We are blessed this 4th of July!

   Happy 4th of July!! There is plenty of "God Bless America" being said today. I would like to offer a thought here. God has blessed America from her very beginning. We were founded by godly men on godly principles. Because of that God has continued to bless this country in spite of the ungodly legislation that is not just introduced but passed, in spite of ungodly material that blasts the television, movies and internet American's call entertainment, and the watering down of the Word of God in churches to attract attendance. My thought is, how about this, "Thank You Father for blessing our nation, thank You for Your faithfulness, and 'America Bless God!'"?

Photo was taken from the facebook page of Mary Lauber, the worlds best Scottie photographer, ever!

A beautifully done Scottie cake!

This morning while checking my email I came across an email that was very happy happy, and put a huge smile on my face. The woman that sent that email to me is Peta, and her husband is Andrew.  They live in Australia where they enjoy "Funday's" throughout the year.  Peta and Andrew own a three year old Scottie named, Miss Jarvis. Funday is where Scottie owners and their Scotties get together for a social day of Scottie games and lunch. By the sounds of it, it is a good day.The Secretary of the club knew Peta liked to bake and asked her if she would like to brings something to the clubs 75th Anniversary Funday. Her husband suggested and helped her bake the Scottie cake they had seen on this blog that I did back in 2008.

Peta did a completely lovely job of it. This cake is wonderfully full of detail and I think is amazing. I am guessing it tasted quite good as well. I like her presentation. Notice the plaid ribbon tied so sharply to the cake cutting knife, and please do not miss the Wheaton and Black Scottie chocolate pops.

I would love to take Baxter and be a part of their Funday's,  and I would have enjoyed sampling this cake. Baxter's birthday is coming up and I am feeling the urge to bake and decorate this cake.

Great job, Peta!

 Notice the detail of furnishing on the back under the tail and her under belly.

 Miss Jarvis is so cute!

Here is a better piccie of the chocolate pops.

Blessing for your Birthdays

I actually made this card last year but thought today would be a great day to post it. Today is my granddaughter's birthday, and it would have been my mom's 78th birthday. Happy birthday, Sweetie! I miss you, Mom. That particular granddaughter and her great grandmother were very close and I know she still thinks about her. Tomorrow is my son~in~love's birthday, 30 years young he will be! And last but not least, Thursday is my dear friend Kim's birthday. Happy Birthday, Kim!!  I love all of you!

Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy...,   and I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. Philippians 1:3-4a, 6

Let your love shine.

When we were in the market to buy a house here we contacted a couple that work as a team. They turned out to be trustworthy people to do business with and completely lovely people to get to know. After going through a few houses together we discovered that we shared something; we all love Scottish Terriers. They had two, Mac and Molly. We often talked about Mac, Molly and Baxter. A while back I got the most heart breaking email from them. They lost their 12 year old Scottie Molly to stomach cancer. I was so sad; that email really broke my heart. Obviously, there was nothing I could do so I pulled out some paper, a stamp, some ribbon my Cuttlebug, new Nestabilities and ink, and made a card. Somehow that always makes me feel as if I have contributed something positive in the life of those grieving.

This is not the first sympathy card I have sent for a Scottie.  In February 2007 a wonderful little Scottie boy named Duncan passed away. He belonged to two of our friends in Shawnee, Kansas. this is the card I made for them.

I realize that I am talking about fur family and not traditional family, but the loss of someone we love is painful. The absence of a loved one leaves a really big hole in our heart, one that can never be replaced because everyone, including our furry friends, are unique, irreplaceable. I could go into a little talk here about how God meets all of our needs, and He does. I could talk about how He mends the broken hearted, and He does. I could talk about putting our trust in Him, and better advice is not to be found. I could mention how much He loves us and His love and mercy endure forever, and He does and it does. But what I want to say right here, right now is don't take those you love for granted. Show them you love them and make sure they know it. Don't squabble over little things that when they become strife can open the door for all sorts of nastiness and evil. Give love freely and unconditionally. Never let those you love have to wonder whether you love them or not, give them the gift of confidence in your unconditional agape love (the kind of love God has) for them.

Scottish Terrier cake!

I don't suppose you would be particularly interested in making this cake unless you have a Scottie, or someone dear to you has one or loves the breed, and you wanted to do something special for them. But for those of you that may have occasion to whip up a Scottish Terrier cake, this post is for you. This cake is so easy to make and the results far surpass the effort and, it makes for just some plain old fashioned fun. Alright then, lets get at it.


You will need a serving device at least 18 inches wide and 14 inches in height. I used an old cutting board my dad made. I covered it with foil and then parchment paper. I would steer clear of regular cardboard or the pre~cut cardboard cake servers as this cake is wide and heavy.

Now you will need to choose a cake you want to use. I made this one a white cake. Jon and I like white cake. Whether you make yours from scratch or a box, the average cake recipe or one boxed mix is what you need. Prepare your batter and bake it in two separate 8 X 8 inch cake tins. Let them cool and turn them out one at a time. You can use any frosting you like as long as it has the consistency to spread thick and hold it's shape.

And here is where we take cake into the shape of a Scottie. These are your first cuts. The cut that is vertical in this picture is 2 inches. The cut that is horizontal is 4 inches. The little obtuse triangle is to be set to the side. That is your Scottie's tail. The 4 inch by 2 inch is well..... fodder for the baker. Go ahead and taste test before you serve. :-)

Frost your larger piece making sure to get ample coverage, and get the sides done well as you won't want to mess the surface of your serving device up later.

Lift and transport to whatever you will be serving the cake on.

Now let's cut the second cake. Again make a vertical cut right at the 4 inch mark that is 2 inches in length. Then make a 4 inch horizontal cut leaving a 2" by 4" piece. Share that piece with whomever you wish, it is not going to be used either. Now, one more cut. Slice off a triangle right there in the center. Your Scottie will need ears, this piece will be just that, the ears.

