Did I mention it's my birthday?

I have been, well and truly spoiled, as the social media greeting goes.  My birthday this year was a biggie, 40, but I'm not really too bothered about celebrating.

Most often the parties are for other people, so I have decided that each month for the next year I will do something that celebrates me.  OK, it's just a way to drag my birthday out for twelves months, why not.  My plans so far, although not set in stone are;

September - go to a show

October - fortieth photo shoot

November - pamper day

December - go to London

January - take a class (drawing, burlesque...)

February - go skiing

March - party

April - go dancing

May - do a big hike - like Hellvellyn

June - go kayaking

July - do a charity run (colour run)

August - have a bit of a do to celebrate my one year anniversary of turning 40

To celebrate my actual birthday GO took me to a the Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield, it is a gallery that celebrates Northern artists, Wakefield it self was a ghost town.  The gallery is a place for exhibitions and was set up by Barbara Hepworth.  

G.O was going to take me out for a meal to a local steakhouse but it was closed, as the day before had been a bank holiday they had taken the day off, how rude!  So we went to the Chinese Buffet (not glamourous but very very yummy). 

I received a lot of well wishes, on last count it was well over a hundred people had set me cards, texts, messages and had posted on my wall.  It made me feel all warm and fuzzy seeing all these people taking time out of their days to wish me well.  I was also lavished with many gifts; handbags, earrings, books, and a lovely print by an artist I have loved for a while.  

GO discovered that he was at a local shop and arranged for us to visit.  I was able to meet and chat with the artist, who wished me a happy birthday.  As a treat he signed the print for me and gave me a model.

All in all I had a lovely day, the perfect end to a lovely summer.

I was born 40 years ago today

I do love how naive Facebook can be sometimes.  I woke up this morning to a lovely post reminding me that forty years ago today I was born.  As if I would forget that. 

 

What is to come?

As my thirties draw to a close I can't help but ponder my life so far and think ahead to my future. 

My Childhood

I have an amazing childhood, while I don't really have any close friends from my childhood, I do have lots of memories of my family.  We were ways there for each other.  Each move, each new quarter, new school, new set of temporary friends, they were my constants.  We were/are a tight unit of four, although we have expanded now (probably a good thing) to a six+.  We are happiest when we are together, swapping stories, irritating each other and having fun.  We travelled the world together I went to school in Cyprus, Belgium, Germany, England and Canada.  I didn't excel as a student, always just getting by, I enjoyed school,  I enjoyed the creative aspects, the Friday afternoons when we would, sing, dance, cook, bake, make things and just spend time as a class having fun.  My report card/parents evening always said the same thing I was shy, quiet and needed to speak up more, I know that doesn't sound like me, but I had to start from somewhere. 

Teenage years

I hated being a teenager,  it wasn't cool to be a geek/nerd in 1990.  I was too English when I arrived in Canada (to be fair the briefcase I was holding probably didn't help matters) and I was to Canadian when I arrived in Germany (I got sick of being asked to say things just so people could hear my accent).  I always seemed to find my closest allies in the nerd squad, unfortunately their studious ways didn't really rub off on me.  I managed to keep my head just above the parapet in Junior High/Secondary school by being funny enough to get noticed but that loud to draw too much attention to myself.  Those who knew me knew that I was worth getting to know, funny, bubbly, kind, caring. Those who didn't bother, who couldn't see past my Deidre glasses and lack of a poodle perm, have for my at least faded into oblivion.  I have, through social media, managed to stay in touch with a few people from the teenage years.   My favourite story is about the girl (now mother of a sixteen year old) who should have/could have been a very good friend.  We lived nearby, we have lots of classes together, we travelled to school together everyday but for some reason she didn't like me (I wasn't, I am afraid to say a slapper, her friends were).  She made my life miserable, she would point out when my hair was a mess, when my clothes didn't match, she was just cruel.  The day of my maths GSCE she managed to get all of the other girls to start whispering about me.  I was sad, distracted and didn't do very well with my GCSE.  I never mentioned it, I just rose above and got on with things, I think it made the person I am today....  Nice.  Well karma is a bitch my dear, she has posted a lot recently on social media about the tough time her daughter has been having at school with bullies, and people judging her on superficial things.  Oh Karma, I do love you. xx

My Twenties

My twenties were all about the party.  I had such a good time in my twenties, I met people who I know will be life long friends.  I finally decided that I wanted to become a teacher and went back to school to get the qualifications I needed.  I studied at Christ Church University College, where I, just about, managed to get my Primary Education degree.  I had a great time at uni, I lived the typical student life.  I was not good at the exams but the essays and practical aspect were where I excelled.  Unfortunately I couldn't transfer that in to exam room success.  After uni I moved to London and for the next six years I had the time of my life, I met new and exciting people.  experienced things I never thought I would, visited countries and places had only read about.  I tried to meet the one, I tried blind dates (Moose), Random hook ups (Fireman Jon), Speed Dating (Emec) and online dating (Policeman Mark), all to varying but never lasting success.  I gave up on men and decided to have a break......

