Banner Weekend

It's finally happened, Spring has shown itself in all it's glory.  No intermittent ice pellets or snow, just crisp mornings with frost hiding in the shadows and the sun rising slowly up from the horizon, warming the ground.  We had a fantastic weekend last week.  It started on Friday, when we fired up the barbeque for the first time this year.  It wasn't warm enough to eat out, but the promise of summer comes in the taste of coals and grilling.  The next day was warm enough that we had our first ice-cream from one of the local dairy bars (seeing an open dairy bar, is like seeing the first robin...it means the winter has broken and warmer weather is soon to come) and we even sat out on our back porch for lunch and to read for a while. (I even got a bit pink...imagine that!)  On Sunday, we went out for a nice bike ride before the clouds started drifting in.  It doesn't really get much better than that, but it did!  Our little yellow finches have returned and it won't be long before the hummingbirds show up as well.  Our little piece of land is an avian nirvana, apparently and we both enjoy watching the bird life.

This weekend looks a little less idyllic.  The clouds have already started rolling in and the wind is blowing strongly, making it difficult to enjoy coffee on the back deck, not that we didn't try for a little while, when the sun was out in fully force.  It's supposed to rain tomorrow, so I imagine we'll have a day of movies or reading, which is a nice way to spend a stormy day.  I hope anyone who is reading this gets to enjoy a banner weekend soon (if not already) and just remember, summer is on it's way.  Soon it will be time for the mosquito netting and outdoor dinners, coffee on the back porch basking in the sun and the odd game of croquet and bacci.  Bring it on!  We're ready!

Keep on Truckin'!

I mean that in two ways...one; we finished our 18 wheeler truck cake (pictures below) and B:  (that's a Craig Ferguson reference, if any of you watch his Late Late Show) we survived another completely arbitrary snow storm.  The good news is that the snow is melting fast, but it has set our teeth on edge, as we're now waiting on the proverbial "third" storm to blow through, not that anyone has indicated there might be another, but things do tend to come in threes.  (Isn't it convenient, you just have to wait until the next one to say "Ha!  I told you...THREE!" and when the 4th storm rolls through, you get to say "Here we go again!  When will the other two be?"  Psychology is a weird and inexplicable thing.

Anyhow, I've talked enough about the transport truck cake, so here it is:

Ron had a pretty big hand in this one, he shaped all the wheels and the cab, plus did a lot of the detail work on the cab as well - the indentations and such.  I did the trailer (that was the cake part) and other miscellaneous details.  It doesn't seem all the complicated, but we had to build all the little items, like truck grill, side mirrors, exhaust pipes, hub caps etc.  I had to try and replicate the service guarantee seal on the back.  Considering I did it free hand, it's not bad, but like all our cakes there are things that could be improved.  Our wedding cake tasting went well, so we now have our first wedding cake order, but that won't be until later in June.  I have no further outstanding cake orders at the moment, so we can take a cake rest and I can try and get my book taken care of.  So much to do, so little time.

We are both well and healthy (for the most part, but we're still waiting on Ron's hernia surgery, which is disheartening).  Sorry this is so short and sweet (okay, some of you might enjoy that part of it), but I'm just getting ready to go to work and my brain isn't firing on all it's synapses.  Our love to you all!

And so Blossoms Spring

Well, we may be a bit away from actual blossoms, but green things are growing in the garden and the crocuses have peaked up through the remaining snow in happy little purple and white clumps (in the flower beds at work).  Having survived a miserable snow storm (an early April Fool's joke to be sure), with whiteout conditions, engendering a snow day, we are more than happy to see temperatures rising back above zero and the sun shining benevolently above us.

The good weather beckoned and we headed off to the dunes up by Cavendish to walk along the water and listen to the crash of the surf.  Cavendish is rather ghoulish this time of year.  It's the most "tourist" area of PEI, and there are happy banners and all things to entice visitors: plaster dinosaurs, mini-golf, rental cabins with swimming pools and playgrounds; ice-cream stands and beach supply stores.  All this is perfectly normal in the summer.  But everything is shuttered and empty, the playgrounds unused and the dinosaur stands alone, with no admirers.  It's like a bad scene from a third rate horror movie.  Once you get to the beach you forget about crossing the tourist waste land.  There was no one there but us and a solitary person walking their dog about half a kilometre away.  The sun glinted off the surf and the sound of the waves thrummed up against the red sand.  Strangely, the dunes are white sand, with winter dry grass keeping the drifting sand in place.  The stairs were coated with a sand drift up to the sixth or seventh stair, but there was a narrow path created by those who came before us.  Walking along the crest of the dunes, looking over the ocean is so mind calmingly serene and you don't need to be there long, before you realise that any stress you might be carrying is gone.  Returning to the car, the hollow echo of our boots on the board walk beat out a largato in harmony with the waves and the soughing wind.  It was a great morning, if I'd only thought to bring the camera!

When we got home, I returned to the business at hand...cake business, while Ron did a version of the "mashed potato" on the driveway, trying to level the stubborn mud where the car tires had sunk in.  We're both looking forward to the Easter long weekend, even though Monday isn't considered a holiday here - but maybe four days off is just being greedy.  (Not that I'd turn it down.)  Even though it's working out financially, it's still hard to let go of the "part-time" dream, but it's not completely gone, just delayed for a while.  We're thinking of joining a local gym, but haven't made the full on commitment yet, but I can't just sit here, letting my butt expand.

That's all from the Island right now; look for cake pictures sometime next weekend...the much lauded "Midland" truck is due for Saturday.

Until next time...be well and know we think of you!