The Library

In the age of instant gratification, easy credit with your credit card, online ordering made simple, and the non stop bombardment from advertisers telling us what we need to buy, it is easy to overlook the simple things. I myself am a book-o-holic. I go to Chapters every couple of weeks, grab a latte at Starbucks, and head for the section with the art books or the craft book section. I cannot tell you how many knitting and sewing books I own. Some I never even make anything from. As you likely know yourself after awhile all of these purchases tend to add up, not to mention the fact your books are overtaking your home. I usually end up once a year dragging boxes full of items to the second hand stores to donate. So imagine my surprise one day when a friend asked me "Why don't you check the library for the books you want?". The Library? You mean that old place with the 50 year old books ? The place that never gets any new books in? The place where I checked out all 50 Nancy Drew books one by one when I was a little kid? Surely in this new and enlightened age of the internet the library had become obsolete and irrelevant.

Still, as I looked at my maxed out credit card balance I decided anything was worth a try, and boy, had I been wrong. There were books by my favourite mystery writer. There were current magazines. They even had season one of True Blood from HBO on DVD! I even realized that I could check out if they had the book I wanted online from the comfort of my own home! I blushed at my own ignorance. Best of all I could check something out for free.

As I write this I am getting ready to head down to the Library to check out three books from the "The Not So Big House" series. I was all set to fork out over $100 online to have them delivered straight to my door. I have decided to work with what I have in my house, even though it is over 100 years old and small. This will save me money and help the environment, but I'll save that for another blog. In the meantime, the library just saved me $100. While I'm there my six year old can rifle through the kids section, and I might read the latest Knitters Magazine. Happy Reading!

Cake as Art

I just made my first attempt at decorating a cake with Fondant. Luckily I had already backed the cake the night before, because the process took me 3 and a half hours last night. I was exhausted when I was done. I wanted to be creative, and I think I achieved that. keep in mind this cake was for a boys 19th birthday, so it needed to be fun but not feminine. No flowers. After this experience I have decided that I will never try to become a cake decorator for a living. Strangely working with the fondant was like working with clay. You had to make a fondant and water mix to "glue" pieces onto the cake much like you would do with clay slip. You had to handbuild everything and let it dry to a point where it would hold it shape, not unlike you might do with clay to make a mug handle, for example. I decided to buy the fondant colors already made instead of trying to color them myself. I am actually thinking of taking the picture I took of the cake and making an art quilt, as I love the colors and the feeling of fun I get when looking at it.

On a side note, I bought all the supplies for the cake, including the checkerboard cake pan and fondant, at Michael's Crafts. I should also warn you they are not cheap! This cake is going to be eaten tonight by my son, his friends and my family as we have a little surprise dinner for him at The Keg. I can't wait.