Putting The Tin Lid On It

Today was one of those days. I couldn't sleep so I was up at 2.30 a.m watching an episode of Sort Your Life Out on iPlayer, fronted by the lovely Stacey Solomon. It's such a kind hearted and generous programme which helps families transform their homes with a life-changing declutter. We're in the middle of one ourselves at the moment and it's not an easy process so I sympathise entirely with the families involved. It's a feel-good programme but also I must admit rather guiltily I always think well at least our house isn't that bad!
I did try to go back to bed afterwards but only fitfully managed to get any more sleep so I when I did resurface again I must admit I definitely had a grump on. So I tried to blow off some steam by clearing more of the prunings from our beech hedge - I'm already up to three wheelie bins full.
After my 'strenuous' efforts I thought I deserved a pint based reward so we headed back to The Malta Inn where things started to take a further downward, and in the end quite comical (we saw the funny side later), turn.
The poor girl behind the bar at The Malta appeared to be running the entire place on her own, taking food orders and serving drinks, and she was looking a bit stressed, especially as the electronic tills were only working intermittently. We took our pints to sit out by the river but sadly they both smelt and tasted odd, although everyone else appeared to be drinking theirs happily enough, but we really didn't have the heart to take them back as the poor girl behind the bar had more than enough on her plate bless her.
So we thought we'd try another nearby pub, The Yew Tree. Oh dear! When we arrived there were no other cars in the car park which I suppose we should have taken as a bad omen. We weren't quite sure it was actually open as it appeared quite dark from the outside but as we approached we could see the entrance door was open. Bad sign two was that the landlord was outside mending his car. He followed us in when we went to order our drinks but there was no greeting or smile and he seemed less than happy to see us.
A sign inside appeared to suggest renovations were underway and indeed there were tools strewn across several tables. After serving us our drinks he went straight back outside to continue fixing his car. Charming! We took our drinks outside to the unkempt garden and then the final kicker was that the beer again smelt and tasted odd. By this stage we really didn't have the energy or the inclination to complain so we beat a hasty retreat.
To put the tin lid on my day I hadn't seen anything bipworthy and then I saw this rather battered and bruised shortbread tin (although I love its depiction of the highland terrier) in our kitchen - so why not post a picture of an actual tin lid as it encapsulated my day perfectly! :-)