The Baking of the Caking (Part II)

When last I left you, the Baking of the Caking was in full swing. There was hustle and bustle, and laughter, and the odd shedding of a joyful tear by your resident blogista, and vats of creativity being poured into every single cake, cake topper and clothespin menu holder.

I proudly paraded about in my coveted apron.

I am one happy (and incredibly sweaty) woman!

Diyan works on a cake featuring "Girl".

Aliayta focuses intently on a cake that featured blue, purple and white stars (pulled and sorted one by one from a bottle of multi-coloured stars!)

Ella Rae and Olivia approach their cake with wild abandon and a brilliant sense of pastiche.

They are beautifully bold and relentless in their approach and it leads to a cake that could rival ANYTHING on Cake Boss.

Some cakes featured simple, poignant thoughts

and observations.

Some embraced the classical.

This one starred "Girl". Imagine! Our own "Girl" cake!

Some were pure whimsy.

But one thing was for sure: they were ALL beautiful.

And when we all gathered around the table to admire our handiwork, we were all impressed. It was like the cakes cast a spell on us. (And that's NOT just the sugar talking!)

Do I look a bit smug in this one perhaps?

Nah. I was just having a good chuckle at THIS cake, with its "surround sound" message:

But you know what was THE single most beautiful thing about the Baking of the Caking? This:

The moment in which we all paused in front of the 11 cakes on a variety of cake plates and pedestals.

Let me push in and look at this photo in a sequence of close ups. Because, the following women need to stand up and take a bow: Aunt Maisie, Mums, Aunt Doris, Lara, Aliayta, Kate, Poot and Aunt June.

And Michele, and Elizabeth, Jennice, Tina, Susan, Tracey, Tamara, Diyan, Ella Rae, Mary, the 2 Grayces, and Janice, and Kari and Aileen were in there somewhere too!

And Olivia, Merilee, Mariette, Annie, Dodie and Doodie (behind the camera).

And Grace and Denise and Janet. Every single one of you -

Stand up and take a bow, because all 30-plus of you all helped make this day everything I thought it could be and THEN some. You are all so very extraordinary... Thank-you. From the bottom of my heart.