Nigel Is Overcome By Festive Envy & Emotion ……..

Now, you can’t say that Darrell hasn’t managed to spirit a little of his decorative festive magic in every corner of The Towers, including in the “smallest” room ……

…… however, when Nigel visited one of his friends the other day, he couldn’t help but find himself consumed by festive envy ………

…… when he found that his friend only had a sprout design toilet roll adorning their holder, complete with seasonal jokes! From what I can gather he lingered rather, while trying to stifle his raucous laugher, before carefully having to re-roll the length of said delicate tissue that he’d enjoyed the comic pleasures of.

Let it be said that The Towers is in no way to be found wanting in this department, but after this our rather sedate M & S festive foliage print didn’t quite cut the mustard for the little fella and I think he might also have over egged the Christmas pudding with his friend with his bathroom envy …….

…….. because when he got back home he found that unbeknownst to him they’d slipped a spare roll in his bag ………

It was ……… how shall I say? EMOTIONAL, very EMOTIONAL.   How Father Christmas is going to top this goodness only knows!   What on earth is he like?

Ritter Sport White Cinnamon Crisp, So Good We Bought It Thrice ……

Now, we have to admit that we are not the greatest of “Cinnamonists” if you’ll pardon the expression, but there again we are also not averse to the odd, light shrinking of said spice on our hot festive beverages or in one or two of our favourite comestible bakery items of choice………

So it was with some trepidation that Darrell decided to bring back a pack of Ritter Sport White Cinnamon Crisp from Lldl the other day on a spooky, seasonal whim, for our considered delectation.

Let’s just say, the boy “dun gud”, OMG, we absolutely loved it, so much so that he was suitably commanded to acquire another two packs for our continued festive pleasure.

It was cinnamony, but not overly so,  it was also very sweet, as other reviewers will attest, but then again, we are very aware that we each have an incredibly sweet tooth, especially where white chocolate is concerned. 

It was also very crispy due to the crispy rice content, which feels/tastes to be sugar coated, hence the extra sweetness (?????), so for us, another great plus point.

A treat, perhaps, not for the faint hearted, as far as a sweet tooth is concerned  ………

……… but it’s an unequivocal score of 9.5 out of 10 snuggly, sofa nibbles from us on our World Famous Ritter Richter Scale of new festive confectionary noms.

Disclaimer:- The views and opinions expressed are those solely of the authors and may not necessarily reflect the opinions and taste of others ………  What are we like?

It’s That Time Again ……

It’s that most wonderful time of the year again when we all sit down together at the table to write our Christmas cards to our beloved fans ………

We had our festive photoshoot a month or so ago (we like to get ahead of ourselves) ……..

…… and this year we somehow managed to get the “money shot” almost immediately which, going on past years, is nothing short of a miracle. I think it may have had something to do with the prospect of  trying to stop the contents of our festive tub from going stale …….

…….. so no one got over diva-ish with their demands for the right lighting or their best angle being caught perfectly, as all eyes were on the Snickers!

We had a good system going, starting me, then Darrell and Nigel at the end as his name/handwriting needs the most space ……..

……. and then back to me for the addressing of envelopes……..

 ....... while Darrell cracked  open the Cherry B, our very favourite festive quaff of celebratory choice to toast another Yuletide job completed and very well done.  What are we like?

Bless His Little Cotton Socks

We didn’t see hide nor hair of Nigel for most of yesterday  (meals and seasonal snacks excepted) as he was busy wrapping up all his Christmas presents for his little readers at school.

He’d saved hard and shopped wisely buying a huge pile of books when The Works had their summer sale. He was well chuffed, declaring he was pretty sure he'd managed to snap up the bargain of the century through his prudency ……

……..even the wrapping paper had been silly money for a couple of mahooooosive rolls.

There was a card for everyone too, with Nigel wishing his beloved said little ones a Happy Christmas and telling them to keep up all their fantastic reading over the holidays. What is he like? Let's just say it was  ………. emotional! 

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas.

Oh my goodness, we never, in our wildest dreams, ever expected to wake up to this yesterday morning ……….

