Happy Halloween

Last night we decided to embrace a premature Halloween … because Darrell won’t be with us tonight as he is bound for London to spend a few days with our friend Hugh in romantic Notting Hill and indulge in a little of his showbiz life.

After robust and, at times, heated debate it was finally agreed that after Nigel’s recent disappearance it would not be the most sensible of ideas to allow him to go out “trick or treating” …….so we organised a little festive apple bobbing chez nous for him ……

…. well, in truth…. pear bobbing , because Darrell made a “bit” of a mistake when he was popping things into our online shopping basket ….. unfortunately before you could say Granny Smith ….. Red Bartletts were being checked out!  What is he like?…. but apples or pears ….it really didn’t matter to Nigel ….

He embraced the activity with all his usual joie de vivre …. although we never intended him to get quite so wet!

Bless his little cotton socks!

Cooks Halloween Promo Week

Is this the happy smiling face of Halloween?

We are all now having a well earned half term break after a week where all “skellybob” hands were to the pump for Cooks Halloween Kitchen Promo.

Darrell was put in charge of promo posters, something he is getting quite a reputation for …… he said that it is always a challenge to come up with something new to help entice the young ladies into the kitchen to sample Cooks recipes of a “rather seasonally gruesome” type nature, adding that poster design was always a very welcome distraction  from the rigours of his usual occupation as Confidential Document Shredder Operative.

Cook gave Nigel the heady responsibility of blowing up all the festive balloons, something he did with great gusto.

But, despite Nigel’s overwhelming enthusiasm, Cook decided against letting him loose with a carving knife on the pumpkins for this year at least, saying that he needed to complete his “Wielding Using Sharp And Dangerous Kitchen Utensils in a Safe Way” Health and Safety Course first. ….. heaven help us!

But there were lots of other decorations for Nigel and Darrell  to help Cook put up ….

….. and a fair few comestibles to sample, which were unfortunately robustly consumed before I could take any photos ….. or try any for myself!

What are they like?

All Is Not What It Seems ….. Honestly!

Unfortunately,  I had a slight sniffle for a couple of days last week and so Darrell had to take over my duties of a Halloween type nature in the Food Tech Department to prevent any outbreak of unseemly cross contamination ….. a task he embraced with relish …..but it did get me to thinking ….

… that some of you may have come to the  assumption that since I joined the Food Department as the new Departmental Technician my days are filled solely with the sampling of cupcakes .....

..... I feel I must robustly refute this allegation, despite the photographic evidence proving to the contrary!

It’s just that celebratory and seasonal cupcakes are very much de rigueur and rife throughout the department at the moment ! What more can I add in my defence? To quote Darrell after his brief culinary stint on my behalf, ”I suppose a glut of cupcake sampling can look somewhat suspicious, but sometimes cupcakes just happen …..get over it ….. nom, nom, nom …..”

.... It would have been a nice touch if I could have got in touch with Derek Accorah as he would have made a most excellent and seasonal guest judge at Cupcake Club during this tide of spookiness  ….. perhaps next year!

Wearing Our Poppies With Pride.

A lot of people have commented on the stunning poppies we have been wearing this year in support of the Royal British Legion .....

….. they are indeed very special because our beloved PE Lady’s Mum has knitted millions of them to raise funds for the Royal British Legion, we indeed wear ours with pride and are also very, very proud of the aforementioned the PE Lady’s Mum for all of her hard work.

http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/support-us/

OMG ….. Famous Artist John Lee Bird Immortalises Our Darrell Forever!!

Oh my God .,…. Darrell, Nigel and I lead such magical charmed lives at the best of times but yesterday totally blew us off the planet when we had a text message from Hugh, our best friend who lives the showbiz life in Notting Hill to tell us that we should look on Facebook ……

OMG ….. the famous artist John Lee Bird who Darrell had recently “befriended” on the aforementioned Facebook had only sent him a message …..

…… and as if that wasn’t brilliant enough,  John Lee Bird had ALSO turned a picture of Darrell into a work of art …… OMG, OMG, OMG!  I am afraid that is all any of us can say at the moment …… OMG!

Darrell is now a muse!!  This is such a totally unbelievable, fairy-tale thing to happen …..  Hugh says that there are some very, very famous people who are desperate for John Lee Bird to paint/draw them ….. but he has  told them no …… BUT he has done Darrell!!!  Can you imagine????

Needless to say Darrell has had to take to bed, such is his emotion. 

…. and who can blame him ……  it’s not everyday you are immortalised forever by a very great and famous artist.  We are so proud!!

http://www.johnleebird.com/    http://www.saatchionline.com/johnleebird

Nigel Muses On A Friday .....

Why do your fingers and toes go all wrinkly and pruney in the bath and nothing else does?

Rainbow Cup Cakes

The youngest of the young ladies at school, who go to Cupcake Club, asked me to judge their rainbow cupcakes …… I felt immensely honoured …. and was determined to carry out the task with all due and robust diligence.

