Darrell And Nigel Do The Birmingham Christmas German Market

Darrell decided to leave the best till last when he took Nigel to Birmingham for the day,  to give my face a rest ……after several hours of adventure in Selfridges, Darrell led Nigel into the city centre to view the Teutonic splendours of the Christkindlmarkt …….

…… and not for the first time that day Nigel’s senses were assaulted …..

…… by the sights, sounds and smells and tastes of German festivity and Anglo activity. There were frankfurter stalls and sausages beyond his wildest dreams ….. which resulted in much robust and noisy nomming ….. after he and Darrell availed  themselves generously of all the sauces provided!

There were so many beautiful things he wanted to touch, but in the end Darrell had to tell him to keep his hands in his pockets for fear of delicate Yuletide objects being accidently broken.

It was all too wonderful for words …..

….. and a genius idea of Darrell’s to start Nigel’s the festive season in the most romantic way ….. for tomorrow ‘tis the 1st of December ……and then Advent will be upon us ……

A Pre-Advent Visit To “Festive Birmingham.

As Darrell and Nigel were leaving Selfridges Nigel spotted this mahoooosive stack of presents and got overly excited ……

….. and even before the poor lad has even had a chance to open the first drawer in our Advent Calendar  I have had to tell him, in no uncertain terms,  that this will not be the present type scenario that will be occurring at Chateau Castle Greyskull on Christmas morning  …. he will only be allowed to put two very small items on his letter to Santa….  and therefore needs to contemplate his Christmas gifts of choice with all due care and consideration……!

A Pre-Advent Visit To “Festive Birmingham”–Darrell and Nigel’s First Eggnog Latte Of The Pre-Yuletide Season.

Our warm and comforting festive drink of choice is without doubt a Starbucks Eggnog Latte ….. so while Darrell and Nigel were enjoying the pleasures of Selfridges, a visit to the Starbuck’ s franchise was a must do on their list of priorities.

While Darrell was ordering the aforementioned Eggnog Latte,  Nigel availed himself of the reading matter inscribed on his table, but he is still having little difficulty in differentiating between his b’s, d’s and p’s, bless him.

Suffice to say that when Darrell arrived with their Venti sized eggnog latte there was much sighing …. for it is indeed nectar from heaven ….. it smelt divine …… and tasted WONDERFUL ….A little bit early… yes …. but when such a drink is only available for just a few weeks in the year it’s best to savour it while and as often as you can …

….. as they did to the very last slurp and nom, nom, nom!

A Pre-Advent Visit To “Festive Birmingham”–Jelly Belly Bean Bull Ring Bull!

Darrell and Nigel’s visit to Selfridges in Birmingham was certainly an assault of their senses and Nigel’s robustly fervent imagination …….

….. his little eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw their Jelly Belly Bull Ring Bull fashioned entirely out of Jelly Belly beans ……OMG!  So many jelly beans ….. so little time , and where would you start?

Then …… Nigel got to imagining (oh dear)  …… if he was a Celebrity in “I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here”   selected to do an eating Bush Trucker Trial ….. this was one bulls bum and tail he wouldn’t mind getting his teeth stuck into …… nice nom, nom nom, nom …….. !!

http://www.jellybelly-uk.com/

Our Top Five favourite Jelly Belly bean flavours …. should a Jelly Belly executive be reading this post are …. in no particular order ….. toasted marshmallow, cream soda, chocolate pudding, bubble gum and top banana …… and we would be more than willing to to an in-depth review should it be required!!!!!!

A Pre-Advent Visit To “Festive Birmingham” With Darrell And Nigel ….. An On Going Saga!

SUBTITLED – IT’S ALL IN THE DETAIL

It’s admittedly not quite as romantic as London,  but the bright lights of Birmingham can be just as exciting and hold as much mystery, especially to Nigel …

……. and as it’s only about 20 minutes away from Castle Chateau Greyskull, as the crow flies by train, Darrell decided that while I needed a little peace and quiet after my “surgery”, he would treat Nigel to a “Pre Advent”  day out to the aforementioned city,  with the view of acclimatising Nigel to all the festive brouhaha  ….. and thus calming his robust propensity to get a little over excited!

