I had a birthday last month.
It was meant to be a low key affair, as I’d been up at the crack of dawn to do a 6am airport run, but my friends decided otherwise. They arrived at our door at 5pm with champagne and homebaked cake. I felt very loved…
. . . . .
My gorgeous mother, always the optimist, gave me birthday money to buy a dress. And as I do every year, much to her dismay, I bought myself a new fossil. This ammonite is a doozy, weighing in at 1.63 kilos (3.6lbs)…
Dating from the Cretaceous period (65-145 million years ago), it’s covered in gloriously intricate suture patterns…
It’s not a perfect specimen, which meant I actually could afford it. The back has a beautiful translucent agatised section (often incorrectly referred to as “jade”)…
. . . . .
Returning from a visit to Singapore (and arriving at 6am on my birthday), Big Boy brought back treasures from my bae-by sister. I thought salted egg fish skin crisps would be an acquired taste, but everyone I’ve served them to has loved them. They’re highly addictive…
This beautiful Turkish tea pot and copper plate were a gift from Cynthia as well, and a perfect match to our dining room decor…
Big Boy and Monkey Girl gave me these adorable sake cups with tiny goldfish in them…
. . . . .
During the week of my birthday, I got to meet two of my oldest online friends in person!
On the Monday, I walked the Bay Run with lovely Nancy from Tokyo (who used to blog at Plus Ate Six). We had delicious bacon and egg rolls by the water and chatted non-stop for a couple of hours…
Bless her, she brought me Clover crochet hooks and a shopping bag she’d made. Oh, and a floating pig, which I tried to wear as a fascinator (it’s actually designed to hold soaking or boiling vegetables under water)…
The following Sunday, I met up (finally) with darling Emilie of The Clever Carrot fame! We had such a good time running around the city that we completely forgot to take photos, so I’ll share a funny story with you instead.
Em caught a bus into Central to meet us, but it turned out that there were three bus stops called “Central Station” and the bus driver told her to get off at the wrong one. She didn’t have wifi or mobile coverage and, slightly concerned, I went looking for her. Pete was with me, so I made him sit at the Broadway bus stop holding Em’s book (which I’d brought with me to get her to sign) in case she walked past. We found each other in the end, and oh how we laughed when we did…
Emilie brought me a gorgeous crystal bracelet, a bar of lavender and honey goat soap, and a crazy tin of putty, which you can actually draw on with an enclosed UV light. The boys have been having a field day with it…
. . . . .
Finally, let me show you the gift from our friend and neighbour, Maude. Like Nancy, she’s also a mad crocheter, and you might recall how she crocheted covers for the armrests of our car a couple of years ago.
This year, she decided they needed replacing, so she made a new set for my birthday. Over the course of a few weeks, she would walk across the road, pick up our keys, and sit in our stationary car, crocheting away. The new covers are made from heavy duty cotton which Maude tried to colour match to the seats, and they fit snuggly.
“You can wash the other ones now..” she told me.
Seriously, I have the best (and bossiest) friends in the world. ♥
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
i love your life celia xxx
I have just one question: how did he get those crisps past the quarantine guys? They look like exactly the sort of stuff the inspectors love to pounce on!
He declared them, but they weren’t even interested in looking at them.
Amazing! With the words Egg and Fish in the title, you’d think, wouldn’t you…?
I love you and I love your friends. Wishing you many happy returns of the day.
Maz. PS I passed on some more Big Mama son of Pricilla today. I love Emilie’s book.
Happy Birthday to you dear Celia, I wish you a great year ahead filled with health, creativity, much laughter and happiness.
Happy B-day!! You DO have wonderful friends. Very funny, holding up Emilie’s book! Beautiful, beautiful fossil. Nice choice.
I love your ‘fossil’ dress! haha. Happy belated birthday lovely Celia!
How blessed you are!
Mo
What a beautiful fossil! Who needs a dress anyway? ;+)
Happy birthday. Lovely story. Have a great year, best of health, happiness, friendship & fun 🤣
I’d prefer that fossil than a dress too! It’s gorgeous and it’s NEVER going to go out of date right? ;P
Always good to meet up with blogging buddies – I think we sometimes know more about each other than we know about our real life aquaintances so it’s no surprise when conversation flows. Salted egg fish skin crisps – how interesting. Belated Happy Birthday.
So much love! How wonderfully rich your life is. Beautiful!
:-) Mandy xo
Happy birthday! So glad you had a lovely one. Have a wonderful year ahead.
Separately, clover crochet hooks are great! I finally bought some from amazon a while back and am loving them. As for otoshibuta, what a coincidence, I just saw it today on justonecookbook (a website by a Japanese lady in SF). I wonder if the pig shape is a pun (‘buta’ being pork).
Lastly, yes – salted egg snacks are still the craze, and salted egg fish skin is so yummy. :p
What a fabulous birthday, wonderful family and friends, as you so well deserve ♡
Happy, joyous, fun, fulfilling birthday, Celia! (A little after the fact…) I loved that you bought a fossil for yourself instead of a dress :) and celebrated with champagne and cake when you least felt like whooping it up. That’s what it’s all about and you do it VERY well! xo
Happy Birthday Celia, what a happy time with very good friends and your family. Well done! Those salted egg snacks sound very intriguing, I haven’t seen them here.
Happy belated birthday. You sure do have a lot of wonderful friends, what fun gifts they made, bought you! The armrests are clever, our car only has the centre armrest that is also a storage area, so it wouldn’t work for us.
Happy Belated birthday Celia. Lovely thoughtful gifts. I was only wondering about Nancy the other day as I miss her blog and the stories of her special Shanghai ladies. The teapot from your sister is a wonderful match.
Frae, Nancy’s in Tokyo now! :)
Ah, what a life Nancy has. ( hahah, Frae sounds awful though fitting, like fraying at the seems, which I feel is happening.)
Hahaha sorry hon! I hope you don’t frae too badly! 😘
I think it’s hilarious (though not entirely unexpected) that you bought a fossil instead of a dress 😂. And you have fabulous friends (not unexpected at all having met you 😘). Hope next year is fabulous for you. K x
Happy birthday, Celia. You do make me smile – instead of a dress you buy a whopping, but wonderful, fossil and then try a floating pig on your head :) your poor Mum!
The pleasure was all mine – I finally got to meet one of my blogging heroes. I just love that you bought yourself a fossil instead of a dress and that your mum still lives in hope :) Happy birthday gorgeous xx
I love how you celebrated and you deserve all the wonderful gifts and moments with friends…. and more!
Happy belated burfday celia@figjam . wish you a happy year.
Wishing you a very special birthday year Celia. Keep on blogging, it’s a welcome beacon in a sea of mostly annoying email.