A Long Birthday

 I firmly believe that if something's worth celebrating the festivities shouldn't be rushed or confined to a single day. Think about Christmas - that goes on for months! So, as this year was another landmark birthday (the clue's on the cake), and so many in the last few years have been disrupted by Covid, I thought it best to not confine the celebrations to one day.

To be honest a lot of folks might consider my idea of 'celebrations' to be on the quiet side - there are no all night parties or big city trips - just a quiet outing or two to local gardens and a family get-together, but I enjoyed them.

With the weather suddenly turning sunny, I started a day or two early with a trip to Chatsworth, and another to Calke the next day while the sun was still out. 

Tired out from adventures I settled for a quiet night at home, and a Nandos takeaway (with caramel cheesecake substituting for a birthday cake) for my birthday dinner. 

The following weekend was Easter which gave my younger daughter and her boyfriend time to come down from Manchester, and my older daughter and her family joined us for a joint birthday/Easter celebration on Sunday. I started the day with croissants, cream and fresh fruit, we had an Easter egg hunt in the garden for my grandson, birthday presents, and meals organised/cooked by younger daughter, with a delicious cake which seemed too good to be vegan.

Then after the Easter weekend, I decided to pull in a short trip to Kedleston, to see how my fitness was improving (a little but not a lot).

Last, but not least, I went away for a couple of days of quiet relaxation in the depths of the Cambridgeshire countryside - a joint birthday/Christmas present for my husband and myself which my younger daughter has been saving up for for several years. It was a wonderful break and a great way to wind off one year and start the next.