Woo Hoo! 50 Years Young

I made it, all in one piece, slightly bent, wobbly feet and definitely out of shape (no comments) but i am now 50.   Its not really a big deal.  I'm not suffering from "Oh my life is over and i haven't accomplished anything syndrome" or "I am now old".  The only time i feel old is when I've been out shopping for a few hours and my feet hurt.  I don't think i look old.  One of the best things about this week was seeing the look of surprise on most peoples faces.  No one thought i could possibly be 50. Which is kinda cool but I'm sure that its down to being "puffy" and therefore not having too many wrinkles. If i lost weight I'd probably look 100.

I guestimate of what i would look like if i was skinny, which is kind of strange because i seem to have changed ethnicity as well.  

My birthday was actually last Wednesday and so i spent the day at work with my "other" family.  I kept it pretty quiet so it was mostly The Boys (Paul & Daniel) wishing me well and buying me pizza for lunch.

Are these not the most amazing flowers.  The fragrance was really strong and my office smelt like a garden.  

Mr Google had his normal birthday greeting.  

Facebook also has a big mouth and so i received a multitude of well wishes from family and friends including my blog buddies from Oz and OS.  After that there wasn't really any point in trying to keep it quiet.

Our family of 3 had a quiet dinner at our familiar Turkish restaurant with my Bestie dropping by.  It was on this day however that i started having a few sneaking suspicions.  Someone forgot to tell Mum to act normal. I received my usual early morning call from her singing me Happy Birthday, and then that was it! "You forgot to send a card Mum!"  When have you ever not given me one of your special birthday cards. Usually they are very special mother and daughter messages that are sentimental but recently, this mother of mine has been getting very cheeky.  I wonder where i get it from?  Seems to me that when you are just about to hit 85 that there is nothing to lose and you can pretty much do what you want. Rock on Mum!

Did i tell you she's buying a new car?  So what do you expect her to buy, a small automatic run-a-round? Nope this mother of mine is buying a Nissan Xtrail 4X4 because she likes getting into something higher and she's considering Steven's need for a fishing vehicle. I guess she needs room for her walker as well.  (LOL)

This is not the one but its what she has asked the dealer to find and i wouldn't put it past her to get a red one.

Auto? Goodness no. We have all copped it trying to convince her she needs an automatic gearbox at her age. Quote "Ive been driving a stick all my life and i don't see why i have to start driving something different now". Unquote.   Message received Mum.  Back away, very slowly, don't turn away.  This mother has a weapon, otherwise known as a walking stick.

Anyway, when she did give me her card on Saturday it was:

If that turtle is you Mum, then put your teeth back in!

Did she actually pick the wrong card, which by the way was even more confusing because it opened backwards and upside down (and yes I did get caught) or did she do it on purpose and write in the Oops, Its 50 trying to be funny.

Did you notice i that i said she gave it to me on Saturday.  That's right, my mother travelled down from NSW with my sister, Sam (thank you Sam), and brother Steven for my

Its was all the doing of my other sister Glenda and her daughter Bella.  They not only arranged it over several weeks but also catered and decorated and cleaned up.  It was beautiful.  It was Hubby and Tom's job to get me out of the house and so i was taken to lunch and then they had a big shopping list of things to do that conveniently ended at 3pm.  Never have they been so patient while i looked at books and browsed in clothing stores. Things were not adding up at this point but i was happy to go along.  It was all revealed on arriving home as there was Sam's car with its NSW plates parked in my parking spot and Oh, look, there's Veronica's car from work and and and.......

It was never going to be an easy job to surprise me but they managed to do a good job.  They arrived soon after our leaving and spent hours putting together a lovely afternoon tea in our pergola.  Isn't it so so pretty. Nearly everything was home made, fresh and yummy.

Lots of homemade quiches, filo spinach triangles, cheeses, dips, crudites, small slices ........ just amazing.

These pink roses are fairly rocking my Tuscan blue wall.  The ornaments are a cute touch of theirs.  

Are these not beautiful.  Glenda baked them and they were so fresh.  Almost too pretty to eat. 

