Birthdays and Breakdowns

H - One day when stood in WH Smiths I decided that when I was grown up I would own a Filofax. I readily admit to suffering from a (severe?) form of stationery related OCD, and to me the Filofax is the ultimate symbol of organisation and adulthood...

On Sunday I turned 22. And what did I receive? A Filofax. Leather bound. With a matching Parker ink pen. Conclusion: I am now officially a grown up.

I had guessed that spending a birthday on a camel farm would be a one to remember, but I had no idea just how memorable it would be. The day started with Andy earning himself some serious brownie points by bringing me breakfast in bed. Hero. After a super busy day at the farm, it was about 7pm and we had just finished the last camel ride for the evening. Sarah asked me to help her get the saddle off the camel and as I went over she handed me a helmet... I was getting my first ever camel ride!

In terms of life experiences, a camel ride was pretty high on my To Do list, and it didn't disappoint. Ceefa the camel was most obliging, if a tad bumpy on the ascent/decent, but I won't hold that against her.

But little did I know that that was only the start of the evening's festivities. We had a delicious BBQ for dinner, and then I was advised to prepare myself for a series of challenges. The idea was that for each challenge I completed successfully I would get a present. What followed was surreal in the extreme...

My challenges were as follows:

1.) Climb the Mulberry tree - the tree that I once tried to climb and got stuck up for half an hour and couldn't get down. Result: scratches and bruises.

2.) Take a goat around the agility course - cue Buggertwo the goat going on strike and deciding that eating surrounding mint plants was a better use of her time.

3.) Do as many different animal impressions as you can in one minute - nailed this task. my animal impressions are second to none.

4.) Find and bring back 4 types of animal poo and arrange them in alphabetical order of species - I selected camel, goose, rabbit and sheep.

5.) Catch a piglet - nightmare. they're fast little buggers.

6.) Kiss Oakley (the labrador) on the mouth - absolutely foul.

7.) Eat 3 blinis specially prepared with love by Andy and Sarah - a mixture of pate, marmite, mustard, almond oil and garlic.... lots of garlic....

8.) With Andy as my trainer, pretend to be a Talulah and do the llama demonstration - no words.

9.) Find and pick the weirdest looking vegetable you can from the veggie patch and describe 10 ways you can use something that shape - I found an odd stunted courgette. I'll leave you to imagine the rest for yourselves...

And so, my 22nd Birthday drew to a close. Challenges met, presents earned. And to top it all off, Sam had made me a FANTASTIC cake which she iced herself with beautiful pink marshmallow icing. Divine. We finished the evening with a super competitive game of tracker in the woods and then sat around the fire. A massive thank you to all the team for making it such a great day.

Then I got another treat on Tuesday when.... THE ENTIRE EXHAUST PIPE FELL OFF MY CAR. Now, I always try to learn a new French word every day, but I really had hoped to learn the word for exhaust in other circumstances. Scotty the Peugeot 106 is currently with Monsieur Le Kwik Fit and I'm going to visit him with a bunch of grapes tomorrow to see how he is getting on. All 'Get Well Soon' cards most welcome...

H xxx