Happy Bookshop Day from Hay-on-Wye (and its newest bookshop, Gay on Wye)!

Today is my 40th birthday and I have been spending the weekend book shopping, reading, eating and drinking. What more could I ask for?

All photos by Chris Foster.

Before we left for Wales, I had my book club over for birthday cakes and bubbles. My husband made me a chocolate Guinness cake (vegan so everyone could share it) and pumpkin chai cupcakes; both recipes were from Hummingbird Bakery cookbooks.

Except this one taken by our neighbour

I’ll report back on Monday with my book haul and trip highlights.

For now, here are some sweet lines from a children’s book I read this morning, about cats named Tom and Mot who discover that friendship and imagination are the greatest gifts, and that present has a double meaning: the now that must be appreciated.

“And then it was time for a hot drink and the cake. The cake tasted like the BEST birthday cake in the world. … ‘Today was the best present in the world,’ said Tom. ‘The perfect present!’”