HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MRS. HCB!

Hello Lovely Blippers,

We had so much excitement yesterday, celebrating the birthday of Jesus, and then today, there is more excitement because it's Mrs. HCB's birthday.  We have heard her say it is her "Trombone" birthday and for those of you who don't know the song, it comes from "The Music Man" - "76 Trombones on the Big Parade" - so now you know how old she is - or should that be "how young" because she doesn't act her age - and we mean that in the nicest possible way!

We had to take off all our tinsel bits and pieces though because Mrs. HCB doesn't like today to be her "Christmas" birthday and always insists it is her "Birthday" birthday.  However, we didn't have time to change out of our red clothes - but we think she will forgive us for that, just this once.

Usually, she opens her birthday cards just after midnight, but decided that she would go to bed and then open them this morning. You don't know what a job Mr. HCB has during December - every time the postman comes, he grabs whatever cards there are and if they are addressed just to Mrs. HCB, he secretes them away upstairs, along with various gifts that are given to him, often on the sly!  At the last count, there were 39 cards - several from Blip friends and some were even a bit cheeky!

So here we all are - with a lovely chocolate birthday cake and lots of chocolate biscuits plus 7 candles, one for each decade - Mr. HCB wouldn't allow us to put all 76 candles on the cake - he said it was too much of a fire hazard.  You might be able to see a card behind the cake that says "Chocolate is the Answer" and for Mrs. HCB that is absolutely true - in fact, as soon as this photo shoot was over, she ate TWO chocolate mini rolls - when Mr. HCB raised his eyebrows, we heard her say, "Well, it is my birthday!"

We know Mrs. HCB was "tickled pink" this morning to have a video call from her younger son who is living in Thailand and having tested negative when they did their lateral flow tests this morning, is hoping to see more of her family this afternoon.

Mr. and Mrs. HCB were given a great game for Christmas called "Milk Chocolate Sprout Hunt" when you have to hide the sprouts all over the house and then find them, so we are hoping to play that this afternoon - and we will need to be quick, because if Mrs. HCB finds them - and you all know she is a Chocoholic - then we won't get a look-in.

For those who have "sharp eyes" you might also notice that we had another cousin who knocked on the door on Christmas Eve - he is sitting at the very front and is wearing an "I love Swindon" tee shirt,  just like Little Brown Bear  - or LBB as we call him.  The new teddy's name is Titch and we're  sure he will enjoy having adventures with us all.  This Gang is growing and we have heard that a special visitor will be around later on this week, so watch this space!

We hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas and will raise a glass to Mrs. HCB today - we will certainly be doing that, as well as eating lots of chocolate and having a great time on her birthday.

Love from,

JH Ted, Tiny, Snowy, Penny Penguin, Leyburn, Reeth, CC, LBB and Titch xxxxxxxxx