Wonderful Birthday Week

I didn't work at all last week, took the while week off, even from blogging. I had one of those landmark birthdays. In the first few days I was entertained by my beloved granddaughter who came to stay. I lost my shadow because while Jade usually follows me all the time, when Eryn is here, she's the one who gets that treatment. One wild, windy day, we took the Sandbanks ferry to Studland and walked on Shell Bay beach. The pair of them had a ball chasing around over the dunes and back to the sea.

My daughter arrived on Tuesday and my son took Wednesday off work because it was the big day. Jade went to the dog minder and I was taken on a mystery drive. We ended up at the Mariners Hotel in Lyme Regis where family had gathered for a super birthday lunch. It was a surprise party for me. Ten of us sat down, including Eryn and my three year old great nephew who was with the contingent that came up from Torquay.  The hotel was great with fab food and service and a pretty garden with a spectacular view over the town and out to sea. You can see a little of the view in this pic of me with Eryn.

Next day I went to London with daughter and grandie who live there, because another surprise was planned for Friday. Eryn went to a friend's and daughter and I high-tailed it to town, pausing only at Wimbledon on the way for a little retail therapy. To my delight, when we ended up at Claridge's for afternoon tea and a glimpse of how the other half live, one of my best friends whom I haven't seen for a couple of years was there to join us. This pic is of the little birthday cake I was given at Claridge's.

We had a fantastic time, moving on to a performance of Les Miserables to end the evening.I don't think I've ever been so spoilt. It was all engineered by my gorgeous daughter who must have spent hours contacting people and swearing them all to secrecy, not to mention the amount of money she must have spent. So I took her out to lunch at Strada on Saturday as a small thank you.

Well before they were expected yesterday morning, hubby and Jade arrived on the doorstep to drive me the 100 or so miles home. I had missed them both and it was great to see them, though it was Jade who claimed most of my attention and wouldn't let me out of her sight until we were in the car and on the way home. She was so happy to see me and the girls, she was making little crying noises as she jumped all over us.

My once in a lifetime week is over now, and I have managed to write two articles today, but it's not been easy to get back in harness.