Monday 30 September 2019

Darrell Feels The Urge

Over the past week or so I have watched Darrell becoming increasingly restless. He confessed to me that since he'd not been away on our customary Greek Odyssey this year, he'd found himself, rather unexpectedly, pining for the azure blue sea and had wondered whether he could bring a flavour of Greece to The Towers by redecorating the main bedroom (usually my domain) using a colour pallete of Greek type nature.
What he wanted to do was take the turquoise from a bracelet he'd bought during last years Odyssey  and incorporate it into his idea, and, as such, had been gathering paint samples and talking rather a lot on Skype with Hugh (his best friend and mentor) to discuss the latest en trend colour combinations,  texture and the pitfalls of  themed accessorising and trancklement placement.
To be honest, what they spend hours talking about is all very much a mystery to me, but I gave him my blessing to do whatever he had "invisioned", as I was begining to feel a little beiged out myself.
After that it was only a matter of time before he disappeared up to B & Q on the bus, to make one or two considered purchases ........

........ before donning his bonnet de douche and taking up his brush.........
I am leaving him to it, at the moment all I can hear is him happily humming and singing along to Radio 2, ................... so I presuming all is going to plan!

Thursday 26 September 2019

Nursery's Punkin Patch

There is a mutual feeling of shared excitement and anticipation between Nigel and young master Bertie over the Nursery Punkin Patch as Bertie likes to call it.
If all grows well the punkins will be used to decorate the whole of the nursery meadow on their Autumn Faye Evening.
It's one of Nigel's most favourite evenings of the school year as it's all very magical and he gets to decorate a biscuit (or two) and always comes back with a (temporary) spooky tattoo, among other things ........
 ...... so it's very important that all the punkins are left to just get on with it and grow, grow, grow!  Nigel reckons that if gently encouraged the plants could produce at least twenty said punkins .......
...... and to that end Nigel has taken it upon himself to talk to each and every one in turn to help them along  .......
........ if talking to plants is good enough for Sir Lord Prince Charles then it's good enough for Nigel......the Nursery punkins will certainly not be found wanting this year on Nigel's watch!

Wednesday 25 September 2019

Incy Wincy .......

Now autumn is with us, we are finding that the Towers is becoming a warmer prospect for creatures of a long legged type nature ........
......  they have seemed to be happy staying at close quarters, but outside ........
....... but then Nigel made a discovery dans le bathroom ........
...... one had ventured inside The Towers and was mahoooooooosive ...... which answered the question as to why Darrell had been insisting on using my en-suite shower for his ablutions for the past few days ........
Now, Nigel, being Nigel, though he hated the thought of said spider, who he christened Arnold, being out in the cold, also considered Darrell's "unspoken" predicament, carefully placed a glass over Arnold and slipped a piece of paper under it, thus containing him ....... he then took the glass outside and released Arnold safely back into the wild.
Nigel then casually mentioned to Darrell that he had found a mahooooosive spider in the bathroom but had thought it best to remove him and so Darrell, equally casually, returned to using it, without another word said ..... what are they like?

Tuesday 24 September 2019

Grumpy Old Man ....... Please Don't Call Me ........

I am afraid I continue to be a bit of a Grumpy Old Man ........
This morning I feel as if I really need to get something off my chest .......... and that is ........ "PLEASE DON'T CALL ME HUN"!  You just wouldn't believe how much it gets on my craw.  I don't mind darling, sweetheart, sweetie, especially from a little old lady, but HUN .......... NOoooooooooooo ...........
I am thinking of asking Darrell to make me badge (like the one I found when Googling) on his badge maker, for me to wear when I am out.
Perhaps it's just me ....... but please, please, please don't call me ***!

Monday 23 September 2019

Nigel Finds ...........

Don't ask me why Nigel decided to don his morning suit to nip up to Aldi yesterday, but on the way he "found" something  ................. to roughly quote Oscar Wilde ........
........ "To lose one shoe may be regarded as a misfortune; ............................
 .................... to lose both looks like carelessness."   but at least they were "lost" neatly.

Wednesday 18 September 2019

The Day After The Wedding Before .............

Nigel is not sure what time he got to bed, if in fact he did.  He just knows that he woke up this morning still in his morning suit, which was probably quite apt!
To clear the cobwebs he thought that the best course of action would be to go for a brisk walk round the duck pond, filling his lungs with fresh air  ...........
....... to help work up an appetite for the apres wedding breakfast.
Showered and changed he was quite surprised to find that he was still the first one down .........
........ but decided not to wait for the others as he had a feeling that they all might trickle in slowly, rather than congregate in one fell swoop. He ordered almost everything from the menu as he didn't want anything to go to waste, again feeling that the appetite of others might not be quite as robust as his own.
He says that breakfast was certainly not found wanting and came to the conclusion that he quite liked weddings, in fact he quite liked weddings a lot!