Their first port of call was to the iconic Selfridges emporium where they spent quite a lot of time, which is why I fear their adventures may turn out to be a bit of a saga ….

It was here that Nigel had his first encounter with a very realistic faux Father Christmas …. and Darrell spotted something (in his opinion) that was rather strange …..

…. on one of the Yuletide Tableaus……. it appeared (to him) that ALL the manikins were wearing Primark Christmas jumpers !!!!!!!! …… If he could have, he said that he would have looked at the labels in the back of the necks but there were rather a lot of large baubles in the way that could have made his passage precipitous …..

….. He was also very tempted to ask an obliging assistant where he could find/purchase such splendid jumpers ….. but then thought better of it!  Sometimes Darrell’s eye for “the detail” staggers me….. I suppose it would only take a minute for me to e-mail Selfridges to settle the conundrum for him!????

The Leaning Christmas Tree of ……

With only a few days before the advent of the Advent Season, the festive adornment of our village is beginning to pick up pace ….. The Woodman over the road has their tree illuminated already, but as of yet no sighting has been made of their nodding reindeer or swinging Yuletide bells ……

…. But,  it would seem that the siting of the village Christmas tree has been changed from the green to just outside one of the rows of shops …. an unusual positioning, if we may be so bold ……. however,  perhaps the reasoning for this aforementioned positioning will be revealed in the fullness of time …… Last years tree was on the green but surrounded by high metal fencing like a festive fugitive …. so if this tree is left unfettered it will be an improvement.However ….. we cannot help but notice that this tree, though “lovely art its branches”  does seem to have  a slight propensity to lean to the right ……

Perhaps when it is all romantically lit up it won’t be quite so noticeable …..

Fighting With Demons–To Nip And Tuck Or Not To Nip And Tuck?

I have done something quite, quite out of character, something, that if Darrell had done it, most people would accept as just being part of Darrell,  ….. but from me,  I am sure there will be a few robust gasps of incredulity …..

….. but after much inner debate, soul searching and mirror preening,  I finally decided to undergo a minor cosmetic surgical procedure.

When I occassionally flicked through our photo albums in the privacy of my bed chamber  I began to notice that my boyish dimples had all but disappeared and my face appeared to have dropped a little resulting in quite a dour and serious facial demeanour …..

It wasn’t a decision I took lightly …. and it took me some time to finally confide in Darrell my worries, but as ever he was extremely encouraging and surgically curious!

The bandages need to stay on for a couple of days …. and then all will be revealed. I am hoping that the results will be subtle and barely noticeable, without complications  …. thus renewing my self esteem, ready for the festive season …….. and beyond!

I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here …..

Just in case you’ve been wondering ….. the answer is “YES”… “I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here” is our televisual viewing of choice at the moment ……. Obviously, just as with every year,  the “campers” have been the subject of much robust and heated debate sur le sofa,  chez Chateau Castle Greyskull …..

For example ….  we are convinced that Helen Flanagan has played a very clever  and cunning game ….. but we think we have seen right through it …..

…. we suspect that she conspired to start her “jungle adventure” by being a complete wuss, thereby ensuring that she would consistently be voted for to do all the tasks and thus maximise her TV coverage …. and then ….. 

……. just as the act was wearing thin …… she would suddenly get an appetite for cockroaches etc. and complete tasks with great aplomb and few squeals.  Call us cynical ….. but no one can deny that we are very much aficionados of the reality TV genre!  Even Darrell, much prone to falling in deep amour with female contestants  during such programmes (who can forget his dalliance with Stacey Solomon!?!) …… has been stalwartly impervious to the aforementioned Miss Flanagan’s charms!

