Cake!
My mother made a strawberry sponge cake for my 1st birthday. We have a photo of me reaching out to touch it. The next year, she made another one for my second birthday, and then every year from then on, that was my birthday cake. A sponge cake, topped with cream and strawberries. She even managed to make one for my 16th birthday, when we were camping up the Coromandel. Even now, if by chance we happen to be home at my parents’ place on my birthday, she makes a strawberry sponge cake for me. From scratch – no supermarket sponges or cake mixtures. Not that such things were readily available in Whangamomona when I was a child. Or even now, I suspect.
Yesterday, we celebrated my birthday at our own home. And my lovely Ms Fourteen made a strawberry sponge cake for me.
Strawberry sponge cake
(Description: square sponge cake, sitting on a board, topped with strawberries and cream, with one candle burning bravely)
This made me very, very happy.
How well he knows me… now
Mr Bee and I have been married for nearly 23 years now, so we know a lot about each other. This was not the case when we were first married. It was only after we had been married for some months that we each discovered that the other really rather enjoyed Star Trek. Each of us had carefully concealed our sneaky nerd tendencies from each other until long after the wedding vows were safely said.
Today, I was absolutely delighted to receive, for my birthday, three Star Trek movies on DVD.
Tonight we are going to order in pizza, and watch Star Trek movies, with the little bees. Because it is my birthday, we’re going to order an extra bag of fries.
Should you think that this is a very dull way to celebrate a birthday, I would like to point out that this is my preference, because actually, I’ve reached a very dull number that simply signifies middle age, and in any case later in the week, we’re heading off to Adelaide on holiday. That’s quite enough excitement to be going on with.
Other posts from the past that may have indicated my nerd tendencies:
What I did in my holidays: Kangaroo Island edition
Star the fifth
Nerds? Or geeks?
Going bush
Last day of the year, thank goodness. I’m looking forward to sending 2012 on its way. 2013 Will Be A Better Year.
In the meantime, we’re going bush for a day or two, to start the New Year in peace and quiet.
I’m planning to do some things in 2013, of which more anon. Many thanks to those of you who are still reading from time to time, and may you have a peaceful and happy start to 2013.
Okay, it can start to be Christmas now
Because of reasons, I have been extraordinarily tardy in making a Christmas cake this year. But it is done, at last, using my grandmother’s recipe, of course. It won’t have the full rich flavour that it would have had, had I made it six weeks ago, but I shall make up for that by ladling plenty of brandy into it. And into me.
That is all.
Sun angel
First task now that school’s out for us for the year: putting the Christmas tree up.
Christmas tree
A tree like any other, garish and pretty, with homemade decorations and bought ones, and flashing lights. No good taste in sight whatsoever, but I’m inclined to think that notions of taste do not always sit well with Christmas trees anyway.
However, I’m willing to bet that our tree is the only tree in the country with a meerkat angel at the top.
Meercat angel
Meerkats are also known as sun angels, so it is peculiarly appropriate, mixing sun worship and tree worship at the feast of the equinox.
