Moira's birthday weekend

Lying is SUCH hard work! It was my mother-in-law’s birthday yesterday, her 60^th. She has been insisting that she doesn’t want a party for months. And what did we do? We organised a surprise birthday party for her! On Friday night, 18 ladies went to one of her favourite restaurants, for a surprise birthday dinner. She actually cried when she walked into the place and saw us all sitting there.

the birthday girl!

We hoped that if she did think something was going on, the dinner would be the surprise and that would be that. We organised for my father-in-law to take her away for Saturday night, so after they left, we got to work. Harps and I started chopping veggies and chicken for the skewers, Mark installed the new dishwasher and Barry and Karl took over the skewers at one point, so the girls could bake. 

our handyman

our chefs

the baker

On Sunday morning, we woke up to no rain! Which is a miracle cos it rained NON-STOP on Friday and Saturday. So the boys set up the marquee (after much squabbling and in-fighting), and the girls did the set up. 

The surprise braai went so well. We had about 50 guests, and the last of them left at silly o’ clock this morning. At one point the men were singing Irish songs outside (drunken Irish songs!). So we are all shattered this morning. But it was good fun and the desserts were AMAZING!

mommy, can I have a beer too?

Next weekend is Barry’s birthday and I’m going to try and make him a rubik’s cube cake :)

Mini-break

At 5:15am on Wednesday morning, my alarm awoke me quite rudely! I had a plane to catch. Rushed around getting the last minute things packed, had breakfast, and Karl drove me to the airport. I landed in Newcastle at 9:20am and was met by Clare and her hubby, Simon. We headed into Newcastle for a day of exploring. Newcastle is pretty, and we spent some time in the Baltic museum and had something to eat there.

see the seagulls in their nests - just outside the Baltic

 We went to one of the biggest malls in the UK, the Metrocentre, to watch Men in Black 3 at the IMAX in 3D. It was awesome and funny (especially when Clare literally ducked in the cinema!). I think we were all exhausted after all the action in the movie, and we headed home (about an hour long drive from Newcastle). We decided to braai for supper and Simon made delicious lamb burgers and Clare and I made a milktart (it had too much cinnamon in it though)

After dinner, we sat around and chatted (and ate milktart) and finally called it a night. I slept like a baby after being awake since 5:15am.

On Thursday, we had a pretty slow start to the day, but finally headed out to York. York is supposed to be a very beatiful place, and Phil lived there for most of his time when he was in the UK. It was nice to stroll along. There was still a festive buzz in the air. Lots of street performers and crowds, and of course tourists. We stopped off at a market in Kings Square (I think!?) and had delicious springbok burgers from a SA stall.

Clare enjoying her burger

I loved York, and can see why people rave about it. I look forward to visiting again, with my husband. I was in bed and asleep at 9:15pm, because I had to wake up at 5:20 the next morning to catch 5 trains to the Bellis-Jones'.

I woke up feeling fine actually, probably because I slept for about 8 hours. My first train was at 6:15am and I finally pulled into Chester train station at 12:40, exhausted. But it was so nice to see Martheanne and Jenny, and to finally meet my goddaughter, Keira Lilly. 

Ryan and Rox with their babies

Friday night was spent catching up with all the Bellis-Jones' and the Burton family, and I finally got to meet Jaden. He is the sweetest little boy ever, so lovable and he has the cutest smile. 

balancing act :D

On Saturday, after a bit of a lie in, I decided to get Keira's cake sorted. It was actually alot of fun, even though my back really hurt after bending down all day. Side note: Joanne and I are starting a 3 month cake decorating course in Ballymena in September, we are really looking forward to it!

On Saturday evening, Martin's brother and his family arrived and we all went out for dinner. I had a delicious streak in a blue cheese sauce and a glass or 3 of red wine. When we got home, I whipped out my famous pub quiz and we had a really good evening.

Keira and I all dressed up and ready to go out for dinner. 

We all got out of bed at around 6am on Sunday morning to prepare the food for the christneing that day, We prepared sandwiches and cold meats and salads etc. We thought we would be running around all morning, but by 9:30am, all the preparations had been completed. All we had to do was sit around and wait til noon when the hall was ready. So I disappeared to put Keira, and myself apparently, to sleep.

 

 Martheanne and I set out the food in the hall, and she decorated it, and then we headed off to the chapel for Keira's christening, followed by a buffet lunch with about 80 adults and 30 children.

Beautiful Keira Lilly

I miss them all already.

