What good birthdays are made of...

Today I celebrated another year since my birth... And as a summary of how I spent it, I title this post: What good birthdays are made of ;)

1) Bacon-omelet breakfasts by the one and only Breakfast King, accompanied by coffee in the most favoritest mug at the folks house (yep, we spent the night there so I could get a good start quilting...)

2) Not one, but two walks (we forgot the camera the first time, and there were pictures I HAD TO TAKE, I'm sure you know the feeling...) through the best bits of the arboretum. It was a gross damp and cold day, but whatcha gonna do. It's Finland. And my birthday. Which translates to rain and cold. Lol... But yeah, back to the walks! Highlights were the rhododendron, irises and other flowers and also the ducklings. Unfortunately, the ducklings weren't around when we came back the second time with the camera. I guess they didn't wanna be on the interwebs. :(

Some kind of lilac just about to bloom called Syringa Reflexa Spp (according to the sign...)

(I had a hard time picking my fave rhodorendron picture...) :)

Alliums

Some kind of Rudbekia

These were soooooooo pretty. They are Heucera Sanguinea but I like the Finnish name (korallikeijunkukka) which can be translated to Coral Fairy Flower. Aww, what a pretty thought...

The peonies are almost there... Expect some serious photo love when these open!

 Iris Germanica. In a gorgeous shade of yellow!

The pond where we couldn't find the ducklings again. The yellow flowers are called Iris Pseudacoras.

Centaurea Montana

 

I don't know whose egg this was, but the black birds were picking away at it. :(

Polemonium Caeruleum

 Trollius Chinensis. It was the most violent shade of orange that the camera couldn't even focus enough to distinguish petals. Simply amazing.

3) After walking out in the wet and cold, quilting is nice. I got about half way through the third row when the sewing machine said it'd rather not and has now decided to do some weird string knotting thing. So yeah, didn't get too far with that today. In fact, I didn't real do much of anything crafty today other than take photos. ---> relaxation, something good birthdays are made of!

4) I did however, make one of my new favorite easy foods: Ham casserole. We ate it with salad (avec balsamic vinaigrette). Mmmm...

]

5) And I baked my own birthday cake, because I knew exactly what I wanted. I baked some gluten-free brownies with my most special semi-secret recipe. Cut them in half and layered them into a really decadent chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting in the middle and on top. As a garnish, I used some chopped almonds. Holy cow, this cake was SO RICH and SO GOOD!!! Happy birthday to me indeed! :)

 (note the mug again, lol. This time I drank tea though.)

...And this is what happens to your plate while you are taking pictures... Don't worry, he got some frosting later on. 

 

6)  I "danced" with a bear...

 And since I may have promised last time, here is a picture of my oil pastel drawing. The "model" photo is linked here (3rd picture of the post).

It's been a really relaxed kind of day. I was kind of disappointed about the sewing machine debacle and the weather, but I can't really complain. I got to have a laid back birthday with the ones I love and even spend some time on skype with my sister and godmother back in the US. I had a beautiful flower photo shoot and delicious food and cake. Oh, and the hubby and parents sang Happy Birthday to me FOUR times today.

Ah, what good birthdays are made of. :)

Thanks for reading!