Birthday

Today is my 75th birthday. Many friends are surprised that I made it, and so am I. I have to thank my excellent GP, sundry surgeons, consultants, and other medics for that!

I spent the first hour of my birthday stuck in a traffic jam on the North Circular Road — we were forced the wrong way round the M25 (westbound closed) and then suffered several closed sections of the M25 and M40. Slow and frustrating, but we finally made it back from Mainz (see Blipfotos for preceding days), and slept in our own bed at home (in bed at 03:30 having arrived at the Stansted car park at 22:30!).

Tradition here for birthdays sees us opening cards and just small presents in the morning, a leftover from when I had to get out to work pretty sharpish in the morning. In the evening, we have the bigger presents and often go out to dinner. But we deemed the eating in the Augustiner Keller in Mainz yesterday should count as the birthday dinner, since we still felt rather full of food.

The photograph shows the "evening presents". Most are from my wife, but some are gifts from my very good friend John and his wife who live in Bremen, and the collection of cheese-related items in the top right are a great surprise sent by a former student (our first female chemist) and her family. Included are some cheeses (excellent, and in superb condition) made by an artisan cheesemaker from a town not far away. a cheese "board" made of slate, and a most elegant cheese knife. This gift was all in a big white box that was awaiting us on our return home, but we could not imagine what it could be and had to wait until the next day (today) to reveal the big surprise.

So amongst the gifts are things to make, to read, to eat, to admire visually.

It's been a very nice start to my 76th year, but I'm so glad that we are home to enjoy it all quietly.