On Wednesday, Farm Girl turned 15. Fifteen!! How did that happen?
A flying visit from The Dover Division late last week corroborated my theory that time is simply speeding up. No photos, sorry, as yet again I got caught up on catching up at the cost of evidence gathering, but our first meeting of globe-trotting Niece Penelope (accompanied by her parents), aged nearly two, sent me ambling off down memory lane. Seems like only yesterday Farm Girl was that size. Hang about; it seems like only yesterday her mother was! How time do fly!
As you know, we like to make a bit of a fuss about Homestead birthdays and this one was no exception. Annual Leave had been secured and plans had been made: a visit to our old neighbourhood for a walk down the beach and lunch at Crema Cafe was the birthday girl’s request. Not a lot to ask you may think but you’d be wrong.
First to put a spoke in the birthday bike wheel was the school who scheduled her very first NCEA exam (in maths) on the anniversary of her birth. To say she took this personally is an understatement.
“Never mind,” we consoled, “we’ll change the celebration to Monday.” Annual Leave was altered with the exception of The Farmer who has Mondays off anyway (this is possibly how he missed the change-of-date memo and had arranged instead to spend the day skiing with Princess Nikita. Cue: very sad pre-birthday girl face).
The face dropped further when it was discovered the tide would be at it’s zenith at the time of our planned visit making for very unsatisfactory beach walking. It hit the figurative misery floor when we received the news Crema had suffered the unimaginable and was no longer. Farm Girl was all for giving it up.
But with some soothing words, empathetic hugs, and murmured “there-there”s a new plan was hatched. The ski trip was even put on hold making for a full Homesteader turn out for
a spirited game of mini golf (can’t help thinking that if they had gone skiing the birthday girl would have made the podium – but it wouldn’t have been as much fun) followed by
lunch at a new-to-us cafe (sorry again, unphotographed as I was hungry after the golf), dessert ice creams at Rollickin’ Gelato as per last year, and a walk-in-the-woods with the dogs our local forest, McHughs.
I’m happy to report the actual day of her birth was also observed with an birthday cup cake, take out meal, proper birthday cake, and total control of the television remote; the NCEA exam also co operated and went “surprisingly well”.
To end this special week, tonight she has her school “Pre-Formal”, a kind of precursor to The School Formal which used to be called The Ball or The Social.
Our hearts are full to bursting, we’ve had a wonderful week, but our heads keep churning it over…
Where did those fifteen years go?
Union Homestead 
Sorry about all the problems but you seem to have dealt with them very cleverly. Loved the picture of the Farm Girl in her best.
She has returned home full of smiles, stories, and with very sore feet…a good night was had by all.
Another Happy Birthday and wow looking gorgeous farm girl.
Hope you have a fabulous time at the do.
She had a blast!
The birthday outing saga was a real drama. I am glad that it finished up being generally satisfactory. Just a word of warning, time will not slow down as the years pass. You will, time won’t.
Thanks for the heads up; I suspected as much 😁
My birthday suffered similar setbacks. I thought I didn’t like celebrating it, apart from the cake, but turns out when it threatened to be a non event, I did care. Glad FGs was given due recognition in the end. Crema no more??? Inconceivable.
Birthdays should be a big deal. Im not that fussy about gifts but I love having everyone around me, going out on adventures or sitting around a cafe table all talking ar once. As for Crema…very, very sad
Does Farm Girl turning fifteen mean it has been 5 years since your big trip overseas? I seem to remember there was some drama where Farm Girl’s youth was important – your child had gone missing at age 10.
I can relate to the speediness of the years. The youngest of my nieces and nephews recently turned 17 whilst the oldest is now 30 which probably helps to explain why I will be 70 by the end of the year. How did that happen?
Yes, five years ago today we had just started exploring the soith of England. Five years ago!! Time flies!