It was my father's 60th birthday bash on Saturday night, about 70 people came to help him celebrate this momentous occasion including old friends and family I'd not seen in a while. We drank, we danced, we all had a lovely catch up. All in all it was a great evening and my father was pleased as punch that everyone enjoyed themselves so much.
The following morning was spent nursing our sore heads in front of Sunday Brunch and procrastinating over doing the housework.
I knew what was needed, a country walk to the pub for a little 'hair of the dog'. We had a 45 minute cleaning frenzy and once the flat was spick and span we pulled on our trainers, grabbed the Sunday paper and headed out into the fresh Spring sunshine.
We left our sleepy village behind and trekked through the woods
Our goal was The Royal Standard of England at Forty Green, a decent 40 minute walk from our village with a couple of hills thrown in to challenge us!
The Royal Standard is one of my favourite local pubs and at over 900 years old is known as the oldest freehouse in England. It has an absolutely fascinating history, and the food & drink is always fantastic.
I love the way the menu is written.
We both ordered roast dinners accompanied by pints of cider and relaxed with the papers while we waited for our feasts to arrive.
My glasses are incredibly wonky, really I need a new pair.
The food arrived!!
I had decided on roast beef, whilst 'Mister Whatlisawrote' went for the roast belly of pork.
Nothing like a big hearty helping of meat & veggies in a cosy pub after a long walk. It's one of the reasons I love England so much.
After all the exercise we'd done getting to the pub we thought we deserved pudding too.
I had sticky toffee pudding.
'Mister Whatlisawrote' had the apple crumble.
The pub layout is very higgledy-piggledy, with lots of different rooms, alcoves and snug corners with fireplaces - exactly what you'd expect from a building that's barely been touched for 900 odd years.
After a very satisfying lunch and plenty of time to relax and pour over the paper we headed on home just as dusk was approaching.
What a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
Did you all have nice weekends in the Spring sunshine?
Lx
