...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....