Beer Garden

This morning I had a meeting in Knutsford, which went rather well, thank you for asking. And although the journey back was very pleasant, it was slightly pressured as I had to be back to pick up Milly from school at ten past one to take her to the dentist.

I swung into school bang on time, feeling rather pleased with myself and parked up at the bottom of the 'U' to wait for Milly. Since we had arranged to meet at ten past, I was half expecting her to be there already.

Minutes passed. No Milly.

There's no mobile 'phone signal in school and, anyway, Milly *shouldn't* have had her 'phone with her but, even so, I was inclined to drive up to where I could try her number. But then, I thought, she's bound to come out and then she'll think I was late. And I am late often enough that I was keen to make the point that I'd been on time.

At twenty past I caught sight of Milly in the rear view mirror, walking leisurely towards the car. I knew this wasn't an indifference to the fact I'd been waiting but rather the fact that it wouldn't be quite the thing to be seen to be hurrying. She opened the door. "Sorry" she said with a disarming grin, "I completely forgot".

The drive down to Bentham was lovely; clear, sunny and dry. Milly commented that it was just like summer, although it was only a little above freezing outside.

Dropping her off at the dentist - five minutes late - I went off to find somewhere to park the car. A couple of hundred yards down the road, I came across a turning just by the Horse and Farrier, which had a lay-by with a car already parked in it but room for mine alongside. So, I left the car there and was about to set off back up the road when I thought I'd try and get a picture of the snowy hills in the sunshine.

Walking 'round the back of the pub, I came across this rather splendid beer garden, which I'll definitely come back to again when summer arrives. As I was just saying to @combi31, yesterday, one of the great things about projects - such as taking a daily photograph - is these unexpected dividends that they can pay, when the act of stepping outside of daily routine can lead to discoveries and opportunities.

PS I'm aware there's a beer theme emerging in my blogs. Tomorrow: my day out with the Temperance Society :-)