Gifts from home

I just want to send a special "derricashon" out to the most wonderful friends in the world. Robyn, Wendy and Melissa, thank you so much for the gifts you sent with my mother. Your thoughtfulness and kindness is greatly appreciated and I LOVE YOU GUYS!! 

Karl's favourite chocolate

my favourite madeira IN THE WORLD

rooibos lip balm

circular knitting needles to make a snood

the ONLY brush in the world that gives my hair the right flick

Mine and hubbys FAV vice

and even a prezzie for Cassie.

 Dublin is about a  2.5 hour drive from where we live and after I dropped Karl off at work, I set off to the airport to fetch my mom. I was quite emotional, even on the drive to Dublin I teared up just knowing that I would see my mom soon! Doesn't matter how old you are, your mom is still and will always be your mom. I haven't seen her in 8 months, and needless to say I sobbed, unashamedly might I add, at the airport when she FINALLY appeared. Mom fell asleep at 9pm last night, and its noon and she's still in bed. Might go wake her up soon and see if she's ok. We have lots planned. Today is a gorgeous day, the sun is shining and its relatively warm. Think we'll take Cassie and go for a drive along the shore and maybe even an ice-cream :) 


Cassie update: She's doing well, and growing quickly. After a week, she only cries for the first 10 minutes after we put her to bed, and then sleeps all night long, so we have made lots of progress.

not a happy pup after her shot and being microchipped - she travels well though, always falls asleep in the car

she seems to like to sleep under things...

fast asleep on her back

playing with her daddy before he went to work this morning

Thank you for my new toy Auntie Robs, Uncle Andel and Zac

the collie coming out in her - this is her favourite spot to 'sheep-watch'

Introducing Cassie Chloe Graham

Cassie was born in a wee village in Northern Ireland called Swatragh on 13 May 2012. After many unsuccessful attempts at adopting, we were finally blessed with Cassie. She is 10 weeks old and has turned the Graham household upside down. But we are so inlove with her.

She is a cross between a collie and a black lab and has the sweetest nature, and is very playful. She is still not used to being alone, and to be honest I think she sufferes from a bit of separation anxiety sometimes. She is always under our feet. 

Cassie sleeps in one of the outhouses in the garden, and cried ALL NIGHT LONG on the first night AND on the second night, AND on the third night. Its so confusing. Didint know whether to let her cry and get used to it, or to bring her inside. But after a lot of googling and a lot of advice from friends and family, I need to just endure her cries until she gets used to it. This is what she did to the door in attempt to get out...

Last night I sat in the milkhouse with her for half an hour until she fell asleep. Apparently I also need to help her to associate the milkhouse with positive experiences, so I played with her in there and feed her in there now too. When she was fast asleep in her bed, her daddy brought her a hot water bottle, a clock wrapped in the t-shirt I wore that day, her blankie, a treat, and her fluffy toy, Fluffy :) 

Cassie & Fluffy

I also left the radio on all night. She was quiet for 15 mins after I slipped away, and then she cried for 2 hours, but after that she was quiet. When I let her out to play this morning she was still fast asleep. So we may be making some progress.

finally asleep

Pups are hard work, and we are pretty exhausted, even after a 4 day weekend, but it is worth it AND it gives us a reason to exercise. 

Cassie's first day at the beach

Cassie is probably the most spoilt dog in the Glens and we have already spent a small fortune on her. Tomorrow I'm taking her to the vet for her shots and to be dewormed. Not looking forward to it at all, but you have to be cruel to be kind.

I don't want to be one of those people that ONLY EVER TALK ABOUT THEIR PETS,so on another note... today is my last day of work. I have been interning in Belfast for long enough. I feel that I have been taken advantage of for too long. There are currently 2 big projects at the office, and ONLY I have the skills and knowledge of the software package that they need for it. They complain that they don't have cash, but have purchased a £300 chair for a colleague with a bad back, and want to get 2 big flat screens in the office for the Olympics. If they can afford to do that, then they can pay me a little more too. It costs me more money to get to work than I am actually paid, AND the roundtrip from home to Belfast everyday is 3HOURS! I know its good to get out of the house and socialise with people, but not at my own expense. I'm also doing this as a step of faith. I have applied for a really good job in the prison service here. Its similar to the role I had in Namibia, and its the first job i have seen here which can be a career, not just a job. I should know shortly if I have an interview, please keep me in your prayers.

