A week since my birthday, but I do like to drag my birthday celebrations out for at least a week, what with the day itself, a day out with Chantal, and serving scones jam and fresh cream to all at work. Actually, I haven’t done the scones bit yet – now that we are hot-desking and sharing a large open plan office with other Teams, the cream-cakes-for-the-office etiquette hasn’t really been established.
The day itself fell on a Saturday, and so for the first time in a while family were able to celebrate with me on my actual birthday. The usual pattern is a walk, a pub lunch, and an Easter Egg Hunt for the children. When I say “children” I am referring to Matthew, Simon and Kate, and niece Megan, with an age range of 18-29. A couple of years ago I decided that they must be too old for an Easter Egg Hunt. I was advised in no uncertain terms that one is never too old for an Easter Egg Hunt.
The “kids” may enjoy the Easter Egg Hunt but this year they showed little enthusiasm for the stroll across the fields to Thurlaston, just a couple of miles away. Megan joined Pauline, Rob, Tia and me for the outward bound trip, but Simon, Matthew and Kate joined the Old Folk, Dad and Andree, (and Chantal who is obviously not old) and drove to the pub, the Elephant and Castle in Thurlaston.
The Elephant and Castle serves traditional pub grub, but all home cooked, and we all had a good time (well I think that we all did – I certainly did!), before Pauline, Rob and I (with Tia) walked home – Megan had decided that one way was quite enough for one day.
The Easter Egg Hunt took the “kids” along the path down to Croft, where earlier I had hidden Cadbury’s Cream Eggs at locations identified by clues that just needed a bit of observation. All six eggs were recovered, one with difficulty being submerged under ivy, and additional eggs were earned by establishing the distance back home via the top of Croft Hill. Well, they had to earn the calories.
On Monday Chantal had a day trip to the Peak District in Derbyshire, following a walk from Walkingworlds.com, which I had just subscribed to, a short walk of just 2 miles (with Lesia and Chantal taking part, distance had to be limited), but which took almost 2 hours, thanks to stops for photographs and to enjoy the view. It was a pleasant stroll though, with a mix of moorland, wooded valleys, and a riverside walk, and, after fretting that the walk was taking too long, I was relieved when we found a pub that served excellent food all afternoon.
On the way home we visited our friend Meryl, who bred Lesia, and who was very pleased that Lesia had achieved the grand old age (for a German shepherd) of 11. We stopped quite a while chatting over a cup of tea, surrounded by attentive German Shepherds, before coming home.
So that’s my 30th birthday out of the way…..
Technically we live in Oaktree House, but sadly the tree had to go.
We now have a thriving Oakstump at the front of the house.
