Today was Emah’s birthday. She is third from the left holding a bunch of Lavender and wearing a big happy smile.  Maybe that is something to do with  with the scrumptious coffee meringue cake which she is about to slice into.  Emah and Jill ( sitting on her right)  hail from  Vancouver, Canada, they are in the of midst  of  a round the world journey. We feel very privileged that they stopped off here for a few weeks .    In this photo, Janet and  Alex  are also holding lavender posies  while little Amelie gives the thumbs up sign.  She is really waiting for someone to cut the ice cream cake.  Giles, her father, is smiling benignly at either the cake or his daughter.  He tells us that he does not normally tuck into treats  like this but he is making an exception because  the cake has come from La Sirene, where, as he points out, they know how to make a cake to perfection.  To celebrate the birthday, we sat around the table in the shadiest part of the garden, Baloo’s favorite spot,  and marveled at the skill of the local patisserier La Sirene.   Emah & Jill are working and winding their way around the world.  Though they look petite and slender,  don’t be fooled they can lift heavy loads and are ready to get stuck into whatever needs doing.  Whether it is evacuating building  rubble   or  helping icky create her much awaited blog!