Okay...

Firstly, Flytraps! I love them!
This one I put up just over a week ago at my house.

Now, for the party! Obviously I am not going to put pictures of the kids up here, so here are some pictures of the cake! Not exactly what I wanted, but close enough that I didn't care. It tasted delicious! She said it was just chocolate mud cake, but it tasted a bit alcohol like. Gods I hope not as it was for kids! Anyway...

I have other photos from the day, but they are on the other camera and god knows when I will get around to getting the photos off that one, lol.

The joy of papier mache - not.

Okay, so today the plan was to make at least 24 papier mache 'dragon eggs'. Just the first layer.
I set up kids with kiddy scissors and paper and a bucket while I went off to make glue. The recipe I used was
1 cup plain flour mixed into 2 cups of cold water. Whisked smooth (no lumps).
Boil a pot with 3 cups of water. When boiling, add in the flour mix and stir (I whisked) until thickened - which it did in a minute. Took off heat and put into a bowl to cool.
I go to check on kids. A total of one sheet of newspaper has been cut between them and they have decided to run off down the backyard and fob it all off.
~groan~
So, I go and blow up some water balloons. After I pop the first 3 (water balloons are not meant to be blown up), I finally get the knack and do up 28.
I take them outside and set up the 'work station', and call the eldest back to come and help. It is for his freaking party after all.
He successfully (not) does 1/4 of a balloon, decides the whole task has nads on it and disappears off to play with his brother.
Mum joins me and between us we make 27 'dragon eggs' - the last balloon popped in the sun.
They look pretty good so far, so we set them out to dry. They dry pretty well, but 2 are a bit slow as I had made them a bit thicker.
Well ... let that be a lesson to me. My youngest son decides, brilliant! I will nick a couple and peel off the paper ~grrrrr~
So, we are down to 25. I need 24, so just as well we made spares.

I will post up pictures from todays efforts ... when I cba.

Next weekend we will be doing the pulp papier mache layer (today was the strip paper layer), just to get a better shape and better structure. Then it will be painting time.

I am going to document the whole lot of it ... because even I can't believe that I am actually going to this trouble!

Really not much...

I really haven't been paying much attention to the garden of late.
I had my knee operated on in July, and am only able to just start bending it now ... so I fear kneeling in the garden beds is going to still be a while away :(
I have been watching my vegies grow (snow peas, fennel bulbs, broccoli, kale etc) and feeling frustration as for every plant there appears to be a weed to match.
The side alleyway leading to my store room is looking shocking! Full of weeds between the pavers, along with a tonne of Borage. Of course the Borage didn't self sow in the bed, it did it all in between pavers. The cats have gotten in and dug out the comfrey (now a stump of a plant covered in turds).
The pears along there are still growing ... does anyone have any idea how long it takes pears to ripen? it feels like the fruit have been there for 3 months, but they are not very big.

Next door we had to remove a big mound of dirt and building materials (that was helping hold up the fence). The water corp needed access to the manhole that was conveniently located underneath it (typical). Unfortunately it has also resulted in the fence falling over further - as it was just about the only thing keeping it up. Soooooo, yet another letter to the strata manager of the units behind - this time giving them a deadline before I pursue legal action. The fence has been like this for 20 odd years. I have only been dealing with it for 2 years - as in trying to get a resolution from them. So. Damn. Frustrating!
(nb: the fence is all their fault as they altered the lay of the land and never put in a retaining wall)

Mums birthday is coming up soon. I am pretty pissed. Not at mum, but I bought her present 2 weeks ago, paid for it straight away and have just received notification that it has just been posted. Soooo, it has 2 weeks to get into my possession from Russia. It had better get here in time!
I am going to make this cake for her birthday. Pretty selfish reasons. Well, apart from me wanting to make mum a birthday cake, a) it looks like something I can manage no sweat. b) all the kids will love it. c) I will love it, though my diabetes will not.

The young master and I have been discussing his birthday plans, and this year it is all about the dragons!

So, after deciding that there is no way that I can do the cake that he wants (it's a sculptured dragon job from fondant), I am just going to outsource it. I have slowly been accumulating dragon bits and bobs for loot bags, decorations and "prizes". But the big job will start next weekend. We are inviting around 24 kids (Kindy & friends) so the young master and I will be making 24 Emu egg sized "dragon eggs" from water balloons and papier mache for the Dragon Egg Hunt.