An absolutely superb birthday weekend

Hello again everyone. I am sat here Monday night after an absolutely wonderful weekend. It's gone as well as you could ever have hoped and I've enjoyed every minute of it. I am now absolutely exhausted, though, so there is a chance I won't finish this update today but may leave some for tomorrow morning. We shall see; I'll try and get it done now I think.

A cloudy start to the day

A wrapped all my presents up

Three trays of models to be based

The Haradrim Raiders were finished completely

So. To Saturday. There aren't that many pictures from the day as there wasn't much happening to take photographs of. The day started cloudy and didn't really change much from that all day; it stayed quite chilly with a bite in the air. We went into town to go shopping in the morning and picked up a few things and then A wrapped my pressies and prepared the lasagne we were having for dinner (and very nice indeed it was too) while I went into Room 13 and did some modelling - actually basing up a load of the models I have painted over the past few weeks and months. I was very happy with the results, though I didn't finish them all off. After we ate that lovely lasagne we chilled for a bit and then were just about to get showered before going out to the gig that evening when the Special one came over and called us next door. It was his birthday so we were able to give him his present, then share some of it (whisky) and then we watched while they ate as we nibbled a little as we were very full from our dinner before we were headed off for our showers. It was lovely to share with them however it was a shame we had thought we weren't being invited so had eaten already.

Our friend the bassist singing along

Venko belts out a tune

Getting into the music

Venko grinds a tune

Throwing shapes

Barstaff dancing on the bar top

And so we headed, slightly late, to the gig and A got us there in record time. We were greeted as we walked in by the owner who recognised us and pointed us to our saved seats and sent a server over straight away; it's nice to be known. We then sat and enjoyed ourselves for several hours as our friend Venko and his band rocked out and got the whole place dancing in the end, including the owner's wife and one of the barmaids on the bar! Venko's wife sat next to us and chatted for a bit and one of his friends was also very friendly with us and all in all it was a wonderful evening. I was drinking, which is not usual for me, and had a couple of beers so A was on the soft drinks and when we left at just before midnight we were ready for home but hadn't felt like rushing off at all. It was just a lovely night and so nice to see our friends and see in my birthday in style.

First present opened in bed. Of course.

Egg in a Cup for a birthday treat

Puppies watching us as we eat

Thelma checking out if there's any presents for her

More presents, and they weren't all!

The puppies had their fun with the wrapping paper

A perfect smoke ring from the fire

Thelma giving me birthday cuddles

After a cup of tea we headed to bed and I was not allowed to open any presents yet even though it was before breakfast and A had said I could open one before breakfast! We both slept really well but I was awake and very excited while I waited for A to come round. Soon enough she did and I picked a present at random to open then. It was such a lovely first present and really excited me for what was to come. Breakfast was Egg in a Cup and lovely and then it was time for the rest of the presents. The puppies clearly thought it was their birthday but I managed to salvage the bag and opened the card and other wrapped items. What a lovely set of gifts. I got all the models I wanted most, an egg timer for my soft boiled dippy duck eggs and a box of Ferrero Rocher. Just brilliant. After that the puppies had a load of fun with the wrapping paper before we took it off them to prevent the mess getting too much worse. It was very cold, really bad, so we lit the fire and I was watching as the petchka was blowing perfect smoke rings through one of the air holes on the top. Thelma jumped up and cuddled me as well which was lovely.

Caught checking my phone while in the bath

The Birthday Cake

Cuddles with our lovely puppies

Blue skies above, but big clouds rolling in

After that lovely restful start to the day I ran a bath and had a Radox soak for a while. I started a new book and relaxed and got out of the bath feeling really happy, warm and comfortable. The fire was still lit and it was lovely and warm in the kitchen as well, which always helps when you get out of the bath. For lunch all I had was a slice of this stunning birthday cake which A had ordered from our favourite cake shop in town. It is just as nice as it looks; maybe even nicer! We didn't want to eat too much as we were going out for our dinner and a big slice of this cake was just perfect. The weather was still cold but the sun had come out for a while which was nice however as the afternoon went on the clouds gathered and, after a really nice call with my parents, just as we were about to head out there was a crack of thunder right over head and the heavens opened.

