My birthday - part 1

Hello Clanettes (I am loving this new term I just made up to include you, the reader of my little blog.  Although it potentially suggests you are a groupie and I am an icon or something equally silly, we can overlook this as its my blog, and I am therefore the law.  The term Clanette has been devised and shall therefore stay until I deem otherwise)
I am sorry that I am 6 days late with this entry, and I know that at least 2 of you have been checking in to see what I made of my birthday, but I have found starting this narrative very difficult because my birthday was so overwhelming and I am worried that I can't do it, or more importantly, my generous friends and family, justice.  So it has been easier to not write about it.  But now I am an entry behind and so I must face the inevitability of blogging, and blog..!

As it is half term, I am sat at my parents computer at their house, so pictures will follow later because they are all sat on my camera, which is sat in my house..  I am delaying this beautifully, aren't I!!

On the eve (Thurs 31st May) of my 32nd birthday, I went for a 5k run with Lucy at her house, and we agreed that we would go out for breakfast as a birthday treat.  It was all hugely exciting because I wasn't allowed anywhere near their front door in case I should see whatever it was that was my birthday present, in their hallway.

Paul's alarm went off at silly-o-clock (5.30am!) on my birthday (Fri 01st Jun) and the children bounded in to hand me cards and a strangely triangular shaped parcel..  The parcel was my very own set of double sided bunting in lovely pastel pinks, one side says 'Mummy' and the other says 'Sarah'.  Its currently hung with the Sarah side out because I find myself as 'Mummy' more and more and 'Sarah' less and less sometimes.  Paul slipped off to work and the children and I got dressed (into dresses!).  I was in full swing 'Yay its my birthday, everyone is texting me, aren't I important' mode, when an acrid stench filled the air and what started as an idle sniff sniff, I wonder what the smell is, soon became a panicked sprint round in only my pants as I discovered the night-light on fire in the girls room.  Niamh had filled the lamp with Brenna's pants and they had got so hot they had caught fine.  Cue lots of mad dashing and screeching!

Emergency over, the girls and I dropped Lochie at school super early and then high tailed it over to collect Lucy.  We drove to Lee on Solent and Lucy treat me to breakfast at The Tea Room.  We then spent an idyllic hour throwing stones into the sea and the girls were in their element - Niamh had her first proper paddle and Brenna made us bury her and help collect stones and shells.

By then it was lunch time and I needed to get home to see my parents who were travelling to see us.  We dropped Lucy off and went back to our house. My parents arrived laden with exciting pressies, and we had lunch.  My Dad went off to collect Lochie from school and my Mum helped prep a ratatouille.

My parents left at tea time and as I put the children in the bath, The Tipper Tribe arrived for a sleep over.  Once all the sleeping arrangements were sorted and Paul was home, Lucy presented me with a book, and a necklace and seasonal board that she and Dave had clearly spent a huge amount of time designing, crafting and threading and I was feeling very overwhelmed at the efforts they had gone too.  As if that wasn't enough, we did birthday cake before Paul and I were ushered out to go and enjoy some dinner.  Paul took me to Kams Palace, a delicious Chinese restaurant where we had a 5 course veggie set meal and spent a small fortune!!

I had known that something was going on at our house whilst we were out, of course I did, but I hadn't prepared myself for the reality of it.  It was dusk as we got home, and Dave met us as the front door and expertly kept us chatting in the hall way whilst Lucy finished whatever it was that she was doing.  Because it was the first thing that came to hand, an apron was draped over my head as a pseudo blind fold and I was led into the back garden and only as I became aware that I was being led towards to apple trees did I begin to understand what was going on.

Lucy and Dave had created a sacred space just for little old me.

We bought and moved into our house in 2004.  We *f i n a l l y* had carpet laid at the end of Jan 2011 and that day was the day that our house became my home.  The carpet made the house comfortable and Paul and I often talk about the change that it made to our living space and how much I now look forward to going home.  Our home finished inside the walls though, we have a big garden, but I have never considered it part of our home because it was such a tip.  Well let me tell you, the 01st Jun 2012 was the day that our barren, neglected, rubbish filled garden became my sanctuary.  I can't describe it, you will have to wait until I get home and upload some photos, but I can tell you to go and look at Glennie Kindred's website and half way down her 'workshops and talks' page, there are 40 odd photos depicting different events and sacred altars she and her workshop attendees have created.  I now have this in my garden and its all mine.  I don't feel like anything is missing anymore, all the potential for time and space and growth and me is in my garden.  I can't wait to show you.

It was such a pleasure to light the fire and sit with Paul, Lucy and Dave in our garden and take it all in.  I was speechless with pleasure.

Do you know what the maddest bit of all is though?  The following morning we cleared the garden.  Lucy, Dave and Holly, helped Paul and I realise the potential hidden under the 8 years of accumulated rubbish and neglect..

And there ends part 1.  Part 2 when I get home and can be descriptive with photos.  I hope I have managed to convey my delight, and my gratitude.  I hope that you are curious enough to come back and look at some photos in a couple of days..