Hey shorty, it's your birthday - gonna party like it's your birthday, drink Bacardi like it's your birthday . . . . it's like 50cents wrote it for me !!

So, happy birthday me and thank you all for your kind texts, emails, cards and money - very much appreciated for my first ever birthday away from home.

So, now we are up, up and away in the Swiss mountains, at Veysonnaz - it's truly breathtaking - the apartment has lots of windows so we have a perfect mountain view and a lovely balcony to look over it all. I managed to cope ok with the mountain roads and the Golf is coping with some very steep hills ! It's been lovely being in a home again, I even managed to cook a roast chicken on Sunday whilst James watched footy - truly a home environment !

We have mainly been going for mountain walks, there are loads of different routes to take - tomorrow we are taking the bus to the opposite mountain (Nendaz) and then walking back across the bis and the mountains which should be beautiful. Every day we have fighter jets taking off from Sion the nearest big town which we look down on, and so we are having lots of Top Gun moments as we rush out to have another look !

Today we went into Sion for a walk around the town and had a fabulous lunch out, Swiss cheese fondue and a very tasty local white wine and now we are chilling out for the evening with a Mastermind / trivia challenge and of course, birthday Bacardi (plus Swiss chocolate) - ahhh this is the life for an old woman like me !!