Tuesday 17 September 2019

Happy Days

Nigel says that the posh wedding he'd gone to Cheadle for was truly wonderful, if not a little overwhelmingly emotional at times, I dread to think!
Yes, he'd sobbed, especailly when the bride and groom gazed romantically into each others eyes as they said their vows ..........
........ but he thought he'd done it pretty discreetly about it, although I am not sure that is entirely possible?   What is he like?
The reception was very lovely too, the food was exquisite and the champagne flowed. Intoxicated by the whole occasion he told us that he had even made a short, impromptu speech that got him standing ovation (????) ........ goodness only knows what he said.
But the best bit of all .......  in his expert opinion .......
............ was the colouring at the tables afterwards, although he admitted to going more and more over the lines as the evening progressed.
I give up!

Monday 16 September 2019

Nigel ....... On A Wedding Adventure ......

Nigel is currently in Cheadle for a very swanky wedding, he's been soooooo excited he's almost  been beside himself ............... 
....... having all but lived in his morning suit for the past week. The suit he had specially made from e-bay, you'll remember, for when he went to Buckingham Palace to take tea with the Queen a few years back now.
He is staying at the very sumptuous Oddfellows on the Park, which is costing him almost as much as a Greek Odyssey, but he says, he is wanting for nothing.
He has a freewheeling rollmop freestanding roll top bath in his bedroom, from which he has the most romantic vista over the park ....... and anyone out for an evening stroll, had they looked up, could have possibly caught a very interesting vista of young Nigel dans his de luxe, complimentay bonnet de douche and loofa no doubt!
He also has the most mahoooooosive bed positioned right in the middle of the room so that you can walk all the way around and approach it from all angles ........ 
 ........ and a most comprehensive set of goodie drawers.........
........ containing a Nesspresso machine, which he sadly hasn't used because he says he is frightened of it, bless him.
He's even got a proper Roberts radio, something Darrell has always had a very long felt want for.
Speaking of Darrell, Nigel says he'd be very interested to hear his opinions on the Oddfellows very unusual decor ideas ........
.......especially the full scale horse on one of the landings..........
...... which is almost so life like that Nigel almost felt compelled to check to see if it had left any ....... erm ...... deposits.  What is he like?
Nigel says he is trying to "act normal",  as if he is used to such luxury and that having full scale horse on the landing is normal, after all he has been to Buckingham Palace,  but what he really wants to do is sing at the top of his voice  ....... " ........ if the could see me now!" from one of Hugh's most favourite films Sweet Charity "........ eating fancy chow and drinking fancy wine", he's a darling (Nigel not Hugh) 

Thursday 12 September 2019

Waitrose Did Not Disappoint

Yesterday afternoon, as planned we all trotted off to the dentist where we were all given a clean bill for the most excellent of dental health with another appointment in six months time.
We then, as Darrell had promised, paid a visit to Waitrose to satisfy my yearning for one (or more) of their summer scotch eggs and gooseberry chutney.  Oh my goodness, it was a world away from Tesco, Aldi and Lldl, our usual shopping grounds, very chilled and relaxed, I could really get used to it.
Even though I can't stand them, you should have seen their selection of olives ...... I have never seen so many varieties.
And the scotch eggs?  Let's just say Waitrose did not disappoint, as not only did they have the pork, pea and mint and the pork, beetroot and cheese that I had dreamt about, but they were also on special offer, 2 for £2, saving me a total of £1.08!!! and the gooseberry chutney I longed for was 50p off too. Darrell had said that if we shopped prudently we could make the trip work to our benefit, he was so right, bless him.
We looked for a few yellow labels and found a few other treats for our tea ..........  it was emotional!  What am I like?
My tea was everything I had dreamt of and more, the scotch eggs were total perfection ...........
...... and the gooseberry chutney ....... was almost too much for me, it was, too wonderful for words.
Darrell said that was it then, our usual Branston Pickle was now a thing of the past at The Towers, from here on in only Waitrose "gussgog" chutney would pass our lips......  and let's be honest, I am certainly not going to argue that decree!  Happy days!

Wednesday 11 September 2019

Soooooooooo Tempted By Waitrose

Now, we are pretty much Aldi, Lldl and Tesco kind of a family ...... but this morning we got a Waitrose pamphlet through the post, I'll be honest, this sort of thing usually goes straight in the bin, but curiosity got the better of me ..........
What can I say? I am extremely partial to a scotch egg and  seemed to be hypnotically drawn to the scotch eggs page,  I admit, I drooled at the sight and thought of all three of their posh varieties; pork, pea and mint, pork, beetroot and cheese, and black pudding and Bramley apple scotch eggs ....... with the suggestion of a gooseberry chutney accompaniment!
It fair rendered me pretty helpless.  When Darrell came into the room, he couldn't help but ask why I appeared to be somewhat catatonic and dribbling ....... so I showed him said feature.  He sighed and then said philosically "Well, we work hard enough for a treat now and again, we deserve a select purchase!"...........
....... and since we all had a check up and scrape and polish at our dentist in the afternoon .....which is  only round the corner from Waitrose, there was no reason why we couldn't just pop in.  There was also a money off voucher at the back of the flyer,  so with a little prudent shopping, we could have a splurge!
Sometimes you just have to love him............