There is something to be said for an unplanned pint in a beer garden on the best day of the year so far. Particularly on a day when the temperature reaches 21° and the heat is tempered by the occasional light breeze. To merely call it a good Friday is selling it very short.
And it wasn’t just in a beer garden. My walk into Farnham this morning was equally beautiful.
In fact, the day was so excellent that The Man Who Had to Relearn How to Walk was even wearing shorts. When I noted it, he said it was time, though he will now have to trawl the charity shops for more pairs. I noted (to myself) that he was still wearing his big, thick jacket, zipped tight to his throat.
Even shopping had an unexpected and pleasant surprise.
As I turned into the milk and frozen aisle, there was Debbie, stacking pints. I haven’t seen her for yonks and said so. She explained that she has a second job and now only works at Waitrose evenings and weekends with the occasional Good Friday thrown in. She said her other job is not as much fun.
Back at home, Mirinda spent a lot of time pottering around the garden. As for me, I wired up the fence in The Garden of One Thousand Yaps in order for the clematis to climb up high.
I then surprised Mirinda by asking if she needed to go to the garden centre for anything because I really needed to go to the farm shop at Frensham. By the end of my question, she was already sat in Max, the engine running, ready to head out.
Which is why we decided to stop off for a drink at the Holly Bush, given we were in the area, and it seemed churlish not to.
Inside, there weren’t a lot of people, but the beer garden was almost full. And not just with people. There were many dogs as well. The atmosphere was wonderful and really suited the Meantime IPA I had. Mirinda’s rioja was also very good.
(I tried to link to the Meantime website, but it seems it is forbidden! Don’t ask me why.)
There was one moment of weirdness when Mirinda tried to order a tub of ice cream only to be told that, where we were sitting, ice cream was not allowed. This didn’t make a whole lot of sense given we’d already had a bowl of olives and the lady next to us was eating cake so, obviously, Mirinda said something.
The woman serving us realised there was little use in arguing with Mirinda and gave in, letting her order an ice cream. This prompted the two guys sitting on our other side to ask her if they could have a burger then.
This made her quite cranky and she whirled away. Quickly, one of the guys then said they were joking and could they have another couple of pints, please. I noted it wasn’t her who brought their drinks out.
Apart from that little contretemps, our unscheduled relax in the Holly Bush beer garden was delightful.
And, unexpectedly, Aldershot beat Torquay today.
As I said, it was more than a good Friday.
