The mind boggles

Not even Stense could explain this one:

It's not just the leaves that fall in autumn

I'm sorry, I'm not entirely sure why I said 'Not even Stense'. But, seriously, how do you misplace something like that?

Typo

The Marlbororough (sic) Arms

Local legend has it that the chap putting up the sign had a few pints in the pub mid-way.

Bastion

The Albion, Chester
A pub for grown ups on Monday.

Remember the family hostile pub that Carolyn and I spotted last month? Well, I somehow managed to drag Stense into it on Monday. Actually, dragged is an awfully inappropriate word.

What a fantastic pub! Full of grown-up people enjoying grown-up beer and grown-up food in an altogether grown-up environment.

I was totally out of my depth.

On our way out, we couldn't believe our luck when we saw a family of four reading the blackboard outside. "Oh, it's not fair! Children aren't allowed in!" moaned one of the sprogs.

"Just like it was when I were a lad, kid," I wish I'd said.

Books, beer and babe

Book, beer and babe
Stense reading one of her new (old) acquisitions in a pub on Monday.

Pretty much sums up my idea of the perfect day out.

Which is just as well, really, because that's how I spent Monday. Stense was in town, and we went through our favourite combination of second-hand bookshops, cafés, and pubs.

Several stories and a brand new competition to follow.

If you're really lucky, I might even put up some more photos. (OK, Stense, so I lied: learn to deal with it.)

Rhyme time

A few years ago, I bought a rhyming dictionary. It was shrink-wrapped. Imagine my disappointment when I got home and opened it to discover that it was nothing more than a bunch of lists of words which rhyme with each other. I had quite reasonably expected it to be an ordinary dictionary where all the definitions were written in rhyme. You get the idea:

floater (n) sl.

A poo
In the loo
Whose buoyancy
Causes annoyancy

It seems to me there's a huge gap in the market for a proper rhyming dictionary.

(Twenty bonus points for the best rhyming definition in the comments.)

Postscript: I see from the comments that the gap in the market has already been filled.

It wasn't to be

BBC: England 6-15 South Africa

South Africa ended England's reign as world champions as the Springboks claimed their second World Cup victory.

The scoreline flattered South Africa, but, to be fair, they were the best team in the tournament—if not on the pitch.

The Australian television match official inflicted by far the most damage on the defending champions by disallowing Cueto's clear try early in the second half. The question has to be asked: why didn't he have access to the same video images as the rest of the world?

England were written off as no-hopers before tournament. We never expected to get to the final.

We'll be back.

Last meal

Conversation over Jen's ever-excellent homemade chorizo and pepperoni pizza this evening (I made the dough):

J: Is this your favourite dinner?
R: It's definitely up there.
J: What would you choose to eat for your last ever meal, if you were on Death Row?
R: The Pope.
J: The Pope?
R: Yeah. If I'm going to die, I'm taking that bastard with me.
J: This is my game: you're not allowed to eat another human being.
R: Well he eats the body of Christ every Sunday!