sliprail: Meg's Birthday Weekend and The Story of a Cake

Our beautiful Meg is 25 today! How the time flies. It seems not so long go that she was a sweet baby in my arms. She still lights our days with sunshine and smiles, joy and laughter.

Preparations began on Friday night (actually, they began weeks ago) but the nitty gritty preparations began Friday night with the baking of two pink cakes.

Before continuing I have to explain something. Several years ago Meg started creating wonderful themed birthday cakes for each of us that matched our interests or personalities. However, each time her birthday came around I made a sad packet cake and got the local cake guru to make a cake topper, which I proudly stuck on top of the sad cake just before presenting it to her. Last year I promised her that this year I would try harder. Okay, read on.

So far, so good....although it's quit early in the piece yet.

Saturday morning saw the assembly of said cakes. Plenty of frowning, teeth gnashing and hand wringing ensued. My goal was to construct a cake that resembled a camera, however, the end product was so far removed from the vision I had in my head as to how it would look that I cannot bear to post any photos of it. It was, quite simply, awful.

This is as much of the process that I'm willing to share.

I hid the cake in Drew's cupboard. I told him how awful it was and sent him a photo. He wrote back and said that it wasn't THAT bad and offered me ten out of ten for effort!

We were expecting Meg to come home on Saturday afternoon but a 4am bed time after a big night on the town in Tba put an end to that idea. She needed her rest!

Sunday morning we ran the calves through for their revac, finished the dehorning and double tagged, hair sampled and treated the one that got away in the first round. I won't mention the other one that got away this time because someone opened the gate on the wrong side of the crush and then had to go racing after it on the 4 wheeler when it took off across the flat like a shot out of a gun. I'd just like to say it wasn't me...and there was only two of us in the yards at the time.

Peter arrived just as the rest of the little herd disappeared up the laneway and around the corner to their fresh paddock; then Meg and Mum arrived soon after with Meg feeling quite refreshed from a good night's sleep.

The day turned into a long drawn out affair of.....food. Spring rolls with an incredible lime and peanut dipping sauce (Mum took the rest of it home to have on her steak or chicken at night).

More pumpkin soup! By this time it was raining outside; the wood fire was burning and we were warm and snug inside.

Apple and cinnamon muffins. Very quick and easy to make.

Chocolate slice!

Oops.

Yes, that's me - I raced out to move a rooster of G's out of his uncovered day pen back into his covered pen and got nice and wet for my trouble. See how warm it was inside - I was wearing a SINGLET!

Mid afternoon we made home made laundry liquid.

For the birthday dinner I tried to make Shrimp Scampi just like we had at Giovanni's Shrimp Truck in Hawaii. Hmm, they were good but not as good as the real thing.

LOTS of garlic but next time I think they'll need more paprika and cayenne.

Main course was lamb casserole, one of Meg's favourites.

Then I brought out the surprise cake. Meg was very surprised! After inspecting it for ten minutes (and wondering why there was a plane perched on top of the "lens"), this was her reaction when I showed her what I had EXPECTED the cake to look like. She nearly wet herself. So did the rest of us. We had sore ribs from laughing. I dare not show you any more of it; that glimpse is enough.

After all the hilarity of the camera cake we had a quiet evening relaxing in front of the fire.

This morning we had an original birthday breakfast of bacon and eggs accompanied by some gifts - a beautiful scented candle and a travel mug, some slippers, a book, a bowl, an egg poacher, some pretty tea towels, two little sharp knives (so I can keep mine) and some special duty free perfume.