Tuesday 2 August 2011

Let them eat cake

Eldest was seventeen last Wednesday. It seems unbelievable: time has whizzed by. She is (of course) talented, intelligent, witty and attractive and takes after her mother… actually she has her father’s memory for detail and tuneless singing voice, and her grandmother’s sense of rhythm and dancing feet. And she’s taller than me. And her life is ruined because she's never had a fairy castle birthday cake... Well  I shall know what to make for her 18th: that'll teach her to mock her mother.

She has been working all week helping her ballet teacher run a summer school at the end of which they put on a show. She’s loved the experience and even been amused by the little kids – “They’re so cute!”
So we've had a stream of grandparents and godparents to entertain. It’s been fun, but as of today they have all departed and our next task is to get Youngest onto a bus bound for Heathrow and on to Switzerland. She has been earning money for the trip all year, and received a couple of welcome grants from the Guide ‘pot’, but I am just beginning to loose my patience with requests for yet more kit that someone somewhere has told her is essential: apart from anything else it is not all going to fit in her rucksack! So I need to go and look at a weather forecast for Adelboden to try and calm her requests for shorts, factor 50 and sunglasses, and waterproof trousers and jacket, and layers for snow… Twelve of them, including 3 Young Leaders, are camping and self-catering at the Guide centre for 8 days. I’m sure they will have the time of their lives, and the enormity of the adventure will dawn on me eventually, but for the moment I’m just harrassed!

7 comments:

Sarah said...

I hope they have a lovely time.

I am no longer harassed as mine have gone off to stay with their dad for the month of August. YIPPEE

hausfrau said...

It's rather wicked to be pleased by absence isn't it, but, while they're still around, inevitable! I'm just imagining getting her room tidy and not that I may worry about her up a mountain far from adult supervision...

Frances Garrood said...

Oh, I made that hedgehog cake, years ago, for one of mine! Happy memories. (A friend of mine tried th fairy castle thing and it was a disaster. Avoid it like the plague).

WBTW wereabouts in Wiltshire do you live? (I'll understnad if you don't want to say, but I live in Devizes, and think Wiltshire is a wonderful county.)

hausfrau said...

It is because I made Youngest a fairy castle cake that I am in trouble apparently! It was said tongue in cheek, but sibbling rivalry looms large in this part of Wiltshire.
The girls go to Malmesbury School, so we live in a 'surrounding' village. We've lived all over the county at various times and have friends in Devizes - but also make the occasional trip there for shopping.

A Time for Stitching said...

I went to Adelboden as a Young Leader with the guids when I was sixteen a very loooooong time ago. We didn't stay at the Guide centre but in a large self-catering chalet. I still have a music box I bought from a wood carver and a diary that I kept while there. This has brought back many memories, I can tell you. I might even blog about it sometime if I can find the things and if you don't mind me stealing the idea!
Teresa x

Crayon said...

I can't get over how cute that cake is! Mommies + Summer Vacation = harassed! I think it's a law of the universe.

hausfrau said...

Of course you should write about Adelboden Teresa: I can't write about the trip as I'm not going and was never a Guide. They're camping, though I gather most people stay in a/the challet.
I like the cake too, I made one for her years ago but kept this as a surprise. It's a 2 pint mixing bowl containing a 3 egg Victoria sponge mixture and cooked for an hour. You have to cut it in half and then sandwich the tops together - it came from a Cadburys book.