one of the best things about having my birthday at this time of year is how many other people i know do as well. i love the fact that oct23-nov22 turns into a month long celebration of someone, with gifts, hugs and cake being exchanged all over the place. and also, it helps that most of my favourite people are scorpios!

i dont have a good history with birthdays usually. i try and not care about them, mostly because i’ve always had expectations be disappointed. but this year has proven me quietly wrong. quietly is the key word. i really had no expectations and no plans, just a dinner on thursday night (my actual bday) at a new pizza place in town. yet i was showered with love and kindness all day. early morning text messages, orange and almond cake for breakfast, countless well wishes on facebook, and surpise packages in the mail!

from donna, a liberty notebook & gorgeous pen, and from jane, smooshy sanguine gryphon yarn

and a very cool knitted tea cosy

from my favourite Canberrans, beautiful red beads and me jumping out of a plane (because it was going to brisbane and i didnt want to go there. indeed i didnt, james).

and then a kind of a planned surprise – some of my prints from various overseas journeys finally properly framed and blockmounted. a reproduction of a page out of Pliny’s Natural History from the Laurentian (Medici) Library in Florence

now hanging properly over the mantlepiece in my bedroom

and two Rothkos, one from the Tate Modern exhibition i was lucky enough to see a few years ago, and one from the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, from the Christmas trip last year.

this particular Rothko is one of my favourite paintings ever and is now hanging next to my bed (without the reflection of me!)

in real life it was huge, half the size of my actual bedroom wall (i have a big wall). i dont know why i like rothko so much. blocks of colour on a massive canvas really shouldnt have the power to make one cry. anyway.

then out for dinner with trent and ailsa and the kids, to Lupa, it was wonderful, pizzas (nearly) as good as any i had in italy

with a fantastic tiramisu (my favourite dessert).

festivities continued yesterday with the monthly lunch at diggies before SnB,

and we had some special visitors from sydney, lyn and margarita, and another present hand made by zena.

how gorgeous is it? im using it already, as you can see. there was chocolate too, but i ate that already.

so its been lovely really, thank you everyone. and there is more to come next weekend when about 10 of us knitter peeps hit the victorian countryside. 4 of us are scorpios. one day, we will rule the world.

in other news, i am a bit all over the place. i mentioned something about an ‘old flame’ last post, and i dont want to say too much, but its proving interesting. exciting, and fun, and really scary too. who knew that 13 years in one relationship and 2 and a half years out of it could play so much havoc with your self esteem? im trying not to overthink things, and just enjoy the ride, whereever it goes.

if you know anything about scorpios, you’ll know how hard that is! wish me luck, wont you

k xx