love those cupcakes

"I started early, took my dog.....

.....and visited the sea".  (Emily Dickinson).

This week has been all about work and hints of change so it was good to get away from pondering and the laptop and take The Boo for his first walk along the beach earlier today. 

Lots of other people had the same idea, providing opportunities for the honing of social skills.

Boo wasn't too sure about the taste of sea water

and couldn't quite believe the scale of it all.

It hits us all like that sometimes.

 

Monday update

Boo is now three and a half months old. 

He understands "sit", "down", "off", "stay" and "give me your paw".

But he doesn't always sit, lay down, stay put, give his paw and especially keep off the furniture when told to. 

Which is why we have sheets of aluminium foil on the sofas and chair. (Some dog expert recommended it).

The Boy wondered what the window cleaner would think we were up to.

So, to (ahem) avoid any confusion,  I made us foil hats to wear, like these from the film "Signs".

I also made this chocolate, banana and walnut loaf.

Let's just say it was more positively received than the foil hats.

 

A night at the opera

My first. 

At the Theatre Royal in Newcastle. 

Courtesy of one of the Husband's Christmas presents.

We started with an early doors supper, pasta arrabiata and courgette fritters with basil mayonnaise for me, pizza and chips (predictably) for him.

It bugs me that we have to travel to visit a decent theatre (there is a tiny one locally with limited performances) as this town was once overrun with them. 

Newcastle's Theatre Royal is about an hour's drive away and a wonderful venue.  It's about to undergo extensive renovation which will include new seating, much needed for those of us with long legs!   

As for the opera itself, this was a first and I wasn't sure what to expect though, obviously, some of the music was very familiar (the overture, habanera, the toreador song and the bit they used for the Esso television advert years ago).  I loved it (the performance was in French with helpful sub titles on small screens at the sides of the stage) though it's probably fair to say that the baring of breasts, mooning and a dog in a muzzle were a bit of a surprise.  

Now I'm wondering how I can get Boo an Equity card.

 

Trying something new

This is Boo on his first venture (we're not counting being driven to the vets) into the Outside World.  Actually, we only walked to the end of our road but when you've never explored beyond the garden it's a big adventure. 

It was so exciting he had to have a sit down on the step to take it all in.  The experience certainly took its toll as he slept for hours afterwards.  While he was tucked up in bed I should have taken the opportunity to do some work (feeling  overloaded at the moment) but I escaped to the kitchen for a spot of baking.  More of the no-knead bread and some cupcakes. 

Nothing too taxing.

Nothing special.

Just a bit more colourful than usual.

 Edited to add:  For those who asked, I just divided the cake mix into 5 more or less equal portions and coloured each with a selection of colouring pastes.  (The red and orange are too similar so I'd probably use more of the red colouring next time).  Then it's just a matter of building up layers in the cake cases using a teaspoon.  Simples.

 

Dead ringer

For Jack Nicholson.

In that scene from The Shining.

Well he certainly frightened Bea when he stuck his head through the box.

Bright and breezy

.... and  Buzz free. (Edited to add:  Buzz? Of course I mean Boo, who is still confined to barracks as he needs a third jab due to "incompatible vaccines").

It was overcast and very breezy (it was actually blowing a gale) at the beach yesterday afternoon but, after taking respite with a couple of cappuccinos in a favourite coffee bar, the sun and a patch of gloriously blue sky appeared.

Of course, this bit of the English north eastern coastline is also home to industry though, sadly, not as much as it used to be.

That's one of the area's defining features, the juxtaposition of natural and man-made landscapes. Both are equally stunning.

Smile for the camera!

 

Well, he tried his best.  Although Boo does have his moments (quite a lot of moments, actually, not helped by being confined indoors until after his second jab), his training is coming along.  We're getting to grips with sit, down and stay but we need to work on stopping him chewing clothes (when we're wearing them, that is - I have visions of us sporting string vests soon) and taking running jumps at us when we're sitting on the sofas (usually landing somewhere in the shoulder region).

We have to keep reminding ourselves that it's still early days and that he's only been with us for three weeks.  It just feels like much longer!

We've been celebrating another birthday, the Husband's this time.  Instead of cupcakes I opted for chocolate cake, baked in a savarin tin and frosted with a ganache (heat double cream, pour over chopped Belgian chocolate and whisk together).

Low in calories it ain't. 

Scrumptious it definitely is.