My favourite was my sisters chicken sandwiches.  A mix of chopped roast chicken in a egg mayo, Dijon mustard and herbs on spinach.  

This was the tea/coffee table and yes, more flowers.  

Made by Bella - are you ready?  Starting at the bottom - vanilla cake, white chocolate mousse, chocolate cake, Toblerone cheesecake, vanilla cake, white chocolate cheesecake, chocolate cake and ganache with strawberries and cream.  Wow!  Now that is a birthday cake.  

All my favourite people were there including Jessie and Allegra from Ballan (who gave me my first box of Fowler jars with lids, rings and clips). Also Rob and Tom, Glenda and Bella with her children Maison and Chelsea,  Mum, Sam and Steven from home (6 hrs drive away), my Bestie and her Mum Shirley with Mirandah, Veronica from work, The Wilbraham Family, and surprise surprise Daniel from work with his wife Kym and two children (Maddie and Austin) who came to our home for the first time.  Such a treat and Maddie was definitely the star of the show.  Tilly excelled herself and was so quiet and allowed both children to pat her and she responded with kisses.

Maddie - my special special little friend that keeps making her way in the world and is the poster child for what can be achieved with caring professionals and a lot of hard work by loving parents with a special needs child (Cri Du Chat).
Go Maddie!

Mum with Maddie and Tilly.  Mum's lap was made for a lapdog.  Its like a gravitational pull.  As soon as she arrives and sits down, she's up there.  

I received many special gifts from everyone.  Gifts that were given a lot of thought and especially for me.

I also received quite a bit of $$$ (so appreciated) and so i can look forward to doing more work in my garden.  Espaliered fruit trees here i come.   One gift that i do have to accommodate is a work of art, designed by Daniel (engineer) and made by our welder extraordinaire, Frank

Sorry about the view  -  its almost as tall as me.  

This is a mirror but it is not made of glass.  This is a brushed metal frame and a highly polished piece of stainless steel.  It is amazing and Frank assures me that so long as no one attacks it with an abrasive it will stay this way.  It was made for the garden and so i will now be dreaming of an appropriate spot that can be reflected back.  My older mate Noelle has a "Secret Garden" in her backyard.  Many have thought her garden continues through but it is a mirror and makes her small rear garden look bigger.  Imagine this trellis with wisteria blooms hanging down - it is so beautiful.   

So i can see myself as a collector of Frank Art.  I'm twisting his arm for custom tomato trellises that are tall enough to accommodate the 2m+ plants i had this year and my custom built potting bench i designed.  Pretty lucky girl, aren't I having so many people care about me that have so much talent.

Saturday was also my brother Steven's 48th birthday and so he had his own cake and was given  a new little friend.  Steve breeds budgies and has always wanted a pure white one.

Jackie is an albino and there is Mum chatting away to it.   It is already home in NSW and in Mum's conservatory with its fellow inmates (oops, couldn't help myself).  It, along with the others, will be spoilt rotten as they sing along to Mum playing the piano daily.

 So you would think that would be enough of a celebration, wouldn't you.  I would but wait, there's more.

I always said that instead of a party it was my PLAN to add an E and go somewhere.  Well this same sister has organised for her and I to fly to Hobart, Tasmania for the day on the 30th to fulfil my wish. 

It will be a long day but i believe that we will be having an early start, flying (her first plane at 57 - boy am i going to have fun chatting about plans going missing and falling out of the sky), breakfast at the Hobart marina and then a cruise up the Derwent River.  Sounds like a good day doesn't it.   Thank you so much to everyone who made my celebration of turning 50 memorable.

Thanks for Visiting Living In The Land of Oz

PS.  Bella and Glenda have recently started a small catering service.  Bell is a Funeral Director and saw a gap in the market for low cost finger food catering. They offer a drop off service or a complete waited event. Obviously these ladies can cook and are good (if not sneaky) at organising an event.  Bellaro Finger Food - Glenda  0438 492 992   (Melbourne Metropolitan Area).