Day of Birth, Day of Mirth

My Solstice peeps the Diva and Mr. Smith's twins all had their birthday cake for breakfast, I had a bike ride around Maple Lake. And then I had cake :)

I love to watch the sun rise on my birthday but wasn't expecting much because of predicted clouds and humidity. Still, I figured a nice quiet lake would make a nice celebratory photo so I left a sleeping Beloved behind and was out of the house by 6.30.

This is kind of a big deal. After many, many years being surrounded by noise and people in the big city, being by myself in the quietness of this small town sometimes freaks me out. But, I was determined to not have the first real cake I ever made be the only accomplishment of the day!

Surprisingly, the sun came out as a fiery ball, there were many people (well, three, but that counts as 'many' here) out on bikes and when I stopped at the closed gate of Maple Island (it's closed from dusk till dawn, but I guess someone overslept once again) I found 4 not-really-babies-anymore swallows waiting for their breakfast. Poor Mama Swallow, her darn kids are bigger than she is! AND I saw at least two of them fly. If they were human they'd be 30 and still living with their parents. You know the type.
This is the third year I've been trying to get a good swallow photo. Who knew I'd get one as a birthday present? Go me!

At home there were flowers & chocolate from the Beloved and Mom & Dad B and Phyllis came to help us eat the cake, which was lucky as it is a massive chocolate brick and could comfortably feed a family of 4 for a week.

I also stepped in an earwig and I think it pinched me. If my toe swells up to the size of a basketball I'll know for certain.

This not-quite-what-I-was-aiming-for collage is all I could manage. Still, it depicts the highlights of my day. Did I mention the cake? :)