Happy (b)day

It feels like moonlights ago now that we had a real Indian summer. Not so much of a summer, more of a few days of completely bonkers weather. This pretty much coincided with my birthday about a month ago and I can tell you, I have never worn flip flops in and around my birthday. Totally unheard of. Mental.
This unseasonal weather made for some very enjoyable time in the garden, and even more enjoyable birthday celebrations. Mostly spent indoors but still, the nice weather was appreciated when walking outdoors was involved. It seems so strange thinking about it all now, as I'm feeling so cold all of the time and thinking there's either 1/ something wrong with me - is everyone else this cold all of the time?! or 2/ I should really think about getting my winter clothes out, jumpers, gloves, the whole thing - although what am I going to wear when it gets really cold? I have to pace it out... Anyway, back to the happy days in the sunshine hey? A little bit of walking was necessary to go to this wonderful place, a true alibaba's cave...

I may or may not have drooled all over the place and fingered every bit of yarn I could (before any yarn prudes have a heart attack, this was a joke, calm down, I feasted with my eyes)... And I may or may not have totally splashed out... for a good cause though, I hear my nan might be in need of a new shawl...

A quick pit stop was needed and cake was a definite requirement. A bit of culture with that too, one of my favourite (free!) museums in London...

Followed by some more culture. An absolute treat to be able to walk into a bookshop and just pick books off the shelf and decide I quite fancy the sound of this one and that one, even though I've never heard of them before.

And this stop provided some amusement to Mr Petit Filoux when he realised what the name of the shop was. Because I have a very odd way of pronouncing it. Totally wrong I'm fully aware, but more exotic sounding than the correct way. Something along the lines of PerSEphone (accent on that second syllabe), to rhyme with Stephany. Don't ask.

The birthday day finished in true style with a tasting menu at a Michelin starred Indian restaurant. Indian food is one of my favourite foods out there, and life wouldn't be worth living without curry. The food was to die for, and my tastebuds went to heaven and back. No photos of that I'm afraid because I was too excited (and shy) to get the camera out. One photo was attempted. The result? A blurred photo of myself because I practically jumped out of my skin when I realised the flash was on ;-) So all in all, it was a lovely day. I always feel uneasy whenever my birthday comes up, and tend to focus a little too much on the loved ones that are no longer with us and cannot share the day with me. Mr PF tried really hard though and I'm so grateful for all the wonderful things we did, I had a fantastic time and a head full of beautiful memories!