40th Birthday

I'm 40 today, a date shared with Charlie Chaplin, Dusty Springfield, ex-Pope Benedict and, so I'm told, some bloke called Rafa Benitez.  My office desk is covered in about a tonne of glitter and someone has put up lots of photos of me as a baby/toddler with, er, "witty" captions.  I suspect the hand of the Kiwi. My birthday always tends to co-incide with Salute,  The very first Salute I attended was actually on my birthday - I think in 1986 when I was 13.  Happily, my spending power is rather better nowadays than it was when I was 13, even with 2 money-devouring children; so I'm looking forward to a couple of "birthday treats" on Saturday.  In the meantime, this seems an appropriate opportunity to thank everyone who reads, follows and comments on this blog and for the extra enjoyment of the hobby I have had from such contact.  Here are some of my favourite photos from the achives to celebrate past 7 years of blogging about toy soldiers.