...and I don't fancy the journey 'ome, neither!

 You'll either get the reference, or not.  Whatever.

It's very Februaryish at the moment.  Chilly, lazy wind and regular squally downpours - or just cold and bleargh.

We thought we'd venture out as far as King Street - perhaps considering getting food aswell (fridge is in, but shopping wasn't coming until today).  We left the building and immediately got hit by BLEARGH.

So instead, we cut the excursion short and went to the Kings Head instead.

Already with a good few people there by the time we arrived, we grabbed beer and a seat and settled in.  This is the pub where 10 people in the snug (Tramcar) makes the place feel quite full.  Nevertheless there was an epic level of "Basketmakers Rules" on clear display for near perfect space packing.  One group were a little slow on the uptake, but they got there eventually.

Track Sonoma on Cask was lovely - and far more punchy than the 3.8% ABV might suggest.  Then he had Burning Sky stout (4% ish) and I had Kokomo Weekday (again 4%ish).

We've definitely got to enjoy Good Chemistry beers more of late.  Maybe it's us, maybe it's them?  We'd not expected to be regulars at the Kings Head but find ourselves there on a regular basis now.  

One thing we asked ourselves yesterday as the pub reached 'peak rubber-roll-down-rucksack' is whether Bristol is typical of cities which have a generally good beer/pub scene, a good range of well-paid (media, academic, digital) jobs and somewhere university students stay after their education - together with an increasing amount of city-centre dwellers.

Obviously, we don't know the answers - we only know Bristol.  Still, perhaps slightly warmer weather might encourage us to go to Brighton, Bath and maybe some other university cities to find out...

It Comes in Pints!

 If you're acquainted with the first Lord of the Rings film (the Peter Jackson one) you might remember that Merry (or was it Pippin?) the Hobbit gets very excited when, in  an inn, he returns to their table with a pint of beer and declares "It comes in pints!", having previously only had been in smaller measures (probably halves).

This gets referenced quite a lot in our household - partly because the BBB is tall and slender - almost elven you might say and I'm...well, shorter, squat and...Hobbit-like (but for the hairy feet).

Anyhow.

Yesterday I had to pick up a parcel so we headed on to LHG because it was likely to be relatively quiet and we hadn't been for a while.

Arriving at the bar, I was delighted to see that they had two (count 'em) different cask beers on.  BBB agreed he'd also like the moasic pale so, without thinking I just asked for two.  BBB stepped in to say "two-thirds".  Wait, what?

The main thing about LHG establishments has always been their adherence to selling no larger measures than 2/3rds.  Whilst initially surprised (maybe annoyed) when we first went to Small Bar - it fairly rapidly turned into our favourite measure.  So much so that, from time to time,  when given the choice between only pints and halves we regularly get one of each measure, and share.

So this sudden availability of pints (and therefore the need to specify measure when buying) came as a shock.  We engaged the bar server on this and shared a chuckle.  Interestingly, the thing that struck me most is him saying "I don't miss having to explain to people why they can't have a pint".  Fair enough.

Beer in the 'hood

 As I've rambled about ad nauseam, this neighbourhood we live in whilst in Bristol is pretty much perfect for this section of our lives.

Not yet quite retired, but not doing the whole 9 - 5 career path.  It gives us the flexibility to deal with stupid things breaking, and to leave it all alone and pop to the pub at a time that suits us.

Saturday, there was rugby to be watched but didn't really want to hack over to the main sporty bars to watch it - they'd be busy, and probably quite annoying. 

The broken fridge meant the only beer was warm beer (yuk) so we watched the first half in the flat.  Just before half-time we mused what we might like to do for the second half.  I suggested that Martha's has decent wifi and we've got decent mobile phones so perhaps huddling around a phone screen - but with beer - might be a good compromise.

When we put our mind to things, we can certainly get our collective shit together - so coats and shoes on, nip along the road, choose and buy beer and we were settled down before the starting whistle sounded.

