Blogging Buddies & Birthday Blessings!!

I know I've been absent from blogland for a week or so and there are good and bad reasons for that, but I thought it best to concentrate on the 'good' and tell you about my Birthday Blessings! Grab a cuppa, we could be here a while, cos I was SPOILT, SPOILT, SPOILT for my birthday!!

Firstly, a huge THANK YOU to everyone who stopped by or emailed to wish me a happy birthday! I was so touched that you all took the time - I think I've replied to all of you who aren't 'no reply' bloggers and to those 'no reply' bloggers - THANK YOU!! This blogland that we come to play in is such an amazing place with wonderful people to be met. And for my birthday, two of my bestest blogging buddies made me cry!!! Happy tears, of course!

The first was the gorgeous Lilly Linda whose parcel arrived a couple of days early, but unlike Stina - I wasn't good! I didn't wait to peek at the parcel!! :0) Inside I found ...


Oooooohhh!! A gold parcel!! And inside ...


A GORGEOUS girly bear, complete with lacy, rose-adorned dress and little shoes and a lace-trimmed parasol!! Not to mention the rainbow coloured doily to add to my collection, a super cute little felt cupcake ... to add to my collection! ... and even the gift tag was gorgeous and is currently being displayed! Linda knows me well and picked PERFECTLY GORGEOUS goodies to spoil me for my birthday! Uh oh!! Happy tears - where's the tissues!!! Thank you Lovely Lilly Linda!! The little bear has been named "Rosie" (Sorry Rosey - different spelling!) and she has moved into the spare room. Here she is in her new home ...


Oh - and if you take a closer look at the photo behind Rosie Bear, you might notice a strong resemblance to the photo on my previous post - this one is my Dad when he was just a little tacker!! Cute, wasn't he!! :0)

The next blogging buddy to bless me for my birthday and make me cry (pretty sure she didn't really mean to!!) was the gorgeous Kerryanne. Imagine my excitement when the parcel delivery bloke hurled this box onto my verandah. (really must have a word to him about being a bit gentler!!)


Oooooohh!! Excited Happy Dance happening - oops! Neighbours again complaining about clog-dancing elephant!! And inside the pretty wrapping (I kept the paper and ribbon!!) was ...


Uh oh! MORE happy tears!! (more tissues - think I'm single-handedly keeping the tissue company in business!) Look at the canvas!! Have you ever seen anything more PERFECT!! A patchwork background to match my quilt-in-progress, the CUTEST little painted bear I have EVER seen in a blue dress to match the blue in my shabby cupboard curtains in the sewing room, and a FABULOUS antique sewing machine ... all with my name on!! Not to mention, the cloud of lavender loveliness that met me when I opened the wonderful candle!! Kerryanne says these goodies are for my sewing room make-over that is on the "To Do" list - how PERFECT they will be!! I won't want to ever come out of my sewing room! And let us not forget the FABULOUS card that came with these treats - I'm now on the lookout for a shabby chic frame to pop this cutie into so I can display it! Thank you Kerryanne!! I'm feeling DOUBLY spoilt!!

Now I was already feeling very spoilt by my bloggy buddies ... but there were MORE birthday blessings coming my way! My long-time mate Deb sent this bundle of cuteness my way ...


Look at that little bear!!! Isn't he the SWEETEST!! Not sure if you can fully appreciate it in the photo, but this little bloke is only about two inches tall and has the tiniest little buttons holding his limbs in place! He's joined my miniature bear collection in a shadow box in the lounge room. And look at those Bollywood earrings - aren't they FAB!! I shall be as sparkly as a chandelier every time I wear them! Thanks Deb!! Oh ... TRIPLY spoilt!! But wait ... there's MORE!!

My OPAM Challenge co-host and wonderful blogging buddy May Britt also slipped a little surprise in the mail!! I opened the pretty paper and found ...


A stitching project folder that I had admired on May Britt's blog!!! Isn't it GORGEOUS!! How cute is that little rag doll on the cover stitchery!! May Britt said perhaps it should have been a bear ... but I LOVE this little dolly!! And inside the folder ...


Lots of clever pockets, with clear plastic so you don't have to rummage through EVERY pocket EVERY time you're looking for something - how clever is THAT!! Thank you May Britt!! What a WONDERFUL help this folder will be to me when I head off to a friend's place to stitch!! Oh ... QUADRUPLY spoilt! (Hmmm ... I wonder if I'm now making up words?!?!) But wait ... there's MORE!! Bet you're starting to see why I feel so blessed this birthday!! My friend Miss Mary from Fresh Hope Patterns made a quick stop-off in her busy schedule to spoil me further. What I at first mistook for an Easter egg (same shape when all wrapped up!!) turned out to be ...


The 'sweetest' (get it? ice-cream ... sweet ...oh never mind!) little trinket holder shaped like an ice-cream cone with a strawberry on top and inside were some yummy flavoured teas! Thank you Miss Mary! I was ... hmmm ... OK, run out of words there ... lets just leave it at REALLY spoilt! But wait ... you know the drill! When I visited her a couple of weeks ago, my bestest buddy Lynette gave me my birthday giftie a bit early, cos it was breakable and she didn't want to try to post it.


Lynette has been finding pieces of this Ashdene series for me for birthdays and Christmases for the last few years and this time she presented me with the FABULOUS three tiered cake stand! After all I ate while my parents were here to help celebrate my birthday, I didn't think real cakes were a good idea, so I've stocked this pretty stand with faux cupcakes made by Kerryanne and a couple on the second tier made by Bec. Wow! I'm ready to host some fancy high teas now, aren't I!! Thanks Lynette!!

I know some people dread birthdays, but since I mostly lose track of how old I am, it's just a lovely excuse to celebrate, for me! And I have to say that my blogging buddies, friends and family have certainly made me feel VERY blessed this birthday, not just because they gave me GORGEOUS gifties (though they are soooooooo appreciated and loved!), but because they went out of their way, took time out of busy schedules, and put lots of thought into finding or making gifties that they knew I'd love, to help make my birthday special. And those special friendships are what I consider to be my BIGGEST birthday blessing of all!! Uh oh!! more happy tears ... more tissues!!! Think I'll buy shares in the tissue company!

Now (I know this post is getting long - sorry Chookyblue!! Hope your poor foot is feeling better!) but I just had to share with you one other birthday blessing that I received. My Grandma's birthday is two days before mine and, by some wonderful co-incidence, she was on a two day bus trip that was supposed to stay overnight in a town an hour from Toowoomba. My beloved Geek Boy and I had planned to drive over after he finished work to have dinner with Grandma - but in the end, there was a mix up with the tour's accommodation and they ended up staying right here in Toowoomba overnight instead! Yay! So we met up with Grandma for dinner and her fellow bus-buddies insisted she blow out the candles on a birthday cake while they sang happy birthday to her.


(Not the most flattering photo of me in the background there!!) It took a few goes, but the candles were finally out! Time for a family photo ...


I usually only get to see Grandma a couple of times a year, so it was wonderful that one of the visits this year was for her birthday and so close to mine! She looks pretty good for 86, doesn't she!! Hope I age that well!!

So ... that's how I celebrated my birthday and how some wonderful buddies helped me feel special and very, VERY blessed! Whatever you're up to today, I hope you have friends and family around to make YOU feel special and blessed too! Til next time - Bear Hugs!

CHEERS!
KRIS