I finally paid a visit to The Docks Bar, the new brewery and bar that opened last month.

A brief stroll through the early afternoon pedestrians and intermittent sunshine, over the bridge on the Alexandra dock and a brief visit for a pleasant pint and a view of the pub.

A good selection of craft beers brewed on the premises plus some real ales on the bar pumps as well as a large selection of canned craft beers. I opted for the Docks Brewery 'Graveyard Shift', a 4.5% abv Stout made from chocolate malt and coconut. I like dark beers and much as I like lighter ales, IPA's often see me coughing and sneezing with the amount of hops that are added these days. Here's a view of the brewery itself and within minutes of arriving there the pub was packed with more afternoon punters including the posties who arrived from the sorting office nearby.

Loud music which wasn't for me as I like conversation but responsible dogs are encouraged to pop in with their adults, lots of trendy skinny trousered big bearded metropolitan types and that was just the women! A little bit of Islington in Grimsby. I will pop in from time to time as I enjoyed the beer and the atmosphere plus 5% discount for Camra members. At £3.35 a pint every little bit helps. It also helps that the bar is only just over 1/2 a mile from home and very easy to get to.

In other news, the past week at work was very busy and I suspect this will be the standard fayre as we are a very small team attempting to fill a very big need. I am enjoying it and there are some lovely people in the team. I have scoped out a couple of places to stop off for lunch picnics in between visits with wonderful views and peace dropping very slow. It's important to balance the stress of the job with some precious quiet time to recharge the batteries and lunch breaks are perfect for this. There is also the stressful news that my Mum will be booked in for surgery as the cancer has returned to her eye socket. She will be at Moorfield's Hospital sometime this month although no definite date as yet. Just as the treatment for her kidney stones is proving effective this returns although they have the caught it early this time. I'll pop down for a couple of quick visits and arrange a longer stay next year with No.1 son. She soldiers on and stated she doesn't want a fuss as after over fifty years of hard graft she said she is knackered and bits are bound to drop off or fail! Unlike my father of whom I have no fond memories my Mum kept us together, worked two jobs to put food on the table and clothe us kids  as well as ensured we were well educated. We owe her a lot so I am putting in some quality Mum time.
The part time cat Fluffy (aka Elvis) has now moved in, staying for meals and he stayed one extremely wet and cold night when we didn't have the heart to turf him out. We are encouraging him to return home as he belongs to someone else but he is making it clear he regards this as his home. Now for some music, feet up as I have walked a lot today plus shopping plus an hours modelling after an early start and time to dip into a good book.

TTFN.