Which is what plenty of you have been doing this summer - Ma and Pa celebrated the third anniversary of moving to Beeses in August (by spending it in another country), and it’s been the best year yet. Many more people been converted to the Beeses way, and it’s been great to see a whole bunch of new regulars, as well as our longer term friends. For those of you who haven’t been here for a while, let’s look...through the round window...(cue spooky music...)

Kicked In The Teeth (Again)
Well, those of you who have been receiving this rubbish for a while (there are nearly 600 of you now!) might remember an unfortunate incident back in 2007 when Pa Beese managed to sink the boat during a high tide on the Avon. Never one to show that he has learned by his mistakes, Pa had forgotten how early a really high tide starts coming in. So imagine his surprise when he discovered the boat at a 45° angle and filling with water at a rapid rate - AGAIN! Oh, how we laughed...but the evening was not without benefit, as having gone through the drill once before, it took a mere twenty minutes to recover the boat this time, not least thanks to the efforts of Brad, Mark and Mark (none of whom will be reading this but who get our eternal gratitude anyway).

Pa Beese was later heard to say “This is the darkest day in the history of Beeses. If anyone wants me, I’ll be in the shower.” Or something.

There’s Gonna Be Some Mopping
That might be catastrophe enough for some, but Beeses folk are made of sterner stuff. “Is that the best you can do? Bring it on!” cried the staff. And lo, their cry was heeded, and a great flood was brought forth, with wailing and gnashing of teeth, and also quite a bit of clearing up as the toilets did overfloweth a few weeks later. Nevertheless, it was a little inconvenient as we had one or two (hundred) people in the place at the time. Such is a life that is far from rampant commerciality, crappy background music and a connection to the main sewage system.

Stiff Upper Lip
We should say thanks to everyone who was in the place that night, who were steadfast in their goodwill while we sorted out the situation. Our trade has grown at an exponential rate over the last three years, and if things have occasionally creaked a little at the seams while we cope with our growing pains, it’s been gratifying that you lot have shared in the pain with us, albeit with crossed legs and a slightly strained smile...

Gimme A Fillet
One thing that has been very successful are Ma Beese’s Fish Suppers. We held these on the first Wednesday of every month, and they immediately caught your imagination as they each sold out about six weeks ahead. From the feedback we had on each evening, our star chef Matt clearly lived up to the standard he set on our first one in April, and which received a fantastic review. Over the course of the season Matt served up such delights as squid and chorizo salad, barbecued lobster with chilli and wild garlic linguine, Cornish mackerel fillets with horseradish sour cream, tuna steak with black olive and caper salsa and a mixed warm bean salad, moules Marinière, whole sea bass stuffed with herbs (from our garden), crabcakes and seafood paella. If you like the sound of that, we’ll be doing the fish suppers again next season, as well as other, reservation-only, set menu specials, so stay tuned for news of more in 2010.

Hell’s Bells
Some of you have pointed out to us in recent weeks that the bell by our ferry steps has gone missing. Unfortunately, this was removed by some of the less-than-neighbourly partygoers who attended an open-air party held further down the river. So the clang of scaffold pole striking scaffold pole which normally summons the ferry has been replaced by a rather more cute tinkling of the chain that remains. Our ears are getting attuned to this rather more delicate sound, but if you’re not sure whether we’ve heard it, either come out from behind that tree and give us a wave, or ring the bar and ask them to send someone over (our number is on the sign).

We also managed to squeeze in our annual staff training event, a day when we took our wonderful, hard-working staff out for the day during which they managed to hone their crazy golf skills (although the sight of Ma wielding a metal club was pretty unnerving for everyone, as she appeared to be playing lacrosse at times). They also visited several other Bristol waterside establishments as part of a fact-finding mission, and while it was generally agreed that each one was very nice, they were a little disconcerted to find that none of them served cream teas - doesn’t every pub serve them???

Have a Drink on Me
And so the end of the season is approaching like an aunt at a wedding who’s had maybe one Malibu and coke too many, and who’s just realised that the DJ is playing Brickhouse. I can see that you know what I mean. Yes, there’s still time to boogie.

And what better place to boogie than at our fourth beer festival? It all kicks off this Friday evening, and goes through until Sunday afternoon. In between there will be more than ten hours of live music, twenty two different ales, and eight ciders. Matt will be cooking up a storm in the kitchen - there’s talk of Thai green curry and vegetable chilli, and our regular menu will be suspended (apart from the burgers - we GOTS to keep the burgers!). Saturday is already looking like it’s going to be pretty busy so if you want to come then and avoid disappointment, you can buy your tickets in advance by credit card and we’ll hold them on the door for you. And the good weather’s even coming back for us, proving once again that the sun always shines on the rambunctious...

One of the Bristol Ferry Boat Co’s public trips has already sold out at the time of writing, so if you fancy combining the beerfest with a boat trip, contact them by e-mail or on 0117 927 3416 for up-to-date information.