trains up disadvantaged youngsters to become chefs.

...so what's my beef? Well a dear friend of mine has fired me up to re-direct my marketing focus, and in doing so, I feel I can make some mean dosh! and already, I'm seeing leather designer bags, funky shoes, supermarket shopping without counting the pennies etc in the horizon and it feels good, now to suddenly throw that out of the window and become very socially conscious is uhmmmmm - not so appealing!

..but upon discussing with my lovely business advisor, that soft spot in me that I've always had for helping the disadvantaged overwhelmed me...darn! So I've decided to still have my Ltd company, but to also set up a 'Social Enterprise' company, which means MORE WORK FOR ME!

Double the paper work, double the marketing, double everything in short...... and as if that were not enough, today we found out that we didn't get the secondary school that we chose for our daughter. Which is quite a bummer in the sense that we had applied outside our borough as we are moving this summer and they blatantly ignored that and gave us a school here! So now we are going to have to (or should I say I am going to have to) APPEAL, and that my friends is a lot of work as well. Can't life just be simple for once!

...so I managed to do the cake!

...oh wow is all I can say right now, a friend had discovered that I'd starting blogging by stumbling upon my blog and realising it was me. She said she'd left a comment, when I checked there were 3 comments. I started the blog so that people can read it and follow my journey, so why am I soooo surprised when that happened...one of those mysteries of life I guess!





Yes I made the cake..."hallelu" as they would say from my neck of the woods. So how did I get the money for it? It came from my darling husband..again! As the day for having the cake ready loomed ever so near, I had to bottle up courage and ask hubby for the money, which was hard for me as he had so kindly given me the money before, but I had spent it on other things. One of them being to help out a friend. Anyway I proceeded to mention to hubby that a friend of mine needed some help and I explained how I helped her out. My dear husband had a lovely smile on his face, saying how wonderful it was of me to do that! (Okay so I'd buttered him up, now was my chance to drop the bombshell.....) "honey", I said," that meant I had to spend the money you gave me to sort out the cake on my friend" his smile dropped! after a while he surprised me by saying..."you know what, God is in control and somehow we will get the money together for this cake"





.....so all is going well, yep! ummmmmm ! I have one day to get the cake sorted as our local newspaper was coming round to do an article on the cake and the reason for my making it. By this time I also realised that the person I was liaising with, for the TV programme the cake was for , had not given me details or where and when to drop it off. All I knew was that it had to be ready for the Saturday of that weekend! I send him another e-mail only to get a call from him in the evening to say the launch of the TV programme had been postponed! "po...what", I said. Due to not enough advertising, they had decided to re-launch in 4 weeks time! What was I going to do with the cake, bearing in mind that they had asked me to donate the cake to them, so in short it is no skin off their backs as they are not paying for it! You know what, the guy seemed like a nice chap, but I was freaking out as to what I was going to do with the cake. what story do I tell the local newspaper when they come round? Will they think I was lying in the first place just to get some publicity? what to do, what to do...





Somehow the thought of putting the cake up for auction came into my mind and then donating the money raised to a charity based in our local community. And so that is what I did, the reporter from the paper was very happy with that and mentioned a few charities I could choose, she and the photographer she brought loved the cake as it was very unusual - two African clay pots with a floral designs on them. The article went out and everything was honky dory! Well kinda off, I only got 3 bidders call me up, and the cake went for a third of what it would normally cost (I thought people loved giving to charities) but the very positive side to all that was that I did pick a charity, and I chose this one purely on the basis that it deals with helping kids, although the kids are aboard, the charity is based in our area. Initially when I got in contact with them, I thought what if they were not a proper charity and I'm just throwing money away! But the more I communicated with them, the more I thanked God for leading me to their path the way he did. They are a lovely couple that are very passionate about what they do, and I don't mind shamelessly plugging their cause via their website www.querico.org.uk .....every cloud has a silver lining right!

p.s: ignore the date on the photo, I use my daughters digital camera and she hadn't programmed the date properly!

