Yesterday was my birthday, and as I was rummaging through some boxes, I came across this, in some of my Dad's stuff. Geez Louise, what a sentimental guy he was, although he'd never want anyone to know it. The little wristband barely fits around my thumb. Look how happy my Mom looks. My Mom passed away 13 years ago, and my Dad just over 2, and I still haven't gone through their things...it's still really hard, so it was sort of strange that I found my birth announcement on my actual birthday!
I had an excellent birthday, started out with a visit to my dentist. Now, that doesn't sound like an auspicious start to any day, never mind a birthday, but he is young and cute and called me beautiful. Well, to be honest, he said that my gums were beautiful, but at my age, I'll take any compliment and run with it.
I received lots of cards, both via Facebook, email and snail mail, as well as phone calls and a lunch with a friend (the BEST coconut-lemon noodles EVER,) and supper with a friend who came up from the States for the evening, and we treated ourselves to a very special dinner..wild salmon with ginger-cranberry sauce, vegetable risotto and creme brule for desert. Plus it was my day off, so, all in all, a wonderful day.
We have had a lot of rain this fall, and I think the result of that is more mushrooms and toadstools than usual, and all different varieties as well. Here are a few, along with a stump that I think might be the secret entrance to an undergroud fairyland...I mean seriously, just look at the "doorway". Surely there are elves and goblins down there.
This moss covered rock had a tunnel underneath it, maybe another secret passageway?
When I was little, my favorite books were ones with stories about secret paths, hidden places, gnomes, woodland nymphs and the like. Books by Enid Blyton were the all time best, and the series about The Borrowers. To this day when I go for a walk, the paths that I see that branch off into hidden corners of the woods are so intriguing that I just have to follow them, in hopes of finding an elf or other woodland creature running hastily along the forest floor, looking for the opening into his Fairy Land. Usually they knock on an old stump or a giant mushroom and a door opens as little elvin faces peek furtively out, making sure that no Above Ground people, like myself, see their secret entrance. Once you get inside...it's a whole other Adventure! Even at my age, I am still always hoping, but so far, no luck...
