What a weekend!  I have never had so much fun.  Best. Party. Ever!

Home made beer, home-made pizza, and lots of local fare.  Everyone had a brilliant time.

Here are a few pictures from the evening.

This is my birthday cake that we served up on my actual birthday.  Kim and Sina made it from 28 cup cakes that they made and decorated.  It was delicious!  One cup cake filled me up.

Here is the antipasto spread that Kim put together on the night of the party.  Local olives, local and imported cheese, and my favourite, infused olive oils (basil, garlic, chilli, sun-dried tomato) with sourdough bread to dip.  Delicious.

Then there were the pizza!

The oven was ready to cook after three hours of heating.  There was a production line setup.  Dad put the individual pizza onto trays after Kim and my sister Teena made and brought them out from the kitchen.

Then with my trusty peel and lineman gloves, I cooked them.

Then Adam, my eldest son, cut the pizza and served it to the hungry guests.

What?  Thirteen more to go?  Blooming heck!

Actually we made 16 pizzas, thinking that there may not enough.  There was a selection of garlic and cheese, pepperoni, Hawaiian, and vegetarian.  All ingredients were as local as we could get them.

By the time I got to pulling out the fourteenth pizza, everyone had had their fill.  We popped the remaining two into the freezer for a rainy day.

We received nothing but praise for the end result.  There is just something about wood fired pizza that makes all the difference to the taste.  It must be something to do with the speed that they cook.  It only takes 3 to 4 minutes per pizza!

My beautiful wife, Kim

It was so well organised.  There was even a tribute song after dinner which I will add to a podcast episode in the near future.  Kim (guitar), Dave (guitar), and Pam (flute), played a rewritten version of  “All About You” by Thomas Fletcher to me and all the party guests.  It was the biggest surprise of the evening.

Absolutely brilliant, and as they played, all my children and their partners sung in the background.  I cried tears of joy, in front of the entire party.  Yes, I am a sensitive guy.

So a big shout out goes to all who attended, and whose privacy I have chosen to protect by not posting their photos.  Believe you me, there were many guests.

Had a ball, and enjoyed the entire evening.  Cooking, talking, drinking (in moderation), and mingling.  The second half of the evening was spent sitting around a brazier telling stories and dad jokes.

Brilliant, but a little weird, because the entire weekend felt surreal being and celebrating fifty years of life on this big blue-green marble.  I don’t feel a day over 21!

Must be all this good, green living.