Hi there - after a lovely spring day yesterday when the sun shone we are back to winter today with cold winds and rain - Mother Nature is very fickle.

Today will be a much quieter day for me as I am thinking I may have overdone it a little over the past few days and am feeling weary - so maybe a nice coffee and a good book this afternoon.

My precious elder daughter and her partner Nick are off to the United Kingdom this morning and air travelling for Rebecca is not easy because of damage to her ear drums, but they will have a lovely time when they are there.  Nick is to present a paper at Oxford on Monday - so that will give Rebecca some time to do some personal sightseeing and perhaps catch up on the jet lag.  I wish Nick well with his presentation and wish them both a safe and wonderfully happy holiday. They are gone for a month - so it will be contact by phone and sms during that time and again it makes me marvel at the wonders of modern technology.

For my birthday I received a personal digital album which will hold 24 photographs and is slim and small enough to fit into my handbag - thank you Stina  - more technology for me to cope with.  I am sure she likes taxing my brain and computer skills. I received lots of other lovely things too - DVDs, a subscription to the Australian Women's Weekly Magazine for 12 months and lots of other things - all specially chosen for function and colour (most are pink).  It was a great birthday and here I am still alive and well.

I received lots of emails, cards, messages and truly felt very special and it is a delight to rejoice with you all and to celebrate life itself.

So now it is back to normal (whatever "normal" is) - my life is different now with the precautions and medications I have to take-but it is life and I love it.

Take care whatever you do and wherever you are and I send my love and thanks to you all for your continued support.

Love and hugs,

"The age of a woman doesn't mean a thing.

 The best tunes are played on old fiddles."

 Sigmund Z Engel