SUCH A DISAPPOINTING RESULT.

A draw was no good to us at all and we SHOULD have got something out of it, but I St couldn't get the ball into their net, mostly due to Stoke's excellent goalkeeper. Talking of goalkeepers... When we ended up losing Krul to injury I predicted that we only get three games out of Elliott... And it looks like I was right.

STOKE FANS!!

Got a couple of them coming to stay for the weekend. Fortunately, we know them and we quite like them really! They've been before, when NUFC are playing them. Twice before I think and, from what I recall we've won and drawn in those games. Let's hope we don't let it slip tomorrow. In fact, heck, let's hope for a win! (I'm not going. I've given my ticket to James. We might win.)

HAVE JUST HAD...

... lamb chops for dinner. Haven't had them for ages, but they were delicious, so i need to remember how lovely they are more often! Honestly, I don't think it's been properly light at all today. Rain, rain, rain, fog, wet leaves all over the pavements. Actually, seriously, where are the council? The leaf situation is ridiculous, especially now they're wet and slippery. Someone will come a cropper, mark my words! Managed to cover my next cakes ready for the weekend. This time I'm using chocolate covapaste and it is amazingly brilliant to Apply to the cake. No cracking or tearing, easily mouldable. I love it! Need to try to use it more often! Oh... We discovered Patisserie Valerie. It's fabulous, so long as you're prepared to wait. But believe me, it's so worth it.

SO IT WASNT A RED CARD...

... after all. Nearly everyone knew that already mind. Not that it helps. In fact, it somehow makes it feel even worse.

WAITING FOR...

... a customer to collect a cake. Fortunately it's someone I know really well, although, in a way, that makes it worse! It's my secretary from Heddon, and the cake is for her Mum who's 90 this week. I haven't seen Martha since I left Heddon, but looking at photos of her from recent events I would say she's barely changed. She's a delightful person and I wish her the happiest of birthdays.

TODAY WAS SUPPOSED...

... to be a relatively light day, with not much planned apart from a few quiche and starting on Iton Man again. However, because Centurion failed to order cakes along with their regular weekly cake delivery, I ended up having a bit of a cake marathon, I fact, it's still not finished and I have the last one ready to go into the oven now. THEN I realised that the cake I thought was due to go out on Saturday is actually due on Thursday, so there were panic stations for a while. Anyway, the upshot it... I've been far to busy to sit around on the blog!! And it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better, I'm afraid!

IT WAS THE DERBY...

... today. We lost. It was the refs fault. I didn't watch it, it's just what I've been told.

WELL...

... Last night we had surprise visitors. At least they were a surprise to ME. Charles had, apparently, invited the couple over the road, who I had never even cast eyes on, around to ours for Saturday night drinks and nibbles, but the first I knew of this was when the doorbell rang and this odd couple walked in. Only then did Charles recollect having a conversation earlier in the week. Mind you, he didn't exactly apologise for putting me in an awkward position. Drinks? Nibbles? What nibbles? Then again,it was something of a double whammy for Charles and it involved offering our left over Indian meal to our neighbours, me being appalled at the very idea, and then answering the phone to the neighbour who Charles had clearly already approached with the idea, saying it was too good an offer to miss. Honestly, the communication round here is abysmal. I now feel as though I need to question him every time he's been out, just in case we are about to be inundated by a host of waifs and strays.

BUSY, BUSY DAY!!

In fact really, a busy, busy week. I've managed to get the staff at Centurion to agree to a regular weekly order instead of the ad hoc arrangement we had previously, so now I know that each week I'm producing 14 large quiche. They haven't managed to rationalise their cake order, but that's not so bad, I can deal with that as I pretty much always have cakes ready just in case. So, indeed to start with quiches today, then I foolishly decided to change all the bedding, so I need to sort that and then I've got two huge square cakes to start work on before they go out on Tuesday. Later on this week there are two more complicated cakes going out and I'm still working on designs for other cakes that need time to dry out before I can complete them. So, busy times... And I haven't even thought about Christmas cakes yet!!!

ANOTHER WEEK OVER.