I thought Nigel would burst he was so excited, while Darrell was a tad emotional, it was all just toooooooooo seasonally romantic of a totally unforeseen type nature for words.

However, before we could fully embrace the snow in all it’s most wonderful and beguiling beauty, there were a few practicalities to deal with, when the snow shovel and heavy duty brush we’ve had ready in the meter cupboard for such an occassion for the past 10 months or so could finally be christened.

So while Laci, our lovely neighbour Kata’s husband, manfully took charge of said shovel, we found out out the seaside buckets and spades to help spread the salt and grit with companionable gusto. We all worked together like a well oiled snow machine, affording our neighbours safe passage to the bins and their cars.

Then, when all was done we were then able to go into the back and take in the magnificent splendour of the vista that awaited us.

In our six odd years chez The Towers I don't think we’ve ever seen it looking quite as poetically picturesque as this.

Perhaps two weeks too early, but what a glorious start to the run up to our most favourite time of the year …….

…….. as I said, it was emotional. A day for hunkering down and sipping hot chocolate with 100% Christmas on the radio and present wrapping, followed by a Christmas film or two in the evening. 

Happy, happy, happy days.

A Most Magnificent Nativity

It has to be said that in the lead up to the BIG DAY we all very much appreciate a good nativity, especially Nigel, bless his little festive socks.

In the past I think the little fella may have been sorely tempted by this magnificent offering to make a considered purchase, even although it would have been right at the very top of his budget ……….

……. but now he has his very own knitted nativity which has become a very much loved part of The Towers seasonal adornment …….

……. with many, many thanks to our wonderful friend and follower Seaside Karen, in romantic Lytham St Annes. It brings back so many happy memories of Christmas’s past in the homeland and never fails to bring a smile to all our faces, especially Nigel’s.  We’ve said it a hundred times before but “Thank You” again Seaside Karen, you’ve made our Christmas forever!

We Will NOT Be Watching ………

Well, even if we did have Netflix, we would certainly not be watching a certain docusoap that’s on tonight, preferring instead to start on the 1,000 piece Constable Hay Wain jigsaw Darrell picked up from the Salvation Army shop this morning, while having no contact with the outside world whatsoever until it’s well and truly over …….

……. because despite all the robust celebration at The Towers back in  May 2018, even then we all had a spooky, foreboding, late Derek Acorah (RIP) type feeling we just couldn’t put our fingers on, but didn’t like to say at the time ……….

……. and I am afraid, as such, our commentative Tesco mugs very quickly found their way to a charity emporium up the road.

We miss our beloved Queen terribly, but thank goodness she isn’t here to see what’s happening.  Some people, how shall we put it, have no class, ‘nuff said!

Keeping Up With Decorative Festive Trends

It has to be said we are all very much suckers for the odd free magazines that occassionally plop into our mailbox …….

……… not least Darrell.

If we were still at Castle Greyskull back in the homeland and knowing how things have turned out, the sky would undoubtedly be the limit.  Young Nigel would probably have wangled his own miniature Christmas village to go all the way round his bedroom, instead of gazing wistfully at the one in the window of Mr Chills, our emporium of confectionary choice. 

And, if Darrell had his way, our more than ample frontage of yesteryear would now be rivalling Blackpool,  so in some ways, especially in the season of good will to all men, I am grateful for the comforting and “safe” bijouxity of The Towers …… 

……. especially as far as the presence of any gonk is concerned. I just don’t get them or their over prolonged, in my opinion, longevity. The thought of even one taking up space on “my” sofa fills me with the absolute horrors.

So almost everything in this years festive Webbs flyer, size wise, is more or less off limits as far as Darrell adding to his already large collection of seasonal bits and pieces …….. except for, perhaps, a mahooooosive, giant, fleece lined hoodie which, while the energy crisis continues does seem a very good idea.

However, as he remarked ruefully as he flicked through said pages, all this Debbie Downerism could change quite dramatically if just one of our beloved No. 1 Fan, Jan the Fans Advent scratch card windows were to look favourably upon us! OMG …….. I dread to think what would happen then!