It was my birthday yesterday, my 57th. I had calls from both daughters and both sisters, which was lovely. I think some times the gift of time is the nicest of all--time and attention.

We had a surprise visitor, a guinea fowl from somewhere had shown up overnight and was hanging out with our chickens. They were not pleased--they even looked flustered and came up on the porch twice. Cameron chased him half-heartedly. I fed him corn. He made interesting noises and looks like a dinosaur. I would love to have him stay, but he was gone by evening.

Ray and I had yogurt and toast and a little walk. My Dad arrived as we were leaving. It was in the high 60s and low 70s and pleasant. I did a little gardening. Ray went off to teach the first day of Maymester, 15 days of class from 12:30 to 3:15. I spent most of the time on the computer.

Cameron and the guinea cock

He came home really tired and took a nap while I went back outside for a little while. We had pork chops again and a few pieces of asparagus. I opened my presents and ate ice cream with strawberries from the freezer. We watched TV and read and went to sleep.