In my last post I mentioned the great value entertainment versus the effort input that I get from our visits to our local pub, The Hog At Horsley.  We have visited on Friday evenings and most Sunday afternoons in August as per our normal routine and I have continued to attend men’s Talk Club there on Tuesday evenings.  Our quiz team also won the monthly pub quiz this month despite the specialist round being cat breeds about which my knowledge has moved from minimal to something. 

In addition, there have also been a couple of special events to enliven our mainly sunny August.

As last year, the landlord at our local pub, together with his recently married wife, organised a pub crawl for charity.  The charity benefitting from our walking, drinking and fund raising this year was Alzheimer’s Research UK.  Thanks to some exuberant charity bucket proffering by the landlord and his brother, over £1,500 was gathered – even more than last year.

The event started and finished – for those who lasted the full distance – at The Hog and encompassed visits to 10 other pubs along a journey of about 11 miles.   It was a hot, sunny day so we certainly needed the ‘hydration’ on the way but I know my limits and I ducked out after 8 stops. 

I certainly got my steps in for the day, met a few new acquaintances and had a few interesting chats.  I even had a pint at Kings Head, in Kingscourt which I had never been to before.  It was a full and fun day.

As I write, the August Bank Holiday Weekend Hogfest (one of two Hogfests each year) is in full swing.  I have started to sample some of the 50 beers and ciders on offer.  I don’t plan to work my way through the list but I’ll focus on my favourites like those from The Kernel Brewery and other IPAs.  There’s music and pop-up food vendors on offer and plenty of conversation to be had with fellow locals; all good vibes although an unfortunately timed break in the long hot spell and a few prolonged, heavy showers will undoubtedly dampen the usual ebullience. 

Running a rural pub in the face of rising taxes (business rates for The Hog doubled this year) and operational costs such as bar staff wages and power to keep the beer cool is a constant struggle.  I therefore hope that Hogfest is a success despite the weather.  The village needs a thriving pub.  It’s a hub for the community, gossip and business contact.  But we have to ‘use it or lose it!’

Other retiree preoccupations beyond the pub in August have been the start of the football season, preparing a planning application for solar panels on our ex-stables roof, and clearing our small field of cut grass. 

Forest Green Rovers, the football team I support, have lost their last two games without scoring so we are clearly not going to be tearing up trees this season.  Whatever the result, I enjoy the process of preparing for games, watching them and then talking about them.  This process carries a lot of tension and frustration which sometimes feels a bit daft given it’s only a game, but it’s one of my great pleasures nonetheless.

Trying to get planning permission for solar panels on our stables roof has been a lot less fun!  We now realise that we should have just gone ahead and installed them and faced any consequences later, but I wanted to follow due process and do the right thing.  Now I’m caught up in all sorts of technicalities that are outside my comfort zone.  Not engaging an expensive professional was probably another mistake I made given the hours I have probably wasted.

Raking up cut hay, weeds and wildflowers in our field after having it cut by a professional has been more satisfying.  It’s the sort of repetitive, lightly physical task that I like.  There is a lot of mindlessness but also some relaxed thinking time.  More than I would like of that time has been taken up with tortured thoughts about Forest Green Rovers’ recent, poor performances and my planning permission frustrations.  Ultimately though, there is satisfaction in looking back at a cleared field with little stacks of hay.  Now the only question is what to do with all of those – I need a new compost heap!

Summer has been pretty good.  The need to water the vegetables during the drought was a minor downside to the weather.  All else about the persistence of sunny and warm/hot days was fine by me.  Hopefully, we are now looking forward to prolonging our summer with a trip to the French and Italian Riviera.  I’ll miss our local pub while we are away but think our drinking habits might be a little more exotic for a while.