london1952 | I'm Adrian, and I'm 60 !!!

Yes, since I last managed to log on to LJ properly I have turned (that scary number) 60 !

I had a FABULOUS birthday thanks to the gorgeous

london1967 who planned our (my) wonderful birthday surprise trip.

And a big "thank you" to everyone wished me a happy one on his LJ posts !

I have very mixed feelings about being 60, no doubt I'll be posting about some of them in the near future........ be warned !! LOL

My feet have hardly touched the ground for quite a while, we were busy before going away, then 10 days of loveliness, then the day after we returned my mother was taken into hospital (for a couple of days as it turned out) and I spent the weekend with her just after she returned home, then it was 4 days back at home and then back to mother's for a pre-planned weekend, and now it's my first day back catching up with all sorts. My mother was much improved this weekend, and I managed to get her out and about which seems to have done her the world of good. She had had another "episode", and was particularly down and depressed this time..... "they" seem to think it was a "post stroke epileptic seizure" and she is due an appointment with the (excellent) stroke specialist she has seen previously. Unfortunately, she had a "bit of a do" with one of the doctors in hospital, who treated her like a "worthless" geriatric, but others (younger) were thankfully more helpful. I'm back "up North" in four weeks time again......

So, the day before my holiday trip a neighbour-friend had asked if I would do a repeat bake of my "Dolly Mixture Victoria Sponge" for a charity coffee morning she was hosting, so in between packing for a mystery destination I managed to produce this.......

No, that's not me standing with it, though my body-shape is fast becoming the same !

The birthday trip started off with something of an adrenaline rush ! ......we had to catch the 6.45am train to Victoria on the Saturday morning...not an hour I am familiar with at the weekend, or in fact in the week !! Half-way through the journey, and having just left a station, the train ground to a halt and after some minutes the power was turned off. Eventually the driver made an announcement after a nail-biting 20 minutes or so !! ...we only had two in the whole 35 minutes we were stranded !! I wasn't sure where we were going, I did wonder if we were headed for Eurostar, but a rather rattled Franco said we were en-route to Heathrow and there was an allowance for delays built in to his timing.... we just hoped there were no more, and luckily there wasn't. "Madrid" was displayed on the board at the departure gate, and I just had no idea what to expect ! (we'd had a weekend in the city some years ago) but by early evening we were enjoying a aperitivo in the sun, Martini Rosso for Franco, a "Spanish-style" (as in very large) G&T - just the ticket !! - on the terrace of our first Parador !

and our first view of Avila !

In my first bit of catching up this morning I came across this item............. sadly, only available in the USA !! Grrrr !! Of course we haven't quite caught up fully with the latest at Downton Abbey either..........