Partridge and Purple and Pancakes - Oh MY!

What a busy weekend!!  My first activity was Partridge watching!! lol  Ok - Partridge waiting to be more specific. :)  My bird feeders have been super busy over the last week.  We are definately keeping the Grackle population very well fed.  Most days, it's like a Hitchcock movie - watching them storm in and out - scaring all the desirabel birds away.  I thought that Grackles were supposed to be territorial and that we'd only get stuck with about 20 - but nope!!  Not my yard - we're well over 100 I'm sure!  In the middle of all of this, though, Hubby has seen a few Partridge at the feeders.  They're too big and too dumb to figure out what to do with them, though, and I imagine it's kinda like the seagulls from Finding Nemo with the "MINE-MINE-MINE" IQ.  They flutter and bounce about with zombie intelligence and then fluster off in a flurry of feathers.  Hubby promised to try and get me some pics so my fingers are crossed.

Pancakes - We have learned that we don't like Costco pancake mix - it's pretty gross!!  But - we have a ton of it (as most costco items go) and have to use it up.  So far this week, we've had Berry, strawberry, apple and orange pancakes and have discovered that with enough maple syrup and brown sugar - it's not half bad! lol  I really do miss Aunt Jemima though. :(

Now for the Purple part of my weekend...I had a little bit of cake and frosting left over, so I was thrilled to make a smash cake for my friend Pam.  She asked for a cupcake smash cake in purple but let me have creative freedom.  Because it's for a photo-shoot, though, it had to be rainbow inside so rainbows they got!!  :D  I LOVE rainbow cake!!!

I had to slice the top off of the half round - but this is what's inside (I love peeking anyway so I didn' mind. :) )  I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. :)  Here's the final product. :)

When I was done, though, it still needed somthing.  a little "pop" of color.  It needed a cherry!  Trouble is...it's a smash cake for a 1 year old...and for a photo shoot - so - getting a pic of a choking baby is not the goal or purpose of this cake.  I had to find a way to make a cherry out of buttercream frosting and dang-flabbit - I did!!!  Aint it cute!!!? :D  I made a little glob of red buttercream frosting and put it in the freezer.  After a few minutes - I rolled it into a ball with my hands (and made a heckuva mess too) but it still wasn't smooth.  So - back in the freezer it went to harden up a little more.  Then I took it out - put a little mound of plain white sugar in my hand - and rolled it again with the sugar and voila!!  a perfect little cherry!  I couldn't think of a way to make a stand up stem with buttercream (and it was pretty late by the time I thought of the cherry) so I added a tiny leave and voila!  I can be pretty creative when I put my mind to it.  And now - the suspense is killing me cuz I'm DYING to see what Pam comes up with for pics!! :D

I've been Liebster'd :)

I'm not sure what prompted me to start this blog.  Nor am I sure what it's theme is supposed to be.  Most blogs are about something...but not mine.  Instead, it's a telling of the chaotic and weirdo events that happen in my every day.  I don't have many followers and rarely do I get comments - but...thanks to secret squirrel powers - I  do know that there are folks out there who still take the time to read about what's going on at the Pospolita ranch and I'm grateful for each one.  Today, though, I'm especially grateful for Emily.  I met her on Skrap n' chat a couple of years ago, when she graciously donated a stool to my chaos.  She is absolutely lovely (and I'm not just saying that because of the stool - he he). 

When I signed on to my blog this morning, I had intended to blog about the partridge at my bird feeders - DOOD!  Who has partridge at their bird feeders??!!  Anyway - I will rant about that later, but first I need tell you about why you're reading this post - and not about partridge.  This morning, I noticed that a comment had been left on my last post by Emily, which read;

" I have left a little blog award for you over on my blog. I love reading your posts and seeing what you have been up to. Thank you for all the smiles...and giggles! {hugs} :)"


I took a quick hop over to her blog and learned that Emily had given me a Liebster Award! :)

Here's what it's all about;

"Liebster" is German for 'dearest.' The award is a 'share-the-love' arrangement, given to inspirational bloggers with fewer than 200 followers (based on Google followers).

Here's the to-do list of any Liebster award recipient:

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you

2. Reveal your five blogger picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog

3. Copy and paste the award on your blog (see above)

4. Hope that those you award forward it to their favorite bloggers

I do check in on my fave blogs as often as I can.  I've just realized, though, that hundreds of others are checking the same blogs I do so I've been reduced to my fave 3!

1.  Just like Emily, I have to admit that I *heart* Jen. I was treated to a fun phone call from Jenn recently, to discuss the creation of a cake.  I always have so much fun reading her posts and hope I can be like her when I grow up! :)

2. My friend Kim has the yummiest blog ever, over at KDF Creations!!  She's a cake-er too and is SUPER talented! 

3.  Is Emily - Right back atcha my friend :)  I truly enjoy seeing all your latest creations and keeping up with your goings on. :)  I will forever be thrilled to bits with my favorite stool and thankful for the lovely Liebster! :)




 

Crazy cake weekend...

