Wednesday 10 March 2010

Well, well, well

Today is my birthday, I won't beat about the bush, I am sixty, and now officially an Old Age Pensioner. I am lucky to have been born before April 1st 1950, which means I am amongst the last group of women to collect her OAP at 60. It is a strange feeling, and although I wanted it to pass without too much fuss, it seems as if  a busy week has been arranged. Amongst the cards and gifts I received this morning was a big parcel from my sister. I had lots of crafty bits, buttons, felt, a 1950 news paper, and this...

Oh, I thought another art journal, great my old one is nearly full - but when I opened it up...

(Yes that is vintage embroidered card in the front - I had another as a card)
I will share with you a few of the pages of this amazing book my sister has put together.

First there were the two branches of my family tree, which she has researched extensively, here's one...
...that is my mum on her grandmother's lap, then my early years...

"Who is that gorgeous baby?"

1950's holidays

That's the 60's and 70's

and friends have added their 'bits'
I was moved to tears by the amount of work Janet has put into this, completely choked - and Mr T has played his part too. There have been a few sneaky phone calls going on.

I've been taken out to lunch by Mr T and on returning found a bottle of wine and a card by the front door from a friend and a lovely vase of flowers has just been delivered from my family.
I consider myself very lucky and although I wanted to pass the day quietly, how lovely it is to be thought of by so many. We are eating out with friends at the weekend, and we have two visits to our favourite venue, The Stables in Wavendon this week. Last night we saw the legendary guitarist Peter Green (of Fleetwood Mac fame) and Friends who delivered a blinding set of blues rock which set the heart dancing and tomorrow we see Eliza Carthy an English fiddle playing folk singer of the electric kind, who we saw last year and enjoyed.   So there may not be a lot of art going on on this blog for a few days!!!
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I also want to remember my Mum, who we lost in November 2006 who I miss sharing this day with. And my sisiter's husband Martin who died on this day in 1997, who we can now sadly smile about and congratulate him on his bad timing!
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21 comments:

Sue at Dollytub Cottage said...

Have a lovely birthday. The book is ace!SueXX

menopausalmusing said...

Happy Birthday Jill, I am all excited on your behalf!!!

What a wonderful book..... enjoy your lovely week. :O)))))))))))))

Marigold Jam said...

Join the club! Having a bus pass is great!! That book is great and a reallly unique present. Enjoy your day and remember 60 is the new 40!!

thekathrynwheel said...

Woop woop! Big congrats to you. Maybe it was worth turning 60 to receive such an amazing gift :-) Enjoy all your birthday activities! Kate x

Bernice Hopper said...

Are you aware you can get a bigger state pension if you don't claim it for 12 months? I haven't claimed mine yet. I will than get 10% more per week for life once I do claim it.

LAC EMP 2020 said...

Jill,
Have a wonderful birthday week. Age is an attitude of mind and your approach to life bears that out. What a wonderful book given to you by your sister. A keepsake for ever. Your postscript made me cry for my Mum too. My brother had his birthday last week and we were all so sad she was not here to celebrate it with us any more. It's a time to remember that family are precious. I hope you make lots of lasting memories this week to look back on in the years to come. Enjoy your concerts and keep on rocking! Lesley x

WrightStuff said...

Have a wonderful birthday Jill. The book your sister made looks so wonderful. What a treasure!

Leenie said...

+*!*++.*HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!+*~!! What a most outstanding gift from you sister. You have a great time celebrating.

Lalabibaby @ Dreaming of The Simple Life said...

What a wonderful gift Jill and the best of birthday wishes to you .... hope you had a splendid day and enjoy your birthday week.

Tumble Fish Studio said...

Happy Birthday! Sounds like you have celebrated in all the best ways possible and it is so wonderful to hear how well loved you are. You deserve it!

Ticking stripes said...

Happy Birthday Jill - enjoy all your lovely celebrations!

flutterbycrafter said...

Happy birthday Jill - what a wonderful and such a personal gift from your lovely sister. I have a very large lump in my throat because of all the love that has gone into the book. Hope you had a wonderful day. By the way it's great to be 60 (I'm 62), you can be grumpy if you want, and just say it's an age thing, you get away with all sort. xx

Lynne the Pencil said...

Happy Birthday for yesterday Jill - what a wonderful gift your book is. Sounds like you had a lovely day. x

My husband surprised me with a huge bunch of roses delivered to the school I was working in for the day! I think several of the teachers were a wee bit jealous!!

Sandra Hall said...

Happy (belated) birthday Jill! Oh what a priceless gift you received from your sister - all the love and thought that went into that gorgeous book, a real treasure indeed. x

Jane said...

Happy birthday Jill, for yesterday. What a super present your sister created. I've got two years to go until sixty but I don't get my pension 'til I'm 62 and and four months! Know how you feel about not having your mum to share it with though.

Mary Lou Rosato-Caine said...

Happy Birthday Jill! Looking at your blog for the first time--Just Wonderful!

JP said...

what a lovely present - welcome to the 6os club - concessions are a good thing but i still don't think of myself as a pensioner!!! - there is a big difference from being 60 to being 80 and yet the media often lump us together!! enjoy

LOVE STITCHING RED said...

Happy birthday. Your beautiful book is indeed a wonderful and thoughtful treasure. Make the most of that pension and treat yourself to lots of art supplies and goodies!

Carolyn xo

scaley sales said...

Hi Jill

Well it ain't over yet. We have had a couple of gigs this week and a meal out on Saturday so more excitement to come I feel. 60 eh? I'm not going to take the pee or my passage to that landmark will be surely accelerated by a mysterious third hand. See you Saturday and congrats.

The Journal Challenge said...

Wonderful book. You have a really nice sister.
Happy Birthday!

Selina Wallace said...

What a fantastic present - and so personal - priceless. Hope you had a great birthday ;-)
Selina