If you hadn't guessed from my previous post, we are in Norway.
There are hundreds of wild blueberry bushes in the forest behind the house we are staying in, all covered in tiny purple berries that taste much sharper than the cultivated variety, but with a much more intense flavour. They were a source of amazement to R&S, who would have quite happily eaten nothing but blueberries from the moment they were weaned.
It turns out that the forest floor is not just covered in blueberries! Our afternoon in mother nature's larder was quickly forgotten at bedtime, when S discovered that he had bought home an unwelcome guest (one that had thwarted the longsleeves and tucked in trousers too), a tic, happily embedded just below his belly button! I was somewhat grateful for being in the middle of nowhere at the noise he then created at the indignation of being a meal for something, and the horror at the thought that this thing needed removing! Unfortunately my trusty pair of Bodyshop tweezers had been left at home (please don't grow eyebrows!), but desperate times call for desperate measures, and a pair of hastily found fishing pliers proved suitable for the "operation" once the host had been pinned down (and had his eyes sheilded!)! Accompanied by the soundtrack of both children wailing (have I mentioned how dramatic his sister can be!?!), we removed the beast by gripping it as close to the skin as possible, and pulling it upwards until it eventually released its firm hold. S went to bed absolutely furious that we hadn't called him an ambulance, and his sister went to bed after repeated assurances that her brother wasn't going to die! I will keep an eye out for the tell tale rash associated with Lymes Disease over the next few weeks. You have to wonder at the point of some creatures, but then the same could be said about us I suppose!
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