A Milestone Birthday

May seems to be a busy month this year.
Celebrating my birthday on May 15th seemed  like a good time
to look back on those years when I was growing up.
This first photo dates back to when I was about three years' old.
It was certainly taken in a studio and the photo coloured afterwards.

My father liked to ride,
as soon as he thought I was big enough, he sat me on a pony.
Here I am, aged five, sitting on quite a highly-strung little pony
called "Mousie". I remember her well and how she liked to have her own way, 
which wasn't always the same way as her rider!

By the age of twelve, I was a fun-loving schoolgirl.
I still loved riding and had my own pony. A grey called Miss Muffet.

Then came the teenage years.
I was seventeen in this photo and quite dreamy and idealistic
and a tad romantic too.
I loved to read and went to the library a lot.
I kept a diary in my teen years, but kept none of these writings.
I wonder what I would think of them now?

I remember always wanting to see the best in people.
I think I was always striving to becoming someone better,
more compassionate, more understanding, more forgiving.

It became apparent to me, quite early on, that I was simply a work in progress
and that my life, in whatever form it took, would form the person
that I would become.

It isn't only life, and what happens to us, which forms us,
but how we react, digest and rise above it all which counts.

So besides all things philosophical,
there is the reality of how we live each moment,
with or without sunshine,
alone or in good company.

My birthday was not sunny and it was cold with heavy rain showers, 
but I spent it in good company with a breakfast out in a traditional, old-style
tea-room in the town of Lausanne.

Here is the little tea-room
We had a delicious Birchermuesli (they do the best in town)
and an Apple Turnover with coffee.

Look what caught our eye before we left the tea-room!

A Chocolate Truffle Cake
as light as a feather!
This little beauty came home with us for tea.

I was thinking about the important things in life and decided to make a collage
to give my children and grandson.

BE
Be amazed
Be joyful
Be playful
Be kind
Be thoughtful
Be loving
Be content
and most of all...
Be yourself!

Here is the last slice of birthday cake, so good with fresh raspberries.
The lovely peonies I received and three of my beautiful cards. 
The others stand in honour on my sideboard where I admire them every day!
I received very thoughtful and generous gifts from both my children
and a wonderfully detailed drawing from my grandson.

Today, the sun returned.
It feels so wonderfully joyful.
This is the scene that greeted me in my kitchen this morning.

Sunshine and blue skies
Sweet early morning birdsong
To nourish my soul.

All these simple things are so good for the morale, don't you think?

26 comments

  1. A wonderful milestone birthday for a beautiful lady!! You were surrounded with love, family, and a good friend. May the upcoming year be full of adventure and joy!

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    1. Thank you so much, Cathy. It was a long blog entry today! When you go back to your childhood, there is much to discover and talk about!

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  2. Hi Sandra, long time since I have been here. What a perfect time to comment on such a wonderful occasion. You were beautiful at age 3 and at age 75. Happy Belated Birthday, looks like it was a wonderful one.

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    1. How lovely to have you visit here, Barbara! Many thanks for your kind wishes and comments! Yes, it's a special year this year and I thought it was appropriate to glance back at my childhood!

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  3. Happy Belated Birthday! It looks like you had a great birthday with some delicious treats. I love your photos, the black and white with the color is so sweet. I agree, it isn't necessarily what happens to us, it how we react and rise above it all which most shapes our lives. Wishing you a wonderful 75th year!

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    1. Thank you so much, Michelle, for your lovely birthday wishes! It was fun to look back on my childhood briefly during those early formative years!

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  4. A belated, but very sincere Happy Birthday to you, Sandra!

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  5. I absolutely love all the shots of you! Hope you had a wonderful birthday.

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    1. Thanks so much, Fi! I did have a really lovely birthday, even though all the planned outings had to be postponed because of grey and rainy weather! Something lovely to look forward to very soon!

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  6. Belated HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!, dear Sandra! Thank you for sharing these beautiful memories with us and theses beautiful pictures! I'm glad you had a lovely day the rain notwithstanding and - oh dear - I certainly would have loved a peace of that chocolate cake!

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    1. Many thanks for your kind birthday wishes, Marjan! That chocolate cake was really delicious! I had a lovely day and will do all the planned outings now that the sunshine is back again!

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  7. What a beautiful girl you were and woman you are, Sandra! May 15th was my mother-in-law's 90th birthday! And the 14th was my mom's 91st. Wishing you a lovely year ahead and many happy adventures in this next quarter of your life :)

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    1. How nice of you to come and visit, Carol! Thanks so much for your kind comments. So both your mun and your mum-in-law have birthdays mid-May too!
      I had a great birthday and the celebrations continue both today and over the weekend!

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  8. Well, although I've never met you IRL, I can tell from your lovely photographs and from all the wonderful, uplifting words I read on your blog, that you have ALWAYS been beautiful inside and out. I think you're amazing and certainly do not look your age.

    Mmmm, that Truffle cake looks divine, thanks for saving me a slice and adding the raspberries! I hope you enjoy your postponed treats.

    Happy Friday!

    Hugs, Sarn xxx

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    1. What a lovely comment, Sarn! The Truffle cake was divine, especially with the raspberries. I knew you'd want to taste some!! The celebrations continue and it feels wonderful. Out for lunch today with my daughter and festivities over the weekend!
      I always look forward to your visits here!

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  9. Happy Belated Birthday, Sandra! I love your seventeen-year-old picture. I can see the dreamy, idealistic, romantic you in your beautiful eyes then, and I can see the joyful, playful, and kind you in your beautiful eyes now. I’m glad you’re enjoying your extended celebrations!

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    1. Thank you so much, Susan, for coming here and leaving your kind words! I am very much enjoying the extended celebrations: lunch out with my daughter on Friday and a couple of days away as from this morning! Life is to be celebrated! Let's do it!

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  10. Happy Belated Birthday! What a beauty you are through and through. Seventy-five is the new fifty, so since I turn 50 next month, that must be the new 30 :) I love the look of that tea shoppe, so quaint and cuteness abounds.

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    1. Many thanks for your belated birthday wishes and kind comments, Sarah! Yes, we are definitely younger than our grannies were at the same age. We also have more outside interests which keep us vibrant and full of life! Fifty is nothing at all and very young indeed!
      Yes, that old-style tea shop is so nice. I sometimes meet friends there or go on my own and read the paper and watch the world go by!

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  11. Happy Birthday from one Sandra to another!

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  12. Lindo post.
    Muito linda você.

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  13. You are a delight! Thank you for sharing.

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    1. So lovely of you to visit, Susan! Thank you for your lovely comment!

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