There were five cakes in all to be evaluated …..

……but I thank goodness they had been cut into four, because although I have a hearty appetite for “the cup cake” …… to eat five whole ones in quick succession would have certainly overloaded my digestive tract.

I judged each cake by how they filled the cake case, the separation of the individual colours, sponginess and most importantly nom nom nominess.

In the end I selected cake No.4 as my cup cake of choice, which I described as “Sooooooo light and fluffy, as if created by angels in the kitchens of heaven” ….. I may have over egged my description a little, but it did get a rapturous round of applause ….. and I think I may be asked to judge at Cupcake Club again. Perhaps someone from the BBC will read this and see that I could have the potential to be a most excellent “guest” judge on the Great British Bake Off, you never know!!

Spooky Shapes Sur La Jardin ….. Dans Le Nuit

I love the apron the PE Lady’s Mum made me so much I haven’t taken it off yet …..

….. and the threat of impending cold frosty nights gave me further opportunity to test it’s properties of vestment protection to the full sur la jardin de Chateau Castle Greyskull ……

…… as we all had to pull together to put fleecy covers on all of Andy’s palm trees to afford them warmth and shelter through the perils of the long wintery months that lie ahead.

They looked a little strange in the daylight,  but ………..………. we found that at night that they take on a whole new unearthly spookiness ….and caste very creepy Derek Acorah type shadows on the patio…..

….. and as a result we have decreed to only go in pairs to fetch the washing in after nightfall from now on!  What are we like??

A Present Of A Practical Type Nature From The PE Lady’s Mum

I got to work yesterday morning and I found, what looked like a little pile of material and a note waiting for me on my desk.

On closer inspection it was two aprons and a note …… from the PE Lady ….

It seems that my new job as Food Technician in the Food Department and our taking over the gardening duties at Chateau Castle Greyskull has caused the poor PE Lady’s mum several sleepless nights worrying  robustly about our clothes getting soiled.

…… and as such, had taken to her sewing machine like a woman possessed and had fashioned Darrell and I a beautiful apron apiece of very gay apparel.  Needless to say mine was on before you could say Anthea Redfern Turner ….

….. and I immediately went to road test it in my “beloved” department.  I can report that it afforded me excellent protection whilst I performed my Monday morning fridge rotation ……

…… and duties of a laundry type nature …. I was overwhelmed by my lovely gift ….. as was Darrell when I gave him his, he tried to sniff in a manly fashion, but I knew he was mahooosively choked.  THANK YOU PE LADY’S MUM …… WE LOVE YOU!!

Julian Clary –Position Vacant …. Apply Within.

With all the trauma of Nigel’s “absence” Darrell really needed a night out to forget himself.

….. and so it was very fortuitous that after Celebrity Big Brother finished a couple of months ago Darrell got himself a ticket to see Julian Clary in Birmingham  …. I felt this could be a little risqué for him and that a lot of the show might go over his head ….. but, who am I to stifle Darrell’s growing cultural development?My trepidation was further justified when he sent me a text message that included a shot of him and his pre theatre comestibles, I have to admit to my heart sinking and my stomach turning ….. a shish kebab kebab? What is he like?  I really do need to work on his finesse!

Darrell’s excitement of actually seeing someone, in real life, who he had voted for and thus helped go on to win Celebrity Big Brother was both tangible and palpable …. as I am sure was the residual whaft of Darrell’s kebab to the people sitting around him.

….. Anyway,  Darrell was a little disappointed but also a little relieved that Julian didn’t select him to go on stage as a potential “husband”,  but it was all very funny and Julian did not disappoint, although there are a few choice phrases that he used that Darrell has asked me to explain at my convenience ….. which I hope he will eventually forget about!

When he got home …. and before he went to bed, Darrell was still on a high and so started a new section in his scrapbook entitled “Famous People What I Have Voted For And Have Seen In Real Life” … he was quite creative as he turned the picture of Julian into a pocket into which he slipped his ticket. I wonder who he will put in next ………??

Stockholm Syndrome?

We think Nigel has a little bit of Stockholm Syndrome as he only speaks of his captors in the very fondest of terms …. he said that he had been very well looked after and that he had wanted for nothing ….. Umbongo was on tap …. and there was a constant supply of Skittles …..

….. until they discovered that they made him a hyper – hyperactive! He even said that having his skin scrapped for any spare DNA had been a fun experience …… and yes ….. after Nigel’s first bath of freedom we were able to check that nothing about his person had been removed! Nigel said, just before going to sleep, that we should “Rule a line under the carpet” and that tomorrow was another day …… And all he wanted to do was spend that day back in the kitchen with Cook …..

…. and check to see if she and his beloved fridge were alright, bless him.

Imagine his little face when he saw that while he had been “away” Cook had started to stock Strawberry and Banana Jubblies as a variation to the very popular orange ones, on his considered advice and recommendation …. he said that this exciting new development had almost made him forget about having his blood changed twice and his belly button swabbed!!! What is he like?