But I didn't realise that till the evening! I think I lost a day somewhere because I did an extra stint at my voluntary job the day before (to cover for someone's holiday leave) and that wasn't the day I usually go in, so I got all mixed up somehow, and so did Hubby! We'd decided the day before that we'd go out for the day, while the weather was still reasonable, and we'd decided to go to Longleat Safari Park. Hubby even said it could be a "pre-birthday treat" I did notice in the morning that there seemed to be a fair bit of mail, and that several of the envelopes looked like they might be Birthday cards, but I just thought people had posted them off early to make sure they got to me in time! So, I left them unopened, and we set off for Longleat.

Took loads of photos, but a lot of them weren't much cop, because the animals were too far away, and of course while we were in with the lions and tigers etc we couldn't open the car windows, so a lot of them were blurred by glass and reflections. Still, I managed to get a fair selection, and here they are.:yes:

If you hover over any picture you will get a description, and you can click on any of them for a bigger picture

Longleat supports Tusk Trust
Longleat house Roof Statues

Longleat House

Some of the animalsEland?ZebraImpala (I think)Longhorn cattleFantasic horns! (but I'm not sure what they are)Herd of deerDeer DeerRare breed giraffesWallabyGuineafowlTapirGiant tortoiseGoatPigmy goatWhite wolfLazy lions
Sorry about the quality of the last two, but it was the best I could do in the circs.

When we'd finished driving round the safari park, we went in the butterfly house, and they were HUGE! This one's wingspan would have covered my hand from fingertip to wrist.
Tropical ButterflyCocoon with butterfly chrysalis inside

We also found these little chaps in the butterfly house - I found them fascinating!
Leaf cutter antsLeafcutter ants

On the way home we stopped off at a pub for something to eat - They had a special price on some of the meals, and you could have any two of the specials for £4 each. Hubby had fish and chips with peas and a glass of beer, and I had steak and kidney pudding with mashed potatoes carrots and peas, and a half of cider. It may not have been cordon bleu cooking, but it was very palatable plain fare, and at those prices really excellent value!

When we got back I made a cup of tea for myself, and a coffee for hubby, and logged on. OMG!! There were so many emails and PM's, and I noticed the date on them, and said to hubby "What's the date today?", and he said "The 19th" so I checked my computer clock........and the penny dropped :!: Hubby was watching as I did it, and he said "Oh my god!" and rushed out of the room and came back with my pressie, and the stack of cards, and a bottle of port and two glasses, and we had a jolly good laugh about it :))

I opened all my cards and pressies, and then spent the rest of the evening eating birthday choccies and getting pleasantly squiffy on port while catching up on the numerous birthday greetings from all you lovely people. So thank you one and all for your super blog cards and birthday greeting pm's, and I hope you enjoyed hearing about my super (nearly forgotten) birthday.