The end of summer and other odds and ends

My grandmother was in town recently and so to celebrate her upcoming birthday on September 1st, I made some goodies for a party that my mother held in her honour.

I made a 6” lemon cake with lemon buttercream and matching mini cupcakes.











Plus, I made some regular size vanilla cupcakes. The pink ones have strawberry vanilla buttercream, handmade white icing roses dusted with white Wilton Pearl Dust, and white sugar pearls. The white cupcakes have vanilla buttercream icing and handmade icing flowers with silver dragees and dusted with pink Pearl Dust.



Finally, I made some chocolates. The leaves are dark chocolate with toffee bits and toasted pecans, and the flowers are marbled dark and white chocolate.



Happy birthday, Nanny P.

Nan’s birthday marks the end of summer, even though fall doesn’t officially start until late September. Where did the summer go? I feel like the past two months have whipped past me, and the weather was so poor it's almost as if summer was never here. But I do have some evidence of summer. I took a few pictures of the garden a few days ago simply to document the fact that we did in fact have one beautiful day here in St. John’s this year. I even managed to grow a few tomatoes.










The garden not only has tomatoes, it also has great amenities for travelling birds, with only the most finely appointed and tastefully decorated houses and washing facilities. When I saw this little birdbath featuring Winnie the Pooh and Piglet sitting on a log and having a conversation amidst the Hunny pots, I had to have it. The water collects in the top of the bigger Hunny pot.




And I found this wacky mustachioed-man's-face-carved-into-wood birdhouse at the dollar store of all places. So, naturally, I had to have it.



It was next to impossible to get a picture of the garden without getting a gnome in the shot. Here a gnome, there a gnome, everywhere a gnome gnome. Also, a few of the Seven Dwarves made an appearance.








I like that this little fella on the rock looks as if he’s tutoring the turtle sitting on his book. He used to have a small lantern hanging from his outstretched hand but I think it got carried off by the wind or something.



I also discovered that there’s a rather odd-looking flower growing in the flower bed.



Looks like something out of a Dr. Seuss book, a rare Who-daisy perhaps.

I can't wait for fall.