The leaves are really starting to turn now and next Sunday the clocks will go back an hour. The news is full of dire predictions about Covid at the moment, and I am glad that Keith is having his third booster jab next Saturday, while I'll be having my flu vaccine. I have known far more people get Covid this year than last year when things were really bad. Several of the staff at work have had to isolate themselves because of their children bringing it home from school!
Sophie texted me to say she was getting the 5.30pm train back from Milton Keynes, which was great as we had a table booked at The Rose and Crown in Yardley Hastings for 8pm. She was coming back a little earlier than we'd anticipated, so we decided to call in for a drink at The Red Lion in the same village first.
The Red Lion is a lovely, cosy, thatched pub and we made our way through to the bar area that reminded me of someone's living room! There were several people drinking and we took a table in the middle of the room. I just hoped I wouldn't spill Keith's beer again like I did the last time we sat centre stage!
Keith ordered two small glasses of wine, and a pint and the bill came to a shade under £15. Now, I know I keep going on and on about prices (and even I'm getting fed up with moaning), but it really is getting me down how much a round of drinks costs these days. No wonder so many pubs are closing down! Sophie and I barely had any wine in our glasses! Sophie said that Keith and I were out of touch with prices these days but I disagreed. When I worked for Majestic, we supplied lots of pubs and the price of the bottles they were supplying was about £5, so the mark-up must be huge!
We had two rounds in the pub (I declined another glass), and at just after 7pm made our way to The Rose and Crown. The car park, even at that early hour, was almost full, and the pub itself was heaving. Sophie loves this pub and has had consistently good food here, so she was very much looking forward to our meal. I had eaten here with Andrea, Fiona and Lynda years earlier, in the summer, and I remembered it being very popular then.
I bought a bottle of Chenin Blanc and a pint of beer for Keith which came to £21. We thought it would be better to buy a bottle, and Sophie could have more than me as I was driving. We sat at a table near the bar to have our drinks, and couldn't help listening in when a group of people arrived just after us. They'd booked a table for five but there was no record of their booking, so the staff were scrambling around to find out what had happened. Our table was ready, so we offered the one we were sitting at to the party of five who gladly accepted.
We had a table right next to the fireplace in the middle of the dining area, and the atmosphere was lovely with people eating and drinking. We looked at the menus, made our decision and waited for our orders to be taken, but the staff were so busy we had to wait a fair while. We didn't mind as it was great to sit and relax.
Eventually, we gave our orders for food - Korean Fried Cauliflower for me, Devilled Lamb's Kidneys for Keith and Mussels for Sophie. For our main courses, we ordered Lamb for Keith, Plaice for Sophie and Chicken and Ham pie for me. The food was very, very good, but we did have to wait a fair while for our main courses, and the party of five whose booking was misplaced were served before us!
Keith's only gripe was the beer. They were serving his favourite, Abbot, but it wasn't pulled properly, making it flat and unappetising. He did take it back to the bar at one point to see if they could inject some froth, but it remained flat. He was not amused!
The bill came to £118, and it was only after we paid that we realised we'd been charged again for the wine! They realised their mistake and refunded Keith the amount, which was good!
We drove home through very dark country lanes, and were greeted by Monty, who had obviously missed us while we were out!
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