Sunday, August 18, 2013

Birthdays, family & fun times!


I'd like to start this blog post by wishing my fiancé a Belated Happy Birthday on my blog! I didn't get round to posting on the day because we were so busy. It was a lovely day & I've got plenty to share! This was the 10th birthday (of his) that we've spent together! He means the absolute world to me ♥


I'm playing catch-up with everything at the moment! I've finally caught up on the washing (sort of) and cleaning (though I keep finding more things that need to be done) but everything else is way behind schedule. I'm a bit snowed under at the moment! I'm behind on all my crochet projects and still have to start putting some ideas together for the Arts & Crafts Fair. Too much time spent procrastinating and not enough time spent crocheting & organising! I keep getting distracted & finding other things to do. Yesterday I decided to bake some almond cupcakes even though I knew I had a full schedule! Priorities! Priorities! Priorities! I need to focus!

We've also had my fiance's parents visiting so I've not had much time to do my usual blog post & am a week behind but I will try to keep this post short & catch you up on everything we've been up to.
PS: That's the woodpecker that keeps visiting us!


Minion! So my wonderful fiancé spotted this pattern a few weeks ago when I was browsing the internet & decided he'd love one for his birthday! Fast forward to a week & a bit ago...there was me sat at the laptop, crochet hook in hand, putting together this nightmare of a project. The tutorial is excellent and probably the best I've seen but I've never done much amigurumi so this was hard work for me! This was 3 days worth of hard work. I was up at 6am everyday and not getting to bed till 3am & was having to squeeze minion time in whenever I could. The things we do for the people we love! ♥ Never again! (I say that now but he'll probably have me making something else before the end of the year!). We watched Despicable Me 1 & 2 recently & they're just awesome! Absolutely enjoyed every minute!


I baked a cake or two! I don't really do cakes. They never come out right and I'm no good at icing them. My lovely man wanted me to bake him a chocolate cake so I gave it a go. It was just a basic (easy peasy) chocolate cake recipe. I even lined the tins this time which is something I've never done! More on the cake further down......


Please excuse the lack of a shirt...it was early in the morning & this is the only photo I have of him with the Minion! He finally got to meet his Minion! I think he likes him. They'll get along just fine. It was all smiles on his birthday. He was very spoilt and it was a very enjoyable day. Look at that lovely smile ♥ says it all really!


My dad has been on leave for the last week & my fiancé's parents arrived the Thursday just before to spend the week with us. His parents treated us to lunch at his favourite eating place...Taybarns! We all had a great time! Lots of laughs & too much to eat! Unlimited cappuccinos (my kind of heaven)! The weather was lovely. I got everyone to pose for our traditional photo on the bicycle stands. We've been doing this over the past few years and it's really interesting to look back at.
My dad made a lovely roast dinner for us the following day & a delicious Trifle. I think we definitely overindulged but it was thoroughly enjoyed!


And the end result of the cake! I decided to keep them as two separate cakes. We ate one the day before with some ice-cream & chocolate sauce and we ate the other one on his birthday. The icing is just chocolate cream cheese but it did the job! His dad helped me decorate it. It's not perfect but it was made with love & that makes it special! ♥
Delicious with a bit of cream! The birthday boy loved it.


Of course the cats always find their way onto my blog! Our little furbabies aren't the most sociable creatures. They spent most of their time hiding, shouting at our visitors or sleeping. As far as they're concerned, they rule the house! They can be pretty demanding at times. Tabby got some outdoors time so he was happy. Everyone else was content to stay indoors!


On their last day with us (an hour before their train was due) we were treated to a snack at our favourite cafe...NRG. Nothing compares to this awesome cafe! My fiancé's mother is as much a fan of this cafe as I am! I had a Cafe Creme Brulee, she had a Baileys Latte, my dad had a Espresso Macchiato & my OH had a delicious strawberry milkshake! Of course we had to have a treat to go with it! Strawberry tarts & caramel shortbreads! Yum, yum, yummy! This is the same place we went to for my birthday meal earlier in the year.
We took a slow walk to the station & then said our goodbyes. We had a lovely week with them. It'll be a year now before his mom visits again but we'll be seeing his dad again in October!



Now that our visitors have gone home, life must slowly go back to normal. Easier said than done! We've managed to get a fair bit done though. We bought some lampshades and my dad put them up yesterday. They add a lovely bit of colour to each room. I finally got round to ordering some new bedding that will be here on Tuesday & winter curtains. Normal routines shall resume tomorrow morning, starting with a 4am start! Now if I only I could catch up with my crochet!

I think that's everything! I hope you've enjoyed my little catch-up with you & hope you are all well. I'm off to catch-up on some of my favourite blogs! Wishing you all the best for the week ahead. Hopefully I will see you back here next Sunday!
Take care!

2 comments:

  1. Happy birthday to Dean! I'm glad you all had such a nice celebration together. The cake looks very nice and your Minion is adorable! Nice work. I like the new lampshades too. Hope you have a good week. :)

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  2. Happy belated birthday to your fiance. It looks like you all had a wonderful day. That minion is awesome. I may need to make one for my dad. He keeps his head shaved, so he already thinks he's Gru:)

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