A Romantic Christmas Story……..

WARNING -  PLEASE avert your eyes if you suffer from arachnophobia ……. 

……. Nigel, bless him, has been totally enchanted by all the spiders, big and small and the beautiful dewy/frosty webs ……..

……. he has encountered while on his way to and from collecting his beloved niece and nephew from school ……

…..  and beguiling them with the Legend of The Christmas Spider and holding them spellbound  ……

Copyright Jai Moore Designs TM

Darrell, as you know, isn’t too keen on the spindly, long legged creatures, but in the season of goodwill to all men and little monkeys, he’s erm …….warming to them, although he’d still prefer it if they would give The Towers as wide a berth this Christmas as possible.  What is he like?

Having A Festive Plopp

Yuletide is a time when we like to try one or two of the new and different festive comestibles we stumble upon when we are out mooching …….

….. so when Nigel spotted these Plopps in the Swedish section (hosts of the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest, woo hoo hoo), when he nipped into Lidl, on the way back from the school run, it was a no brainer, the name was enough to sell them to him!

Now, it goes without saying that we greatly appreciate anything of a milk chocolate bite type nature, especially when soft toffee filling is involved ………

……… so when you then add a country as romantic and inherently Christmassy as Sweden to the mix, it has to be a must for a cheeky seasonal review.

How did our Plopps fair?  Well, as you know, we all have an incredibly sweet tooth, but on this occassion, they were just on the cusp of being almost too sweet for us, which is almost an unknown! So sadly, though they promised much in their romanticism,  we can only award them 5 chocolate logs out of 10 Christmas tree trunks, on our festive Richter scale of noms.

However, all is not lost, as it’s a big bag, we’ll still keep a few for us, but we thought we’d also pop one or two Plopps in with our festive family and friends fairings….. but only for the ones we know share the same sense of humour as us……..what are we like?

Another Of Darrell’s Long Felt Wants In The Festive Bag?

You may remember a little while ago, Darrell falling in love with a retro peacock chair in the hospice shop, something he’s had a long felt want for, but had to resign himself to the fact that no matter how much he mentally re-jigged our furniture around, there was no possible way he could find a space for it chez Towers …….

…… well, Nigel may have found the answer ……..

….. in another charity shop, just two doors down from the original hospice one  ………..

……. to wit, a miniature version, probably just as old, going for the princely sum of £2. It’s big enough for Nigel to sit in, but sadly would be a too little snug to allow Darrell to lounge whimsically in it, however, enough’s as good as a feast, with the little fella reasoning that it still might appeal to Darrell’s artistic side with a nice pot plant sat sitting where he’d really prefer his bum to be!

So, feeling very pleased with himself, a considered Christmas present was duly purchased for Darrell and if the plant idea didn’t quite appeal, he was sure Darrell would come up with an equally creative idea …… although, I think, the little fella is secretly hoping that Darrell might just re-gift it back to him, what is he like?

We Are …….. A Two Tree Family

Oh my goodness,  I can almost feel it in my water that this Christmas is going to be pretty special ……

…… because although The Towers is indeed bijoux, has Darrell finally achieved a festive long felt want ……..

…… as we are now ….. officially …… a two Christmas tree family!

While Darrell and Nigel were out mooching for nothing in particular, Darrell spied a pop up, pencil, Christmas tree in the corner of the charity shop at the end of our road.  Nigel said that Darrell stood transfixed, like a reindeer caught in headlights for a few seconds before uttering that he just had to have it and he knew exactly where it could go without it impeaching impeding  on a single inch of our precious floor space.

So, when he asked the lovely lady in the shop how much it was, it would have looked rude not to snatch her hand and arm off, especially when she said she’d give them a special price as Darrell was such a good customer, but then, it got even betterer,  as said tree also came with all the decorations and a set of all singing, all dancing lights!  Let’s just say it was a very emotional walk home with all their swag.

I have to admit it does look rather lovely stood standing in the small space betwixt the TV and arm chair

However, the only problem now is wrestling the control box away from Nigel, as I think we’ve had to oooo and ahhhh at every single sequence, goodness knows how many times because he can’t decide which one he likes the best.  I’ve told him that he can twinkle, fade, flash and wave as much as he likes during the day, but in the evening, due to it’s close proximity to the TV, it has to be set firmly on steady, otherwise it could all get  a trifle distracting and we don’t want Darrell to get one of his heads, especially at this time of year.

Darrell has been like a dog who’s found three bones, a large stick. an abandoned rubber ball and his tail all day, with another tick added to his yuletide bucket list! So …….very happy, jingle bell days.

Disappointment On Christmas Jumper Day ……

On this Christmas Jumper Day 2023, with Darrell suitably attired in a fetching stripy appliqued Rudolph type ensemble …….

…… he has confessed to not a little Christmas jumper envy …….

….. and I have to admit, that the object of his desire is quite a Christmas jumper ……. Marmite being and always has been, our savoury spread of choice.

However, although he tried and ample funds were available …….

…… unfortunately, said jumper does not come in any of our sizes!

Questions of an important festive jumper type nature really do need to be asked in Parliament!

Our Favourite Festive Word .......

Our favourite festive word, apart of course from all the obvious ……?

It HAS to be Lebkuchen. I know that must sound a little weird, but we just love it and during the festive season take every opportunity to get our mouths round it, as it were, as often as we can ……..

Darrell has made sure we have an plentiful supply, from Lidl, of these lovely, traditional German delicacies to go with our morning coffee, afternoon snack, supper or whenever the fancy for a nibble takes us …… giving us plentiful excuse to then litter our conversation with said word. It just  rolls off the tongue and makes us giggle at the same time.  You can say it in so many different ways, encompassing every mood and emotion, try it! Or ...... perhaps it’s just us?

What are we like?

Another New Christmas Jumper For Nigel

We have to admit to having quite an extensive festive wardrobe, not unlike the Royals at Christmas in Sandringham, we too have been known to change outfits five to six times a day, to suit the occassion, over the holiday.

However, finding clothes that fit Nigel, you’ll understand, isn’t the easiest of tasks, so when Darrell spotted a whole range of cosy festive sweaters in Maxi Save, up in town, it was a no brainer ……

……. because even after Christmas, the little fella could easily rock one of the more subtler designs until at least the end of January, without standing out like a sore thumb.

So, needless to say, Darrell’s final choice of considered purchase was received amidst a flurry of Christmas emotion ……

…….with Nigel divested and then re-robed in a matter of seconds.  He looked fairisle-ly hunky yet cute at the same time …….

……. just like an old fashioned knitting pattern model, but minus the pipe!   What are we like?

Happy, warm snuggly days akimbo …….

Deck The Trees …….

Sorry about the dodgy pictures again …… we’ve decided that we’re definitely going to ask Santa for a new one now!

The school run gets a little busier for Nigel and his beloved niece and nephew at this time of year as they try to spread the joy ……

…… and early this morning they were busy dressing one of the bare trees along the school path, with baubles bought by his lordship from the 10 for £1 baskets in various charity shops in Evesham ……..

It was …… emotional.

…… with each bauble thoughtfully hung ……..

…….. amidst the carefree and innocent excitement and dreams of our precious little ones, looking forward to a magical and happy Christmas all together ……

……and in the hope that others might follow to stop by, make a wish and help fill the tree by the end of the school term.

Such happy days, with traditions created and memories made to take into their futures …….. long after we have become threadbare and a little unstuffed ……. and in need of Toy Hospital!!!