A Bit Of Lashing

On Tuesday I am dispatched by work to what turns out to be a torturous project meeting in Birmingham bookended by two torturous slow crawls through the traffic at either end. Which, of course, is always the way these days.

I am home in time to dogging however, our second batch in two days. Monday's ended with us meeting L from Derby where she’d been out on the lash. Well, on the lash-lite anyway.

Wednesday is my turn for a bit of lashing in Derby, as I head to the Alexandra and then the Brunswick after work. Again it’s a lite-ish session, L and I can do the heavy stuff together at the weekend.

L and Daughter meanwhile go for a zigzag with the boys. Strapping a dog to Daughter is fast becoming the only way to slow Daughter down on a run. She is getting quicker all the time and has now even enlisted a personal trainer.

I manage to bike on Thursday and L has her tennis in the evening. After which we hot foot it to the Beer Festival. As her tennis doesn’t finish until 9pm I pre-booked a taxi to get us there as quickly as possible. Naturally we didn’t expect a pre-booked taxi to turn up fifteen minutes late.

The beer festival this year is at the Ice Stadium while the Castle is renovated. They have received a lot of grief for this mainly because it’s indoors. Personally an outdoor festival in a drafty marquee in the middle of October was never a pulling point for me but each to their own.

This year I’m warm, there’s plenty of seating and lots of space. They have created a few outdoor areas to keep the doubters happy but there really was no need. Indoors is fine. I felt that the festival had almost come home, the old festivals used to be indoors at the Victoria Leisure Centre in Sneinton and I haven’t had such a good time at the beer festival since the last one of those. Long may it continue.

We have some great, and largely local, beer from Thornbridge, Lincoln Green, Lenton Lane, Lines, Navigation and Blue Monkey. Ah yes, Blue Monkey. They supply the beers of the night in Chimperial Stout at 8.5% and their birthday celebration beer Woody Bourbon at 6.7%

Shock news. On Friday I go to the gym after work.

(Friday 19^th October)

Serious Hydration

The bus was late this morning, very late. So not a good start to the day but at least I'm tapering. An essential part of the tapering process is, of course, hydration. Which may, or may not, be one of the reasons we’re at the Robin Hood Beer Festival later.

I’m not sure what percentage strength of beer is best for hydrating up for a marathon and what particular fast food is best to have with it. So I will probably need to experiment.

L is at home today waiting for our boiler servicing man. The hot water is doing it’s hot-cold-hot thing at the moment. They’re late as well and I’m worried that L will future injure herself repeatedly chucking MD’s ball.

The chap arrives and promptly tries to sell us a new boiler even though the current one isn’t that old and previously they've told us that a new boiler won’t help. Our pipework is old and knackered but no one is up for the job of replacing it.

No two men ever agree on the solution to our water problems but the best one I’ve heard is to leave it as it and for them to keep coming out once a year to clean it out. It is what we are paying them handsomely for.

After that ordeal I think L needs a beer. I meet her in town, that is after the Red Arrow has gone the wrong way and dropped me in the wrong place.

I enjoy the beer festival, L less so.

My selection :-

1. Grafton Sally Pollard's Ginger Concotion 5.0% 1/2

2. Blue Monkey Chimpagne 10.0% 1/6

3. Dancing Duck Imperial Drake 6.5% 1/3

4. Thornbridge Pollards 5.0% 1/2

5. Grafton Caramel Stout 4.8% 1/2

6. Totally Brewed Biscuit Porter 5.0% 1/2

7. Howard Town Dark Peak 6.0% 1/2

8. Thornbridge Cocoa Wonderland 6.8% 1/3

9. Grafton Chocolate Mint Stout 5.0% 1/2

L’s selection :-

1. Grafton P-Butter 4.8% 1/3

2. Blue Monkey Chimpagne 10.0% 1/6

3. Xtreme Chocolate Cherry Stout 5.6% 1/3

4. Thornbridge Sequoia 4.5% 1/3

5. Frownes King Norvak's Saga 5.4% 1/3

6. Thornbridge Sequoia 4.5% 1/3

(Thursday 12^th October)

Phone A Friend

Another strip wash in the kitchen then onto the bus, it’s the beer festival tonight. Doggo is in his wardrobe and L has been for a run. She says she amazes herself sometimes. The workman will be here at some point.We hope.

