Saturday, November 2, 2019

Breakage


Here's what the garden looks like these days. Very autumnal, right? As you can see, the walnut tree is shedding its leaves and most of the bedding plants have gone to seed. I love this time of year.

Yesterday I kept getting helpful little alerts on my computer:


Yes, that's right, today is my birthday -- the big five-three. Why my computer felt it had to tell me that, I'm not sure.

We had a mini-celebration in my office. My co-workers gave me a snazzy card, a box of cookies and cakes from a local bakery and a nice bottle of white wine. They cleverly held out until the very end of the work day, so I thought I might sneak out without creating a fuss, but in the end it felt good to be acknowledged. Dave has something in the works for today -- some kind of midday surprise -- and I have no idea what that's about.

One bit of bad news, though:


I broke one of my wine glasses last night! (Yes, while sampling my birthday wine.) It was sitting on the floor next to the couch, and I crossed my legs and hit the glass with my heel. I was so bummed! My friend Sue gave me these glasses way back in 1991, when we both lived at the DeSoto Apartments in Tampa. They've lasted an astonishing 28 years! Now Dave and I don't have any stemware with four matching pieces.

I've toyed with fixing it. I have some super glue that might do the trick. But I think I'd then be afraid to use it.

I remember, as a kid, breaking a handle on one of our coffee mugs and gluing it on with rubber cement. My mom was using it one morning when suddenly the mug peeled away in slow motion and she was left covered with coffee, holding just the handle. She was not happy.

Some things are just not meant to be fixed. (Certainly not with rubber cement.)

27 comments:

Alphie Soup said...

Another birthday, that's something to celebrate both at work and at home. Bummer about the broken glass. But glass breaks, all too easily and 28 years is a long time for the set to have survived unscathed.
Alphie

Frances said...

Happy Birthday young man! I hope that you enjoy your lunchtime surprise .

Shame about the broken glass, but you could probably get another 4 at Poundland for ....well.....for a pound!

Yorkshire Pudding said...

Happy 53rd Birthday Steve! It's nice that it has fallen on a Saturday when you are not at work. I am looking forward to hearing about Dave's cunning birthday surprise. Have a lovely day!

Jennifer said...

Happy Birthday dear Steve! I'm glad your coworkers treated you to goodies and acknowledged the day. I hope you have lots of fun, and try not to worry about the wine glass....28 years is a VERY good run! 🍷🍷 Cheers! 🎊🎉

Anonymous said...

Happy happy birthday, Steve. Sending you the best good wishes for a great, celebratory day. I have to say that having wine glasses for 28 years is pretty amazing. Roger and I have broken every wine glass we've ever owned. So a couple of years ago we began drinking our wine at dinner in 8 oz Mason canning jars. Seriously. And just last night I said to Roger, "I can't believe we haven't broken one of these yet." Not one!

Tara said...

Happy Birthday young lad. Kind of eerie that your computer reminded you....but anyway! Shame about the broken wine glass -- more about the memory of who gave it to you than the actual glass itself. But, matching glasses are highly overrated. Here's your opportunity to mix and match willy nilly.

Love the autumnal garden.

Allison said...

Happy Birthday! That was a very good run on the wine glasses. We switched to more durable glass with no stems. Less glamorous and less able to strike a pose, but so far we've only killed two of them. It is painful to break/lose stuff you've had for a long time.

Ms. Moon said...

Happy birthday, Steve! I am so glad you were born and that I've come to know you here AND in real life. You are a goodness on this earth.
Sorry about the wine glass but well...that's like a miracle that they lasted this long.
I've found that stemware is something you can almost always find at thrift stores. I admit to having to replace martini glasses regularly.
I'm so glad your co-workers threw you a little party. Isn't that what we all want? Just to be acknowledged?
I hope there was/is cake!

Sabine said...

Happy birthday Steve.

There is a German proverb that roughky translates to "broken glass brings good luck" so who knows. Anyway: health wealth and happiness!

Red said...

Happy birthday! Have a great day.

ellen abbott said...

superglue wouldn't have worked anyway, at least not for long. anyway, when everyone has a different wine glass then there is no trouble remembering which glass is yours! and happy birthday.

Sharon said...

I wouldn't attempt to glue the glass back. It would never be the same. It's time for a new set of glasses. I think I saw some in Selfridges basement. ;-) I hope your surprise outing is lots of fun. Have a very happy birthday!

crafty cat corner said...

Happy Birthday Steve, have a really lovely one and I will wait for the nest post to find out what the surprise is.
Briony
x

Comox Valley and beyond said...

Happy Birthday Steve enjoy your day and a toast to many more !!!

jenny_o said...

Happy Birthday, Steve, and many happy returns. You are still a spring chicken! lol

Yeah, I don't like breaking or losing things I've had for a long time either. I think you did extremely well keeping the set alive for that long, though!