Not sure what's happening to time these days, but there certainly seems to be less of it, and it's whizzing by at a ridiculous rate. I can't get my head round the shops being full of Christmas stuff - why bother even packing it all away, just leave it out, nobody'll notice that it's not appropriate and I bet people would still buy stuff even in summer. Think of all the effort that could be saved, not to mention valuably storage space. Just a thought. Anyway, we were up early. We've got the plumber coming to do some energy saving stuff (I think) so I wanted to be up, showered and have a cake baked before he arrived. I can now guarantee that he won't be coming to us as his first job after all, and we could have had an extra hour in bed. BUT, if we hadn't got up... Right, I need to go out for cake ingredients and then I'm working on my Iron Man model that was driving me bonkers yesterday. I THINK I've got it reasonably stable and should be able to start covering the Rice Krispie framework ter today once the royal icing has dried out. We'll see.

TWO MORE...

... cake orders today. I was pretty sure I was getting one, but Liz actually wanted two cakes because it's a joint party. So it's Iron Man AND a fairy house! Hmmm!! At the moment I'm doing battle with a bowl of Rice Krispie treats, attempting to build Iron Man's torso and head, but failing miserably, despite incorporating wires into the structure to give it extra strength and rigidity. I'm getting a tad frustrated to be honest and might be looking at alternative ideas instead of trying to be two ambitious. Watch this space!

GOT A CAKE CONSULTATION...

... first thing this morning. The cake side of things is pretty busy right now, but I'm especially looking forward to today's meeting as its with one of the Heddon Girls, who I appointed during my headship and who is simply the loveliest person ever. She was also our first visitor to Wingrove Road. She, and her daughter Alice, who is going to be five shortly hence the reason for the consultation, popped in on moving day with a card and a bottle of bubbly.at that point we had nothing in place, the house was an empty shell, so I'm sure she'll see an enormous difference this morning!!

CLAIRE'S HERE...

... for her tea. Without James! We've talked non-stop since she got here! Lovely daughter-in-law!

NOTHING MUCH...

... To report today. I've spent the majority of it in the kitchen making sugarpaste models. I'm not sure if my Jack Russell looks like a dog or a mouse, but I'm relatively pleased with my 90year old bowling lady. My fairy moulds arrived this afternoon, so I'm looking forward to painting those little beauties tomorrow!

HAD A ...

... Strong urge to visit Fenwicks food hall again this morning. This is dangerous. As Charles pointed out, it is one of our closet food shops and, as I pointed out,that makes it pretty dangerous because we could easily spend far too much money in there. As it is, we've bought lots of goodies today AND found some things in the patisserie that we know Claire is going to like on Wednesday when she comes round. (Date and Orange slice, Claire?) Picked up some square cake boards from Gosforth, did more down to earth shopping for cake supplies in Morrisons and am now baking birthday cakes and contemplating making a model of 90 year old Martha playing carpet bowls... Hmmmmmmm...

IT'S MATCHDAY 2...

... Well, 6 - 2 I don't think anyone saw that result coming. Still not easy viewing and lots of careless errors, but at least it was 3 points at last!

ITS MATCHDAY...

... And I'm praying for an excuse not to go. How awful is that? I honestly can't remember the last time we went to a match with any optimism, hope or excited anticipation. These days it's that over-arching sense of doom and dread that pervades everything about the club. Sad times indeed. On a slightly different note... ... I'm thinking of applying for the post of tea lady.

NEXT DOOR'S PUPPY....

... has had a really bad evening. Our neighbours went out this evening for the first time since they got him and Barney has had a total paddy while they've been away. In the end, he was so very distressed Vharles had to send a message to Dave and Gilly and they came home. I'm sure they were expecting to come home early and fortunately they weren't far away and it was just a party so they were able to leave without inconveniencing anyone. Sounds like they've come home to a real mess though. Brings back memories of when our two were babies, and how I used to hate leaving them. But at least we had the crate and that was a complete Godsend. Even now, although they done use it that much, they do go in it happily when're we are both out of the house. It's secure and reassuring for them. Maybe little Barney would be better if he had one.

