Perhaps not all People

We all know what that symbol’s for. It’s why we tolerate people but don’t necessarily welcome them. If that’s what they want to do then so be it. Maybe the dog will join in. Is this the behaviour we expect from the locals as we visit? Perhaps the pub itself is preparing to take vengeance on them. There’s a mound of green climbing down the side of it as we speak. If we can keep them distracted for long enough, it’ll slide over and engulf them completely. Will they end up in the chimney? Perhaps there’s a chute that leads directly to the ovens. Or maybe they’re engulfed in green and put in the corner for all time, or at least until it decides that they’re going to behave again. Or it could have taken over the whole of the inside of the pub already and these people are celebrating their escape.

Upside Down Blinds #dreamdiary 205

We’re having the lounge redecorated. As part of the agreement, the decorators asked if we’d like to feature in a sketch on TV. The gist was that we’d have some blinds installed but they would be upside-down and placed over a wall instead of a window. They’d then have a film crew in and some actors as cowboy builders who we’d complain to, and we’d receive some cash to put towards the bill. It wasn’t mentioned in the contract so that the mistake would be put right afterwards. The blinds were installed in the director’s place alongside a rack where curtains could be attached to if the director changed his mind. The filming took place and the set crew took the rack with them, leaving a mess of erased floral wallpaper alongside a brightly coloured painted wall. We got paid and we contacted the decorators to begin the restoration work, but they wouldn’t commence it.

People Tolerated

I suppose that there are some people that we have to put with. Family members because we love them and they look after us no matter what we do. Customers are important too otherwise we wouldn’t be able to keep things going. But we have to identify what we really want the most. In this case, it’s our four-legged friends. They have to bring their owners, otherwise the operators wouldn’t be able to continue to run their business the way that they want to. Children could scare the dogs since they’re going to be running around more, so that’s why they have to be kept on leads. It makes sense to the dogs, who are then free to sniff each others’ butts and steal and beg food off the tables as they please. This policy is so strict that a person has to carry a sign around outside to let people know as they enter.

Burton's Brewing Heritage

So much of this has been thrown away in order to save costs and make money. The museum has been packed away out of public sight because they can make more money selling off the historic buildings. The traditional way of doing things is too expensive and a lot of the equipment has been dismantled, though fortunately some of it has been sold for brewing. It seems that if we want to save it, we have to pay for it. We can’t put it on display and let people wander around it for free. Things need to be fixed to stop people from wandering off with them, and the fixings themselves need to be safe. If they’re placed in a building, it must be maintained with adequate lighting so that no-one trips and has an accident or sues the people that built it. It’s a shame that we have to throw away our past to continue our future.

Hide & Seek

Given the size of the road here, the last thing you’d expect to come across is a pub. The brickwork blends well with the autumnal background of the leaves. It would take a large truck at speed to take out a sizeable corner of the pub, but being in the countryside, there’s not much cause for large trucks to come down this road anyway. There’s some great signs of tradition. There’s plant pots made from barrels which I guess was the site’s main trade to send down the canal. There’s a wagon wheel leaning against the conservatory. And there’s lots of chimneys which suggests that there’s real fires in every corner. There’s also signs of modern amenities like an alarm system and lighting in the form of a mock-Victorian lamppost. There’s not much that’s hidden. It might all be on the other side of building, but it’s certainly not on show.

Almost had it my way

I decided to give the old BK a go. Everyone else seems to be calling in after work for fast food, and I wasn’t feeling super hungry. I haven’t been in a while. It used to be a regular treat at a motorway service station at one time since we didn’t have one at home, but now we do. So I had a look at the menu and compared it to what else is out there. The BBQ Kansas burger seemed to be the one to try with onion rings and bacon, which included a box of chicken fries as well. Ordering on the app was easy, and there was no queue when I arrived. It wasn’t great to see staff in the kitchen wandering around eating burgers, but the staff were friendly. The burger was chicken instead of beef, but that was what I’d selected. It could have done with more sauce. The fries were slightly cold, and the chicken fries were a bit on the thin side, but substantially it was enough.

Canalside Hillbillies

You can just picture a group of men in straw hats and blue overalls come out from behind the back sporting banjos and jugs marked XXX. You could even expect a bunch of animatronic bears spring out as you pass in your narrowboat. Everything just looks so miniature. But as cute as it seems, this is someone’s digs. Perhaps an arm of the railway used to pass here, and it was decided to flood the embankment to create the canal. The boxes left in the doorway looks like antique luggage. They could be there for show, or they could have useful items inside since only boaters would be able to gain access to them, unless someone was brave enough to take the plunge and swim across the canal. Next to this, I think it’s a trick of the light that’s shining on the firewood. I don’t think they’d keep a real fire unattended, although you never know with these people.