I am Lily - stitcher and part time bookseller. Mother to my gorgeous girl, Abigail and wife to Julian. I make time each day to let my imagination potter and add quirky prettiness and handmade comfort to our home and lives. You can email me at lily(at)blockaday(dot)com
twelve
My wee sweet girlie is twelve. Twelve! Wherever did the last twelve years vanish to? The day of Abby’s birth is crystal clear in my mind - the wonderful surprise of whether she would be an Abby or a Joshua; the utter, utter exhaustion when we arrived at our room, me hoping she would have a nice long sleep ’cause I was just too tired to be of any use; the dear little pink outfit my mum raced up to the hospital with; the quaint yellow floral, vintage hospital nightdress Abby wore, her little arms bent up above her head, her little legs lifted high in the air thanks to the bulky cloth nappy. Each memory is carefully etched in my mind’s eye.
And now today she’s twelve. And glorious - a lovely girl, full of love, compassion, wit, jolliness, imagination … just a lovely girl. And what more can we, as parents, hope for.
Last night, as I was putting her to bed, she asked if the table would be all set up specially for her birthday. Of course! I replied. Good, she smiled and snuggled into her pillow. And so it was … Out came the birthday tablecloth, bunting and birthday chair bag. There were gifts, and cards, and pancakes, and chocolate crackles to share at school.
And once the wee girlie was out of the house, wool/silk flowers to make for the table. Whilst shopping for Abby’s birthday dinner, I was around the corner from Tangled Yarns (yet another place I will oh so miss when we move) and just couldn’t resist this gorgeous silk/merino Malabrigo after seeing this. It was a delightful way to spend a couple of hours on the back porch - you know, preparing for the busyness to come :-).
This afternoon, we visited one of our favourite bookstores - yes, bookstores are Abby’s and my first preference for whiling away the hours - Coaldrakes, where we had hot chocolates (it was actually cool and wet here in Brisbane today!), gingerbread and lots and lots of book browsing. And then home again, to prepare for the special birthday dinner. Abby chose the menu - Crumbed lamb cutlets, Potato Dauphin, a tomato and fresh pea salad, and lemon meringue pie. Delicious. It has been a wonderful day and a beautiful evening. The big smiles say it all.
Birthdays are just grand!
2 December, 2009 at 11:52 am
What a special birthday! Can’t wait to see next year for the big 13!
2 December, 2009 at 12:58 pm
It looks like a marvelous celebration! Why, it seems like just yesterday Abby was turning 11! After yesterday’s post, I was looking forward to seeing the gorgeous chair bag once again. And seeing a gorgeous young lady again!
2 December, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Happy birthday Abby, glad to hear that 12 is not to old for celebrating.
What a wonderful day.
2 December, 2009 at 1:39 pm
what a beautiful celebration! happy birthday abby!!!!
2 December, 2009 at 1:41 pm
My older son, Colin, and Abby share the same birthday. My boy is 17 today and I have spent much of last night and this morning remembering. Happy thoughts to you, Lily, today - sometimes I think the party should go to the mothers!
2 December, 2009 at 1:43 pm
What a beautiful way to celebrate your beautiful girl! Thank you for sharing your traditions and special moments. And oh yes, book stores are the BEST! Happy Birthday Abby and Happy birth-day to YOU mama as well.
2 December, 2009 at 1:57 pm
What a lovely birthday Abby had! Nice hear that there are also other people who can´t pass a book store! Not to talk about fabric shops… It is so nice, when children later try to remember, what kind of cake they had when celebrating birthdays.
2 December, 2009 at 1:58 pm
What is a chocolate crackle - looks good with those Jimmies/sprinkles/100’s & 1000’s.
Happy Birthday!
2 December, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Happy Birthday to your dear Abby!
2 December, 2009 at 3:33 pm
How wonderful to make everything so special! She’ll remember birthdays forever….need to start me some great traditions like this. Everyone needs to feel extra special at least once a year!
2 December, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Happy Birthday Abby! What wonderful taste you have for your Birthday meal, all my favorites too especially the Lemon merangue! Sounds like you had a lovely day.
2 December, 2009 at 7:23 pm
You make everything special. This looks like such a great effort. You have so much talent Lily.
3 December, 2009 at 1:34 am
Happy Birthday Abby!! What a special day. Abby is so lucky to have such a talented mom. The photos are beautiful, looks like a super fun day! I liked her special chair cover, very elegant.
8 December, 2009 at 6:20 pm
boy am I late,
Happy happy Birthday!! It looks like it was so much fun.