Julian and a morning with the guns

Today I went to see Julian and he took me clay pigeon shooting. This is only the second time I have used a shot gun and it was great fun. I wasn't even rubbish at hitting the clays. I have absolutely no idea how you get used to having the thing kick back into the shoulder. I'm told it's technique and 'just getting used to it'. But it hurts! I had to give up after we'd done three traps because it was hurting so much. It's still stiff and sore 36 hours later while I type out this photo blog. What a weed I am!

For Sunday lunch, Julian cooked an amazing pork roast. He has recently reared pigs with some friends and has gotten some wonderful meat from them. For starters we had a selection of pork liver pâtés that Julian had made. My favourite was the pork and plum. Then we were served the crackling from the roast. I am a big fan of both pork scratchings and crackling. This was definitely the best I have ever tried. The roast pork itself was full of flavour and beautifully cooked. He does an amazing job of bringing all the parts of a large Sunday roast to the table at the same time, all perfectly cooked. He's had a lot of practise.

I've known Julian and his family for a long time. Julian enjoys life and I always have a great time when I see him. Laughter is guaranteed. He gets into all sorts of interesting projects, many of which involve either producing or preparing food and drink.