...I will be sad no more, at least I'll try

I started this blog firstly as a way of venting out my frustrations on daily living and trying to make ends meet, secondly for readers to come on a journey with me and see that being a stay@homeMummy and trying to run a business can work.

The day I started the blog, I heard the very sad news that the Mum of a little girl in my daughter's class had passed away, ending her fight with cancer. I was shocked, I knew the lady was ill and had been for a while but I didn't know it was cancer and then the fact that someone you knew - maybe not closely, but we did chat ever so often and our girls were always at each others birthday parties etc - was no longer here on earth. The lady has 3 girls, the eldest is about 20 yrs old and the youngest is 10 yrs old.

The kids are now without a mother... and the lady is no more!

It kinda shakes you up a bit when things aren't quite going your way and you are at war with the world because of it! No matter how much I might be struggling right now, and no matter how stressed I can get, if that lady could be in my position right now (a life, free of illness bar a couple of coughs & colds, being with my children 24-7) she would take it in an instant!


So, I have told myself to shake up, and know that I am blessed (I've known this for sometime, but you know how it is!) struggle through with a smile on my face, to be thankful for every little thing and big things too. Be hopeful always....


...and hopeful is what I am now, as I have managed to secure some very cushy advertising, there is launch of a programme on one of the SKY channels, that have asked me to donate a cake for their show and in return they will tell people how to get in contact with me and also have me in the credits at the end of the show. On the back of that, I contacted our local newspaper to ask if they wanted to cover a story on 'this very important cake' and they have agreed. So the cake is for next saturday (about 8 days from now) and the local newspaper want to come round on wednesday (about 5 days from now) and even though my husband had given me some money for the cake, I've gone and blown it on 1) helping a friend out who needed some extra money 2) party stuff and food for our 2 year old's birthday party in 2 days time!

In short I have no money for this 'fabulous' cake that is suppose to be ready soon!

Yes, I am hopeful......

Dear God, I pray the next part of my blog is another testimony.....Amen to that!

Well I never....

...So I have joined the world of Blogging.... I never thought this would happen, but do you know what, It has been a long time coming.

Does that mean I'm some kind of amateur writer? And can anyone write a book, blog etc...well as one writer said, "everyone has a story to tell, it's just depends on how you write it"

So ladies and gentlemen, come with me on my journey and I hope I write it well.


I will be 40 in a few months time, I'm a stay at home mummy, who now runs a cake making business, I have a 10 year old daughter and a 24 month old son. Yes quite a gap I know, but you see, I was a stay at home mummy before when my daughter was little and while there was richness in our lives because of all the quality time spent with her, there wasn't any richness where finances where concerned! My hubby is a medical doctor and has always worked away from home.... So while my daughter saw her dad every 2 weeks or so, I was adamant that she had one parent around her. But what's the use of having a miserable mummy around. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't that bad, but things seem to get quite depressing when money was low, which was most of the time.


Anyway, the gap between the kids is because I went back to work when my daughter was 3 years old, with all the trimmings such as snazzy company cars, travelling aboard for sales conferences (I've been to countries I would never have dreamt of getting to on my own steam), money to constantly buy clothes and shoes and bags and......most importantly food in the house!
I was not ready to go back to being near penniless again....until a whole sales team was made redundant, and I happened to be on that team, and I just happened to be 7 months pregnant with our second child!


You know what, maybe I needed the break - deadlines in our industry were getting pretty ridiculous, so I told myself it was a blessing in disguise! Back to being a stay at home mummy, hubby still works away from home and one year into being near penniless again, I decide to set up my cake making business. While my daughter was little, cos I loved baking so much I did a course at college on cake decorating, I dabbled into selling cakes then but I guess I didn't have the proper business skills and support. Well after nearly 5 years in sales , I should be alright yeah! Well this is were my story begins...... follow my struggles, my ups and downs and I will throw in quite a few testimonies along the way....did I mention to you that I'm a christian....roz