With both Mother Nature and the national newspapers telling us that summer is waving us goodbye, I thought I'd take advantage of the sunny-but-letterbox-rattling-blustery day and make some changes in the garden. I've been itching to get outside and tidy up Gingerbread House, my little girls playhouse. It ends up as a bit of a dumping ground during summer, but it's been too rainy recently to get outside and sort it out.
Today, I took everything out and gave the walls, windows and floor a good scrub. I found so many dead spiders, ladybirds and other dead creepy crawlies! Yuk.
I took down and washed the summery floral curtains and net curtains, and put up heavier 'cold weather' curtains. The veranda was swept and a new display of a Chrysanthemum and watering can put in place of the big pot of herbs, and I changed over the wreath on the door.
I won't leave this wreath out for long, it's the one I made from a moss base and roses I dried myself. They won't last in the wet weather, but it looked nice for today.
Now it's clean and tidy, and ready for the colder months. I love getting Gingerbread House ready for autumn and winter :o)I took down the bunting too. I didn't mind it getting soaked in the rain, but I didn't want it going mouldy. It's freshly washed & untangled and is ready for next time I want to use it.
I've also been stocking up the store cupboard, when the weather changes we spend less time out in the garden, and more time in the kitchen baking. Gorgeous Girl loves to cook, she likes making fairy cakes best of all. Actually, she likes decorating them more than making them. I often make cakes from scratch, but when you have an impatient Tiny Person asking 'are they ready yet' every two minutes, it's good to take short cuts sometimes. Which is why I have these in the cupboard. 
We made these cakes during the week. As you can see, The Little Chef likes to use A LOT of decorations on top! Edible glitter is a must, it adds such a pretty sparkle to icing.
With the haste to get the cakes cooked, I totally forgot about it. I'll have to remember next time I have raspberries in the fridge. Yesterday when I did the weekly shop, I made sure I stocked up on all the bits and pieces she likes to use, and a few extra. I have a large jar full of differently decorated paper cake cases, and couldn't resist buying a few more (though the best ones are the silicone ones we used this week).
Sainbury's have several offers on cake decorations at the moment, so it's worth taking a look around and stocking up.
This morning, we took a quick jaunt to Dunelm~Mill (have not been there for weeks, so it was high time we paid a visit), and I was thrilled to find that they have a selection of new bakeware aimed at children.I didn't get much - they have a good selection - just a few bits that I knew we'd use. Prices range from £1.29 to £1.49. They have several colours, but of course I chose pink.
Excellent for keeping children entertained during the summer holidays. I bought it because I knew Gorgeous Girl would love it all*. I'm planning on getting her to use the silicone cake mould this week. She can have fun icing it and adding a million and one decorations on top!
* this is such a big fat lie. I bought it because I wanted to use it all too!