Ok, so why is it that as soon as I start my low carb regime, I find a link to the Sweet Temptations Expo? It's being marketed as "an enticing show containing all things sweet and tempting to eat". Thank God it's being held thousands of miles away from my home town - how on earth could I, the queen of pumpkin pie and cupcakes, not attend such an event? For goodness' sake, they even have a gelato making/tasting class. Damn them all.

(I'm writing all this as I sit in silence at my computer, slowly sucking a square of sugar-free white chocolate. I found the link to the above site through the links page of an Australian manufacturer of sugar-free sweets. Oh, the irony.)

The idea of attending a cake decorating class really appeals to me. I intend to have kids and they're damn well going to have fabulous birthday cakes. Their friends will be amazed at the tasty creations and their mothers in awe of my decorative skills. In the more immediate future, I've promised to make cupcakes for a patient of mine. She's been nil by mouth for 7 weeks. She had the TV on one morning and we both watched a segment of a homes and gardens show that was glorifying the humble cupcake. The fluffy vanilla sponge cupcakes topped with pretty pink icing and delicate edible flowers had us both drooling.

Aren't these gorgeous? You'd be scared to eat the flowers but they're all edible. (Check out the baker's site - seriously, it'd be worth getting married just to have her cakes at the reception!

Anyway, enough obsessing about all things sugar and cake. B and I had a very productive day yesterday. We weeded, mowed, edge-trimmed and generally tidied the yard before filling a few planters with herbs and flowers. Best of all, we now have a hanging basket which will hopefully bear strawberries soon. Yum! B also kindly hung a blackout blind in the bedroom for me so I can sleep when I'm on nights. Damn, those things are a pig to hang. It took five tries to get it cut to exactly the right width and hung, despite B's measurements being spot on and his cuts being near-as-dammit to perfect. Still in the spirit of home improvements, B has bought two 5000 litre water tanks for the garden. Thanks to our Level 5 water restrictions, the only way to ensure a healthy garden is to install rainwater tanks. God only knows where the second one is going to go when B brings it home tomorrow - the first one showed us just how enormous they really are. It'll be worth it in the end, as it means we'll be able to sustain a vegetable garden of our own. Very domestic and extremely appealing to my Taurean sensibilities!

Yes, I'm knitting again. Photos eventually, I promise.