LAZY FRIDAY AFTERNOON.

Had a bit of a cleaning blitz this morning. (The blinds in the kitchen and the lounge may look the part but are a total pain to keep clean!) Am now snuggled up on the sofa with the girls, leafing through cake decorating magazines. I've just found some fabulous fairy moulds that I've ordered because I think they'll save me hours trying to make my own for a cake that goes out next month. Can't wait for them to arrive so I can have a play!! Completely forgot that James is going to be in Aberdeen next week and won't be able to use my season ticket for the match. Looks like I'll have to go then although I honestly can't bear the stress and constant disappointment surrounding NUFC these days.

WENT TO OUR NEW...

... GP practice this morning. We registered pretty much as soon as we moved in, but I needed a new prescription so had to actually go along, in person on this occasion, although from now on prescriptions can just be renewed over the phone or online. It was interesting. The surgery. Itself is quite new and kitted out with the latest technology. I noticed that you find out when it's your turn by checking the big screen where your name appears above the name of the doctor who is seeing you. All well and good, unless you don't want anyone to know your name for any reason, but what it doesn't do is tell you in which of the many consulting room your appointed GP awaits you. It was my first visit, so the time lapse between my name appearing on the screen to me actually arriving at the appropriate room was lengthy to say the least! A small point, but it would help a lot of the room number could be included on the screen. The doctor who saw me today wasn't our named GP (the one who lives in the road behind us) but a pleasant young man who didn't really seem to know what he was doing. He informed me that he was new (he'd been there three months, so not THAT new), managed after about ten minutes to get my prescription to print, stuck me with a needle for good luck and to avoid flu and then dismissed me without the prescription that I'd gone in for, DESPITE, I might add, the fact that I actually asked him about the procedure regarding the prescription and him telling me the receptionist would give it to me. I thought it was odd, because it had just plopped off the printer in the consulting room where we were sitting, but, never one to argue, I dutifully reported back to the receptionist, who, when I explained the situation, threw her hands up in frustration, asked me what he was playing about at and threatened him with serious harm, before storming off to retrieve the prescription and presumably to give the new doctor a bit of a clip round the ear. It might be worth pointing out that during the last twelve months all the doctors in that surgery have changed. I'm not sure what happened to all the previous staff, but I know for a fact, that the last doctor died. Hmmmmm...

TODAY IS...

... MY HAIR DAY! I've gone from having a weekly appointment at SAKs to only going to have the colour and cut done which is every five weeks or so. Aaaargh NO... TEXT MESSAGE TO RING SAKS... PHEW! I thought they were going to cancel my appointment, but it was just to say that my usual colour hasn't arrived yet,but they have an alternative, so did I want them to use that instead? Who knows?? So long as the end result is right! Thank goodness for that. I've organised the rest of the week around today ( sad I know, but true) so I'm so pleased it's still going ahead.

WATCHING "RIVER"...

... I think I'm going to enjoy this series!

SAD TO SEE...

... the Freelander go. We've loved that car. Charles is, however, on his way to pick up his new (to us) hybrid Toyota. Can't say I feel the same excitement, but it might grow on me!!

WE TOOK THEM AT...

2.30pm. Kay told us that, as we'd asked her to cut their coats really short, the girls would be finished at the groomers more quickly than usual. However, it was 7.00 before they were ready to come home. Kay is such a perfectionist, and there isn't a stray hair anywhere. It's so lovely to see them looking so smart and with such a short cut. They look so small though!! And this morning we are off to Morpeth for what we hope is going to be the last appointment with Simon the Vet. Fingers crossed!!

A MORNING...

... Spent on the quiche production line... ... Followed by an afternoon worrying about how the girls are coping at the groomers... ... Followed by an evening of telling the girls how beautiful they are while watching Strictly. That's what will happen today!

I ABSOLUTELY....

... CANNOT WAIT for tomorrow's appointment at the dog groomers! I don't think the girls have EVER looked so scruffy. I know it's well overdue because of Rose's operation, but I still feel ashamed that they look as bad as they do. We're going to have their coats cut pretty short this time. In the past we've kept it fairly long in an attempt to disguise the lump behind Rose's leg, but now that's gone so they can have a fairly radical cut. I know they hate going, but I'm certain they will feel better when it's done!

