The birthday tea went well...

I picked up a helium balloon on the way home from work (I left early), peeled and roasted some spuds and parsnips, did some ready-to-roast gammon and beef, boiled some carrots, peas and beans, and iced the cake I baked yesterday.
Simple! ...except I thought they were coming over at 7 when it was actually 6:30. Oops.

But that's part of the fun in having family round - so what if I hadn't changed from my work clothes yet? It's nice to be able to relax and not need to perform.

The cake worked well too. Once I trimmed the sides a little and put some icing on it was pretty good. I did a zig-zag of melted white chocolate as the final touch - a bit wonky but I quite liked that. I'll add a photo once I've got it from A's camera.

Visible progress

1. The satisfaction of a job well done, as we finished one audit, then another task ticked off the to-do list

2. A 2nd birthday tea with a glass of wine.

3. A rare(ish) evening at home. My ironing pile is done, and I've added another 2-3" to the Clapotis scarf.

Birthday tea

Birthday tea for Andrew with his family - fish & chips, and I ate too much!

Friends and family

I visited a friend and her 4-month old baby this morning.  Time flies so quickly; the last time I saw them he was only a couple of weeks old.  "Ciocia Lorna" - feels strange, and a privilege...

I'm looking forward to having a little bit more control over how I spend my time after this week; I seem to have been travelling or working longer hours since September and it's been interesting but I feel I've neglected my friends a bit too.  We'll be home over Christmas so hopefully we can spend some proper time with the people who matter to us.

We cooked for Andrew's mum's birthday today - he made spiced apple and sweet potato soup, and I made lemon roast chicken with lots of roast veggies.  The table was already beautifully decorated when I got back from my friend's house.  I think Mary enjoyed being pampered.

The broom broom beanie's growing too - I've added the road now - and Andrew has found some gorgeous buttons on ebay.  Success!

Smiles

Three things which made me smile today

1. Uncle M has found the home-made chutney we left for him at Grandma's - it made his day!
2. Toby likes his birthday present
• big brother wants one too!
3. playing guitar & leading our worship time at housegroup
• plenty of missed chords, but it didn't matter...

Teddy's scarf

The scarf is finished!

details on Ravelry, but it's blue and yellow stripes, doubleknitted, with a T at each end (for Toby & Teddy)
We found Teddy at Clas Ohlson in Liverpool - A was determined to find a smiling teddy, most of them looked too glum, but this one's lovely!  Soft and cuddly too :o)

Birthday blessings, Cleaning up

Birthday blessings

• I'm touched by the number of people who've written messages / texts / sent me birthday cards.  It's lovely to be remembered
• I enjoyed taking my bakings around at work today - lots of smiles and good wishes
• some lovely presents and apparently there are more on the way!
• phonecalls from my grans & mum

Cleaning up

• planning to renovate our QC lab so that it will look & feel much more professional
• exciting to hear the many ideas being suggested
• it'll be hard work for the team, but well worth it
• surprisingly good fun to clean some of the labs today - an hour of scrubbing and mopping by almost everyone, and now it's sparkling

Birthday treats and making things (2)

how long can I keep this theme going...?

Birthday treats:

• dinner this evening at the Old Ginn House with A's family for Gary's birthday
• I enjoyed the chicken and ham pie, with white chocolate cheesecake for afters

Making things:

• jam surprise cupcakes made after work, and just completed before we went out
• rocky road and flapjacks unstuck from each other and put into nicer boxes, ready for tomorrow
• Toby's teddy's scarf still not finished, but only a couple of inches to go...
• it'll be done by Thursday - I promise!

Birthday treats and making things

Making things:

• yesterday we experimented with Bombay Potatoes - ground cumin, fenugreek, coriander and chilli flakes fried with onion & garlic, then simmered with chopped tomatoes and potatoes.  Delicious!
• today, I've made Rocky Road to take to work on Tuesday (my birthday) which has turned out very crumbly, and flapjack, which hasn't
• Andrew improvised chicken, potato, veg & rosemary stew for tea
• tomorrow I plan to make jam-filled cupcakes
• and I've almost finished knitting a scarf for Toby's birthday teddy bear

Birthday treats:

• 2 wonderful birthday cards from our godsons - Daniel has even written his own (uniquely spelled) message
• their present to me last year was possibly my favourite
• happy tears!
• they've given me pots, seeds and compost so I can have a go at growing food next year