I think we left that hall at around 7pm or so and headed home. We sat around and chatted about Oranjemund and old times, and people we havent heard from or about in a long time, and we also had a few (too many) cosmopolitans. I had such a good time with the BJs, it was a slice of home for me, and I think I needed that desperately. They all headed off to the Lake District yesterday after they dropped me off at the airport. They tried to convince me to go with them, but I reminded them that I have a job AND a husband to get back to. 

I'm just relaxing and taking it easy today. Reading, unpacking and eating :D. I'm feeling refreshed and happy. Its back to work tomorrow, and I have a deadline for the end of June that I don't think I'll meet, but I'll try anyway. 

Joanne's 30th birthday cake

I know I've been quiet these last few days. Struggling with homesickness at the moment. Still trying to re-adjust after Mel's visit. The packing and moving and unpacking didn't really help the situation much. Our bedroom is finally sorted, but the room upstairs is still a MESS! I need to get it sorted because Karl's friend is coming to visit for a few days next week and there is no space to move in that room. 

It was Joanne's 30th birthday party on Saturday, and I baked her a cake as her present. The theme was black and white, and so was her cake. I baked the cakes on Thursday, decorated them on Friday and then did the stacking and last bit of decorating on Saturday at the party. So this time around it wasn't so stressful! Here are the pics.

Bottom layer - carrot cake

Middle layer - chocolate fudge

top layer was lemon drizzle

more cake

Its a colleague's birthday today. So I'm in for work on a Friday :( But the good thing is that we are going for lunch (all on the company) and then we are going out for a few drinkies and some dinner this evening. So another big night out in the big city lights for this country girl! :)

Birthday weekend part II

So last Saturday night, my good friend Joanne, decided we were gonna celebrate my birthday in 3D style... dinner, drinks and dancing. We went to her home town of Ballycastle, about 30 mins from where we live. We went shopping on Thursday evening (instead of Zumba!) and bought very cheap, but very sexy dresses. I'm actually gutted that we didn't get a photo together in our new dresses. I did try a new hairdo though, like a side bun-thing...

We went to a place called the Central for the first part of the evening.

I had the MOST AMAZING chicken stack ever! Its roasted chicken on a bed of champ (an Irish version of mash), with fried onions on top and a creamy peppered sauce! YUM!!! Karl had a bacon and avo (?) burger, which was really well presented.

After dinner, Stevie Wonder's Happy Birthday started playing and this cake arrived on our table. It was really very sweet (nearly cried, but didn't!).

After dinner, we gate-crashed a wedding. The girl in the pink dress and her hubby were invited to the evening do at a friends wedding (in a nightclub!?) so we all went along for a few drinks. After a few long and uncomfortable stares from the wedding guests (probably wondering who on earth we were), we moved to the Glenshesk, more commonly known as "Sin City."

And thats all I remember (just kidding!) We were home and in bed by 2am :)

weekend activities

Spent the morning cleaning the house. We have another busy weekend, but its my birthday weekend, so I am looking forward to it! Waiting for a friend, Sinead, to arrive for lunch. Made some pasta, YUM!
Then tonight we are going out in Belfast for Sinead's husband's birthday party. He works with Karl. We are going to the Duke of York.

Tomorrow I am baking. Gonna try a 3-tiered topsy-turvy cake and it might be a bit of a technical challenge, will post pics. 1 tier is choc fudge, another one is lemon and the last one is coffee and walnut. Everyone is coming over for cake on Sunday afternoon, so gonna be spending all of tomorrow baking: cake, cupcakes, scones and maybe some bread...

Also found these in our front garden

I wonder what they are....

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas

As you know, we celebrated Christmas on Saturday, so it now feels like Christmas is over, but its NOT! Our dinner was fantastic, and the food was even better.We cleared out the room that Karl and I shared at his parents place, and set up all the tables and decor in there.

This is the arrangement I made at my flower arranging class last week.

Christina is gonna kill me, but I couldn't resist putting this up. She was trying to catch a snooze before the festivities.

I made potato and leek soup for starters, and then roast veg with the main. Moira made turkey, gammon and sausages with stuffinf and gravy. Aunt Margaret broke her arm, but she somehow still managed to make the mash and a baileys (sort of like amarula) cheesecake. Christina made a rocky road cake, Harpinder made banana bread and Fionnula made cake!

Finn's xmas tree cake

the girls hard work!

And I made a chocolate fudge and carrot cake snowman (who is melting a bit!)

the beginnings of a yummy pot of mulled wine - cool Jamie Oliver recipe - very easy

Jimmy & Fionnulal

Xmas Charades game

And Santa :)

 I am actually on my way to work.... sort of. Helping out with a friend's business over the busy Xmas period for a few days a week, so at least it keeps me out of trouble! xx