I finally found all my birthday pictures. They were scattered here and there in different folders on my computer. I'm still not used to this new laptop. The above picture shows the beautiful candle holder Allen made. I just love this! Mike made one of these for me when we were newlyweds...and we had fun watching the huge black ants carrying the sawdust across my mother's dining room table! Allen made sure this log didn't have any ants!

I got lots of soaps this year. Lizzie made this chocolate soap. Yes, you are reading correctly. Lizzie assures me this is truly soap. I'll let you know how it turns out...when I finally get brave enough to try it! I like the large bars.

Now that Maggie is almost completely healed, she is in the kitchen a lot trying out all kinds of recipes for lotions, bodywashes, shampoos, and soaps. I can't wait to try these. When I was in Texas, I tried my sister-in-law's shampoo that was made of thyme and peppermint. I loved it. Hopefully Maggie will be able to duplicate that sometime.

I couldn't get a good picture of these soaps that Ruthie made but they sure smell nice! I am using one of these already and I'm surprised at how much I like them.

Do you know what this is? Sarah gave me this avocado slicer. I tried it and it works like a dream. It's easy to use...and the slices are perfectly shaped. Make sure to buy large avocados.

Ruthie made this for me. She said she found 3 hearts and decided to sew them together to see what it would become. Cute idea!

A few days before my birthday, I came home exhausted and near tears. I was surprised to find a package for me since I knew I hadn't ordered anything. I was in for a surprise! My friend, Lynn, sent me this CD! I still don't know how she knew it was my birthday. Anyhow, I love most any music from the Wilds, and this CD is wonderful! What a thoughtful friend. Thanks, Lynn.

I used my birthday money to buy this TrueCut Rotary Blade Sharpener. For the past five years or so I have been using another sharpener that my sil Natalie gave me...but I think it's worn out! So when I saw this new sharpener that doesn't require taking the blades out, I knew it was a winner. It works as well as it says. Since Anna cuts many quilt kits each week, this is a much-needed item.
In our family, it's kind of an unspoken contest to see who can give the funniest birthday card. I think Sarah wins this year. The inside says "...so, what do you think of your musical birthday card?" Of course, there's no music.

My aunt splurged and sent two cards for this momentous occasion.

My mother-in-law sent this card that we all had fun reading.

My parents gave me this card. The inside says "You don't look any older to me."

Thank you everyone for all my gifts and cards. I sure feel loved! I will think of each of you as I use your gifts.

This week I harvested my horseradish plants. I was tired of watering the huge pot that these were planted in. As you can see, I wasn't too faithful at watering during this summer's drought. I ended up with the four inches of edible horseradish. It was very tasty. I meant to shred it to make cocktail sauce...but left it on the counter overnight and it shriveled up. Oh well. It was a fun project. But I wanted to show you all the roots. No wonder they say to plant it in a pot or it'll take over your yard!

All summer we complained about the drought, and now that we've had a week of nonstop rain, I keep hearing folks complain about the rain. My Dad's paddle boat is a little under water, so we need to go bail the water out of it. But I am thankful for the rain.

Many blessings ~ Kathie