Sunday 16 July 2017

Fifty-One

Yesterday I turned 51 on the 15th which I thought was a neat twist on the numbers. Both of our kids were working yesterday, so husband and I went for a drive. It was the first nice day in I don't know how long. Husband has recently acquired a little new-to-him convertible, so I pulled my hair back and secured it on my head and away we went.

We were on a bit of a quest for something to put on our den wall. Since I had painted the den a few months back, this one main wall has remained pretty much bare. We had some ideas. I love William Morris designs and we thought maybe a tapestry hung on the wall would be great. I also like botanicals or maybe a nice pastural scene. I don't even mind animals (sheep, a stylized rabbit, maybe some cows?) We travelled about an hour or two from our home, to the east to a few small towns along the lake. Oh my, there were some amazingly beautiful homes. (Who lives in these??? What do they do for a living?) The sun was beating down and there wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was just so nice to be out.

We didn't find anything that really suited us. In fact, most of the art and prints and other wall décor in the shops had nautical/ cottage / wilderness themes to them, due to where we were and that's not really what we were after. However, it was nice to poke around and see what was available.

We stopped for a drink and a bite to eat. Yes, I took pictures of our food and felt a bit foolish because that's not really what I do. ("Here's a picture of my lunch! Allow me to bore you with other details about my life!") The reason I took a picture was that I was thinking of soon to be retired John Gray at Going Gently as my husband ordered a Scotch Egg for the first time. It's not really a common food here, but of course I knew what it was from reading John's blog.


Do not be alarmed by the pink colour of the food. The umbrella over our outdoor table was red and it cast a rosy glow over our food and drinks. Husband declared the Scotch Egg to be "awesome". He was especially pleased that he was able to substitute the side of smoked cheddar with a chunk of blue cheese.


My Caesar salad was excellent. (Real bacon, thank you very much)


My ice cold Stella was perfect on a hot day. Husband had a cider. I really despise cider, but he loves it.


I love the sign for the restaurant. You can't get more Canadian than that!

The drive home was equally nice and I took some pictures on the way. The views are gorgeous.




Ha! Expert photographer that I am, I managed to get myself in the shot!

Back home, the kids got home from their respective work places and we ordered Chinese food (husband went to pick it up, we are too far away from town for delivery) and we sat down by the pool and had supper together. Then, of course, it began to rain, so we went in the house for dessert. I normally bake a cake for everyone's birthdays, but I really didn't expect husband or the kids to attempt a cake from scratch and homemade icing (they did one year with memorable results), so we had picked up not one, but two small cakes (I couldn't decide which one I liked better, so got them both). Here are my kids ready to bring the cakes to the table and sing Happy Birthday after having a little fun with the barbecue lighter.


Not sure what son is doing, maybe he already started singing.

It was all very fun and just the way I like it: low key and just husband and my kids. I'm not one for big celebrations. I don't even like birthday phone calls. In fact, I don't even like talking on the phone. I can't do small talk. In my regular life, I am a true introvert.

As I was reading blogs recently, I discovered that many people have the same birthday as me. So, if I missed out on some of you, happy birthday to all those July 15th babies, or any July babies for that matter. Most of us are probably Cancers, an unfortunate horoscope sign by association, but real lovers of home, security, honesty, and fairness.

So, yesterday was lovely. Ahhh, but Mother Nature didn't want us getting too smug, so here was this morning.

More rain. I took the hanging plants down so they could get a drink, too.


The bird bath stays filled. Birds don't even use it. Those are metal birds that are attached to the bird bath. The cat sat in it once, though, when it had no water in it.

In fact, the power flickered on and off a couple of times this morning. I gave up on writing my blog until now, this evening. It cleared a bit later in the morning but the day stayed cloudy and not nearly as warm as yesterday. We shall see what tomorrow brings.

I'm not really a binge watcher. There are only a small amount of tv shows that I regularly watch and I'm not a big movie person. However, I recently discovered a crime drama on Netflix that I absolutely couldn't tear myself away from. What else are you going to do on a rainy day after you throw in a load of laundry? I am now finished two seasons of "The Killing". It is so good. There are two more seasons and I'm looking forward to watching the rest of it! Has anyone else watched it? Don't tell me what happens, please!

18 comments:

  1. Happy birthday Jenn, sounds like you had a perfect day.

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  2. Happy, Happy Belated Birthday!
    Sounds like a wonderful way to spend a birthday.
    We would love some of your continual rain...could you send it this way? ;)

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  3. Happy Birthday - glad you had an adventure to mark the day. Two cakes, lucky you, now that is some serious wishing real-estate. I col over the day of the pub. I think your area is getting most of the rain that seems to pass by us ...

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  4. Happy Birthday Jenn...what a wonderful celebration you enjoyed..wishing you many more years of health and happiness!

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  5. Happy birthday, Jenn! Looks like you had a great one. Thanks for the rec on The Killing. I'm always looking for a good show to binge watch. Enjoy your week.

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  6. Happy, happy (belated) birthday to you! You had what sounds like a wonderful day, just the kind I would want. (Everyone I know realizes that a big party for my birthday would go over like a lead balloon. Introverts, unite!) You picked a good day to be born unlike my daughter's on July 5th. After the picnics, family reunions, and celebrations on the 4th, who wants a birthday party the day after? (She does, she'll tell you, loud and clear! ;o] )

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  7. You're still a baby. Happy birthday. I loved the Killing and was crushed when it ended. Then, I found out they are making another season and I was in heaven.

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  8. Happy Birthday, it's our daughter's birthday today, so I'm particularly fond of Cancers. I'm not a telephone person either, usually tell people to email me.

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  9. Happy belated birthday. Sounds like a wonderful day, and some rain overnight is good, too.

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  10. I've never been a cider fan either

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  11. Happy Birthday to you! I don't like big celebrations either - small with family is perfect for me too.

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  12. Belated Happy Birthday wishes to you, Jenn, from Grenville (Patrick) and myself. Thanks for the comment on our blog for his birthday. What fun it was to learn you both shared the day (along with many others too we suspect). Sounds like you had a great day with family and we did as well. Our treat involved ice cream rather than cake because the treat doesn't linger and "force" us to eat more!

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  13. Well happy birthday! What a great trip!
    I take photos of my food so I remember what I had!
    We're in the same boat, we order our Asian Fusion for pick up!

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  14. Happy (belated) birthday! Sounds like such a wonderful day. Too bad about the rain but then that's pretty much what's to be expected, isn't it? Eventually all this rain will stop. I'm not a fan of big celebrations either. Small gatherings with family is really nice. What two cakes did you choose?

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  15. Well, first of all, Happy Birthday! I believe in celebrating as long as someone has good wishes for you so keep it up!

    It sounds like a perfect day. I loved your lunch. And your husband's -- never saw Scotch eggs before and always wondered what they looked like! Now I know. I'm sorry you didn't find the right art -- but you're smart to wait for the right thing. And then the party with the kids -- oh, they're wonderful and it looks such fun! Maybe you needed that rain after all that excitement. But it seems pretty perfect to me.

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  16. Happy Birthday! That sounds like the perfect way to spend your birthday. The weather even cooperated! May you have many more perfect days... :)

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  17. Happy Birthday, Jenn! You share a special day with our youngest son who just turned 11. I hope this is your best year yet!

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