It was a day for treats – birthday treats in honour of my mother-in-law. Weather wise is wasn’t great but that didn’t stop our celebrations. So where do you go for birthday treats round here?
The wine region of course!
Martinborough is the region just over the Rimutaka Hill, around 35 minutes drive. It’s like a different world there – much flatter, much dryer but shrouded in the mountain ranges giving you massive views. The sky seems bigger over there.
Here’s the birthday girl. As you can see we’re settled in for some fine dining and good wines.
It’s so lovely to have the choice. Wining and dining in Wellington or hopping over the hill to the Wairarapa. I think I prefer the vineyards as the views are better and there is something about tasting wines and looking at where the grapes grow.
The grapes look plentiful but I’m not sure whether there’s been quite enough sunshine yet this summer.
In my day dream days this is where I wanted to live. Martinborough and grow grapes. It’s so romantic looking at these growing but you can’t be fooled by romantic notions when you have to earn a living. Growing grapes is hard work, expensive, unpredictable and not as easy as you might think. Maybe I’ll retire to my dream in years to come!
Still it’s a wonderful setting for a birthday treat and we enjoyed the experience. And a nice place for a family snap.
All change, with no-one around to take a full family portrait it relied on us taking turns!
Just time in the celebrations to take a couple of practice shots. Here’s the windmill on the vineyard which just moved a bit more quickly that I thought and I hadn’t twiddled quite the right knob on the camera.
I do like this picture. It sums up the romantic notions I have about vines.
It’s a shame that the sun didn’t shine full on today. How cool it would have been for my mother-in-law to have a truly summer birthday making a change from a winter one that she normally enjoys in the northern hemisphere. The sun did finally come out to play later on and allowed us to take the dogs out to walk off the excesses of those delicious puddings.
Wow, what a simply beautiful way to celebrate a Birthday and stunning photographs!
Who would have thought three years ago, when Sheila celebrated her surprise **th birthday in our conservatory, where she would be celebrating three years later?
That winery looks so familiar – and I know being that we go there whenever we get a chance! I love it over there, we also had some crazy notion that a vineyard would be lovely….
What a gorgeous way to celebrate a birthday! xx