Hut Birthday

Not sure how to blog about this without sounding horribly smug – but I've had a fantastic birthday here in the hut! I started celebrating the night before with a few beers and came home to lovely roses left by Davina and got to open A's pressie of an elephant statue I've had my eye on (and a hand-drawn card proclaiming it 'Hut Birthday' - pic of me with my hands on hips, apparently I do that a lot?!).

On the actual day I spent the morning e-mailing and drinking coffee, enjoyed 'Friday Pie Day' with the consultants at the Imani / Kadale office and Mike (who was leaving for Bejing) treated us all to a brilliant turn on his fiddle. Massage in the afternoon and then to Gay & David's for a 'high tea' party that Andrea and Gay threw for me!

It was originally supposed to be a surprise but I'd demanded to know who A had been texting the weekend before so I got to spend the whole week looking forward to it. Gay's house is beautiful and they'd arranged for all the friends I've made here to join us from 4 onwards for home made scones, smoked salmon (yay!) and, particularly for Andrea, Yorkshire Tea. By 5 we'd cracked open the Pongratz (South Africa fizz) and tucked into hot nibbles and a proper birthday cake with candles and everything! It was so much fun – Davina, Florian and Veronica all came along. Andrea's friend Penny came with Pumpkin her new, very cute but very naughty puppy and Gay's guest Theresa from Barcelona was on excellent form given she'd only arrived the day before. By the time we'd emptied a good few bottles and moved inside to hang round the log fire, David arrived and regaled us with stories of old Rhodesia and the only marine to ever curtsey to the Queen Mother - for once I even enjoyed listening to Abba and Neil Diamond!

I think everyone had had a pretty tough week and was ready for an excuse for a party but I'm very very lucky to have such people looking after me! Maybe Malawi isn't so bad after all.....

F x