I spent most of the morning vainly trying to sweep up the thousands of leaves that had gathered around our back door, on the driveway and in front of our house. Why I even tried, I'll never know because as soon as I swept up one heap more leaves descended, blown by the wind!
I stuck it for a couple of hours and then went in for a shower as Keith wanted to go to have his hair cut and Sophie needed to get her phone upgraded at Tesco. We dropped Keith off and drove to the supermarket right next door and parked the car. When we got out I noticed a man in a car nearby and it looked like he was dead...We stood and looked at him for a while but his head had fallen forward and he wasn't moving at all. Sophie said she'd go and bang on the window but I said we'd go and see security. Just as we went to move away he looked around at us so we fled into the store giggling!
Sophie spoke to a very well-informed woman in the phone shop who told her that to get the amount of memory she needed for all her music and photos (and apps) she'd have to have an iPhone 6. We went away for a while to think about it because now Sophie will be responsible for the payments and will have to sign up for a two year contract. We bought some garlic bread and a newspaper and she decided that she definitely wanted that phone. There was no contest really, even though I'd asked the assistant to compare various phones!
Keith appeared as we filled out all the paperwork and very soon Sophie was walking out of the store with a brand new phone. We drove to collect Keith's car from Pitsford, dropped Sophie off at home so she could play with her new toy and went over to the village of Cranford near Kettering, to The Red Lion pub.
I'd seen it advertised in a local free guide and the write up seemed promising. We were looking for somewhere to go to eat on Christmas Eve and I hoped that the pub would be a good choice. As soon as we drew up outside (a large Carlsberg lorry was delivering so had blocked the entrance to the car park) I was not convinced...
Inside, to the right, was a large dining room while the bar looked out over the road and the rest of the village. It immediately felt cold even though there was a definite hint of woodsmoke in the air. The lounge had just one other occupant, a man sitting with a paper and a pint so we sat at the bar and Keith ordered a pint and a half of Hobgoblin.
The room itself was modern and had obviously been refurbished but it didn't feel welcoming at all. I sat and felt very chilly indeed despite a large open fire in front of me. The girl behind the bar checked that the heating was on (the other man must have said something), which it was but said that the landlord refused to light the fire...Brrrrr!
We asked to see a menu even though by now I knew we probably wouldn't ever come back. The menu was on a printed sheet of paper and we were incredulous at the prices and the various dishes. There was absolutely nothing that the kids would have eaten and even I would have struggled to find something I liked. We were intrigued by a "Beef Hanger"...what's that? It was also very expensive (if you check out the menu on the website it has changed!) so that was the final nail in the coffin of The Red Lion for Christmas!
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