Admittedly, we weren't in our favourite spot initially (one of the two enclosed booths) but within 10 minutes we were able to trade up.  As used as we are to watching sport on larger screens - it was still a nice way to watch (maybe a 10" tablet would have been even better).  Just goes to show that good experiences are often not where/when/how you expect.

Yesterday it was cold, windy and rainy - all day.  Come 4pm neither of us were very much in the mood to walk far - so we went back to Marthas to sit with a couple of pints (well, 2/3rds) and played cards.  It's rare of us to visit the same pub two days in a row, these days, but sometimes you just know where's the best place to do what.

We still had a bit of budding anxiety about whether or not the new fridge would be delivered safely today. An early text message said arrival from 12.30pm (perfectly acceptable) but at about 8.15 a phone call from the courier company asked if we minded an earlier delivery since they were in the area.

So here it is - a shiny new fridge, which truth be told we'd been planning/musing on changing for about 3 years.  A bit of installation shenanigans, a a chance for it to settle and now it's humming away and I assume it's getting cooler (give it an hour and we'll know).

Weirdly, now that all this is done, I'm struggling to concentrate on much else.  However, the need to pick up some teabags (there are reasons) from the Amazon locker means I've already suggested LHG for beer (and potentially pizza).  It's the furthest we've walked since Friday!

Too Easy

 I should have known it was going altogether too well.

We were planning to head up to Bristol on Friday (always a bit of risk) but I needed my hair cut.  We calculated that if my haircut went quickly we could get on the 12.05 train which would be well in time to leave Paddington before the 15:00 "last cheap train until mid-evening" watershed.

If I wasn't as prompt, then at least we could get the 12.30 train and then be able to travel on the 15:00 train.  I booked seats on that train just in case so at least that would ensure we wouldn't have to stand.

As it was, the flying fingers of my hairdresser give me time to get to the station well before 12.00.

The train left on time; the travel across London was stress-free, we got up to the Paddington concourse around 14:10 and the train was called at a sensible time.  We found a great seat. Even the hen party (small) was jolly but not overly noisy.

We arrived at the flat at 16:15, relaxed and ready to turn the power on in the flat and go to the pub.

We got a lovely seat, the beer was fab, as it got busier we encouraged someone to share the table and they were jolly and smiley.

We picked up pies, peas and some wine and set about making our customary simple dinner.  Then we realised we'd forgotten milk.  Himself went to check the freezer and his face fell - the fridge and freezer were clearly broken, but for the interior light.

It was 8pm on a Friday and we had shopping arriving in about 15 hours.

He set about finding a replacement, I set about asking for the grocery order to be cancelled.

Stupidly, if I'd have checked the freezer for milk when we'd arrived, some of this would have been made easier - but then, we probably wouldn't have got a seat so maybe it wasn't so bad how things turned out.

This morning I was awake early so I got straight up and showered, then popped out to get milk for our coffee.

We're rather sad that the, relatively modest, contents of the freezer had to be ditched and we'll now have to be a bit careful about how we plan meals until the new fridge arrives but all in all, it was very much a first world embuggerance and, we're also lucky to have the cash available to replace the appliance (when we know what a huge percentage of adults would not be so fortunate).

 We're both feeling pretty sanguine about it now.

Hey ho.  We've got rugby, readily available beer supplies, not to mention accessible places to keep us going.  Some of this would, actually, have felt a bit more trying in Eastboune.

 

Monday Excursions

 As the weather gradually starts to improve, we're getting into a bit of habit of going out for a wander on a Monday afternoon. It's not every week but, it's been 3 times in the last 4.

We tend to look at the weather and if it looks dry and sunny, try and find somewhere different to walk.

Last week we wandered (slogged, in my case) to East Dean, a couple of weeks ago I was keen to take a look at Bishopstone Station.  Yesterday I thought it might be fun to go to Cuckmere Haven.  My memory of it was a firm, flat, made path so even the recent rain shouldn't have made that difficult walking, should it?