Looking forward to hearing about Dave's surprise :)

37paddington said...

Happy birthday Steve!!! I hope you have a wonderful one. And you clearly work with people who enjoy your being among them, which doesn't surprise me at all. Don't worry about the wineglass. My husband and I had a pair of champagne flutes we got for our wedding and we only used it to toast each other on anniversaries and other special events. Two years ago, right after my husband had his big heart surgery, he broke one of them when we were toasting something. He was soooo bummed (he's a Scorpio, like you). I remember feeling it was very important for us not to make it mean anything other than a glass got broken. I replaced the pair for Christmas.

The Bug said...

Happy birthday! I hope you’ve had a lovely day. We still have the wine glasses we registered for for our wedding. It helps that neither of us really drinks wine. Ha!

gz said...

Hope you have had a lovely day... whatever the weather!

Catalyst said...

The happiest of birthday wishes to you, Steve. Throw the other three glasses into the fireplace, once you've drunk all the wine. Then you can buy four more. (And another bottle of wine!)

Edna B said...

Happy Birthday Steve. I hope your day was awesome. My birthday is Monday, only I'll be eighty. It's okay though, I don't always feel eighty. I hope the rest of your day is just super. Hugs, Edna B.

Penelope said...

Happy Birthday! Hope the day continues with plenty of blessings and loads of wine and goodies.
Long ago I lost all my matching China and steward in a move. I began to replace it all with one of a kind pieces found in antique shops and thrift stores. Nothing matches and it makes quite a beautiful table. Plus, you can find beautiful crystal stemware, one of a kind, dirt cheap. Plus side is no one confuses their glass of wine.

e said...

Happy Birthday! Hugs!

David said...

I am a day late but belated happy birthday to you Steve! You have lived, and continue to live, a wondrous life, and you are generous enough to share the adventures with the rest of us who are too lazy (or too wise!) to share our own journey with the world. Thank you for all you do to brighten our lives with colour, activity, food and wine, even if the result is a broken wine glass. Yes, I know, we all have sentimental attachments, but you can buy new stemware reasonably cheaply at a supermarket or discount department store (and especially if you haunt the charity shops where all ours came from!) Glass is replaceable - you are not! You are one of a kind!

Barbara said...

Happy birthday Steve!

Steve Reed said...

Alphie: Yes, it was inevitable that one of them would break at some point, I suppose.

Frances: Yeah, but of course it's the sentimental attachment I miss -- not the glass itself.

YP: Thanks! I was quite happy it fell on a weekend!

Jennifer: I'll get over the glass. It's not THAT big a deal. :)

Robin: Ha! Mason jars are pretty tough.

Tara: Exactly -- it's not the glass but the sentimental attachment. Oh well. C'est la vie.

Allison: We do have four red glasses with no stems, so I guess we can use those when we need to set a fancy table.

Ms Moon: Thanks! And yes, single pieces of stemware can be had pretty easily. I've actually found two perfectly good wine glasses while out walking the dog!

Sabine: Thanks! Hopefully that saying proves true!

Red: Thank you!

Ellen: That's a good point -- there's a benefit to glasses not matching, isn't there? I never thought of that!

Sharon: Or I can just keep using what we've got. It's pretty rare for us to need four matching ones anyway!

Briony: Thanks!

Comox: Cheers!

Jenny-O: Well, spring chicken might be stretching it. Late summer chicken, maybe?

37P: Yeah, I wouldn't ascribe any special meaning to the broken glass. It's just sad to lose it. (And especially sad in your case, when they were from your wedding.) But life goes on, right? Thanks for the good wishes.

Bug: Yeah, that's partly why ours survived so long. I didn't use them much for a very long time. I use them more now, for better or worse. :)

GZ: Thanks! When you have a November birthday you learn to take the weather in stride.

Catalyst: THAT would be a dramatic solution!

Edna: A fellow Scorpio! Happy early birthday to you!

Penelope: I love that idea of an entirely mismatched table. And the shopping would be fun too!

E: Thanks! :)

David: Thanks so much! What a nice comment. I love that so many of us haunt charity shops.

Barbara: Thank you!

Fresca said...

Happy birthday, Steve!
Fifty-three is prime... and so are you!

Beth Reed said...

A Very Happy Belated Birthday!!!

I'm terribly sorry to hear of the wine glass getting broken. Unlike others I am one of those sentimental types that would mourn my broken wine glass. I would probably even light a candle for it lol.
But then I would remember my friend and all of the special wonderful memories that I had drinking wine from the gift of the wine glass and all the special toasts made then give it a proper burial into the trash can!!!
Life moves on but the memories remain!

I cannot wait to read your next post to see how your birthday went. I hope that your day was as awesome as you are!!!! Big Birthday Hugs Beth