When he does turn up, I speak to him about the heating. He’s says he’s going to phone a friend about it.

It is revealed that most swimmers are wasting their time. L tells me not to say ‘I told you so’.

Told you so. Even Adam Peaty doesn’t get fit in the pool he does hours pumping weights in the gym. 

The friend gets the heating going by hot wiring it and recommends we get British Gas in, who we have a contract with, to fix it properly. This bathroom renovation lark is all good fun.

After work I meet L in Nottingham and we head to the Robin Hood aka Nottingham Beer Festival.

Our beer selections are:-

Me

1. Funfair Cheshire Cat 4.9

2. Langwith Lord Humungous Porter 4.8

3. Castle Rock Traffic Street Specials #3 Double Barrel 4.3

4. Blue Monkey Chocolate Amaretto Gorilla 4.9

5. Lincoln Green Buttermuch 5.5

6. Grafton Chocolate Mint Delight 4.8

7. Totally Brewed Grand Papa Jangles - Barrel Aged 7.0

8. Robin Hood The Black Death 8.5

L

1. Funfair Cheshire Cat 4.9

2. Langwith Mozza 5.9

3. Castle Rock Traffic Street Specials #7 New Era 7.7

4. Blue Monkey Chocolate Amaretto Gorilla 4.9

5. Lincoln Green Buttermuch 5.5

6. Grafton Caramel Stout 4.8

7. Black Iris Rise And Shine 5.2

Seven of my eight are dark taking my beer trail up from number 87 to number 94.

(Thursday 13^th October)

Banana Drama And Other Stories

The dogs have a new lamp to light their early evenings when we’re not home from work until after darkness has fallen e.g. the whole of November to February. The only problem is it requires a very specialised super small screw-in bulb that nobody seems to sell. Eventually I track one down at Homebase.

Even then it was hard to find. Where would you think Homebase display their bulbs? I tried the lighting section, then the electrical section but no, they are hidden underneath the stairs by the mirrors. Good job I asked or else I’d still be there now.

On the bus today and after work I head to Nottingham Castle where L is loitering on the benches by Robin himself. Tonight it’s the 40th running of the annual beer festival which gets bigger and more unwieldy every year but we are told this is a good thing. This year they have a staggering choice of 1,220 beers. I have no idea how you’re supposed to get through that lot or even make an informed choice. Therefore the decision is taken to again to attempt to drink as local as possible.

We head down to the bandstand area and find a sort of secret seating area at the back which is surrounded by local brewery stalls, food outlets and the bandstand itself where music is being played. It’s rather idyllic actually and a bit like a mini Glastonbury.

I knock back the following ales:-

Banana Drama Stout, Sperrin (Warks) 7.0%

Biscoteque Stout, Naked Beer Co (West Sussex) 5.0%

Black Pearl Stout, Crystal (East Yorks) 5.0%

Bramling Porter, Instant Karma (Clay Cross) 5.0%

Captain Hopbeard, Totally Brewed (Nottingham) 5.5%

Damn Fine Coffee Porter, Nottingham Brewery (Nottingham) 4.6%

Hawse Buckler, Oakham (Peterborough) 5.6%

Nowt Stout, Five Towns (Wakefield) 6.7%

Rise And Shine Stout, Black Iris (Nottingham) 5.2%

Steam Punk Porter, Funfair (Elston) 4.3%

L dips into some of the same selection as well as:-

Duck n' Disorderly, Mallard (Southwell) 6.0%

Ghost Train Stout, Funfair (Elston) 5.0%

Grand Papa Jangles Voodoo Stout, Totally Brewed (Nottingham) 7.0%

The Doughboy Porter, Geeves (Barnsley) 5.2%

We mop up the ABV’s with some very unathletic fish and chips followed by chocolate brownie.

(Thursday 8^th October)