Happy Birthday to me ...

Well. What a fantastic birthday.

It was lovely to see everybody at the party last night, particularly Shullie and Loops who I know have been having a tough time recently. Jan did sterling work with the chilli and I hope that I managed to keep everybody supplied with drinks of various kinds through the evening. The surprise present of the Hutton Sabre from the fencing crew was most appreciated - thank you everybody for arranging this for me. I am really looking forward to learning how to put this wonderful bit of cold steel to its intended use ...

The evening finished when I nodded off by the chimnea sometime around midnight with the kids still discussing the mysteries of the universe ... I can't think of a better way to celebrate than with my precious family around me.

This morning sees me with a slightly befuzzled head from the bananana daiquiris and I am thinking about considering the possibility of getting up for a shower and a walk in the woods to blow the cobwebs away.

Thanks once again to everybody for making my birthday special. As the tee-shirt from my mum says - I'm not 40, I'm 18 with 22 years experience ... :-)