Our position of choice whilst watching I’m A Celebrity is dans le London lounging and reclining style …….. ….. with an ample supply of Haribo Horror Mix to do our own Bush Tucker Trials,  but in a much more palatable and digestible type nature.

Some of the Trials have been quite awful and even Nigel, who has been known to stomach an awful lot of gruesome things,  has had a look away on a number of occasions ……

….. let’s just put it this way …. there will not be any in-depth ostrich anus or crocodile tentacle sampling and reviews on this blog …… EVER!

Brian was our favourite to be crowned King Of The Jungle and we were sad to see him go, so we have now changed our allegiance is Dr Who …. Colin Baker because he seems very kind and unassuming.

We shall see …..

A Night Out With The Ladies …..

Hilary, one of the “Office Ladies” at work, is a bit of a thespian and asked if any of the other Office Ladies would like to attend the Opening Night of her latest play “Calendar Girls” at the local village hall.

Enjoying pre-theatre drinkie poos!

There was a murmuring of titterings  when Hilary, the aforementioned thespian, announced that she would be ….. “getting her kit off” for the production, but, said it was integral part of her role …..  that it was all in the best possible taste ……  and that it had all been very carefully choreographed so that her modesty would remain intact at all times …… The ladies then asked if Darrell, Nigel and my good self  would like to join them ………. I said that inviting Darrell and Nigel was not a good idea … but that I would be delighted to accompany them,  as I had seen Hilary tread the boards before as a nun and since then had been quite a enamoured …..

The ladies decided that as they were in for a penny, they may as well be in for a pound so they may as well make a night of it and partake in a small pre theatre repast before the show … I felt very sophisticated in an simple village type way …..

The menu, at the ladies eaterie of choice was most appealing……

……. and after ordering they put me in charge of listening for our table number as they were all quite embroiled in "office" conversation.When the food arrived I started off with a  most pleasant mushroom rarebit ….. 

…. followed by a very acceptable goats cheese tagealelle, with sides of garlic bread and beer battered onions rings ….. I chowed and nommed happily, while I listened and occasionally smiled at the ladies (at times) rather risqué “lady banter”!

And then,  it was time to take our seats in the village hall, the excitement was both tangible and palpable, and we all hoped that Hilary wouldn’t get too cold when her “moment” of nakedness arrived. 

Unfortunately, I missed that momentous moment, because, with the most indelicate of timing, my bag of glacier fruits dropped from my lap and onto the floor thus scattering it’s contents all over the floor …… I don’t think too many people noticed though …. what am I like?

Nigel Muses and Ponders ….. About The Burning Questions In Life!

When cows laugh, does milk come out of their noses?

Literally Green With Envy …

The only time you will usually see Darrell or Nigel looking a little green round the gills is when they have indulged in a sugary comestible overload ….. however they have been VERY green (with envy) of late due to the arrival of a new car in the staff car park …..

It’s an iridescent purple mini that belongs to Adam,  the new and very obliging and knowledgeable Computer Network Assistant ….. and Nigel and Darrell are completely besotted with it ….

All they do,  when they see,  it is sigh ….. and stroke it’s features …..

….. and continually try to lure and embroil Adam into partaking in  in-depth conversations of a vehicular type nature …

….. in an effort to persuade him to let them sit in it for just a little while, and sigh some more ….. what are they like?

“This is truly the car of my dreams” Darrell has declared on more than one occasion ……. “You can forget Porches, Lambrinis or Ferrero Rochers …. I aspire to a little purple mini… complete with purple fluffy dice!”

And Nigel? He has started to perusing car polish catalogues and has taken a very keen interest in chamois leathers!I am not sure how Adam feels about having a pair of goggle eyed groupies,  but I suspect that if there is ever a sponsored staff car wash event  Darrell and Nigel would be sat beside Adam’s mini with their bucket and squeegee offering to sponsor themselves to wash it!!!