SOME MORNINGS...

... you just wake up and can't face making sugar models, despite, or maybe because of, having a great long list of things to produce. I've reached everything out, but just can't work up any enthusiasm yet. Maybe I should have gone to Darlington with Charles to look at the car he's gone to see...

STARTED...

... planning Christmascakes today, but didn't get very far with prototypes because other stuff got in the way. We were out and about this morning, stocking up on cake sundries and groceries and checking out a 'hybrid' Toyota that Charles is fancying swapping the Freelander for. James and Claire came for tea. It was good to catch up with them although I really wish I hadn't eaten so much. Hopefully, I'll get more cake stuff done tomorrow. I need to try to finish the Corsa, make Teletubbies, Thomas the Tank Engine, Thunderbirds, an X box controller and something to do with NUFC - all for one 'Memory' cake. It'll be interesting to see how far I get!

SUCH A MISERABLE DAY!

Good job I've got so many things to do. This morning I've made the chassis for a new shape Corsa, devised (with help from Charles) a crossword that includes the names of four generations from one family, started planning Christmas cake ideas. Later on I'm going to have a go at making meatloaf - a real one, made with minced beef and onions, not a sugarpaste model of a singer - something I've never made before, but was inspired to try after talking to Dave next door. Hope it's as good as he tells me it will be!!

POOR LITTLE ROSE.

No sooner does she have her stitches out than she gets an ear infection and has a huge red bald patch behind her right ear. She has drops from the vet, but the sore patch seems to be getting worse, not better. If she keeps scratching it, she's going to have to wear the dreaded cone again. I can see us going back to the vets tomorrow!

BACK TO THE VET...

... this morning. All the scabs that prevented him removing the stitches last week have come away and I can't see any reason why Rose shouldn't be stitch-free when we come home. We'll stop off in Morpeth for a while as we're so close. Other than that , I'm not altogether sure what's happening today!

NOT SURE IF I MENTIONED...

... that our niece, Sophie, and her boyfriend were staying with us over the weekend. Not that we've seen much of them as they've been out most of the time, but anyway, they left this morning after a bit of a lie in following an evening (for them not us!) in the Toon. We've had a good clean round, done loads of washing and are now relaxing in front of the telly and the Merseyside Derby. Have just read on facebook that Sunderland have parted company with Dick Advocaat (or was it the other way round?) Anyway, here we are again, just a couple of weeks before the Derby and perfect timing for them to make an appointment, lose the first game under him and then thrash us as they have done for the last three years. Talk about history repeating itself.

MET SOME...

... lovely people this afternoon, including our new GP! It was really fab that people had an opportunity to get together and to introduce themselves. I feel even happier about our neighbourhood now that we've met so many of our neighbours. AND - they certainly eat well. Four dozen cupcakes disappeared in a couple of hours!!

WHERE DID THE SUN GO?

What's going on? It's supposed to be gloriously sunny. Just what we need for the street party! Instead it's overcast and quite chilly. Boo!! Let's hope it's just some early morning cloud that will quickly burn off leaving us with another warm and fabulous day.

STREET PARTY TOMORROW.

Such a lovely idea. For no reason other than getting neighbours together. The residents, families and friends from three streets - Curtis Road and sections of Wingrove Road and Nuns Moor Road are having a back street party tomorrow afternoon. I think it's great and really, really hope there's a good turn out. We already know our immediate neighbours well and it'll be lovely to get to know more of them. It's suggested that people take food to share, so I've made a few dozen cupcakes. Hope the weather stays as lovely as it has been all week.

STILL STUFFED...

... After lunch with James, even though neither of us had a big main course. I suspect it was the coffee and dessert that was the killer! However, it was absolutely lovely to see him and to have a couple of hours in town. Thank you Jim!

LOOKING FORWARD...

... to spending some Mum and Son time with James later today. He's got a day off work and asked me to join him for lunch - his treat. How lovely is that?