If You're Happy And You Know It Raise Your Glass

Country pubs don't really go in for Happy Hours. I haven't read the stats but maybe country dwellers are happy enough and it's only City dwellers who need cheering up.

ROLL UP, ROLL UP - GET OUT OF THE SMOG AT FIVE O'CLOCK AND HAVE A PINT OF FOSTERS FOR £1.50. TWO PINTS FOR £3 OR THREE PINTS FOR A FIVER. GUARANTEED SMILES.  BY SIX IT'S BACK TO £3 A PINT, BUT YOU WON'T CARE SO MUCH COS YOU'LL BE WELL AND TRULY HAMMERED. 

The country pub is still a great place to be at 5 o'clock on a Friday afternoon. There's a buzz and people stand at the bar. Despite working hard all week, people have renewed energy and bring communal cheer. It's Happy Hour without the deals. Golden ales instead of Fosters. Vanilla shag instead of Malboro Lights. Tony cackling hysterically about his wife's cooking rather than 'piped through' Rihanna. A cheer when someone enters instead of an indifferent glance. And all followed by a short stroll home through leafy lanes instead of the hectic tube/bus/ferry ride.

I may be sounding a tad smug about country living here but it is Happy Hour so a-happy I shall be.

Get the oven on Joanna, I feel a home-baked cake coming on.