My MOM ARRIVES ON THURSDAY! She will be here for about 9 weeks, and I'm  looking forward to spending quality time with her (and of course enjoying her cooking and baking!) My MIL has arranged SO many outings for my mom, she is gonna be exhausted at the end of it. We have a few wee trips lined up for her too :) 

I just called home to see how Cassie was doing (yes, I miss her terribly already!) and my FIl says she is under his feet while he works, but that she is happy enough. Can't wait to get home and play with my favourite puppy. 

PS. I'm SO gonna be one of those nauseating pet people! Who woulda thought :)

flowers in bloom

I've never had my own flowerbox. My MIL gave me a few bulbs  and 2 flowerboxes to work away with. All it took was a little love and a lot of patience, and about 6 weeks later, this is what I was rewarded with. Here are some before and after pics.

before

before

after

after

And finally, these are the flowers my FIL picked and put into a vase (bottom of a coke bottle) and put in the house for my MIL. How beautiful is that, after 37 years of marriage, he still picks roses for her.

Planning permission and plans

We've had quite a busy weekend. And I'm exhausted, I think everyone is... As I write this, my brother-in-law is passed out on the sofa, fast asleep. If I was really mean, I'd take his pic and stick it up here, but I'm a nice person, so I won't. :)

I spent Friday baking for Sinead's sister's 30th birthday party. Finally settled on a giftbox/champagne themed cake. 

On Saturday I went to Belfast with my MIL and we did a bit of shopping AND we went to see about a puppy. Unfortunately, the puppies were all booked, but I did put a second booking on one of them. Then a friend mentioned that there were little black lab cross puppies not far from us up for adoption. So I applied and a guy came around to the house to see if the garden was secure. Which it is, but his concern is that the fence may be too low, so I'll only know tomorrow. If its a yes, I'll have a puppy on Saturday.

Yesterday we spent the day putting up the fence around our property. Uncle Jim, Barry, Karl and I spent the better part of yesterday fighting with posts and wire and measuring tapes. The architect wants us to put up a fence for when the planners come to look at the proposed plans etc. Well, we ran out of wire, so we'll have to finish it up next weekend. 

Its a long weekend here this weekend. We have Thursday and Friday off, so everyone is down and we're going to do the usual walk and attend a pub quiz on Friday eve. And then off course, go pick up the puppy if all goes well.

Barry's birthday and 1st place

I have been baking since Thursday! What a crazy weekend. I started Barry's birthday cake on Friday, and I encountered MANY technical challenges. I decided to decorated the cube in dark chocolate ganache, and dyed it black (took 4 bottles of black to colour it). what I should've done was use white chocolate and colour it. Also, someone suggested freezing the cake before putting on the ganache, so when the cake thawed, all the squares started to fall off. AND the cake you see wasn't the original cake, but the off cuts. had many heart-stopping moments with this one, but I learnt alot in the process. Its not perfect, but it was delicious :)

Then of course there was more cake drama in the car when we swerved to avoid a dog (Bless Karl's heart!) and because the squares kept slipping! But we got it there in one piece, even if it wasn't perfect! Barry thought he was meeting Harps for a nice, quiet, romantic dinner, but instead he got all 7 of us! We went to Christina's and Mark's after for cocktails and a boardgame called smartass - loads of fun!

birthday boy

On Friday night I decided to test a red velvet cupcake recipe for a cupcake competition my MIL entered me for. The first batch flopped because Sinead's scale was wonky and we didn't put in enough flour (thats my story and i'm sticking to it!). So after an afternoon of horse-riding lessons, failed cupcakes and a dinner of ribs and burgers with Karl, Sinead and Hugh. I rushed home to find a new recipe and tried again. They came out perfectly!

I went for a pink, silver, white and creamish(?!) theme for the competition.

And.... i won!!!! :D

doesn't that look like a military medal? lol! just saying...

Then yesterday, even though I was as sick as a dog, my boss's partner asked me (and paid me) to bake him a cake for today (his birthday). 

lemon drizzle cake and coffee and walnut cupcakes for my boss

So now I am all-baked out until Friday, when i have another birthday cake (on order!) to bake and decorate.

This really wasn't intended as a baking blog, but it seems to be turning into one. i will try add some more diversity over the next few weeks... promise.

PS. Our architect (yes, we have an architect - lol!) has drawn up a very rough outline of what we want for the house. We have to put up a temporary fence around the property for when the planners come around to ok everything, so this weekend I'll be learning a different skill: putting up sheep fences! I am really turning into a country wife!