In no particular order.

Well, hello there!

Goodness, what a bad blogmother I have been, leaving this little part of the world wide web lost like nobody's bairn. 
Sorry. 
The trouble is, I'm having great difficulty in recalling what has kept me away from my little beloved... so it's lucky I spend half my life taking photos on my iPhone whilst thinking 'ooooh, must blog about that [insert random object here]'... and then I forget about it. 
Hey ho.
So, tomorrow I will get back in the flow with some totally random posts about my completely random life (yes, it is really time that I got a job), but for now I will dump all of my photos on you and you can judge for yourselves how exciting/ totally boring/ whyonearthdoesshethinkwe'dbeinterestedinthiscrap my life has been while I've been absent.
The only things that I can remember doing (in no particular order) are:
a/ getting a year older (not much effort required there)
b/ getting ridiculously spoilt by a certain Mr Awesome DPB
c/ nearly getting a job (but missing out in the final stage. Hmph.)
Actually, I say no particular order, but I had a birthday and got told I hadn't got the job on exactly the same day. So that was, like, super fun. 
Anyhow. 
Now for the phone dump.
You've been warned.

I was actually taking a picture of Little L's Playmobile because I thought it was cool.
Then I realised that the sneaky people in front of the pool were getting up to something highly inappropriate.
Get a room, people!

Mr Scoop is getting BIG.
He knows how to press keys on my laptop that make it do things I didn't realise it was capable of.
 This makes me quite proud and also quite bemused at the same time.
Also, he is now insured. Under the 'breed' section of the form it says: 'Scoop is a Black.'
Is it me, or does that just sound plain wrong?

My very small friend Anna K had a birthday and we got her a cool present (even if I do say so myself).

Top of picture: DPB's lunch.
Bottom of picture: My brunch.
It's a miracle I'm not the size of a heffalump.

The drawing room ceiling in our Edinburgh flat.
I love it.

Even East Coast trains are getting all patriotic.

I waved at Gesci as we went through York station...
No, she wasn't actually there, it was, you know, a symbolic gesture.
Part of the blogging sisterhood... (ok, I'll stop now).

National pride at Victoria Station (London).

The flat in Edinburgh is pretty much completely empty, but I was overjoyed to find that someone had forgotten to clear this beer out of the fridge.
Naturally, I had to take a picture of it.

Planning our trip to Paris.
[Squeaking with excitement].

I went to Brighton.
It rained.
Also, I discovered Hipstamatic.
Love.

Er, proof that I took a train to Brighton.
Right then...

The Royal Pavilion, Brighton.
They wouldn't let me in because I arrived at 5.03pm and last entry is 5pm.
It's lucky I don't get annoyed easily (er, not much)

A moody, sad photo of a lamppost to suit my sad mood.
Woe is (was) me.

Sign spotted in the Badger Bar, near Rydal, Lake District.

Found on the back of one of my birthday cards.

I GOT MY WELLIES!
DPB is the BEST.
Fact.

Erm, so, I think that's it for today.

It's good to be back.

The List

So, you got to read about my birthday wish list.
Hope it was fun for you, because today I'm going to tell you what I actually asked for. 
It's exciting. 

Firstly, I did actually ask for a new wing mirror for my car, for someone to pay for my saddle, and for a new zip for my riding boots. 
Yes, siree, I did. 
But I fear that none of that is going to happen.
Hey, what can you do?

I then asked for:

A print of the shipping forecast regions.
Because who doesn't love the shipping forecast?
And who doesn't love prints?

Some Sufi verse.
I'm afraid you can't click to look inside, but you can on Amazon.
You're welcome.

This beautiful necklace.
All hail mighty Etsy.

This Loren Hope bracelet in turquoise.

My favourite perfume, Stella.

This pretty ring.
 (The request is null and void as I don't know my ring size. Doh.)

Riding socks.
Yes, I asked for socks for my birthday.
Don't look at me like that.
Please note: they are Mark Todd socks.
If I wear MT socks then maybe I will ride like him?
Pigs might fly?

And, of course, these:

These come with a free pair of socks.
Bargain.
Two birthday presents for the price of one.

Er, so there you have it.
My birthday in a nut shell.
Hmm. 

p.s. I also asked for:

The 4s,
to upgrade from my much-loved iPhone 3 something-or-other.