I was reading over my blog from last year and it looks like it's an annual thing for me to be cake crazy on the week of hubbies birthday.  This year - I made 4 cakes - countem - 4!!  Next year, though, I will not take any cakes besides Hubbies and B's - that's it!  2 is my limit!  lol

A couple months ago, I asked B what kind of cake she wanted for her birthday.  She asked for a round cake - "Aww come on kid!  Challenge me!!"  she laughed and said - "Ok...how about a LIVER cake!!!"  A cake made out of Liver, I asked??  "NO!  A cake that looks like a liver!"  "DONE!"  She looked a little worried, but forgot about it quickly until this weekend when she was surprised with THIS beauty!!  lol  I'm a little proud of myself on this one...the gallbladder is my favorite ;)

After the Liver cake - I had to wrap up 2 baby shower cakes for the same person! lol  Only 1 baby but she couldn't decide which cake so she got both! :)  I LOVED the colors and am really happy with how they turned out. :)

My 4th cake of the weekend was for hubby.  A chocolate fudge cake with chocolate frosting and ganash sauce poured over top.  I don't have a picture cuz...well...it's not really all that exciting. :)  But there you have it.  4 cakes in 1 weekend. 

It's easter and I'm for the birds!

Happy Easter from me to you :)

It's snowing like mad outside, and the birds are going crazy on my apple tree! :)  I know it's hard to see in the picture, but there are no less than 12 little birdies on my tree! :)  (most flew away when I showed up with the camera.

I hung some cheap feeders a couple of months ago and we have only had a few visitors until recently.  First it was only finches - brown boring finches - but I was still excited to have them. :)  Then a single chickadee arrived and, glee is the only way to describe how excited I was! I LOVE chickadee's!  When I was a kid, I used to visit an elderly lady who lived behind our home.  She had an enormous apple tree in front of her house that was bustling with the adorable little birdies.  She and I would sit for hours and watch them frolic around the feeders and through the tree! They would even eat out of her hand!  Needless to say - I'm hoping for a similar tree in my front yard. 

Recently, it seems that the bird population has exploded in my front yard!  The few finches have become a swarm!  An entire flock of goldfinches have moved in.  We have a single woodpecker (but I'm hoping he doesn't stay long), and the occasional crow.  Last night, I also met a greedy chip munch who happily filled his chubby cheeks from the sunflower seeds I had left on the ground in tiny piles -just for him.  That didn't go quite as planned as he now lives under the front deck - drat!  This morning, I was surprised by a single house finch!  His red head stood out like Turkey in toe-shoes and now there are many. 

I'm starting to think that I may have an addictive personality because I've been googling the daylights out of New Brunswick Birds and trying to figure out how I can attract more of the little darlings to my yard!  I am still hopefull of seeing blue jays and cardinals and a zillion other species that I know we have in NB...and tomorrow, I'm off to Chapters to pick up a bird book!!  :D  (Yes - I do need a life! :)  I am also going to rope the kids into helping me build a few simple bird houses!!  :)  I'm actually hoping that this is something we can all enjoy as a family - especially since I realized that birds eat bugs!!!  YAY!

I've been looking for building plans that are;

a)  FREE!  (cuz who wants to pay for something you can get for free??)

b) Soooper simple! Cut-Glue-Nail-Paint-Done!  That's what I'm lookin for!

c) Something that will go together very quickly, cuz I'd like to make a bunch! (And they have to if I hope to get the girls involved.  As a mom - I completely failed on teaching them the value in delayed gratification.)

Here are the plans I've been stalking for tomorrows project!

This one looks pretty simple and I like the side entrance.

The General Store house looks simple enough and is kinda cute too!

I like the triangle shape of this one and I've read that the side entrance is good for chickadees.

Because of the snow, though, I may not have much access to power tools, which means that I need to keep it extra simple.  I have now narrowed it down to the following;

1. This one will likely be the winner, though, since there are very few cuts and it's the simplest of all.
2. And for Chickadees, this one is super simple and likely also the winner. 
3. And how cool is this?!  A nesting "tube" made out of PVC!  Even I can do this!!!

I'll post pics as we go and let you know which ones we decided on. :)  I'm really looking forward to more bird watching and seeing which fun feathered friends we can attract!

