Third week of October 2025 aka birthday week

Third week of October which in our family is affectionately known as "birthday week" Aimee and Sarahs birthdays are on the 16th and Megan and mine are on the 17th so lots of birthday love for us A highlight for me personally on the farm this week was John Blum coming to look at our heifers - hes been doing this for close to 30 years and helps choose the correct bull for them to be joined to for their next pregnancy and to hopefully correct any issues that they might have. Im blessed he is still coming to our farm to do this as he has retired and only visits a handful of farms now - one of which is ours. Ive learnt so much from him about cows and bulls!

And then my birthday.....one memory that came up from two years ago was mum being determined to write herself on my birthday card even though she didnt have much sight - this is treasured by me and meant so much then as it does now - and I still miss her everyday She loved doing something for my birthday with me

I treated myself to a manicure which I never do and bought a lovely bracelet

And for those in my family who know - the excitement of Gary giving you a map in your birthday card is awesome Heres my map and my gift too - a pull along wagon thing which Ive been wanting for ages Can you work out the map says to go to the hay shed and look near the tractor????

And finally Gary gave me the afternoon off to do what I wanted so I made a quilt! Its one Ive had the kit for for ages and the kimono in the centre in origami folded and was tricky and I was glad Manda help me with the instructions

And finally craftwise I was lucky enough to attend a Christmas workshop with Barb Smith aka The Woodcutters Daughter at Jenni Finns shop - it was such fun we made Christmas decorations and maybe this year might be the year I actually decorate the house properly for Christmas!

Phew thats a lot - now to my reading update I finished The Lost Queen by Signe Pike - physical book which Ive now given to my sister to read as I think she will enjoy it

OK this book was marketed as Outlander meets Camelot so of course I had to read it It is set in sixth-century Celtic Britain, now known as Scotland, the story revolves around Arthurian lore, specifically Merlin. We follow Languoreth and her twin brother Lailoken, who we later know as Merlin. The story begins when Languoreth and Lailoken are ten years of age and have just lost their mother. Both children were born with a gift and brought up in the Old Ways as their mother was a powerful healer and wisdom keeper. However, Languoreth is not able to follow in her mother’s footsteps as her father, the King, has demanded she marry for political reasons to secure the survival of the kingdom. This is essentially a coming-of-age story about Languoreth and how she navigates her way within a legendary royal family. It could probably have been a bit shorter as at times it dragged but still an excellent read and 4 stars for me Sorry this post is very pic heavy but there was a lot going on! Til next time