Forty not out

[altariel]

So on Monday night I went out for what was billed as a quiet dinner with some friends who happened to be in town. When I got to the restaurant ALMOST EVERYONE I KNEW was there.

I may have said something a bit sweary at the sight of all these wonderful people, but it was as ever meant in a loving way.

Yes, I am FORTY soon (on Friday). However did you KNOW? And mraltariel somehow persuaded lots of my friends to come and celebrate this arcane and hardly-mentioned fact at Restaurant Alimentum here in the Unreal City. Here are some of the things wot we ate.

• Smoked haddock, fried egg, potato and mustard


• Duck terrine, fig and pear


• Baked cod, herb crust, cockles and parsley


• Sirloin beef and cheek, onion ash, red onion and carrot


• Vacherin, white beer, truffle and onion


• Pineapple and pernod foam and fennel


• Black Forest Gateau: chocolate cherry and vanilla

Also there was a LOT OF WINE, and I may have got slightly tipsy. Or possibly sloshed.

And ALMOST EVERYONE I KNEW was there. And those who couldn't be there and were missed TEXTED ME and SKYPED ME mid-meal, and I was made even more incredibly happy.

And we all talked and laughed and were very happy.

And then - My cake, o my sisters, my cake! It is a cake in MINAS TIRITH shape. It is unbelievably beautiful. See, here are some photographs of an incredibly beautiful cake that is shaped like MINAS TIRITH. LOOK YOU CAN SEE THE WHITE TREE. AND THE HOUSES OF HEALING. It is a CAKE SHAPED LIKE MINAS TIRITH. I haven't cut into it yet. I want to look at it for a bit longer first.

Thank you my friends who came to my big happy party and texted me and skyped me: you are lovely, lovely people and I am a lucky, lucky forty-year-old!

Comments

[wormwood-7.livejournal.com]

Happy Birthday! Your new decade has come off to a promising start with that cake :)

[jhall1.livejournal.com]

Happy birthday! When I read your post, very appropriately it had 40 comments!

I'm glad that the celebratory meal was such a fantastic occasion. I'm salivating at the dishes that you listed. And the cake is fantastic. I was amused to read on its crestor's website that you are "the Author of Dr Who", not just an author of Dr Who. :)

[trixieleitz]

Happy, happy, happy birthday, dear! And what an amazing cake!

[vasiliki.livejournal.com]

Happy Birthday! :D

And have a happy 2012, too! I hope this year brings you many good things!

The cake is STUNNING - the detail is AMAZING!

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

What a wonderful cake! I hope you will have a very happy birthday and a year full of good things and helpful muses!

[edge-of-ruin.livejournal.com]

That cake still leaves me speechless. I'm imagining it with one of those sparkly, whooshy indoor fireworks in honour of Gandalf ;-) It was a brilliant evening! Boundless thanks to the magnificent Mr A and I hope you're still enjoying your birthday season!

[dkpalaska.livejournal.com]

Oh, Happy Birthday!! (I don't trust myself to remember to stop by tomorrow.) It's wonderful to be so loved, and I myself can see from just the few exchanges we've had that you are A Person Who So Deserves It, as a terrifically lovely and generous individual!

As far as I'm concerned, youth is greatly overrated. Give me wisdom and grace any day, which for most of us only come with more than a few years passing. I do know I'm much more joyful and peaceful in my forties than I have been at any other time of my life, and this with being home all day with three young children, two of them with special needs. Something about experience that makes everything become deeper and richer and more fulfilling... Not that I'm biased or anything. :)

Besides, it just adds to the storehouse of experiences that you will hopefully write about! In Tolkien's world, please? Not that I've been able to find time to read any fanfic lately, but for the benefit of the world, you know.

The cake really tops it as a perfect gift. The white tree and everything... Wow. Do you have a little Faramir/Eowyn that could be on the walls? Maybe a sized-down cut-out of Anke Eissmann's kiss? And Prince Imrahil, and Heth, and Elrohir and Andra?? LOL, you can see I'd be populating the whole thing with the Unabeauverse. *g*

[sugoll.livejournal.com]

Happy birthday, and applause to Mr A. for general awesomeness.

Cut the cake? Don't be silly. Naturally, you'll want to lay siege to it with many tiny cake orcs instead.

[forodwaith.livejournal.com]

Happy belated birthday! That is indeed a LEGENDARY cake. And like many of your friends, I'm desperate to see a little marshmallow Denethor fall to a flaming death.

[lhun-dweller.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the next decade! Speaking from the back part of the back half, it may be quite a ride, but things do seem to be better, overall. I like better where I am inside.

Wishing you love, laughter and learning, and an interesting journey along the way!