At the Spa.

I went to the local for my usual couple of swifties and whilst talking to the landlord he informed me that Reg has taken to drinking in another watering hole along the road. Apparently he is now frequenting the Kings Head (aka ’The Nut’) rather than his beloved place here in the Marquis of Granby. Seems he has really taken the hump over the Cockapoo thing and despite my reservations I decided to go along to the The Nut and smooth things out.
Now The Nut is not really familiar territory to me these days simply because the same beer is more expensive and their leanings towards loud music are no longer my way of life. So, waltzing in I spotted Reg standing by the bar in the snug seemingly enjoying the Irish band performing at 110 decibels amidst a myriad of young students slopping lager all over the floor. Not only has he seemingly got a hearing problem, he’s evidently lost his faculties. Through the strains of ten verses of the Irish rover and the resultant banging of glasses on the table by the students I managed to persuade Reg to return back to sanity and come back with me to the Marquis for a quiet one in the bar.

On the walk over the subject of the dog raised its head and Reg promptly informed me that the matter was closed and he had not been down to Somerset to buy a four hundred pound mongrel. The upshot being him and his good wife had not been speaking for the best part of seven days when he told her he was not travelling all that way and spending that sort of money on as he put it, a posh crossbred. I quietly agreed with him but sensed there was something more to this as his mood was once again switching to a simmering anger.  Glad to reach the Marquis I was at least placated to realise it’s dominoes night and it may well settle him down once he gets the feel of the bones and maybe wins a few Bob. I thought my feelings were justified when as we walked to the bar Harry shouted us over for a game of doms and we joined him and Jim in a four handed game of fives and three’s.The banter was good and Reg was sitting with a good stack of ten pence pieces in front of him when Jim (who is incidentally Reggie’s next door neighbour) asked Reg if Maud (Maud being Reggie’s wife) was back from her three day stay at a posh Spa in Somerset, and had she bought the dog back home with her as she intended…
   
Needless to say that was the end of a perfectly good game of Dominoes and Reg left the bar not in the best of moods. Another three days have passed and once again no sight of Reg in the Marquis but the trusty jungle drums tell me he has been seen in The Nut…no doubt, in a few weeks and a vet bill later for jabs, the students will be socialising the pup and teaching it to swim the sea of cold slops to boot.