Party time :-)

There are still lovely people arriving at this blog for the Grow Your Own Blog Party; welcome! and you will find that post here.

I have a Giveaway which is drawn on February 15 and you can enter the draw here.

On the weekend, DH and I went to an 80th birthday party. The 'birthday boy' Bruce, is a golfing friend of DH; they have played golf regularly together for a number of years. I've noticed when people get to milestone birthdays in the 'upper decades', that lunch time celebrations are usually the order of the day rather than evening 'raves' lasting late into the evening.  Another thing I've noticed is that people celebrating 'higher' milestone birthdays usually request 'no gifts! 

When the invitation had arrived a few weeks back, DH decided that we would buy a birthday card. 

I remembered a photo that I had put on the collection of photos on a USB that we used in a digital frame at DH's milestone birthday celebrations, the year he retired. The photo was one of 2 taken at the golf club and featured DH and Bruce at one of the 18 holes. This photo appeared in a local newspaper along with an article about a shed at the golf club catching fire and destroying a lot of golf buggies. I had found that even though many years had past since the photo had been published in the paper, I could still buy a copy through the paper's website. Because I had no golfing photos of DH to include in the slideshow of his 60 years and I felt that golf was such a big part of his life that such a photo should be included, I paid an 'arm and a leg' (a ridiculous amount of money) to buy the 2 photos from the newspaper. DH had loved and appreciated the gesture.

That photo!

And now I had a chance to get some more use out of the photo. I suggested to DH that he might like to get a birthday card printed with that photo to make a very personal card. There are so many places now where you can get 'photo gifts and cards' printed for very reasonable prices (about $5.95). I sent DH a website where he could organise a card using the photo...but after looking through the site, DH ordered a stubby cooler/holder which would have the photo printed on it.
I forgot to take a photo before we gave it to B but just in case some readers have no idea what a stubby is, let alone what a stubby cooler/holder is, I've borrowed some photos from the internet.

A small bottle of beer  is a stubby

 And the holders/coolers were invented to hold a stubby...and most of them are printed . They are popular souvenirs to bring back from holidays. The pictured ones are meant to be handed out at wedding as a keepsake??? lol

Bruce loved his stubby holder and was rapt that it should have a photo of him and DH on it.
Now it will probably not be a surprise that the golfing theme continued to the choice of cake design for this new octogenarian...

Before the candles could be lit on the cake, B's old friend John who had travelled from Sydney especially for this celebration, asked to say a few words. John's speech had everyone laughing...

Notice the trees being blown around...

Well that wind made lighting the candles rather problematic! lol

 Bruce was urged to quickly blow out the candles before the wind did!

So just a little bit different from the card and 'scratchies' that DH and I usually give in a 'no presents' situation. (scratchies are instant lottery tickets we have here; I'm renowned for buying ones that win nothing! lol)