Hestia and Sonshine's birthday

Yes, a Transformer has walked all over it and has a handful
of icing - we love Bumblebee in this house!

Wow - a whole year has passed since the debacle of the break-in at the swimming pool and poor Sonshine not being able to have his 10th birthday party there!

Yesterday he became 11 and he decided that he only wanted a Nintendo 3DS for his pressie.  A cool £200!! I told him that he could ask people to consider giving him money that he could put towards his new toy and that depending on how much he managed to collect, I'd pay the balance.

What luck!  What with his doting granny and uncle he raised over the required amount.  And so, dear reader, I found myself on the 10.15 am ferry yesterday morning with an overly excited child and a mother who can barely walk the length of herself without having to have a sit down.


And no car.

I opted for the environmentally friendly option of ferry and TRAIN to Glasgow.  *polishes halo*

The down side of this is that Juno has to walk. Something like the queen, my mother usually is ferried around the place by car.  I wasn't anticipating a great day out to be honest.

First of all we had to go to Game on Sauchiehall Street - where my son spent his entire birthday money on a bit of black plastic that will make his eyes water.  Sure made my eyes water handing over the cash.  It wasn't just Juno who had to have a wee seat outside in the dappled shade before heading off to the cinema.  I've not spent that much on a present in my LIFE!

Then down to the cinema to see the film - Arriety - A Studio Ghilbli film based on The Borrowers.  A bit girlie to be honest, and the reason why he opted to go see it without his friends, I suspect.  But he adores his anime cartoons.  Mercifully this one was light on strange, hideous characters and heavy on beautifully painted backdrops.  The story was sweet and seemed to go down well with Sonshine and Juno alike.

Then home on the train and ferry.  Back by 6pm.

A long, long day....

And then cake cutting and eating!

The cake was my first attempt at a victoria sponge in my super delux mixer.  I made one and thought that I might half it and use as sandwich.  But my cake tin was a bit bigger than the recommended size, so I ended up making two sponges and then gluing them together with my home-made redcurrant jam *can barely look at halo, it's so bright*  On the downside - I had to run out to the co-op at 6pm at night to make the second cake.  I iz not Nigella Lawson.

Then iced it with ready roll fondant stuff.  And yes, this is where it all went a bit Heath Robinson.  The icing  was only really to cover the single cake, now I needed it to cover something a bit taller....and had to roll it to the thickness of a gnats wing to apply to cake.  Oh yes, we had marzipan too. Well, why not have everything when you're 11?!  And the Dr Oetker icing for doing his name? Please don't use it - I could barely flex my fingers by the time I'd written his name and two ones for his birthday.  Nightmare stuff to use - doesn't stick to the damned fondant icing (also Dr Oetker!)

The cake tasted very nice indeed *halo gleams so bright everyone puts on sunglasses and warned not to look at it directly*

As I took him up to bed at half nine last night, he hugged us both and thanked us for a lovely day.  As I sprayed his poor sunburned back with lavender and camomile, he buried his head into my shoulder and said 'It's quite scary growing up, isn't it?'  What do you say?  Yes - there is economic meltdown on the horizon, your friends start to get seriously ill with things other than spots or a broken heart and you can see your life spiralling down a plug-hole at a great rate of knots.....but instead you tell him that it's all brilliant.  That he's got so much wonderful stuff ahead of him.  And he has.  I hope.

He still likes to hold my hand in the street and I wonder how long that will last.  When will I become an out of touch relic - more of a hindrance than a help?