Er...

oh, and this:

To replace my sad little MacBook.
Sniff.

Because I am incurably greedy. 
And it was only to DPB who knows I'm joking only a little bit. Ahem.
EIGHT days to go. 
Hurrah!

It's my birthday...soon

So, as the title of this post suggests, it will soon be my birthday.
29.
Hmm.
I'm not one of those people that gets freaked out about getting old not much but I am aware that I am now fast approaching the final year of my twenties.
Right then.
Gulp.
But instead of indulging in some semi-pseudo-philosophising about my nearly-expired youth [SOB!] (as in 'cry', not the abbreviation for... well, you know) I'm going to dedicate two posts to my birthday list.
One fantasy and one real.

Now, I don't really come from a birthday-listy-type family.
I mean, I love, LOVE, lists, but I've never done the birthday list thing.
DPB, however, is all over  the list thing.
Compiling a list for one's birthday, though, is actually quite a challenge - how much is too much? Will you look greedy if you ask for something that's over, say, £20? £30? £50?

UGH. The PRESSURE of being FORCED to choose one's own presents.

In my family it's more of a you-get-what-I'm-giving-you sort of deal. This may or may not include stuff (mainly books) from charity shops, which, actually, I really don't mind.
Also, I collect vintage teacups you know, for that house that I DON'T ACTUALLY HAVE and charity shops are fertile hunting grounds for those kind of things.

Anyway, that all has nothing to do with lists.

So, today I will start with the extravagant, fantasy list.
Next time I will be keeping it real.

By the way, I realise when I say extravagant I mean 'extravagant for ME'. I'm HOPELESS at playing the 'if you had a zillion pounds what would you spend it on?' game - my first response is always 'a new wing mirror for my car'. 
Sad but true. 
Still, I think these would all qualify as respectable 'fantasy' presents.

Cartier Trinity Ring

Kim Poor Cuff

Monica Vinader Earrings

Jaeger Olympia Bag

Marc Jacobs Hillier Hobo Bag

French Sole Ballet Flats
Actually, I already own these but they're looking a little threadbare...

Smythson Travel Clutch

Also, less glamorous and far more in keeping with my actual lifestyle (but still way out of reach), there are these:

Aigle Parcours Wellies
Er, I did actually ask for these, but at approximately £100 a  pop for wellies that will soon be COVERED in sh... I feel I may not be getting them

Yes, again this is not glamourous, but it is warm and about as stylish as I get when I'm in my natural habitat.
Musto Jacket

Pikeur Julienne Breeches.
£150.
That'll be shining bright...

Next time:
What I actually asked for.
Can anyone guess?

Milestones

Who would have thought it would be so difficult to blog without internet access?
Ha ha.
It's fun to play house but I am really missing being online - it's actually quite frightening how dependent I am on the internet and I have also realised how my brain has shrunk to the size of a pea and is incapable of retaining any information at all, useful or otherwise. 
I can't count the number of times I've thought 'oh, I'll just Google it' only to remember that I DON'T HAVE INTERNET.
Ugh.
So, I've snuck home to take up some precious bandwidth (is that even the correct thing to say?) and get my online fix.

Hi there.

For a blog that's supposed to be all about transitions, I write very little about transitioning (sorry about that) but recently I've played a part in other people's milestone events. 

Firstly came Small Fry's graduation. 
True to form it rained, but that didn't really dampen a day that celebrated my youngest brother's achievements as a scholar and general all-round pretty cool guy (sometimes). I've graduated 3 times [oh so modest] but there's something very special and really rather emotional about attending someone else's graduation ceremony:

Typically, B couldn't remember where he was supposed to be, what he was supposed to be doing, or where he was supposed to collect his gown...
This photo was taken 20 minutes before the ceremony was supposed to start. 

The magnificent ceiling in McEwan Hall

The magic moment...

Erm...

World's least flattering photo?

The focus of excitement then moved on to Little L's eighth birthday party.
Imagine everything you could dream of as an 8 year old horse-mad little girl and then have that come true.
I was not jealous in the slightest. 
DPB, I hope that you have organised a teepee for my birthday and that my friends are coming with their ponies. Oh, and we should definitely roast marshmallows round a campfire.

Hopefully I'll sneak back tomorrow to get more of my internet fix post again!