Cupcake slice

Somehow, despite an early night, Mr B and I slept in until past half nine. It is rather quiet and dark at the back of our house... Katherine was up at 7.30 (according to her) tidying her room ready for her friend Clara coming over this afternoon. I have to say I have never seen Katherine so willing to tidy her room, and actually do it so well. Clara will be receiving many future invitations...

What was left of the morning was spent trying to make the house look slightly less like a building site, a job that Mr B was helping by cutting plasterboard and wood in the hallway, now rechristened his workshop so thickly covered is it in sawdust and plaster dust. I suppose at least the rest of the house must seem like a joy of order and cleanliness once they've gone through the hall.

The afternoon, after some trial white wine for lunch for me*, was one of baking, searching for a lost kitten, and trying to get our DVD player to play anything. It failed, but the iMac stepped into the breach and entertained the kids with Toy Story 3 in French. Here are the three kids showing off their cupcake creations.

Dinner was a rather fine roast pork affair, though bizarrely pink and undercooked on one side, with a failed trifle for dessert. We thought we could use up one of our Gallette des Rois (French cake eaten to celebrate Epiphany - I overordered a bit since it turns out we don't much like it) with a trifle. Lazily, we used bought custard, not realising that French bought custard is too runny for the job. And the spooning cream Mr B bought for the top was actually some kind of yoghurt. Sigh. Serves me right for trying to make a foreign pudding here.

*I have been allergic/something to white wine for a while, but am trying to ease my way back into it. I should also clarify that that was not all I had for lunch. Particularly since Mr B found some strong Scottish cheddar for sale in our local supermarket - which was rather tasty. I know it is wrong to come to the land of cheese and pine for cheddar, but really: there's nothing quite like it.