An Autumn Owl

My toddler was loving playing with the dry golden brown leaves in the garden so we collected some together to make an autumn owl.

You cannot get an idea of the size from this photo but the owl is almost as tall as my 2 year old :)

Thanksgiving Dedication & 30th Birthday Cakes

Both myself and my husband are 30 this year which feels like a significant milestone, so we chose to celebrate combining a dedication ceremony of thanksgiving for our son and a big party with family and friends. But every party needs a cake... 

Here are the efforts of my first fruit cake using a good old traditional recipe from the Be-Ro cookery book, iced with marzipan and ready to roll icing. The leaves, writing and other details are piped on using royal icing of different autumnal colours. Very impressed with the final outcome, now just hope everyone loves it, from it's appearance to it's taste!

Autumnal Table Decor

A few photos of some creative table decor...

...a sneaky peek!

Spring has Sprung in the Garden

Daffodils

Violas

Spring has finally sprung, which is allowing me to get out in the garden. This is the first spring I have lived in a house with a garden, so I am very excited about what we might grow this year. We visited the local garden centre a few weeks ago and I spent lots of my Christmas money on garden equipment including a raised bed, seeds and plants, etc (my husband says I can't go back for a while as I spent too much money!).

Carrots

I have planted:

• herb seeds - coriander, basil & parsley
• daffodils along the edge of my lawn
• blueberry bushes
• raspberry canes
• runner bean seeds
• pea seeds
• butternut squash seeds
• spinach seeds
• a tomato plant
• carrots
• violas

My windowsill

Many of the potted seeds are sat on my window sill in the conservatory whilst they germinate and I am really enjoying watching new shoots appear most days with the beautiful warm sunny weather we have been having. I cannot wait to get them planted outside especially if this beautiful weather continues.

Blueberry bush

Previously I have not been so successful at growing plants and keeping them alive so this year is my year to prove myself wrong and harvest bumper crops to feed the family!!!

Tomato 

Daffodil

Autumn leaves

Beautiful bright autumnal leaves...

Autumn colours

I love autumn and all the colours which are on the trees...this is a selection from my walk to work, which you saw some photos of earlier in the year.