Yesterday evening, after a particularly heavy week at work, I really needed a beer. Or two.

Fortunately, my second in command had noticed that the Happy Cats were playing in the Tuns. They were as good as usual, but I was left with a painful hangover this morning. A small example …

My second in command had to miss the second half of their set (work at five this morning), so there were other videos which may end up on Youtube.

Said videos were shown to my mother today; she may accompany us next time we see the band. My mother likes Lindisfarne stuff and they generally do a couple of theirs.

Today, my killer hangover was eased by some Russian Imperial Stout. At 10%, it’d cure (or kill) anything. But it was lovely. Jakehead may also have been involved this afternoon. And a pretty nice Almasty IPA.

I have a real problem with beer right now. I do like beer, but I don’t do fake beer (Fosters, Carling, John Smiths etc). It was primarily a fish bits thing, but I’ve found that I can no longer abide such products. Fishless beer is now becoming more commonplace, which presents me with something of a problem. I have greater access to fishless beer. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy with a growing range of unfined beer, but I’m now faced with an impressive choice in most decent bars.

Anyway, the stout was gorgeous.

On our way home, we stopped off at the castle (the actual castle, not a pub) to watch rats while waiting for a bus.

Unusually, though, there were no (visible) rodents. We assumed that the recent forwarding of clocks meant that, with dusk delayed, rats would still be lurking in the undergrowth. They may be disgusting creatures, but I guess they have to do what they do.