Birthday Celebrations.....

At the end of January, Stella celebrated her 40th birthday with a surprise gathering. Diz had managed to keep quiet for months while quietly planning things. Stella finally got suspicious when he went to do 'some shopping' late one afternoon and returned with a couple of family members. The next day another trip to the airport and another family member arrived. Must admit Stella was beginning to wonder where everyone was going to sleep, as no beds had been made up in preparation. A girl likes to have these things organised. The gathering had been arranged for Saturday afternoon and Diz spent the whole day and evening Friday cooking and preparing things.

Diz had been muttering about making a cake, so when time was running short Stella made one quickly for him to ice. What followed had us crying with laughter as he tried to ice the cake with a mixture of chocolate icing that just wouldn't stay on the cake! Thankfully he had arranged for a neighbour to make a themed cake and Stella was delighted to see a dragon had made an appearance on the day. Make your own mind up which one looked the best ;-)

Later that afternoon, more surprises as two very good friends arrived from the UK. Sadly they had been delayed  for 5 hours by snow. They should have arrived in the morning but didn't get there until late afternoon. Stella was so shocked to see them, but absolutely delighted. Another panic of where they would sleep, so the attic bed was quickly made up and everyone was settled.
It was such a wonderful surprise to see everyone and they all did an amazing job, especially Diz, of keeping it quiet.


People were very generous and all birthday money was put towards a new gardening gadget. Stella has wanted a 'Tiller' for some time to make digging the garden easier. Once it had finally been put together Stella experimented with one of the gardens in the polytunnel and was pleased with the results. It's certainly not as easy as the adverts made it look, but it took half the time of digging and she could still walk afterwards. They are both looking forward to the spud planting as Stella will be able to do it all with her new tool and Diz won't have to lift a spade - result!

Thank you to everyone who made my birthday very special - Stella xx