The Birthday

Alfie after the cake!


Not to sure about the candles



Showing sister Sophie his motor bike.


A quick play before opening the next present.

Here are some pictures I took on Alfie's birthday. It wasn't easy to take pictures as he was moving around busy opening his presents.
He is having another party today with some of his little friends.

Cake for Alfie

Bob the Builder
It is my grandson Alfie's second birthday tomorrow,so I thought I would attempt to make him a cake. I am not a cake maker as you can see but I do like a challenge. I made two Victoria sponges which I filled with jam and butter cream. The face is one of them. The second cake I cut each piece in half and sandwiched three of them to make the hat. The last bit was used for the ears nose and the bit on the hat. I bought ready coloured icing but there was barely enough. which made it a bit tricky. I would have liked it to have been thicker. As you will see from the picture it did pull into holes in places which I did my best to repair. I built bits of structure to the face with icing for the ears lips and cheeks. The icing is not stuck to the cake very well. I did not have any brown icing for the hair so he had to make do with black His nose is a bit mucky and his skin is a bit pale. I am satisfied that I did my best with the equipment I had and I am confident that it will taste fine. After all it is the thought that counts.



Alfie enjoying the pond and wet

Family History

For some time now I have been interested in my family history. I started wanting to know what made me, me. Why was I good at doing things with my hands and not my brain! My parents were both craft teachers so that was a good reason for me being like I am but what about them. The computer has made searching records a fantastic hobby but it is rather addictive. The more you find the more you want to find. The tree can become huge. I have over 1000 on mine now. I am finding things like - on my paternal side I come from a dynasty of Quaker clog makers. That's a very hands on occupation. I am from the North of England my mothers side from Lancashire and Scotland, my fathers side Yorkshire. Some of the information I thought I knew, which had been handed down I could not follow up. It looked like the history of two great men had been combined. The one I am related to owned a mill and a coal mine and was a Mayor. The other founded a children's home and is related to Queen Victoria's physician. All this information I have found on the Internet but it is two people born in the same year with the same name. Most of my ancestors worked in the mills. On my maternal side cotton on my paternal side wool. The jobs I have seen are calico printers, weavers, cotton doffer,cotton drawer,cotton spinner, cotton winder and a salesman of turkey red cotton. there are also a few farmers, stone masons and joiners.I have now traced some branches right back to the early 1500's
I have posted a picture of a needle point made by my Great Great grandmother Lucy Cockshutt in 1855 when she was 16. It is quite large about 3ft by 4ft, so there was also a love of sewing.
The other picture is of Mary Collins born 13 June 1830 and died 5 Feb 1904. She was my other maternal Great Great Grandmother.

Grandchild No 2

Grandchild number 2 arrived safely in the early hours of Sunday morning, so have been a bit pre occupied this week. Sophie Ella May weighed 7 pounds 14 ounces.