In a flash, 18 years slipped by. Just. Like. That.
I have a photo of my two girls, settled side by side in a hospital chair, holding their new baby brother for the first time. They are 4 and 2 years old. Someone had tied Middle daughter’s hair up in high bunches with non matching fluffy hair bands, that I’d never seen before. She’s looking at the camera, scowling. Her slightly older sister looks down lovingly at her brother, seemingly monopolising their new sibling. The reason, it turns out, for the scowl.
I love that photo. It’s the first of the three of them together. Our little feisty family.
Roll on 18 years and I’m now looking around the restaurant table at my husband and three adults, who gradually, one by one, replaced the children in the photo. Taller than their mother and entertaining to be with. Still feisty. I can’t think of better company to be sharing a meal with.
We’re celebrating Youngest’s 18th birthday. It’s not often we go out for a meal, so when we do, we make it special. I have a rule that it has to be better or equal to my cooking. It’s a Northern Italian restaurant, set in the Somerset countryside, and does not disappoint. This is our first visit, but not our last.
The restaurant is next to a gallery with outdoor sculptures. Even with the fading light, the dancing ladies stand out and seem to be having maybe even more fun than us. We’ll be back in daylight to look around.
Birthday celebrations
Along side the 18th birthday meal, there was a shopping trip and a round of mini golf in Bath. It’s a tradition and a family favourite. Middle daughter took charge of the scores and treated us to an amusing analysis of the scores, before announcing the winner, while we ate ice creams.
Then home for cake.
I know my wonderful birthday boy enjoyed himself.
Maybe we should recreate the photo from 18 years ago.
Bit of crafting
Our lavender bushes are ready for picking. Not that we’ll take all of it yet as the bees and butterflies are enjoying the flowers still. We picked a bunch and sat around the kitchen table making lavender wands. Another family tradition. These will go into the clothes drawers and act as a slice of summer when we pull out winter jumpers, later in the year. They smell divine.
Dolce
We’ve had a lot of hens in the last 18 years or so. Dolce is the last hen standing. Last night, in the wee hours, I heard a kerfuffle. Looking out, I could see that somehow she’d broken out of her hen house and was in the chicken run. To say she was upset would be an understatement. I couldn’t see what upset her, but she was mad. I rushed out. Fortunately, both daughters came out too. We managed to catch her, put her in a box and bring her inside for the night.
Fingers crossed for tonight. I moved her hen house closer to the house. Hopefully the sight of me running around the orchard in a white nightie made her invisible visitor think twice about coming back. Youngest said that I looked like a ghost in the dark.
She’s had some water melon, which apparently was just what she needed.
There goes another week. Joining in Anne’s word of the week linky. My word is 18.
Happy 18th birthday to your son! It sounds like you all had a wonderful time celebrating. The homemade cake looks delicious.
Reading your lovely memory of that first photo of the siblings together reminded me of just how fast time goes.
I like the Lavendar wands idea, they look so pretty tied in ribbon.
Thank you. The cake was good too. There are some photos that take you straight back to a moment and this is one of them. The lavender wands are truly fun to make and wonderful to find several months later too.
I definitely think you should recreate the photo 🙂
Happy happy 18th to your son – it is a milestone.
Thank you! It certainly is a milestone. Just need to persuade them to recreate the photo.
Aww! I love the description of that first photos of your three together. Happy birthday to your youngest! It’s a cliche but they grow up so fast. My youngest is 18 next month, where has the time gone?
It sounds like a lovely meal out and what fun to see the sculptures. I love the tradition of the mini golf.
Those lavender wands look fab and I am glad Dolce was OK.
It feels like forever, but just yesterday at the same time. We had a lovely time. Dolce is fine. She’s back to her normal self again. Who knows what happened?
[…] (Edited: most recent wands made here) […]
Happy 18th to your son, it sounds like a great night and I love the sculptures. We have an 18th coming up in a couple of weeks she’s not my youngest. Your photo description made me giggle, I have one the same, My 3 yr old (soon to be 18) was looking adoringly at her baby brother, while my 5 year old was scowling at him. When her teacher came out of school she asked me loads of questions, apparently my 5 yr old couldn’t tell her if it was a boy or girl or what his name was! They get on a little better now though (just a little) I love the lavender wands, so pretty and what a relaxing thing to do.
What a lovely memory from that first photo of your girls with their baby brother. It’s crazy how fast the time flies by. Happy 18th birthday to your Youngest. It sounds like you had a lovely family meal out. I like those sculptures. What a fun tradition to celebrate birthdays with a round of mini golf. That birthday cake looks very yummy. I love the look of your lavender wands – very tempted to try making some myself. Hope that Dolce is okay after her fright. #WotW
Happy 18th birthday to your son, yes do recreate the photo. The restaurant with the sculptures sounds fab. Poor Dolce has she recovered now? #wotw
Happy 18th to your son! I’m glad you all enjoyed your meal out. Love the sculptures. I hope Dolce is feeling better now and that what ever spooked her stays away.