peaceful place, originally uploaded by Lizzie~Belle.

My employer gives us a day off (paid, even) for our birthday, and as mine fell on a Friday, I was happy to have a long weekend. I didn't do a whole lot, spending most of the day just lounging around for a change. I even took a nap!

In the afternoon, I went over to Gates Pond, which is our town's water supply. It's surrounded by woods, and has a nice wide path all around it. It's about 2 miles around, and with the hills and little side paths, it's a fairly good workout. It was a beautiful day, too: not too hot, breezy, and quiet, as it was a weekday. Just perfect.

On the way back to the car, I noticed some of the scrub along the road was trampled down, and investigated. Turned out to be a patch of blackberries! Most of it had been picked over, but I found some ripe berries, along with some boysenberries, and had a birthday treat from Mother Nature. Yum!

Last night, a few of us got together over at my friends' place for cocktails and grilled chicken. Everyone brought stuff, and we had a lovely little feast. It was cool enough to sit out on the screened porch, and toward the end of the meal we were treated to a lightning show, though it didn't rain very much. L had gotten some cupcakes and other treats, and everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to me. That was unexpected, and really nice. There was no place I would rather have been than with friends, sharing food and drink on a lovely summer evening. At this point in my life, I don't need a big fuss made over another birthday, but it's nice to be acknowledged. And another year is an achievement. ;)

me, reflected, originally uploaded by Lizzie~Belle.

I'm not sure how it happened, but I turned fifty today. I could swear I just turned thirty, but there you go. Twenty years just flew by.

Actually, I'm rather glad to be out of my forties. That was not my best decade, by a long shot. Well, it really was my worst decade. Glad I got that out of the way. Now I can move on, and be fabulously fifty.

Of course, it helps that I don't look my age, and lord knows I don't act it. But I think my generation is much younger than my parents' generation at the same age. I'd like to think we're redefining aging. Or refusing to grow up, take your pick. *g*

I had thought of doing a few things today, but it was hot, and I didn't. I did go for a walk, and I found a bridge over the pond behind Grandmothers' Garden, where I took the above picture. And there was exactly one ripe blackberry, so I ate it. It pays to look under the leaves. :)

I might go out for ice cream later; there's a nice little ice cream place about a half-mile walk from here. The kind of place that has a sliding window on the outside, and they hand you a pile of napkins with your cone. I can sit looking down into the valley, and think about having made it to fifty. :)

Lammas bounty, originally uploaded by Lizzie~Belle.

It wasn't so much fun to have to work on my birthday, but at least it was busy. I had a warm glow all day from all the well-wishes on Facebook and LJ; social networking is fun! *g*

This handful of blackberries, a gift from the Earth, is now in my belly. I found them last week, when they were still ripening, and was hoping that the birds wouldn't beat me to them. Thanks, Mother Nature!

Another gift was the sunset.



In Nature's bounty, and in friends & family, I am truly rich.

Happy Lammas/ Lughnasadh!

gentle, originally uploaded by Lizzie~Belle.

I drove home after the Lammas festival last night so that I could wake up in my own bed, and get outside before the rain started. It was grey and overcast, but I headed down to the woods anyway, where it was mostly quiet. The water wasn't as high as I expected, after all the rain we had this week, but it was rather brown.

There were lots and lots of fungi, but most of my pix didn't come out because it was so dark under the trees. There were some pretty purple mushrooms I would have liked to have gotten pictures of. I did get some of the traffic-cone orange ones, and a few others, but my camera doesn't like fungi very much. I'm not sure that it knows what to do with them. *g*

It started to sprinkle after a while, so I headed for home. It was just as well, since all this rain has produced a bumper crop of mosquitoes. Also gnats, which seem to have Kamikaze tendencies: one flew right into my eye! Stupid bug.

When it started to rain harder, I decided to lay down for a bit, and woke up about an hour and a half later. Oops! I guess I needed it.

I plan to make blueberry pancakes for supper, and watch disc 2 of Torchwood: Children of Earth. I hope it's as entertaining as disc 1 was. So far, it's rocked.

All in all, it's been a nice way to spend my birthday. Just as I'd planned. :)