Fraser turns 40

Life begins at 40.

No it doesn't, it started 40 long years ago. I know for this for a fact. My knees tell me every morning as they sound like gunfire coming down the stairs. Then the mirror shouts it at me, and they say only the camera adds 20 pounds to your looks. I reckon someone used a camera lense to make me a mirror. Then my trousers refuse a waistline that has spent 14604 days of eating added to it. My receding hair joins the party by adding 10 new grey hairs to the ones it started cultivating when I crawled into bed, tired at 9pm, the night before.

Waistline begins at 40.

Despite the obvious wear and tear that this old frame has been subjected to, I had an absolutely amazing 40th birthday. Naturally Moira was the centre piece for getting this all arranged, but it was all brought about by a lot of effort from a variety of friends and family, and I want to say thank you.

It turned into a four day extravaganza, as on the Friday Moira said she was taking Lily to the swimming pool, but instead she went to the airport to pick up Suzy, Steve and Maia. Out they jumped from the car, and a weekend of fun with them began. At around 10pm Moira said she was going next door to get some desert from her Mum, and then returned with Neil and Lorna, who had also flown up, bringing Archie with them. By now, I had about 60 extra grey hairs from surprises.

Saturday was spent with us all heading for the Falls at Killen for a lovely pub lunch, and then a walk, with the kids falling into puddles ( literally ). When we got home, Moira said that she was going to produce a gastronomic delight for us all, and that we would be using the formal dining room at Anne's house. We popped some champagne, and I sat back and waited at home to be called through for dinner. When I got next door, a dozen of our new friends from the village yelled 'surprise ' , 40 more grey hairs popped out and said ' ha, ha ', and we then had a great party. You know you are 40 when Gav and Kirsty actually buy you a Neil Diamond CD. You realise that you are really, really old when you know all of the songs. We had a great night, made possible by games from Neil and Lorna, and a lot of sneaky planning from Moira.

Sunday saw a family lunch for 19 of us. Luckily I knew about this already, so no more than the usual 10 grey hairs for that days tally. Generously Ray and Leslie had driven all the way from Kirkudbright to be with us, and all the usual rellies turned up with very generous presents. Ray and Leslie provided me with a proper hard hat helmet, complete with visor guard, and in-built ear-protection, so I can chainsaw the wood safely from now on. Lots of biking equipment was given to me, so all I needed then was an actual bike to put it on.

Monday the 5th was D-day. Moira woke me with a bundle of presents on the bed, and I started to open them. Phone calls from NZ came in, and then Moira pointed me towards a home-made DVD that Jackie and Moira-the-sister had made when they were in NZ a few weeks ago. On there were messages from all of the family who were in Nelson when they were there, and I was really touched ( I could tell this as it actually made me cry like a great big 40 year old girl ). As we had the day off work, Moira then took me to a bike shop and bought me a new mountain bike. Ahh, all those bike gifts now became apparent. Until then I thought I was supposed to wear all of those light fittings when I went for a walk. Phew.

Malcolm and Kristen have now made me a shareholder of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club ( and her being an Arsenal supporter, and all ). I now feel that with my one-share, I have some proprietary rights to the team. I have decided that my share is worth roughly the equiavlent of the top part of a corner flag, and I now choose from the 4 four which is mine at kick-off. This didn't help the pain of dropping out of the FA Cup last night, flag or no flag. Us shareholders take it hard.

Moira had obviously seen me struggle into any pair of trousers so she had already bought me a new pair of black trousers, and a black dress shirt. She then took me out shopping, and with the money Archie and Ruth gave me, I bought some fancy Italian shoes to match. All dressed up but with nowhere to go? Oh no, Moira had booked us a table at the Gleneagles hotel for dinner, in the Andrew Fairlies 2 michelin star restaurant. http://www.ehouse.co.uk/virtualtours/standard3/restaurantsandbars.htm
( choose Andrew Fairlies Restaurant from the drop down list ). Absolutely fantastic.

Before we even had time to look at the menu, the sommelier appoached our table carrying a perfectly chilled bottle of Laurent Perrier champagne, and handed me a card. Sarah, Scott, Ruby and Jacob had generously organised this to be delivered for us, with their compliments. Unreal.

We both chose the Menu Degustation, and it was amazing. After an evening where I effectively got to drink the whole bottle myself, as Moira was driving, we floated out of the restaurant with staff draping our coats over us, and led us to the front door where our car had been delivered.
I was scared the clock would strike 12 and that our car would turn into a pumpkin.

Real life started in earnest on the Tuesday again, and the surprises ended there. I am now reviewing lots of 8mm video footage that I have from over the years, as Moira, Jackie, Graham and Mel very generously bought me a 'Dazzle video Creator' that allows me to transfer the footage onto my PC, and edit it them as MPEGS. I can then convert these to DVD format, and hopefully cut some disks. I now just have to find the time.

I just want to say a HUGE thank you to Moira-the-wife, who made the whole 4 days spectacular. Thanks go to Suzy and Steve, Neil and Lorna for making the long trek from London just to be here, and for the generous words and gifts that came from all of the rest of you, I shall never forget this birthday.

Moira turns 40 next month - no pressure then, huh?

PS: photos are to follow - they will be picked up this Friday, so will probably be added to the BLOG on the week of the 26th.