A looking cheeky and delaying ordering until SandS arrived

My starter, and it was super

A had chicken for her main

I had roast beef

Chocolate souffle for dessert

The sun starts to break through

A beautiful sunset in the end

As we left, looking across the lake

My first birthday whisky

My second, and this one really was very very good

I drove, I had no desire for beer after the drinks of the night before, and all the way there it howled down with rain. By the time we reached the restaurant the heavy rain was done but we still dashed inside wearing winter clothing. We found a seat and then A dithered and changed her mind and couldn't decide what to order but it was all for a good reason; it was a complete surprise when SandS arrived to join us! What a lovely shock and apparently my face was a picture. I was just so pleased! From that point on we sat and chatted and ate a three course meal which was very good indeed and then the clouds cleared and the sun came out and by the time we left, though it was getting dark, it was a beautiful evening which matched my mood perfectly. We had planned on playing a game in the evening to finish the day off but both of us were way too tired so I had a couple of small birthday whiskies and then we headed to bed, shattered. It had been the perfect day and I had enjoyed every second from the waking to the final moment my eyes were open.

Very worried about Louise, as you can see

Louise sniffing around the park on the way to our lesson

A view from the road as we drove up into the mountains

Water from the sacred springs

A up above the springs

We had given the workmen today off as a holiday and this has proven to be a very good decision indeed. We still had our Bulgarian lesson to go to however there was no rush at all to leave. As we were pottering around about to have breakfast, however, we noticed some blood on Louise's neck and on further inspection saw that she had a very bad rash and had been scratching herself until she bled. We immediately jumped in the car and rushed over to the vet, who wasn't open but responded quickly to our phone call. He gave her an injection and some pills to take and didn't seem too concerned but since then she has scratched more and I think it looks worse; she may be back there tomorrow for another check up, the poor wee mite. Anyway we took her with us to our lesson and she was very good through, and the lesson was also very good once again. We had planned to see Lyubo, the architect, after the lesson but he was very busy with work and so couldn't join us so A made some butties up and we put Thelma and Louise into Thomas, packed a rug, and headed out for a picnic up at the sacred spring which I had visited with my parents a couple of years ago but A had missed as she hadn't been well. The road was really terrible on the drive up and I was in low range a few times, sliding through mud, but eventually we reached the carpark and had an explore. There was much more water from the springs than the last time and also we were the only ones up there and it was by this time lovely and warm in the sun.

A settling onto the rug for our picnic

Thelma digging what we thought was a tree root

It was a stick; she dug it out in about two minutes

Birthday cake on the picnic

Cuddled up together in the sun

360 degree panorama

Happy Thelma, with Louise looking less comfortable :(

A holding the two rocks apart

She climbed up as well

After our short explore we spread the rug and got our butties out and they were very nice indeed. Thelma found herself what we thought at first was a tree root but very quickly she dug it up and brought it over. Not wanting mud everywhere this stick was dispatched and we got her ball out and then spent a very enjoyable time snuggling on the rug, cuddling Louise when she came close (and checking out her rash) and throwing the ball for Thelma. It was a magical time and really warm in the sun. On the drive down both Thelma and Louise sat on A's lap and stuck their heads out of the window and I was driving very slowly to keep safe on the treacherous road surface. A made me stop for a photo-opportunity at one of the big rocks by the road, as she pretended to hold them apart then climbed up, and then it was back in the car and slowly down the rocky road once again.

Our game, in mid flow

When we got back we made a brew then got into our game.put off from the night before. It turned out that it was a good thing we hadn't tried to do this so late at night as it took us more than three hours to complete it. We didn't hurry, to be fair, and stopped about half way to have a brew sat outside in the sun, but it was a very long game indeed. It was also a lot of fun and unusually I even won it! We were wiped out when it was over and since then have eaten some dinner and I've come up here to write this and am going to finish it as well) while A has stayed downstairs in the warm cuddling puppies and watching CSI.

The men are back tomorrow but hopefully are not far of completing everything for this year; it's been so good today to be able to get out into the local area and explore without worrying that the men may need something from the shops.

What a wonderful weekend it has been - I hope you've picked up on what a lovely time we've had and I cannot say just how lucky I am to have had such a brilliant time because of A and our friends and family. So thank you, everyone who made this birthday such a wonderful and amazing one!