Celebrations continued....

Yesterday, which is known in UK as Easter Monday, our family got together to continue celebrating my mum's 85th birthday.

 It was a little tricky lighting the candle, but the cake was delicious. We've eaten so much cake since coming to UK - Mum even turned up to her own party loaded with Easter cakes for us all!

The weather was warm and sunny so we sat outside in my sister's garden, and Mum had a few surprise visitors to make the day special.

Birthday Celebrations!

We are in the UK and this week both our mums have been celebrating BIG birthdays.

On Sunday my mum, Barbara, was 85 years young:

 My sister, Sandra and husband, Graham & Andy & I took her for a meal at a local restaurant. My younger sister, Wendy was on holiday, so we are meeting again with more family and friends on Easter Monday.

Then on Wednesday, Andy's mom, Jose was 80 years young:

 This magnificent cake was made by a friend a Joanne, Andy's sister. All the small details are important items in her life...

During the day, lots of friends and family popped in to see her, with wonderful gifts. The in the evening the immediate family enjoyed a lovely meal at a local hotel.

 At the end of the meal we sang 'Happy Birthday' for the upteenth time, while this interesting flower/candle arrangement opened up - not bad for a find at the pound shop!

So Jose had a fabulous birthday:

Views from the air

Looking through the photos from our recent trip to Zambia, I saw some interesting shots, which you may also enjoy...

Our flight out of Cape Town left before sunrise, so we were well on the way when the sun rose over the horizon.  I was thrilled to have a window seat with a great view of breaking daylight. A black, starlit sky gradually lightened, then an orange glow spread out and finally the sun dramatically broke the line and burst onto the scene.

The pilot announced that there was a large storm cloud building on our right side. We were well away from danger, but it was quite spectacular.

From Johannesburg the flight to Zambia flies across Zimbabwe airspace, crossing into Zambia over Lake Kariba. 

As we expected, Zambia is green and lush at this time of year, after the heavy rains. A good maize harvest is forecast.

On the return journey, approaching Cape Town, we flew close to Tygerberg, our local highspot, which meant that we were flying virtually over our flat, a fact I already knew, as approaching aircraft are a regular sight and sound to us.