Cakebook 2011 - This weekend (Sun 26th June)

It's the build up to Cakebook 2011 (geddit, build-up)....Here's the crack on Bamburgh Castle progress so far...

Mr Lisa has drawn up the castle view, and scaled up into actual sizes (it's not going to be big (tall) but big (spread over a wide space).

Google images of Bamburgh Castle

Mr Lisa doing the 'blueprint'

 
I've bought and coloured 2kg of white icing, colouring from white into organgey-red. And I broke a nail in the process (I was wearing plastic gloves, so there were no nails left floating around in the icing). 

I now have bakers arms from all that kneading!

I had baked 8 cakes (using the recipe I used last year: http://looopeeelisa.blogspot.com/2010/06/bridge-hotel-cake-build-cake-baking.html)  I then baked another 4 last night, as I realised that I probably needed a few more.  My cakeboard (a piece of laminate floor underlay) and is now covered in foil.

Next Steps
I have a 'plan' for Friday night (cut the cake outline out), Saturday will be the main build day, complete with serious amounts of flapping, worrying, swearing and cake nibbling), with possibly a last-minute panick drive to the cake decorating shop at Tynemouth.

Sunday will be last minute tweaking, worrying, and wondering "how the hell am I going to get this in the car, and get it to Gibside without it breaking?"

The best F1 Grand Prix race I've ever watched...Canada, Sunday 12th June 2011

I watched the Canadian Grand Prix last Sunday, normally I don't watch the grand prix, but it was Sunday afternoon/evening and there was bugger all else to watch on the telly.

When I lived at home my dad would insist on watching the F1 racing, he'd watch for about 25-30 laps and then fall asleep on the sofa, if you woke him up he'd say he wasn't asleep.  He was a little bugger like that :)

This Sunday's race seemed to have it all, trying weather, a safety car start, wet tyres, intermediate tyres, a few bumps, crashes, more rain, the safety car again, more tyre changes, a stopped race, a 2hr pause, a few snippets of 'Rhiana' carrying an umberella ella ella, a photographer falling over, tarpaulin tents covering race cars like the ones they put over racehorses before shooting them, sweeping up of water, hoovering up of water, a restarted race, a safety car with doors like the car in Back to the Future, a few bumps, scrapes, broken noses, flat tyres, scattered debris on the track, a crazy steward who fell over twice to try and pick up the pieces, who then nearly got ran over, some more safety car nonsense, a 21st place driver who overtakes everyone and then on the final lap, he wins.  

If it happened like that every week I think I'd watch more often.  This weekend was just lucky.

Things I've found on the web....

Okay I haven't just stumbled upon these, I've been told they existed, I had a look, had a laugh and decided that I'd like to share them with the folk who read my blog (or endure it).

The first one is called, Nick Clegg Looking Sad, and it's just random photos people have found of Nick Clegg looking sad, the captions are also quite amusing too:
Nick Clegg Looking Sad or if you want the full link to share with friends, family, and animals: http://nickclegglookingsad.tumblr.com/

The next one is of a similar theme, it's Kim Jong-il looking at things,same idea, but Kim Jong-il in the pics instead of Nick Clegg. It's Kim Jong-il Looking at things or for FF&A http://kimjongillookingatthings.tumblr.com/

Finally if you want some dummy text, you could use the 'standard' lorem ipsum latin stuff, which is available here: http://www.lipsum.com/ if you want to use something similar and like bacon sandwiches, you could use this instead: http://baconipsum.com/ It'll generate something similar to what I've pasted below,

Bacon ipsum dolor sit amet sirloin officia culpa velit, irure deserunt corned beef short loin turkey cillum short ribs sint occaecat. Salami pork chop consequat flank. Eu id pork loin, cupidatat short ribs pork chop consequat bresaola nulla pancetta ribeye shank jowl dolor mollit. Nostrud officia fatback ut ullamco shoulder. Duis short ribs t-bone, sed tongue velit minim exercitation swine eiusmod commodo pancetta nulla jerky. Ea sed ham hock, culpa sirloin pancetta duis tail fatback occaecat est shoulder. Meatball ground round sunt, tail commodo jowl enim ut fatback rump shankle officia.

Images from: 
http://laughingsquid.com/wp-content/uploads/radish-20101130-222134.jpg
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01204/pig1_1204022c.jpg
http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lkrn2zEPIB1qjjck0o1_500.jpg

Last night I dreamt I lost....

last night I dreamt I was in a lift, carrying my handbag and a box of 7inch singles (not sure why), when I got out of the lift I was conscious that I'd left both items in the lift. I think I did it to see what would happen.

I waited for the lift thinking that the doors would open & there would be my items. But I got panicky when the lift stopped on the way and I ended up running up the stairs and meeting it at the 3rd floor.

My bag & record case were not there!

When I got to the lost property desk I found my record case & records, but the handbag wasn't there, I was mortified: my bag, purse, phone, keys, handbag junk were gone.
I couldn't call the bank, because the number was in my mobile, couldn't call Carl, because his number was in my mobile. I felt sick to the pit of my stomach.

I took I deep breath, opened my eyes & woke up.

The lesson here is, don't leave anything in a lift, just to see what happens.

Last night I dreamt about baby sparrows

I dreamt that I had a collection (flock?) of baby sparrows, they landed on my hand & head and this attracted more and more. I fed them and looked after them. And If anyone had found a baby sparrow, they brought it to me and I looked after it.

I didn't dream about the day they grew up and flew away, probably because I'd get upsset about it.

I would like to have a pet bird one day, something that would sit on my hand or head, such as: a budgie, mynah bird, parrot, sparrow, chicken, or vulture. I don't twitch when the pigeons fly up in my face when walking down Northumberland Street, or get worried when chickens peck at my hands, I quite like the suck-peck technque of waterfowl.