My Thirties

My thirties have been about meeting and falling in love with Stuart (Ginger One).  I have had the happiest of decades with him.  Together we have visited far flung places, fallen in love, moved in together, gotten married and made plans for our future family.  We moved up the country so that we can be close to a support network , for when we bring our little ones into the family. 

Happy Birthday to my [not so] little baby brother.

Happy Birthday to my [not so] little baby brother. 

You can trust me, I always look after my baby brother!

He is 37 today and he is hopefully celebrating, many miles away.   

He still has the same hair style here circa 2008 as he did in 1980!

We have always treated our birthdays as a joint celebration, usually on the 29th.   It still feels strange that he is not just down the road. 

 

I am so happy for him that is now happily ensconced in his life in Pennsylvania. 

He has worked very hard over the past few years settling into US life with his lovely new family, happily he has definitely found his place in the world.   

We are so proud of everything that you do, you work so hard and put in so much effort you need to slow down a bit 'old man'! 

Happy Birthday to the best little big brother in the world, we love you!

Sommerzeit 2016 Woche 2

We have definitely settled into our little routine; Frühstuck, trip, lunch, movie, tea, soaps, bed/chat to GO, read, bed.

We have continued to revisit places of the past and have discovered new, exciting places.

Botanische Garten

During the Weihnachts be such we visited the tier park in Bielefeld, passing a sign for the Botanische Garten, promising that we would return in the summer.  We we have returned.  It was a lovely walk up (uphill) and around the garden.  There were lots of native plants but also some more exotic flavours.  We didn't see the whole garden, both the rents are unaccustomed to that much walking, but we saw enough. Again it was free to visit, what is loved was watching the could walking around planning which plants they wanted.

Mamilein and Papichen wanted to relive last years dramatic summer so they took me to the Kurpark in Bad Oyenhausen, it was lovely, very peaceful.  Everywhere you looked there were little groups of people walking or sitting and conversing.  It was very easy to forget that most of  these individuals were probably recovering from some recent trauma or medical condition.  It is most definitely in the German mindset (at least those of a certain generation) that there is nothing that can't be cured by a nice long walk in the fresh air.  I tend to think I agree with this sentiment wholeheartedly.

Sommerzeit 2016 Woche 1

First week is always busy, papichen is excited about having me back so is enthusiastic about going out.

We pottered around Bünde

Taking in the fields of green and saying hello to all the ponies and birds.

Mamilein even stopped to tell the pony "Dirk" that she had hurt her arm when she fell over.

Herman's Denkmal

Unlike his cousin Wilhelm, getting to Herman is so much easier as you park at the summit and then stroll along.  Much like lots of sights in Deutschland it was free of charge to walk around but if you want to go up you need to pay.

Shops

We also made the usual rounds of the supermarkets, I love to see what new things the Germans have come up with, things that initially I scoff at.  You know given a couple of years, I'll love it.

We also tried the new BBC Hulahoop challenge of hooping for sixty second and being interviewed, just hula hooping was enough of a challenge.

Sommerzeit 2016 Intro

"I'm going to live off Mamilein and Papichen for a couple of weeks."   When the funds have completely dried up and just existing costs money, time to pack up and head to the bosom of your familia.  

It was a teeny weeny prop plane.

Which is what I did, GO wanted to come but we could only spare the finds for one ticket.  He chose to stay in the UK as he had the chance of some extra work.  

I booked a very early flight, I hadn't been to Germany since Christmas an was very excited about spending time with the 'rents (as BB calls them).

This is GO's birthday cake....

We got into a nice little routine: breakfast, go out, go to a supermarket, home to watch a film (Tinkerbell is a favourite) with Mamilein while papichen "read" in the library, tea, soaps, FaceTime GO and bed to read.  

Snuggly while watching Tinkerbell

In the past we have only really shopped, but this time we tried to do some sightseeing.  When we moved to Bünde twenty years we went every where and took in all the sights, it was nice to revisit old places and discover new ones too.

A Walk On The Wild Side

What to do when the weather is grotty and you are penniless?

Go for a walk, a damp, squishy walk.

We stoppe of at Gorpley woods and went in search of nature.

The initial path from the car park is very sloppy and quite treacherous, as always I'm okay going uphill, it's downhill I struggle with.

It was worth the slipping, sliding and midgies when we got to the first waterfall.

As Dirk said it was very similar to Ricketts Glenn in Pennsylvania.