Birthday Parties often turn out best when they're impromptu. Sometimes I'll throw a big garden party, which is great fun but lots of hard work and quite expensive too. This year I decided not to bother and it turned out to be really lovely.

Having a growing family who have many calls upon their time and money mean that I make a very specific point of not wanting fuss or presents (although I did get some lovely things for the garden- and lots of baking bits and bobs!) I offered to make tea for my sister, who was busy moving belongings from house to house instead of going out for a birthday meal. In the end it made for a specially lovely day - in fact it spread over the weekend. I woke up to lovely birthday messages plastered all over the fridge, supper became a garden party (and naan bread pizzas weren't particularly onerous to make) and sitting under the lights in the garden at midnight with my husband was really special.

Not much money was spent and not a lot of time and preparation was needed, but being content to 'go with the flow' made for a very happy birthday!