My Pumpkin Shaped Birthday Cake

My 28th birthday was February the 28th, and after the traditional pumpkin cake was served at my party, my friend Mary Harrell gave me pumpkin pie a week later, and I had just finished it when my friend Debby Gray gave me another birthday party over at her house two weeks after my birthday! Debby made me two pumpkin cakes that look like actual pumpkins! We ate one at that party, and Debby gave me the other one to take home. Before eating any of it, I decided to take a picture of it to share with others, making sure to include a nice home setting in the photo. It's been pretty slow progress eating this cake, since I'm the only one eating it! It seems kind of weird to eat a whole birthday cake by myself, though it's quite tasty. Any friends are welcome to come and eat it with me! It's been a month since my birthday, and I'm still eating birthday cake! It has felt like a long birthday.



The evening that I took a picture of the cake, I was sitting on the couch and started admiring Pippin sleeping on his favorite spot on my armchair pillow. I have taking quite a few daytime photos in this location, but no nighttime photos, so I took this picture of Pippin illuminated by lamplight, with the shadow of my indoor pine tree revealing itself onto my pillow.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

I thought I would take a special photo for Saint Patrick's Day by combining together these three souvenirs I bought in Ireland on two separate Berea College Bluegrass Ensemble trips that Daddy led. I bought the miniature Blarney Castle portrait first, when we went to the Blarney Woolen Mills after touring Blarney Castle on the 2004 trip. It was my second time to visit Blarney Castle, the first being on a Berea Festival Dancer trip to Ireland, Scotland, and Denmark in 1998. I've been to other castles, such as Windsor Castle and Edinburgh Castle, but Blarney Castle remains my favorite, even though it's in ruins and I have no desires to kiss the Blarney Stone, which is supposed to bring eloquent speech. (I'm satisfied with my own form of writing.) The area around the castle is so beautiful, and I have fun memories of exploring the castle, braving the challenging stairs. On the Festival Dancer trip, I got to take a peek in the cave like dungeon, and on the 2004 trip, we loved wandering around the gardens.

The leprechaun and fairy are more recent souvenirs that I bought on the 2007 Bluegrass Ensemble trip to Ireland. We didn't get to visit Blarney Castle this time, but I got the leprechaun at another Blarney Woolen Mills shop which is at Bunratty Castle. Bunratty Castle is a highly restored and well decorated castle, but there now happens to be a modern day highway full of cars right beside the castle. It was funny to brave another challenging set of stairs and reach the topmost tower, and not only see medieval buildings, but also modern day cars zooming along the highway below. The fairy is from the beginning of the same trip, bought in a shop right after we got to Ireland and drove into the city we were visiting. I love all three of these souvenirs, and I think they match each other pretty well.