6th July 2014

Yesterday was the first day of my fiftieth year and as I have celebrated with many friends their 'special' birthdays I had decided I liked the idea of doing 50 new things when I reached fifty. However I also realised that this year is going to be a year of many exciting things so decided that rather than wait until I am fifty, I would use My 50th Year as an opportunity to do new things as well as write about the experiences.
I had a fantastic first day; Naomi had arranged for a personalised bottle of port to be sent to me - Helen Baxter special reserve Port! - definitely a first, which was so thoughtful and almost brought me to tears (I think there might be quite a bit of that!). I had many birthday cards form friends and family which had all been thought about and had appropriately (or inappropriately!) humorous sentiments! Sam cooked me eggs benedict including a freshly made hollandaise sauce, again another first. I was doing really well and it had only reached 9 am!
Mum and Dad arrived prior to lunch, on their way to Alison and Terry's where they are going to house and menagerie sit. We had a FaceTime chat with Naomi and grandparents which was lovely :) We took them to watch Sam play cricket for a couple of hours - it was really warm in the sun.
We had tea and scones, with strawberries and cream, at the garden table and this was the next 'first' - the scones had been made by dad! They were great and he obviously has a good mentor!
Ruth Andrew Emma Janet and  Joyce came for dinner, which was really very enjoyable, with various names of places to visit when I am in New Zealand ... I am really of the opinion that we will see what we can, focusing on what Naomi wants to see based on her conversations with various people she has met over the last 2 months.
That brings me to the major first of the next year, travelling to New Zealand to meet Naomi and travel round the islands for 5 weeks and visit people and places over both the North and the South Island.
Neil bought me a Kindle for my birthday so I have set that up and I am now making sure I have some good books, easy and challenging, available for the holiday.
Janet bought me a travel journal where I can make notes so that it is easier for me to update the blog on a regular basis. Alison has challenged me with writing a weekly blog, we will see how it goes.
So my days are currently spent preparing for this week's work which is very intensive and preparing for my travels which is quite scary!