The path was listed as about 1.2 miles from bus stop to beach so I figured that if we started the walk around 2.45 we could be back on the bus just after 4pm or so and head on into Brighton.

I miscalculated.  A lot.

Sure, the first half mile of the path was paved and easy walking but things got trickier as we went further.  First chalky clay slop, and then a bit of the old river course completely running across the path - too deep to tiptoe through.

We diverted way from the main river run which was initially easier walking but, again, as we got nearer the sea it got boggier, muddier and harder going.

A chap walking a few yards in front of us slipped over in a combination of mud and a boggy area.  We picked our way really carefully but still wanted to get to the beach (for reasons that are largely beyond me).

A couple of very hairy moments where I could have opted to turn back, but didn't, led us to the shingle beach.  And yeah, walking on shingle is no picnic, either.

The walk back was similarly challenging even though we thought we'd be able to avoid the worst of it. By the time we got back to the bus stop, it was about 4.45pm.  We decided it was too late to sit on the bus for an hour so made a truncated journey to Steamworks in Seaford instead.  One really great pint (and only £3.50) and one OK pint left us refreshed and ready to go home.

All in all, a really nice afternoon out - even though it wasn't quite what we had in mind.  Still, embrace flexibility, eh?

Looking Forward

 We've firmed up our plans to head west on Friday.

Immediately, it makes me yearn for all our favourite watering holes - we even discussed how we'd do some "work in the pub" - which always means the Barley Mow.

That's not to say we haven't had good beer this week:  after working in St Leonards on Thursday I came back, ran some errands and decided to head to Beerarama, since we'd not been there for a while.

The boy came and met me and we had a most satisfactory range of beers - and also vowed to come back to avail ourselves of their extensive "dark and strong" section.  

I've got stuff I've got to get done before we head up but I'm looking foward to the journey and the arrival.

Country Walk

 It had been a while since we've walked over to East Dean to the Tiger Inn.  Weather, being busy, the pub being closed for a bit of maintenance and a knee which has been slow to heal have all conspired to prevent it.

So a promised dry, sunny day on Monday saw us having a bit of a yomp.  In truths, it's only 3 miles or so but contains a lot of up and down.  By the time we got to East Dean I was knackered.

There was a decent array of cask and keg beer on and although we didn't have the prime seat in the main body of the pub, it was proper pubby and good place to recover.

The usual bus stop was out of action which necessitated a bit of a further yomp but we made it in perfect time to stop the homeward bus.

Clearly I need practice with this walk so I would imagine that the next day the sun promises to shine - and maybe there's a slightly longer day in prospect we might try it again!

Ooooh!

 This weekend (well, Thursday) at the Crown threw into sharp relief the general beer-bleh of Eastbourne.  We decided to stroll to the Crown on the offchance that the "weekend" guest beer(s) might be available.

 In this context "Stroll" meant a little hike through the woods which edge the South Downs.  Only a couple of miles but quite strenous enough on a Thursday, thank you.

We were rewarded with Burning Sky Plateau and Arbor Shangri-La.  In addition there was Harveys Best (in line with apparent local pub bylaws), Timmy Taylor Landlord (good in a pinch but I'm not as keen as I was) and New Bristol Brewery Biscotti Stout left over from the previous weekend.

By any stretch of the imagination, this is a really good range of beers for a local pub whose main clientele do not drink cask beer at all. 

By Sunday, when we ventured down again, the Shangri-La had gone and had been replaced with Long Man "No 8".  So we had Plateau (still gorgeous) and then tried the Long Man.  Hmmm, kind of Timmy Taylor ish.  I guess the people that like their cask brown and unscary would like it - but I wouldn't go back for seconds, sadly.

Today I've seen blog posts from beer bloggers about the Barley Mow, The Basket Makers and a picture of the Evening Star.  Sigh.