Oh - I should also point out that I'm not the only one who has taken up the bird-watching hobby.  Senior Ninja Diablo has loggd 3 times as many hours as me...although I suspect that his intensions are not exclusively observational.  :)

Cottage at the lake - cake

A friend called me on Tuesday to ask if I'd make a cake for a mutual friend and I jumped at the chance!!!  I love her to bitts and haven't had the opportunity to make a cake for her before so YAY!  :)  She has a cottage at the lake so I decided to make a Cottage at the lake-cake. :)  She showed me a picture and I was ready to go....until about 9pm last night when I realized that everythign was closed...and I was out of red food coloring AND cocoa!!!  ugh!  The roof is supposed to be red...or rather burgundy - but instead - she got purple.  The main color is pretty close and the windows and door was just fun.  Louanne suggested a tree with a little owl - but instead - she got a purple peep with a sinister grin. ;)  It seemed more fitting...plus - I was out of cocoa so...no brown. Anyway - I delivered it this morning and the birthday gal really liked it.  Oh - and I got to meet her poochie who is the most adorable poochie ever!!  I was totally smitten. :)

Happy Birthday Mariet!  And Louanne - in case you're blog stalking me - here's the cake. :D

Cupcakes

The road to hell is paved with good intention...I recently got an order for cupcakes.  If anyone remembers…cupcakes have literally kicked my butt lately.  I haven’t had good luck with them at all!  In fact – I recently burned over 6 dozen while trying to get ready for a work meeting.  The order I received was simple.  Chocolate cupcakes with a girlie design.  Because they were for a work friend – I decided to cover my bases (just to be safe)  I picked up 12 chocolate cupcakes from the grocery store (in case I burned another 6 dozen) and then went home to make cupcakes with my youngest punk.  I let her do all the adding and mixing and we used some very girlie foil lined cupcake cups that I picked up on the way home.  I have to say – weather it was the plantes aligning – or the mad baking skills of a 9 year old…or maybe the divinity of the foil cups…they turned out awesome!!!  And so – I set off to decorate MY 12 fresh baked cupcakes and let kiddo decorate the 12 store bought cupcakes.  (Actually – in hind sight…we baked 24 so I think my punk got to decorate 24 while I decorated 12! Lol) 

Anyway – we were up until midnight and we both had a ball. J 

My fave by far is the 1 boy-ish cupcake reserved for Jonah.  (I found out after the fact that Johan does not like frosting! Lol)   

I also got to make some super cute marshmallow flowers!!  I took mini's and cut them diagonally (from corner to corner) to make each pettle.  Dipped it in coarse sugar (for sparkle) and put a pearl in the center with a glob of frosting.  They were much cuter in person cuz the pic doesn't show the sparklee bits. :)

So that's it for the cupcakes...oh - and I was reeeely glad that they turned out cuz the grocery store cupcakes were crazy dry!! :(  And because my element finally went in my stove (and hubby picked up a new one today) I'm hoping ot make more cupcakes very soon! :)

A cake with intent but no plan...

This morning I started a cake for mom....ok - a few weeks ago I started a cake for my Mother...but life got in the way and I have neglected by blog ever since...so here's the final product.  I had the chance to work on my basket weave and even got to try out some new frosting flowers that I had never been able to figure out before. :)  YAY FROSTING!

It's kindof a messy mess of frosted goodness...but it's for my Grams Church Minister.  The entire congregation is quite elderly and the most exciting cake that any of them have ever seen is when the local sobeys got a new frosting stencil. :)  It was a huge hit!.  :)  (and I had a ton of fun with it.)

not so super-store cake

I offered to put a logo on a cake for a friend - super simple.  All I had to do is pick up the half slab from the Super-store.  White cake - white frosting - white trim...they clearly misunderstood my order!!!.     

When I arrived at the bakery counter to pick up the cake…it didn’t even have any trim!  Without warning I blurted out “That’s the ugliest thing I have ever seen!!!”  The 12 year old who was working behind the counter looked afraid and offered to put a border on it.  For a brief second I was impressed that a 12 year old could put a shell border on an ugly arsed cake and left to wander while she completed the task.  10 minutes later, I came back to find her attacking it violently with frosting!!!  I told her to stop – give me a big discount and I’d take it home and fix it myself.  At the same time – I asked her why it was 3 inches deeper on 1 side than on the other.  Her reply??  “Uhhh – that’s how they come in.  The other ones in the cooler are like that too”..  Ooooo baby-gurl…no they don’t sweety!  When I got home, I removed all frosting from the cake and discovered that the 3” height difference from 1 end to the other was allllll frosting!!  And let’s not over look the chewed corners on the cake board.  Honest to goodness…I learned very quickly that a) I don’t charge nearly enough and I’m way better at this cake thing than I give myself credit for.  When everything was scraped off of the hydious mess and a crumb coat was applied, I had no less than 4 heaping cups of frosting left over to re-frost the cake with.  4 CUPS!!! ARE YOU FREAKIN KIDDING??!!!  What can I expect, though, from a cake that looks like it was frosted with a paint roller??  The finished product worked out for the best and she was happy with it all the same.  Thankfully – it all ended well….but I will never buy a superstore cake again.