Time to frost again making sure you cover the sides well. This will be the front wither, chest and legs.

Transport just as you did the the other piece. Line two pieces up as exactly as you can where the back comes together.

Here are your head, ears and tail. Frost the large piece which is the head. Again, get good coverage on the sides.

Notice the large licorice drop in the background on the right. Also notice the kettle is plugged in keeping a good supply of hot water going.

Transport your head piece just as you have the others. See the 4 cup measuring cup? That is where my hot water is. I use it to dip my frosting spatula in to slick the frosting down and cause it to be smooth and glossy. We are getting there!

Frost the tail and ear piece just as you have the larger pieces, then put them just where you want them. Notice the smooth and glossy frosting. We have boiling hot water and a metal spatula to thank for that.

Now we put a nose on, an eye on, and dress up our Scottie's furnishings. The nose is that large licorice drop cut in half from top to bottom. The eye is a drop of white buttercream frosting I always have in the refrigerator with the top of one of those large licorice drops sliced from side to side, set in. I used a #233 Wilton tip for this Scottie's furnishings. This tip is typically used to make grass, or the fur on say Elmo, Cookie Monster and Oscar the Grouch. Clicking on the picture will give you much better detail.

Wouldn't be a Scottie with out a tartan collar. The dark blue and dark green is my favorite. That is the Black Watch modern tartan. Although there a New York City blue and green tartan that was designed in 2003, I believe. Not sure of the whole story of origin there, but it is much like the Black Watch modern. I like the dark blue and dark green tartans that sport no yellow, red, white or pinks. Let's move on.

And there you have it!

Time to enjoy Baxter, family and cake!

If you make this cake please let me know. I would love to put pictures of your wonderful cakes on my blog.

Here's a little diagram to use if you ponder the idea of whipping this cake up.

As always........

Thank you, Miss Jean!

Apparently, Miss Jean passed this award to a few dog lovers on September 12. I have been so occupied with full time work, and still running a home and trying to have a life of some sort that I missed this until now. I was just tickled to get this.

Miss Jean, says I always have a kind word in the gracing me with this award. That really touched me. I believe my blog byline to be true, "Kind words are like honey ~ sweet to the soul and healthy to the body." Proverbs 16:24 I would like to think I practice that, and it so blessed me when she said I did. Thank you, Miss Jean.

As far as the dog lover award itself. Yes, I do love dogs, but it might not be fair to judge that by how much I love Sir Baxter, he is the best little dog, so faithful, playful and just a great and fun little guy to have around. Not too hard to love that... not to hard to love a Scottie in general!

Tomorrow, I will finally get the how to steps up for the Scottish Terrier cake.  Until then... and as always....

Guess who is 3?

As always, click on pictures you want to enlarge.

Yes, this granddaughter turned 3 years old earlier this summer. We went to see Junie B. Jones, and get our all of our Junie B. Jones, books signed~stamped by Junie herself for this beautiful little girls' 3rd birthday. But this birthday party is because...


Baxter, is three!

Okay, I am not nuts, or obsessive with the dog. I am an empty nester that likes to make cakes and celebrate birthdays! Okay?? Okay. Let us move on, shall we? Oh incidentally, there is a lovely lady that has a beautiful blog over at Sweet Cottage Dreams. She has a post that involves her Scottie Duhgall's birthday, where she had a bagpipe player play for an hour. Click here to check that out. You may have to scroll up once you get there. Hummm.. wonder if he would stop by next summer for Baxter's 4th birthday?

Now let's move on. I have decorated cakes in the traditional flowery way. I have drawn Pooh Bear, Smurfs, Strawberry Shortcake and many other character's and scenes on cakes. I have even carved cakes to resemble trains, airplanes and other objects. But, I had never carved and decorated a Scottie cake. So I thought Baxter's 3rd birthday just might be the time to give it a go.
I used dark fudge frosting because the black is bitter. This week however, I did learn two tricks of the trade on how to make the black and not have it be bitter. So now, I can use black for more than just filling in small areas. There will be next year. :~)

My granddaughters thought the cake was really great. I love their faces here!



This was Baxter's 2nd birthday. My daughter and her girls were visiting, and they brought their Westie, Sassy to celebrate. No they did not come across 31/2 states just for Baxter's birthday, that was just a perk.

Umm... mom did not make that cake but it was good.



This was Baxter's first birthday cake. What fun!

We had a backyard BBQ complete with lots of friends and family. Good times!


The next few pictures are just a few I chose to put on here because... well because it is my blog, my dog, it is about him, and I wanted to share them with you.
Taking an award at at a Scottish Terrier fund raiser picnic, for being obedient and showing well. Baxter, was a little over one. Baxter is not a rescue, but I have considered rescuing a Scottie. I'd certainly like to have another one.

Happy times!

Proud times!

Baxter, also took first in the Patriot costume category. His costume tied for first in overall good costume. Yep! I made that one. If you go to find the pattern, forget it. I had to make the pattern for Sherlock's cloak and hat.
More good times!


Probably, I enjoy our time grooming better than Baxter, does. But it is a good time of bonding. I originally took these photos to do a little tutorial on grooming Scotties, since Kim requested it. When I told her I would do that, I did not realize having Jon, in the room to take the photos would distract Baxter, so much. It was hard to for him to focus, he just wanted to play with, Jon. So, Jon could not stay and I could not really get a decent tutorial off. Kim, I hope these will do.

De~mat.



Rake.


Clip.


and snip.




I have no intention of giving any one of these up, especially this nice new shiny one I got today!!!


Long day. Great day, but long. Somebody is pooped!

Happy Birthday, Baxter!!!