Had such a lovely day.  Mother was the first to be in touch this morning with happy birthday wishes.  And it went on all day, including  sweet messages from my two darling un-sons-in-law.  Home from choir now and finishing off the cake left over from tea at Konditorei with Barb.  Found a beautiful branch of flowering plum waiting on the porch from Roxanne.  Then had a message from Kate that I had neglected to download an Amazon gift card she sent early today.  Fun!  Now I have to decide what I want to buy with it.  Big decision.

One of the coolest things that happened was that my wonderful yard guys insisted that Freida should be moved out of the raised bed and into her permanent location.

Not visible in this picture, a Pulaski fire axe, which John used as the primary tool for hacking out the ivy:

John volunteers at a local Audubon site every week where he employs this tool to the extent that he is known there as “Johnny Pulaski.”

He told me a funny story about when, at a much younger age, he showed up to his “tree work” job just slightly hungover and proceeded to swing his Pulaski right into his foot.  John and I always share great conversations and recommend books to read.  Not everyone is lucky enough to have a landscaper who is also a Renaissance Man.

Back to birthday thoughts:  Life is good.  On the outside, I look and feel my age.  But on the inside, I still feel like a girl.