The legacy of all the wind and storms since Christmas is this big old oak, which went over in Alexandra Park, here in north London. Not sure if the sheer enormousness of the trunk comes over in the photo, but if I stand next to it, it comes above my waist - that's pretty big! Some of the older trees in the park go back several hundred years and I'm guessing this was one of them. Too bad it went over.

On other fronts, I just had a surprisingly nice birthday. I say surprising for a couple of reasons. One is that I'd been pretty low-key about it
– that is, I didn't announce it ahead of time and had decided a meal out with my son would be celebration enough. However! Come the day (thanks mainly to Facebook but, also, to a couple of dear souls who remembered it and sent cards – yes, cards! Still the most touching thing to receive on a notable day – that arrived on the morning), the lovely team easyJet Traveller folks took me out to lunch in Shoreditch, which meant pricey if delicious burgers (a fish one for me, I hasten to add, as I'm a pescatarian) and they picked up the tab, plus, they gave me a delightful pineapple plant and card. Awwww....

Then, after work, I headed to Farringdon and the most northerly branch of Burger & Lobster, where I met my wonderful son. And yes, we had East Coast lobster! I know, a terribly un-green thing to do, but such a treat. I actually had to close my eyes and pause for a moment when I bit into my lobster roll for the first time. Was a taste of Maine, Martha's Vineyard and home. Delicious. And my son simply the best company. Plus? He gave me a card and a very nice bottle of wine.

But the second reason it was such a nice day, aside from all this merrymaking and recognition the birthday brought, is this: All day, I kept waiting for the ruining. You know, that thing that would slam me down and remind me that, just because it was my birthday was no reason something – or more likely, someone – wouldn't be horrid. Can I share? When I was a child, my big brother was very good at thumping me and this was often the ruining of many a birthday. A bit later on, when I was possibly too big to hit, a father with an uncontrollable temper was equally good at ruining. So, though I quietly expected that moment of ruining even all these years later (we get well and truly conditioned when we're young!), it never came! It was just an all-round very good day. So thank you to any and all who had even the smallest part in making that happen! And thank goodness for the ability to grow up and take charge of life in a positive way. Phew! And yay. Roll on another brilliant year!