Baking Subscritpion December

Gingerbread Latte Cake. My decorating skills do not improve, or if they do it is in only tiny steps, invisible to the naked eye of the observer. This was an easy bake but the decorating was exceedingly faffy. However I can now say that I can make swiss meringue buttercream. Whether I would ever want to make it again, given that under the colour provided by my hairdresser, doing it once  probably sent large swaths of my hair white with stress, is a moot point. 

I was not convinced I would like this at all, but in the event it was luverlee, and I would make the cake again, albeit  with a simpler decoration. 

For those wondering where I've been, I've been here, but just after the last post I reached Maximum Pre-Christmas Stress Point and have taken a while to recover. Getting most of the cards into the post box helped, as did, a few days later, seeing off the last cards and parcels. So 'm back on a moe or less even keel. 

I also decided, although this is not Christmas stress related, to apply for an extension to my Ph D period. I was all set to knock myself out and get it done by the end of January; not totally impossible if I didn't mind the thought of spending most of February flat on my back with exhaustion and unable to string together a coherent sentence. But that thought didn't really appeal and the last straw was being threatened with a full supervisory meeting in January. Which would all be fine if all they were going to do was pat me on the  head and tell me how well  was doing but I suspect that it may be more of a critical review than that. At which pint I will need to start making changes and what with that and the thought of  the bibliography and the acknowledgements and all the twiddly bits .... I applied for an extra three months which will take me to the end of April. I don't anticipate needing the full three months which is as well as we have booked a holiday for the end of April ... but that's a story for another day.