A Big But Daunting Day For Nigel …..

Yesterday, Nigel and I were given the information pack to accompany for our impending trip to Iceland ….. it all suddenly sounded very important and intellectual to say that we had been selected to take part in a Cold Environments and Tectonics Field Study!!!!!

… however, I think the reality of it all became a little temporarily daunting for Nigel ………. who really hadn’t given it much thought beyond seeing a real life volcano…….. and a penguin or two ????????

……There was an AWFUL lot to take in …..
……… including safety and conduct codes to sign ……

…… and a very long and comprehensive kit list …. which included the need for a very ample sufficiency of thermal layers to accommodate the diverse range of climatic eventualities we might encounter …….

…… from snow and ice, to venturing underneath waterfalls, swimming in the geothermal waters of the Blue Lagoon and a last night out at a hamburger bar!!!!!

Nigel took great note of the aforementioned list AND the baggage allowance and then became most anxious that we got home as quickly as possible, Banga bus allowing, so that he could start his packing ……..

A Place To Find Quiet Seclusion?

Darrell has found, what could be a possible hideaway “with potential”, in a small, but well formed willow tree in garden, near Andy’s pond ……

…… and Nigel is equally excited by it too …..

At the moment it is just coming into blossom …… but once it is covered with leaves and a discrete entrance established with the help of a pair of garden cutters …… Darrell reckons that with a few strategically draped throws and an ample sufficiency of scatter cushions they will have somewhere special to chill, hang out together and garden lounge, when the warm weather is here  …… what are they like? 

I Thank Goodness That Nigel Has Little Legs .....

No……. you’re not seeing things …… Nigel has got a bike!!!!

In another spooky development, after hearing Nigel wittering on about how Derek Acorah can’t drive for two years and the number of bicycle signs on the road to work, what did Darrell spot in our local charity shop, but a Nigel sized bike ……. “Well” he said “It would have been rude not to purchase it, even though it was very pink colour!”

When I saw it, I have to admit my heart sank ……

……. as there is no way I want Nigel riding a bike all the way to work, along some of the busiest roads in Wolverhampton

So it was with a gladdened heart muchley when I noticed that the little fella’s feet don’t actually reach the pedals properly ……
….. and until they do, it will be a long while before Nigel can take to the road, and the bike will be for garden use only  ……… phew!!!

I Inadvertently Help Nigel To Acclimatise For Iceland For A Bit Longer Than He Intended ……..

Personally, I am pretty calm about mine and Nigel’s impending Geography trip to Iceland in a few weeks time, however ….. the same cannot be said about Nigel …… who I can only compare to one of Iceland’s volcanoes on the verge of an eruptive episode!!!!  I fear he may erupt himself,  if I can’t find away to cool him down!

We have had volcanoes, geysers, puffins, penguins and constant musings morning, noon and night as to what whale blubber tastes like …. and whether they will put it in the sandwiches in our lunchbox ……. not to mention his ponderings over lamb smoked over dung! …… AND, if he tells me once more that he categorically WON’T be eating any of the aforementioned puffins, because they are too cute,  I may be forced to pull his bobble hat down over his mouth to shut him up!!! Aghhhhh

But aside from his none stop ruminations and theories on Icelandic cuisine Nigel has also taken to wearing his Innocent Smoothie bobble hat and the scarf Dianne, our friend who lives in romantic and perpetually sunny Florida,  sent him last Christmas ……, in case, he says, he forgets to pack them and to help him acclimatise!

And yesterday, very fortuitously as it happened, an unexpected and robust hail storm gave me the opportunity to shove suggest that he might go outside for a while to acclimatise properly ……….

…… but somehow, I don’t know how, I slipped the catch while he was out there ……. leaving Nigel to acclimatise for a little longer than he may have possibly chosen ….

I apologised profusely when I eventually heard his knocking ….. but as I told him, when he’s on a glacier and feeling a tadge chilly, he won’t be able to just  knock on the door to come in then ….. so going the extra mile now would hold him in good stead for his adventures to come!!!!!

We’ve Hungry Fish To Feed

If Andy could see the fish in his beloved pond now, he just wouldn’t believe how big they have grown …….

