Happy birthday to me!

Happy birthday to me,
happy birthday to me,
happy birthday dear me,
happy birthday to me!

I have completed a quarter century on this planet! I mentioned this to my parents, separately, and each independently went "You're turning twenty-five? Really??? Where has the time gone!"

They came to visit over the weekend, and now I own a paring knife and a bread knife and sufficient chocolate-covered digestive biscuits to see me at least through The Dark is Rising sequence. Also my mother got me a bouquet, which has white snapdragons and a pink lily and is beautiful.

***

Here, have some joy! Pictures of baby otters, which are the most adorable. Look at their tiny eyes! And their tiny noses! And their tiny everything!

Thank you, everyone!

Thank you to everyone for your fine birthday wishes! I am enjoying my final slice of lemon and raspberry birthday cake as I type, and it is delicious.

1. motetus drew me the most beautiful cross-dressing Lucrezia everty-ever, OMG, it is so beautiful, all of you who have not seen it yet should go over to her post here to gape in amazement at Lucrezia and her amazing stubborn face and her beautiful cape and her sword (and the hilt of the sword!) and EVERYTHING, OMG.

Um, so clearly I need to get on that story about Lucrezia cross-dressing to saving Cesare from his vampire lover. It must be worthy of this glorious piece of art!



2. The Starbucks where I went to get my free birthday drink could not process cards this morning! Oh no! But the manager gave me a free drink anyway, hooray hooray!

3. I had a tea party! When we went to the farmer's market this weekend, my mother got me the most beautiful bouquet with white snapdragons and a pink lily, and it seemed a shame not to have at least one tea party under its aegis, so I threw myself and my books a tiny tea party with baked brie and fruit.

( Tea party with snapdragons )

4. I had a splendid if tiny birthday party with Caitlin H. and Rick. Caitlin supplied the aforementioned lemon-raspberry cake, while Rick supplied the...factoids about serial killers?

We were watching the pilot of Twin Peaks, so the serial killer comments were actually perfectly on topic. It is a very nineties show - it is so very nineties it might actually be eighties - but very effective! We have agreed to make Twin Peaks night a thing. We shall see! Presumably I will get all the characters sorted out eventually...