My Birthday

It’s my Birthday. I’ve taken a day off work (it’s been a long time since I’ve had the chance to do that, so I took the opportunity).

What a treat I had in store for today: working the garden (I have a plan for the garden). Since we moved in to the new house, there have been several thought experiments as to what we could do. The garden is split onto four natural sections: the seated area (where we can sit and have dinner, BBQs, etc., in the summer); The orchard (this sounds rather grand, but we only have four fruit trees); The vegetable plot and; the secret garden (can’t tell you about this, for obvious reasons).

About a year ago, Barnt Green station, went through a refurb – they needed to raise the footbridge, in preparation for the electric cable to be fitted at a later stage. Part of this refurb was the dismantling of the old footbridge section, whereby some of the old steps (good old fashioned solid wooden beams) were to be thrown out. Now, I’m all for cycling and even more for recycling, so – with my usual charm – I approached the site manager. The conversation went something like this:

Me - Those old wooden steps, stored in the corner, what’s going to happen to them?

Him – They’ll probably get binned.

Me – So you don’t want them, then?

Him – Nah, mate.

Me – Can I have some?

Him – Sure. Have as many as you want.

So I did.  Ten in all, and now they are proudly contributing to the veggie section by way of raised beds.

Later in the day, it was time for lunch and SHMBO had a real treat for me (as suggested by our good friends who were going to accompany us): Harry Ramsdens.

This is not the first time I’ve been to Harry Ramsdens for a birthday treat. The first time was when I was working in Hong Kong. I had been working for RTHK radio and had actually had the privilege of inviting Harry Ramsden Jr onto the radio show I was co-producing to be interviewed. Harry Ramsden Jr – how cool is that? He was opening up a new place in Tokyo (I bet his dad would have been proud) and stopped over to HK to visit the Wanchai branch.

(It’s difficult to imagine the treat it was to have a HR fish supper for my birthday, but when you think that HK rarely has good fish n chips, then you get an idea.) So in walks Harry Ramsden Jr into the studio – and we’re all in for a surprise. Not the young man we were expecting. Harry Ramsden Jr, at that time, was 84 years old!!! He looked good for it though (must be all the fish and chips). So Harry Ramsdens brings back a memory or two from the past.

Now, I’m working the garden and anticipating the fish and chips lunch and I hear the front door bell go. By the time I get to the front door, whoever had rung the bell had gone. But I thought I’d go to the front path just to check – no-one. When I turned back to return to the house, there was my brother and his wife (I have three brothers, one living in New Zealand, one living in Ireland and one living in Birmingham). What a lovely surprise!! So I immediately took them around to the back garden to show them my new raised beds. This is what they saw:

There will be six raised beds eventually.

While we were there, my brother received a phone call from my twin sister – she was at the front door wanting to be let in. Another surprise!!! We were having an impromptu party!!

Finally, SHMBO arrived with friends, ready to go to HR’s. There was just one more thing to do before we set off – show them Betty. They were all very impressed with her as I talked about the history of the rebooted Bickerton Portables brand and how I am now the proud owner of one.

The Fish and Chips were lovely. - washed down by a large mug of Yorkshire Tea All in all, a very nearly perfect birthday.