Happy 46th birthday to me! I got cake. Eric made a variation on the redcurrant cake from my childhood, this time with gooseberries.

I’ve more or less managed to learn my age, so that I know what to answer when people ask instead of calculating every time, and then they yank it away again and I have to learn a new number!

Ingrid suggested a mnemonic for this year’s number. 4 and 6 make 10, or as it’s called in Swedish, 4 and 6 are “ten buddies”. That’s easier to remember than a random number.

500 years since Gustav Vasa was elected king of Sweden, which ended the Kalmar union and made Sweden an independent country.

(Fancy cake by Ingrid.)

Birthday fika for Eric’s sister who turned 50.

The adults sat and talked and ate semla. Those too young to appreciate sitting and talking had a Lego Masters competition. Those too young for Legos hung around and explored the world.

Here’s a rhinoceros that Adrian built.

13|37 turns 13.

First birthday.

We had a birthday dinner for Ingrid’s sixteenth birthday at a fancy trendy burger place, and home-made lemon merengue pie for cake of course.

Adrian turned 12 yesterday. He wanted all of us to be there for his celebration, so he waited with the presents and the cake until I got home from Ljubljana.

That large box is a giant Lego set. The Sanctum Sanctorum, for the record. For ages 18+ according to the box; not because of any adult content but because of lots and lots of small fiddly bits.

To pad the gift-giving a bit, he also got the next book in the series he’s reading (Percy Jackson) and some colourful Happy Socks. But it was really the Lego set that captured all his attention.

The cake flavours are chocolate and raspberry this year again – Adrian’s favourites.

Eric and Adrian made my favourite birthday cake for me, with tons of redcurrants and a merengue topping.

I actually had a wish list for Christmas this year, with a single thing on it: I wished for Ingrid to paint a picture for me.

We have two large emptyish walls, and I’ve never found any picture that I’ve felt strongly enough about to want to put there. I was thinking of ordering a Chinese reproduction of some famous painting, and even had an actual shortlist. Then I realized that I have an artist right here in the house, who could make an original work for me, which would be so much more special. Ingrid kindly obliged. I couldn’t be happier with the result.

The wall had been empty for years. Now that there is one painting there, it’s kind of asking for more, isn’t it? Perhaps I can wish for another painting for my birthday.

We promised Adrian a visit to his favourite restaurant, Ri Cora, for his birthday. Which was nearly 3 months ago.

First we were going to do it when we were in town anyway for Forever Piaf, but left it until too late with the booking so we didn’t get a table. Then we had a similar booking problem a few weeks later: just when we had agreed a day and time that worked for all of us, and I was about to press the button, the last few available tables got booked right as I was looking at it. And then there were weekends with other things in the way.

Now finally we made a new attempt and I was surprised to find tables for the same evening. Which works great, because Adrian’s school has a study day for staff tomorrow, so he doesn’t need to get up on time, so it’s OK if he’s a bit tired afterwards.

Ri Cora is Adrian’s absolute favourite restaurant because of the limitless egg rolls and dumplings he can eat. Ingrid also loves it, although she samples the buffet more widely, and prefers sushi to most dumplings.

The buffet has been completely unchanged for the last three or four years. Nothing changes, not even which fresh fruit they serve (melon, watermelon, pineapple, grapes, strawberries), or the ice cream flavours (blueberry, melon, Oreo, plus one I’ve forgotten), or the “season’s roast vegetables” which are always potatoes, sweet potatoes, sweetcorn and broccoli, completely regardless of the actual season. But predictable also means reliable, and the staff are always attentive and friendly, and make sure the buffet is fresh and clean and filled up. While I wouldn’t want to eat there very often, it’s a pretty decent place, as buffets go.