From Cabbages to Roses

I've been baking again.

I am really enjoying receiving my Cake Decorating Partwork through the post. I do not regret my decision to subscribe.

As it was my sister's birthday at the beginning of the week and my birthday at the beginning of next week, I decided that it was as good an excuse as any to make some celebration cakes. My parents were visiting so I made my dad's favourite - coffee and walnut cake (from issue 5).

Issue 4 came with a modelling tool to make sugar roses. I have had a go at making roses in the past but they have always looked like cabbages. Using specialist flower paste and the new tool to roll the petals very thin, my roses were much more delicate and flower-like. I was quite pleased with the result. I used one of my own tried and tested recipes to make a chocolate cake with fudge icing as the vehicle for my little flowery creations.

Making the roses was one of those laborious repetitive tasks that requires a certain amount of concentration but frees your mind to wander. I found myself thinking a lot about my mum as a mother to me and my two sisters - about how terrifying it was for her giving birth for the first time knowing so very little about what to expect all those years ago - about a young woman suffering from post-natal depression with no medical support or understanding of the feelings she was experiencing - about a mum doing her best to care for her children. I made three roses, one to represent each of her three daughters. The number of leaves represents how many leaves it was possible to make out of the trimmings of sugar paste!

I was really pleased with the ivory colour that I achieved using gel food colouring - hugely disappointed with the limp shade of green that I managed using liquid food colouring. If I attempt this again, I shall definitely buy a better quality green colouring.

Somewhere in my Mind

When we moved to Shropshire back in 1999, I was sorry to leave behind a wonderful piano teacher who inspired my girls to play and compose and gave them a good musical grounding.

It was my eldest daughter, Liberty, who drove the search to find a new teacher. Before long, they were under the tutelage of one Mr Sterling, who also taught music at the local secondary school.

That was many years and many hours of piano lessons ago. Mr Sterling, who has now retired from his teaching position, continues to visit us weekly to guide the youngest two of my four accomplished pianists.

I have come to think of Mr Sterling as much more than just our piano tutor. He is a friend. As he has watched my children grow and mature, I have watched his two sons do likewise.

This post is about his younger son, Joe.

Joe Sterling is one of those people that shines with an inner light. He has a mass of curly hair and a friendly smile. Although his dad plays down his own influence, I don't find it surprising that Joe is a gifted musician and vocalist.

I remember him as a young lad singing the Once in Royal David City first verse solo at the church Carol Service. I think his voice must have been on the point of breaking at the time because it wasn't a perfect performance - there were definitely a few wobbles - but it didn't matter.

He was a member of a popular band at school - The Froliks - (my children still tease me because of how I can't help dancing and singing along to their song "Bring Back the Disco") but I always enjoyed his solo acoustic performances the most. His cover of "Cannonball" by Damien Rice moved me enough to request it during a busking style gig at a school event. He willingly obliged and made my day.

I was very excited for him when he got a minor acting role in the 2007 movie Atonement (my excitement may have had something to do with the fact that I adore James McAvoy  who played the male lead). I never actually spotted Joe when I watched the DVD (a victim of the cutting room maybe?) but what an amazing experience that must have been.

Since leaving school, Joe has been working in musical theatre and most impressively, has collaborated to write a musical - "Roundabout". The following video is Joe's performance of Sophie's Song which was the inspiration for the musical.

Joe's talent for songwriting is starting to be recognised and I am very proud to own his debut album "Somewhere in My Mind - the Songs of Joe Sterling". The  CD features songs from the musical (including Sophie's Song) sung by a host of West End talents.

My favourite track (although I can't honestly say that my natural bias didn't influence my choice!) is  "You Could be the One, They Said" sung by Joe himself.

The album is well worth a listen and Joe Sterling is definitely a name to watch out for in the future.

Somewhere in my Mind is available to buy for £12.99

HAPPY FEET TWO - a TOTS100 film blogger review

I do remember watching Happy Feet (which my mum claims is one of her favourite films) but don't remember much about it other than it was something to do with dancing penguins. I had intended to re-watch the original before sitting down to the sequel but time simply did not allow.

Happy Feet Two very definitely had dancing penguins!

Like many people, I was spellbound by the wonderful David Attenborough series Frozen Planet. In many ways, Happy Feet Two had the same effect on me. The animation was utterly spectacular from the vast frozen landscapes to the intricately detailed animal characters.

I found it quite amazing that while the penguins performed beautifully choreographed dance routines (including some very cool street dance moves) they still retained their essential penguin qualities - completely believable. The one possible exception to this was the main character from the original, Mumble, voiced by Elijah Wood, who I felt moved more like a meerkat than a penguin (but my kids assured me that this was to do with being dropped when he was an egg or some such thing). Mumble still had his baby feathers rather than the distinctive emperor penguin plumage but he was in an adult relationship and was father to a chick. This puzzled me but again my children had an explanation that was rooted in the earlier dropping incident. (I really wish I had had time to re watch that movie!)

Mumbles' chick, Erik,  deserves a few words in this review. I think he was supposed to be adorably cute. I think he was supposed to be inspirational in that he had to struggle to find his way in the world and triumph. In fact, I found him extremely annoying and when he had his prolonged solo singing moment to try and convince the Elephant seal to help his 'hero' of a father (persistent and resourceful, yes,  but I never really felt the heroism) to save the Emperor penguin population from certain death, I wanted to rip my own ears off.

There were some moments of absolute brilliance in this film but I did find myself at times wanting to fast forward. Both my littles ones fell asleep!

The underlying theme of the film is the effect of global warming on the polar ice caps. The collapse of a huge iceberg results in the Emperor penguin colony becoming trapped in an ice valley with no access to the sea for food. It is left to Mumble, Erik and various friends to overcome the odds and save the colony.

The best part of the film, for me, was the sub plot of Bill and Will the Krill, voiced by Matt Damon and Brad Pitt, who break free from the krill swarm to discover what lies beyond. The animators did a breathtaking job of depicting life in the swarm and life beyond from a krill perspective. My favourite quote of the movie, shortly before the big climax was when Bill asks Will why he thinks the penguins dance. Bill the Krill unexpectedly replies that it might provide "momentary release from the existential terror of existence"

My favourite, laugh out loud, jump off the sofa cheering moment was when the Elephant seals, animated to enhance their extraordinary power and bulk, mobilise to the tune of Rawhide. Genius.

This is not a film that would make it into my top ten must watch children's movies, which is a shame because it has a lot to commend it. Somehow,  it just didn't hang together to make the whole greater than the sum of the parts.