A Little of This, A Little of That...

I have been away for a couple weeks enjoying a summer vacation with my sister and her little people, and spending some time with my son and daughter-in-law and their little joy; my granddaughter, Charlotte. I went whale-watching for the first time ever and saw two whales! One, we saw come up for air and dive again several times. It was very exciting. I don't think I have ever been so close to such a large mammal! The marine biologists on the boat identified it as a Minke whale.

Also this week, I have been busy making a cake to enter in our town's Old Home Week Hobby Show. This is the first time I have ever entered a contest/competition for my cakes and I must say it has been really fun to design a cake! Usually, a client tells me what they want and almost always sends pictures of someone else's cake design for inspiration. I love trying to put my own twist on a cake, but I don't often have the chance to design one on my own.
The birch bark stump cake has been very popular this past year or so and I wanted to try making one. I have also seen several wood stump cakes as well and decided to make a two-tier stump cake; the top tier as a birch bark bird house and the bottom cake as a tree stump with the regular brown "bark".

Has everyone been enjoying summer? I still have a few day trips planned to areas in my province next month, and in early September my family is going to Ottawa to visit the granddaughter for a few days (and her parents, of course, but honestly, she is the main attraction!) After that, back to normal schedules for us.