Swedish Smorgasbord Birthday

June 5th every year is a rather special day for me - some years I have welcomed it with open arms - well any age from around 3 to 29 - post 30 and the numbers seems to have come much too quickly and needless to say it was of course my birthday. But this year it was celebrated Swedish style.

After a week full of harrowing news and sadness from the dreadful shootings in Cumbria, two of our Welsh soldiers killed in Afghanistan and other world and local events that fill us all, I am sure, full of dread - I was lucky enough to spend a wonderful day with friends.

Very good friends of ours celebrated their joint birthdays and around 50 of their friends and family including 15 or so who flew in from Sweden for a very special '150'th. Apparently 75 is an age to really mark in Sweden whether it’s for what you have achieved or just for the fact that you have managed to get there, I’m not sure.

For me it was a readymade party – spending the day helping at first getting the Smorgasbord type buffet sorted and then enjoying it. They love to make speeches in Sweden and it was an informal and relaxed atmosphere where anyone who felt the urge got up and waxed lyrical. I managed to utter a few lines pointing out that coincidentally I was 57 (75 backwards!) and had happy birthday sung to me in English, Welsh and Swedish – which was slightly embarrassing but enjoyable.

We stayed in our friend’s lovely garden watching the children playing innocent games with each other whist sipping a chilled glass of bubbles. Skipping, running, hide and seek and the obligatory football - only coming indoors after 9pm when it turned slightly chilly. Not a game boy or mobile phone in sight.

It was a lovely day – one to cherish – friends and family are so important and how lucky we are those of us who can spend these special times together. The weather was perfect and the Smorgasbord – well simply delicious and the fact you can go back as many times as you like seemed to make it all the more enjoyable.