A Year Older, A Week Happier
Diary of a Midlife Bore
Last week was a bit different to all the other weeks of the year because it was my birthday.
I’ve never been much of a fan of my birthday, or rather never been bothered by too much fuss but it turns out what I do like is:
Messages from friends & family.
Presents from Erik, in particular the silly ones, like toothpaste or in this years case, fleece for my plants. And yes, even with Doug, sown seeds & seedlings do need that extra care and attention.
Food. Cake with my morning cuppa, Dutch kroketten for lunch & slow cooked lamb with mash & green beans.
A bath, with tea, wine & a good book.
Cracking open a new jigsaw puzzle.
Time in the garden, or if it’s raining all of the cats and dogs, time in Doug.
That’s quite a lot isn’t it?! Ok so I do like my birthday it just very much has to be on my terms, but isn’t that the same for everyone?
I love celebrations, birthday parties, weddings, other parties, I just think they’re better when I don’t have to host. When I can just saunter in have a few (many) drinks, laugh, dance & be very merry.
For the uninitiated I feel I need to explain what Dutch kroketten are (kroket singular). They’re meaty croquettes, delicious, unctuous and in my view one of the all time greats of fast food, up there with 2 McDonald hamburgers when you’ve got a hangover. Traditionally they’re leftover meat wrapped in breadcrumbs & deep fried. Who knows what’s in the fast food version, but Erik always makes his with stewing beef & we chuck them in the air fryer to cook. They are an utter ballache to make so they are only for special occasions!
I’m pretty passionate about them so every time we visit Erik’s parents they make sure they’re on the menu at least once. If you’re ever in a bar/pub in the Netherlands I highly recommend a beer (or two) with a side of bitterballen - mini krotten. HEAVEN.
What else did the week bring?
It was pretty quiet work wise which is an absolute delight, lack of money coming in aside. But I did thoroughly enjoy the relative rest. I did think it would be the perfect time to get really stuck into my business plans, developing my new service & updating my website. Some of that happened, very slowly, but generally I did what I do best when I have time & no pressure to get anything done. NOTHING! It seems I can only achieve something if I feel under a shit load of pressure. And I bet most of you are the same, right?
The garden is progressing.
I brought some seed trays inside & have found the ultimate sweet spot, everything except the aubergine, pepper & chilli have shown their little heads after just a week. It is probably too late for aubergine + co but I thought I’d give it a go anyway. I’m planning a full garden update very soon. If nothing else, it’ll be good for me next year to look back and compare notes and while I do feel megally behind I know I’m a good 6 weeks ahead on last year. Progress is progress!
Potting on has been problematic & so I put a call out on the island FB group for any old pots and a wonderful islander said she had a load she wanted to offload as she’s moving in a couple of weeks.
Off I trotted, in the car, to the beautiful Brims to get the pots. I ended up staying for almost 3 hours, drinking multiple cups of tea and chatting while looking out onto the most beautiful view of two bays either side of the Ayre. The Ayre being the causeway that links the island of South Walls to Hoy, the island, not to be confused with the parish of Hoy at the top of the island. Confused? Yep, me too.
Insert image of Brims/the Ayre here.
Today I am reminded yet again of my inability to keep track of and tag my photos. I searched, but after 20 minutes of scrolling through the past 6 months of pics, I gave up!
What a way to while away a few hours on a Sunday, I’m just gutted we only met 2 weeks before she leaves rather than a year ago. Still I have plans to go over next weekend to make the most of this brief friendship.
All in all it’s been a bloody good week and I feel really upbeat. The winning combo of longer days, less work and HRT of course!
Have a great week,
Han 💚
The week in numbers:
Birthdays celebrated: 1
Age brackets changed: 1 - I am now in the 45-54 age bracket 😭
Week high: 16℃ that’s 30+ in Doug!
Week low: 4℃
Latest sunset: 8:26pm although with civil twilight, it was light till past 9pm
Partial solar eclipses seen: ZERO
Windiest day: Wednesday @ 35mph
Day with the noisiest rain: Saturday
Cold dips: 3
Longest dip: 5 minutes 🥶
Cakes: 1