How Can It Be? My Baby is Fifteen!

I certainly saved the best till last (I can say that here none of my kids read this).  Joshua is a wonderful boy, a sweet, loving and kind son, I couldn't ask for better.
His year nine exams started yesterday, and normally he would have had the day off today but we compromised, he went for the morning and did his two exams and I picked him up at lunchtime as it's sports day and raining as well.  When he got in the car I had draped a roll of red streamers all over the passenger seat and blown up a balloon and had some chocolate milk and the card his grandparents sent him that came in the mail this morning (with cash in it!)  I want to make as much fuss as I can for him, his bitch of  a sister came out this morning as he was having his breakfast and walked right past us all ignoring us and didn't even wish him a happy birthday, the selfish little cow.  I later found the card she had made in in their bathroom bin.  I told her how selfish she was.  I don't know what her problem is but I hope she stays in her room and doesn't spoil his party for him tonight.
He liked his presents, four games for DS, Wii and X Box and a box of chocolates and a Nintendo gift card (to buy more games and stuff!)  He loves pancakes, waffles and French toast and requested he have all of them for his birthday breakfast.  So he got one pancake, one piece of French toast and two waffles with maple syrup and a bit of ice cream - yes for breakfast!

That was as much as he could manage, the magpies got the rest!

My back is still playing up, but I spent the morning making food for tonight.  I made sushi with smoked salmon, avocado, cucumber and pickled ginger.  Chipolatas wrapped with fresh sage and pancetta and prosciutto in a balsamic glaze, a Christmas recipe but it was requested instead of the usual cocktail frankfurts.  I made old fashioned face biscuits, Arrowroot bikkies iced with lolly faces, and will do little crab cakes, home made sausage rolls, mini pizzas and of course the birthday "cake".  Last year it was completely made out of waffles, can't find a photo, they were on my old computer.  This year he wanted pancakes and waffles so I got two packs of hotcakes and layered them with plum jam and whipped cream flavoured with peppermint (he loves mint and chocolate), then I put one token waffle on the top like a bridge between the two stacks and covered it all with whipped cream, melted a choc mint Aero bar and drizzled it over then crushed two peppermint crisps and sprinkled them on top.  When I showed him, I reminded him it was the thought that counts, but he loves it and gave me a big hug and told me to go rest my back which I am about to do, just took some painkillers and had a hot cup of tea.

The beans are throwing out shoots and yesterday I noticed one had started winding itself around the old retic hose that is nearby. 

 

 I needed to find something for the others to climb on and went scouting around the yard and sheds.  Our original umbrella for our outdoor table got left up in a windstorm and threw itself into the pool along with the glass top table!  We were lucky the glass didn't break in the pool.  Anyway the remains of the umbrella were in the trailer waiting to go to the tip and I pulled some struts off it and they made the perfect trellis for the beans.

 

 

When Phill got home he pulled some more struts off the broken brolly and then I got the idea to use the old branch lights that don't work anymore (they are meant to go over a shrub outside) to put on the fence for them when they get taller than the struts.  Talk about recycyling!