How to make a birthday s-t-r-e-t-c-h

At middle age the soul should be opening up like a rose, not closing up like a cabbage.

– John Andrew Holmes

Last week Wednesday, Halloween, was my birthday.  Birthdays are, for me, more important that Christmas, Easter and New Year all rolled into one.  It is the beginning of a whole new cycle, a new year, a time to reflect on the last 12 months and to plan the ones to come.  It’s the day I was born, the moment of my very first in-breath on this planet, in this lifetime and I think that is a very special day indeed, friends and family forget my birthday at their peril.

The day began with Terry serving me tea in bed and gifting me with a delicious box of chocolate covered Turkish delight, this was to be followed by a breakfast “surprise”.  What a truly wonderful surprise it was, when Terry (on the pretext of putting petrol in the car) drove into the station and there standing in front of us was one of my dearest friends who had travelled 18 hours on an Intercape bus (all the way from Johannesburg) just to be able to meet me for a birthday breakfast! I was so moved by this beautiful gesture of love and friendship that I wept.

Margi told me she was visiting till Sunday and that’s when I decided it was a good enough reason to make my birthday last for 5 whole days!

We’ll be Friends Forever, won’t we, Pooh?’ asked Piglet.

Even longer,’ Pooh answered.

Then out of the blue….

On Saturday, we drove up the coast to Sedgefield to take a look at the Wild Oats Farmers Market.

Our last stop in Sedgefield was to our darling “Custard cottage” to show Margi our cute little future home…

Sunday arrived all too soon and Margi was once again homeward bound but we made the most of our time together and it was a birthday I shan’t forget!

I’ll leave you with this beautiful quotation by Jess C Scott

When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth.

That’s how I feel about Margi – she says my name different.

All my love

moi ♥