My lovely family had hoped for a big get together for my birthday (it was a so-called “special” one which just made me feel even older than I am), but it just wasn’t going to be possible. So on our visit in September (details in previous blog posts) my lovely daughters each took me out for a really nice meal and we celebrated that way.

So when it came to the day itself Mark had arranged a special evening for me – at the Foveran

Not only that he had booked us in for Bed and Breakfast – a real treat as it meant we didn’t have to drive home afterwards, which with the draconian drink-drive laws here would have meant an alcohol-free evening, but we also didn’t have to get a taxi which are eye-wateringly expensive here!

So we put on some glad rags, I sprayed on some nice perfume, even added a bit of lippy, and we headed out and it was just lovely. A real treat. Excellent food and (just as important) excellent company. I can’t believe that we have been together for 22 years and still have so much to talk about. The bed was comfy, breakfast was excellent as well – the chef makes his own bread and that makes such a difference to the toast.

I had lots of lovely cards and flowers from my Mahjong group and masses of FaceBook messages, and felt very contented and loved. Aaaah – isn’t that sweet. But it’s true !

Now speaking of bread (which I did about two paragraphs ago …), I still make all my own, baking a couple of loaves a week. Mark, to my amazement, has discovered an excellent muesli and is having that instead of his “not-cross buns” that I used to make, so I am not doing quite as much as I used to. It’s fun with the bread experimenting with different “additions” … cranberries and pumpkin seeds or some malted flour which makes the bread look a bit like chocolate cake. Dried fruit and walnuts is also yummy. It’s a very relaxing thing to do … and if you are wondering, no I don’t have a bread maker, I use my Kenwood and then do the last bits of kneading by hand. Boy does the kitchen smell good when it’s baking as well J. I am even getting used to timing it so that a cake goes in first while the bread proves for the second time then I can ramp the oven up for the bread and don’t waste the heat. Result!