Karen Wright: Mum's birthday celebrations were so much fun

The first part of the celebrations took place on the Saturday before her birthday when she booked a meal for sixteen family members at Holmfield House, which is in the heart of Thornes Park here in Wakefield. As the venue is also a hotel, she also booked rooms for most of us so we could let our hair down and party the night away.

As many of the guests live far away, we decided that we would try to squeeze the most out of the weekend and continue to celebrate on Sunday before they all had to make the long drive back to their respective homes. I prepared a buffet lunch and, although we were all full up from the huge breakfast we had enjoyed at the hotel, by the end of the afternoon the table was bare!

Birthday parties also mean cake and I made a bobby dazzler! It was a four-layer vanilla sponge cake that was filled with raspberry jam and vanilla buttercream. I topped it with a white chocolate drip and studded that with pink, white and golden edible pearls. I bought a few rosebuds and made a mini bouquet and placed it on the top, along with birthday candles, and it looked gorgeous.

As a final burst of fun my mum booked a vocalist called Rochelle to visit the complex where she lives and invited all the residents to come along on the day of her birthday to enjoy an afternoon of singing, tea and cake. It was such fun!

My mum is still raring to go and has entered her nineties full of optimism and plans. She even renewed her passport last month so watch this space, where is she heading next?!

In other news, I will be getting the caravan out of storage in April and heading out and about the country writing and blogging as I go. The first trip is very local, I will be going to Hebden Bridge and pitching up at the Caravan and Motorhome Club site there. As part of the Club’s Read, Tour and Explore initiative I will be visiting Howarth, home of the Brontë sisters, and Mytholmroyd, which was the birthplace of poet Ted Hughes.