Remember to be thankful for birthdays

I love birthdays!
As a child, cards would appear as if by magic in a pile with presents at the breakfast table, when I went downstairs bleary eyed at the start of a new day.
My birthday. I gradually realised, over the years, that my parents had been secretly squirreling the cards away from the pile of post arriving each day for the preceding days and weeks before my big day. Cards were then ceremoniously opened, read, admired and shared, before being put on the shelf on the kitchen for all visitors to admire. They were then left up on display in the kitchen until the next member of the family had a birthday. My Mum then stuck all my cards into a big scrapbook, which I still have, until my teenage years. As an adult, I now save all the obvious looking cards and packages until the big day and it is always very special to open them on my birthday. This year, I got a somewhat surprising amount of birthday cards featuring cats! Some things never change!
I am thankful for my birthday, for my Mother who chose to give me life and for my amazing family and friends who I celebrate my birthday with each year. A few years ago a friend told me that Psalm 139 is known as the birthday Psalm in his family.They would sit and light a birthdya candle and then read this together. Since he told me of this, I now especially read this Psalm on my birthday too. Thanks, Wade. But today is not my birthday. It is my friend Rachel's.
Happy Birthday Rachel!
Thank you for being my friend and I really hope you enjoy your special day. I wonder how you will celebrate your day? I expect that we, groovy girlie cake chicks, will hear about your day on Thursday? Hope so.
Jen, me and Rachel, the birthday girl!

The Life of Riley

Today I completed my birthday gift for my brother in law and took it round to him. He liked his birthday surprise very much.
My sister had secretly lent me photos of his treasured car, a cream and silver Riley, so that I could easily copy the outline to make a template of it - and I was very pleased with the result - and very thankful that I had a picture to copy from, as I am not that great at drawing cars - especially not out of icing!
A Luci chocolate and ginger cake with chocolate buttercream filling.Blue icing for the sky, green for the hills and green and orangey brown for the hedgerows.
My brother in law graciously shared it with us all.
Yummy,delicious,very nice said the grown ups.
Can we have some more? asked the children.

My Ode to Autumn: The Red Leaf.

I found one!
right on the floor as I walked through the park, the other day.
I have such great memories of finding red leaves. My birthday is during Autumn and I have a vivid memories of childhood parties at home. There would often be the game:"hunt the leaf." The leader, my big sister, would call out the colour, name, number or shape of a leaf to go and find. everyone would dash off, scrunching and scurrying or squishing (depending on the weather that day)through the leaves until we found one. We would dash back to her in the middle of the garden, clutching our leaf or leaves as if it were treasure to listen for the next challenge.
no prizes or treats given in this game, just the joy of discovering our own valued and precious treasure.
The most highly prized treasure, for me, was always finding the Red Leaf.
Such memories came flooding back when i found this leaf, right in front of me, staring me in the face.
Treasure.
My Red Leaf.