I've been baking!

I've been baking again..not in the real kitchen, but in my mini kitchen...it's the only place where any baking gets done these days! I wish I could work up the enthusiasm to make the edible version, but somehow that just never seems to happen!

Even getting these made has proved a challenge as, now that the better weather is here, all the hedges & grass in my garden have the cheek to just keep growing. As fast as I get everything cut & looking tidy it seems that the next time I turn around it all needs doing again!

You can see that I'm already thinking about Autumn(perhaps subconsciously I'm praying not to have to keep cutting the grass!)making this little blackberry & apple pie!


Once in "pie mode" I just had to make a gooseberry pie as my bushes are laden again this year & I have a freezer full....all waiting for me to make a REAL pie! Mmmmm, now what do you think are the chances of that happening?! :-))

Light Award..Thank you Rosanna!

Thank you Rosanna!
Rosanna...http://lastanzadigiuggiola.blogspot.com/ has given me this lovely award!
The rules of this award are:

1.-To complete the following phrase: I AM A LIGHT AND WANT TO ILLUMINATE...

2. - Link the blog from where the award came from and leave a message informing that person it has been received.

3.- Link and pass the award to five blogs that, in your opinion, are blogs of light.

Well, I've done no:-2
No's 1 & 3 are so difficult...but here I go!

The 5 blogs (& my apologies if you already have this award!) are:-
1. Linda Carswell at Petite Folie.....http://une-petite-folie.blogspot.com/
2. Julie at Bellabelle dolls....http://bellabelledolls.blogspot.com/
3. Jean Day at jdayminis....http://jdayminis.blogspot.com/2009/06/my-milk-toof-by-inhae.html
4. Sumaiya Mehreen at Fantasy Forest....http://thefantasyforest.blogspot.com/
5. Kim Saulter at...http://kimsminiatures.blogspot.com/

These blogs are all "blogs of light" to me!!
I'm so sorry if the links don't work..but for some reason I just can't get them to work properly & quite frankly, have given up trying!!

I AM A LIGHT AND WANT TO ILLUMINATE....oh dear..just what do I want to illuminate??
Ah...got it!
I AM A LIGHT AND WANT TO ILLUMINATE the world of miniature madness in which there are some simply wonderful people who brighten up my world!

2 Pyramids!

I'm ashamed to say that not too much has been going on in my particular mini workshop recently.
My excuse is that it's beginning to feel like summer at last here & the call of the pruning, veg gardening, grass cutting & generally enjoying the sun (as you know, I'm a dedicated sun worshipper, believing the vitamin D I get from being out in it far outweighs any PC worries over skin cancer!!)has kept me outside instead.
Apart from completing several run of the mill orders, I did manage to put together this little poached pear pyramid. One of the commissions involved some skinned pears so, as usual, while working on the pears, I went off at a tangent & decided I fancied eating one of these...it would probably have been much quicker to have made the "real" thing

Poached Pear & Chocolate Pyramid


Then there were the mussels, sitting hour after hour making these little beasts & I definitely needed a little escape into creativity!

A Pyramid Of Fresh Mussels On Ice.




I hope I can force muyself back into the mini-making mode very soon as I have a huge workbench of UFO's sitting looking at me every time I put my nose in there!

Hallowe'en comes early! (In May?)

3 weeks since I returned from Al Ain & survived the woman eating escalator in London & aside from the backlog of commission work that had built up while I was away, I had clean forgotten that half term was looming & having had the 3 grandkids + Mum & Dad for the last week, you can imagine that mini-making time (or in,fact, any time for anything other than cooking, washing, ironing & spoiling the grandkids before handing them back to their parents!!!) has been very limited!
I'm still working my way through commission orders...slowly, but now that the sun has vanished, I might get on a little faster!

I was asked quite a few weeks ago if I would be creating any new pieces for Hallowe'en...yes, I DID say Hallowe'en, talk about wishing your life away!! So, as I needed a break from making what I HAD to, rather than what "I fancied" I decided that I was feeling Hallowe'eny & as I'm having a love affair with mini meringues right now I came up with this orange & licorice meringue tower complete with sparkly spider's web.......



Even more fun was to create this "scary" ( I think he's quite benign really!) Vampire Bat Cake! He is actually a repeat of a cake I made lst Hallowe'en but was such fun to make that I decided to create another for this commission!



Now, sadly, it's back to the commission work... the sun has vanished, kids have gone home, beds all changed & ironing done.... no more excuses!! :-((