Slings and Arrows

 It's been a couple of "interesting" weeks back in Sussex.  

Whatever it was I brought back from the Shire is still making its presence felt.  Added to that, the Boy acquired a back problem which means getting comfortable can be a bit of a challenge.

As a result our pub tripping and such has been minimal.

Twice we've made a very pleasing journey to see Jamie and John in Beerarama - they remain the folk in the industry I most admire down here.  They stick at it, despite Eastbourne being really quite rubbish at beer culture and they've always got something interesting on the bar as well as plenty of options in the fridge.  They're also genuinely nice folk who are a superb addition to town.

We've also been to the Crown, of course, with good sub 5% beers always on offer...but nowhere to go to up the strength since all their kegs are from the Heineken stable.

We decided to try The Lamb one evening and the Boy was delighted to see they had Harveys Christmas ale on a pump. 

Best beer since we arrived back is an 11% Imperial Stout by Azvex which we each had 2/3rds of  in both of our trips to Beerarama.

This year we're hosting Eastbourne Family for lunch - our kitchen area lends itself perfectly well to task and cooking a roast lunch (chicken, not turkey) is quite a lot of graft but, to be honest, I never find it stressful, just a bunch of tasks.  The main requirement, as I have realised, is to not under-cater on the gravy front.  As a result the freezer has a few pints of "proto gravy" (or home made chicken stock as most people would know it) ready to be employed to distract the assembled company from anything else that might be sub-par.

Outside of that?  A fridge (well, and cupboard) full of lovely beer (Arbor, Burning Sky and Moor with some other odds and ends from previous purchases). 

The latter part of the year at work has been trying, to say the least, but that finally all feels like it's coming under control so I'm hoping for some quiet time with log burner and some board games and - when the boy can walk more comfortably, maybe a stroll on a sunny day.