Happy 30th Birhtday Ollie!

Last Monday, Ollie woke up to find Rosie had snuck out of bed. He went back to sleep and found her next to him asleep later. When confronted, she claimed she had simply been for a night time bathroom trip. But, when Ollie got out of bed and walked into the living room, he was met by lots of decorations and a poorly spelt banner.

Following a birthday breakfast that befitted his age, chocolate porridge, we headed out for a hike to Norvan Falls. Luckily we had recently purchased some microspikes, as the conditions were a bit slippery. We were also glad of the waterproof boots. When it is colder, the waterfall freezes over, but it was a bit too warm for that this time.

When we got back we enjoyed some homemade cassata, a cake from Sicily that we learnt about on Paul Hollywoods City Bakes programme. Overall a success, but the icing didn’t go quite to plan (a bit thick and solid). It was also slightly illegal when our friends, Alvin, Simon and Theodore, joined us for the sparklers and to sing happy birthday!

Energised with sugar, Rosie very subtly sent Ollie out of the apartment so she could “prepare the presents”. Dejected, Ollie went to the building lobby and thought he would check the post. In it he found an envelope with “open me” written on the front. Thinking this might be a later part of an elaborate birthday surprise by Rosie, he pocketed it in an attempt to confuse her. However, Rosie had meant him to open the letter straight away. Once he got called back in, he got a telling off for being so stupid for thinking Rosie was that stupid. It said “open me” on it for goodness sake.

Ollie eventually opened the envelope to find a cryptic clue: “Find your first gift (a bit of a tribal con yeah?) on the precipice”. This lead Ollie to a bottle of BC fizz and his next clue, which in turn lead to a… well you know how a treasure hunt works! The prizes were birthday messages from friends/family members. The hunt took about 3 hours, with an interlude for fish and chips (nothing like back home), and much wine. Ollie thought it was the best present ever. Unfortunately, because we were having too much fun, we didn’t really take many pictures to share.

All of the messages and photos were much appreciated, they made Ollie’s birthday very special. Even though we were stuck in the flat by ourselves, it felt like you were all there with us! Ollie was exhausted afterwards, he’s getting too old for parties and rushing around. He’ll have to take it easy from now on, plenty of rest and early nights. On that note, good night everyone!