Birthday celebrations...sort of!

Day 13

I was awake early this morning and arranged Sophie's gifts by the fireplace. She had a box of presents from her manager and a bottle of Taittinger Champagne from us, as well as lots of cards.

She came down at about 9am and we woke a groggy Mike so he could wish her happy birthday as well. She received some lovely French style gifts from her manager and a recipe for a "Welsh" something she would have been eating if we'd been in France!

Luckily, it was a gorgeous day with warm winds, blue skies and plenty of sunshine. How lovely it would have been if we'd been by the seaside! Never mind! We pottered about in the morning and Sophie watched some of her programmes on TV, and then we went for a walk around midday. We walked down to the village and went to see the alpacas but they were as uninterested as usual!

We trekked through the fields and sat by the graveyard for a little while, enjoying the warm sun and seeing numerous cars and cycles go past. This morning, when we went to get a newspaper, we saw twenty eight cyclists both ways to Mawsley! I'm sure that must be some kind of record and at one point about seven came through a block of temporary roadworks in a group, when the traffic light was against them. Naughty!

We walked through the graveyard pointing out various people that we had known over the years, and then turned right to walk back through the village. Overhead, we saw one of the Red Kites, which reminded us about the other day when one of them came swooping down into our garden to pick up a piece of fatty meat that Keith had thrown onto the lawn! He was right overhead and so close I could see his feet tucked up under him! He made several fly-bys but then a couple of crows appeared and frightened him off. It was marvellous to see, though!

We arrived back home feeling a little hot as by now it was warm in the sunshine. Sophie wanted to open the Champagne so we had a bowl of nuts, olives and crisps with the delicious wine. Mike joined us and we had a good chat. I then suggested opening a huge bottle of sparkling Perry that Sophie had received at Christmas from one of the managers as it was only 5% but it was horrible! Keith had suggested drinking it with Guinness and that's the only way I would touch it now after taking a sip!

We relaxed by watching the end of Charade and then Sophie wanted to watch My Best Friend's Wedding as a birthday treat. There was no sport on so Keith could hardly complain!

Afterwards, I watered the garden as the wind and sunshine had dried out all out winter flowering pansies and violas. It's been perfect drying weather and lovely to get the washing out on the line!

Before dinner we watched Gordon, Gino and Fred's tour of Mexico and the USA which was hilarious and great to escape into. How I wish we could have been with them! Sophie and I then prepared dinner - a Spanish themed meal of cold meats and cheeses, tortilla, ciabatta served with aioli and patatas bravas. It was delicious and a fitting end to a lovely day!