One

Oh wow. Today was as glorious as this day a year ago... except the champagne wasnt as good! Blue skies, leaves aglow and lotsa 'lerve', one year old lerve. The bean was one today.

It was so lovely, festive, but the problem with having a baby when you're older is you got loads more friends, so a one year old birthday actually poses logistical problems. Its either a wedding event or something resembling normal. He's got no friends of his own yet, so its a potential political conumdrum. Who do you invite?

So we defaulted to close friends (define that) and family. But, the really brilliant thing about a one year birthday compared to a sixth year birthday is that were still living off the leftover wine for dinner and then some, actually instead of dinner! With a stop and drop 6yo old party, you just 'do' kids but a 'one party' is really for the adults to celebrate the successful passing of a whole year and they bring wine!!!! Go figure. Its kinda weird being back at the bottom end of birthday parties where the kid in question cant even open their own gifts.!




So its cake and wine for dinner. Im over pizza!

But, earlier on we did fire up the oven for pizza. All well and good despite the woman driving up the road who dropped in just to check that the house wasn't burning down!
Clock that one up to experience but I am so very glad there are people who are prepared to check. Next time we will fire it up the day before its needed, especially if we use it after we have had such a downfall of rain, and possibly cover it, not aesthetic but practical. Overall, the oven fired up beautifully, but to push out heat and stave off the inherent damp ...well... another day may have helped! Lesson learnt. So between the pizza oven and the electric oven we fed thirty in 3 hours.

I can recomend that if you invest in a pizza oven and you have neighbours close by...invite them to your party. Its pretty smoky fare.

Im knackered. It was fun. We remembered, shed a tear and stopped for a pic at the exact time Jasper was born. The girls, me , Jaspie, Si, Rosie and Bruce, all gathered on the spot where his birth culminated; those who were in attendance (except Lisa, our fantastic midwife) present. The difference... we had a crowd today. Smiling and laughing and looking on.I wish Id take a pic from my perspective, from where I sat. Twenty odd happy people all looking upon this photographic moment at this time of the beans birth, celebrating in rememberance of an ordeal passed. Ive never experienced anything like it. I have to say, Simons bunch of people are pretty special, they celebrate life like a bunch ive never known. No shame, no fear, no self consciousness. Raw emotion. I love them for enabling it. Bring it on. The bean and I had a fantastically, wonderful, memorable, special birth day

Thats the bean offerring my brother his sock. Nice. Biggest fun of the day... My brother and his wife talking to B1 for ten before realising who she was! She has changed...