Bear & Boar

No, Rupert the Bear doesn’t always join me for lunch! But today he was there, sitting on the table because next to me and across the table from me were my two little Great-nieces, Aneeta (4) and Jasmine (2). None of the other little characters they had I recognised, but Rupert! He’s MY era! (And before!)

After church I met my sister and some of her family for lunch at a very nice Italian Gastro-pub in Mortimer near Reading. It’s their new favourite place to go. I wasn’t going to order pizza but this one found it’s way onto my plate - Wild Boar sausages! That’s not something you see every day on a U.K. menu, though I had it while I was in Sweden. We have some wild boar in Scotland, but the owner of the restaurant told me these are actually farmed in Scotland. We have a few wild boar roaming free further south, mostly accidental escapees from farms (and some illegal dumping). This is after an absence of hundreds of years on these shores (due to being hunted to extinction - in the U.K., anyway), but they are far more prevalent in the rest of Europe.

Speaking of Sweden, it was my good friend Elisabet’s birthday today, so we had a fun time of FaceTiming this morning while she (and Alice) opened the presents I’d sent. Happy Birthday Elisabet!

After lunch we headed back to my sisters for dessert and tea and I also got some much-needed techie assistance from her. I was back at home for the evening, caught up on Designated Survivor (now with cliffhangers as we get near the end of the season!!), and also a new Swedish crime series I’ve been watching - Arctic Murders.

All in all, a perfect, relaxing, friend and family filled Sunday!