Shiver me timbers (summer journal/photo a day)

It’s the start of August’s photo a day shindig, with the 1st hint being ‘landscape’. I am not on my way to view any interesting scenes today and it is actually my sister who is the traveller in our family. So I thought I would share this photo of a very bleak weathered but awesomely located landscape that she sent me on her last trip to Reykjavik, Iceland. Her original intention on visiting the city was to see the Northern lights, but discovered this beautiful treasure en route. It is known as the blue lagoon and is a geothermal spa that is located in a lava field. To give an insight into the lucidity of the blue colour, here is a picture of it on a nicer day I have nabbed from elsewhere to show it off:

Ever being the adventurer, the weather didn’t phase her and she still went in for a dip 🙂

August’s first summer journal prompt is: “Relate an amusing (even if it is only amusing in retrospect) incident that relates to a birthday”

First of all, Happy Birthday to the setter upper of the summer journal prompts! The celebrations are of course what have lead to today’s hint and I hope her birthday is amusing for all the right reasons 🙂

This story probably won’t be funny to anybody else but it has actually become a standing joke here. One year someone who had been on hiatus for a while came back into my life which was amazing and made me really happy. It happened to be close to my birthday so they decided to get me a present. Trouble was they had been absent for such a while that they had no idea whatsoever on something suitable. So, instead of asking anybody who knew me well, they went on what my opinion of cool was the last time they were close to me which was when I was about 9. So, as a teenager being really excited 6-7 years later, I opened the parcel to find a toy pirate. Even as a child, I was very grateful and pleased with anything I was given but as a 15/16 year old desperate for a pair of limited edition converse, it left a lot to be desired. Of course, I didn’t let my disappointment show and felt lucky that I even got to share any time with someone who had been estranged from me for such a long time. Now, as well as then, it is the butt of every birthday. Years and years on, every time the anniversary of me screaming into the world occurs, I get teased about having a swashbuckler, my OH can’t resist pointing out anything slightly pirate related and telling me I would love it and then the joke hit peak point when I had eye surgery last year and had to wear a patch. Yarrr! I am so glad that that seemingly bad birthday gift has brought on more laughs than any other and I look back on it so fondly now. Turns out it was a perfect present after all 🙂