Strawberry Shortcake Party

It was B3's birthday party on the weekend and she wanted a Strawberry Shortcake Party. Fortunately I already had plenty of pink party supplies from my Party Cupboard.

I bought all pink, white and red lollies/sweets for on the table and in the party bags.

This is my new Maling bowl. I absolutely love Maling lustre ware and wished that I had a bit more of the pink colourway to use at the party. Oh well, I'll just have to throw myself on that grenade and buy a little more ;P

I made the jelly so it was reminiscent of a strawberry - you know, red on the bottom and green on the top. I think I need to get out more!

I made vanilla cupcakes and strawberrified them too; just in case any children did not like the chocolate birthday cake.

B3 actually wanted a 'dolly varden' style birthday cake; the one where you place a doll in the middle of a large, froofy cake skirt. There is a Strawberry Shortcake hard plastic doll available which would have been large enough but unfortunately she was not available on the Islands so I had to make do with a Strawberry shaped cake.

This was sssooo easy to do. I just used a heart shaped tin and a double batch of cake mix, as the tin is quite large. I sliced off the top of the cake to give it a flatter surface and got busy with the piping bag. I try never to make red icing due to the quantity of food colouring required. If you don't add enough you end up with a very dark pink. I did not pipe the icing all the way to the bottom edge of the cake as I knew I wanted to place fresh strawberries around it and the berries would have become quite sticky covered in icing.

B3 was very pleased with her party and had a lovely time. She especially like the fact that she got to keep the cake topper and add her to the ever increasing collection of Strawberry Shortcake paraphernalia which is slowly taking over our home. Have a Berry nice day!

Daffodowndilly

She wore her yellow sun-bonnet,

She wore her greenest gown;

She turned to the south wind

And curtsied up and down.



She turned to the sunlight

And shook her yellow head,



And whispered to her neighbour:

‘Winter is dead.’

Words by A.A. Milne

Photos by me, the lanes around St Saviour's Reservoir 7th March 2010

Walking the Lanes

Our Sunday walk saw us head to the lanes around the St Saviour’s Reservoir. The sun was shining for the first time on the weekend for a long time; I didn’t realise how much I had missed it. It was a scorching hot 5.5*C. On the drive to our destination we passed people on the beach building sandcastles and walking the dog (you can walk your dog on all Guernsey beaches until some time in May when the swimming beaches become ‘off limits’ to our little furry friends).

The wonderful Japanese Zen garden of a freshly ploughed field awaiting the arrival solanum tuberosum or the humble spud to you and me.

Daffodowndilly are popping up everywhere to chase away the Winter chill in our hearts.

The peppery, sweet smell of gorse wafts along on the wind; it is one of my favourite Guernsey aromas.

All the gorgeous yellow Spring flowers are clearly evident, beaming away from the hedges like little bits of the sunshine fallen to earth.

The view across Vazon Bay. I wonder if the surfers have braved the sea today? The Guernsey Die Hard Surfer Boys surf all year round. In Winter they don full body suits which include gloves, shoes and a hood, so the only thing that separates them from the Creature from the Black Lagoon in the frost-bitten circle of face you can see peering out from the insulated suits.

We passed Le Hechet Farm where the delicious Guernsey Farmhouse Ice-cream is made.

They use up the leftover egg whites and make meringues which they sell at the local farmers markets and at the Hedge Vege just outside the farm gates. For £1.60 per bag we bought some to give us strength on our strenuous amble :)

An entire hillside of daffs just waiting to burst into bloom.

I love that the people who made this granite drain took such pride in their work that they bothered to put the date it was made. And why shouldn’t they be proud as here I am 112 years later photographing it. They certainly put the slightly less grand Aussie drains to shame, just because it is functional doesn’t mean it can not be beautiful and well made.

What a lovely way to spend an hour or so wandering the sun-warmed lanes on a fabulous Spring morning.