…… when Darrell went with him to choose them they were really tiny weeny http://mumsmonkey.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/fletcher-hunt-doyle-and-elokobi.html, and now……. they are mahooooosiveWe haven’t fed them since October when the weather started to get cold, but now they have been coming to the surface and showing signs that they may be getting hungry again …….

… so we have taken the tentative step of starting to feed them again …

…. just a little bit at a time,  as we don’t want anything to happen to them.

Our very favourite is a huge white one, who is also proving to be the greediest ……he floats  through the water like a silver ghost in a very romantic fashion (for a fish)!  Happy Days.

A Spooky Calling For Nigel?

Nigel says that since we heard the awful news that Derek Acorah has been banned from driving for two years for reasons that we shall not dwell on here …… he has had a spooky, aforementioned Derek Acorah type feeling that someone has been trying to tell him something …….

…… because the road he has to walk down to get to work, after getting off the Banga bus, seems to be littered with bicycle signs ….

…… he says it’s as if someone is beckoning him to get on his bike, in sympathy with Mr Acorah’s plight  …..

…….. this, despite that fact that Nigel does not possess a bike ….. let alone can ride one …..

It goes without saying that I am not at all sure about all this said beckoning business ….. let alone the thought of Nigel, on a bike (if he had one), especially on road not known for it’s sedateness …… with or without a bike lane

I think I also detect a slight note of hesitancy in Nigel, despite his bravado, so I am hoping that this “calling” blows over very quickly ….

….. and Mr Acorah announces soon that for the next two years, at least, his transport of choice will be either the bus or taxi where there is no bus route, so that Nigel will no longer be a martyr to his “sympathetic beckoning's”!!!!

Nigel’s Robust Tenacity Pays Off ……

I fear that Nigel has finally worn the Geography Ladies down re: the spare place on the Iceland trip, because yesterday he was “summonsed” to Geography Headquarters by the chief Geography Lady Boss, Mrs C, who sat him down and asked if he might consider accompanying the group to Iceland, which, she stressed, was nothing to do with his “generosity of cake”, but because she and Mrs M had been captivated by his innocent,and enquiring interest in all things of a Geography type nature!!!!! 

There were however Mrs S added, three provisos to his joining the party …..  one was that Nigel was to stand well away from the edge of any volcano, waterfall or geyser, without exception,  the second was there was to be absolutely no skinny dipping in the hot tub under the aurora borealis no matter how romantic it was, and finally, there was to be no vulgar comments/references to the smell of sulphur, no matter how tempting, or how rampant the eggy aroma!

Nigel just sat, and listened, and then offered to sign his name in blood if he had to, but Mrs C there was no need for such drastic action, his word would be enough.  His name would be added to the passenger list and he would be sharing a room with me!!!!!!

I just hope they know what they are doing …….

……. and that Nigel will not be implicated in any way to any unexpected seismic fluctuation or volcanic activity while we are over there!!!

We Are In Nesting Mood …..

The nest that our wood pigeons built last year is still in “Andy’s tree” ……

……. and we have seen that the said pigeons are back and watching from their tree of choice …….. You might remember that last year they hatched the ugliest baby bird ever!!!!

So we are going to try to give them as much peace as they need just in case they want to use their nest again this year.

We have also found out Andy’s old wicker eel catcher and put it in a tree at the bottom of the garden,  just in case any smaller birds might like to make it their home too.  About three years ago a couple built their nest in it, but we think it was a little too close to the house and they were disturbed too often  and in the end abandoned it ……

……. perhaps here, they may be tempted to give it another go ……. we shall see.

Our No Make Up Selfies!!

A lot of the ladies we know have been posting selfies of themselves not wearing make up in support of the "No Make Up Selfie for Cancer Awareness" campaign … and Darrell, with his finger always on the pulse of the latest trend suggested that we really ought do our bit and partake too …… and bare all so’s to speak

….. leading by example and going first …… and looking very cute au naturel, if I may say!

Not that we really had any make up to remove ….. however we did give our faces a most robust and thorough scrub and Darrell delayed his normal application of moisturiser, eye cream, primer and lip balm for the duration of his pose ……!!!

My ‪#‎nomakeupselfie‬ (text BEAT to 70099, donate £3 and help kick cancer's butt)

No Nom Nom

With the warmer weather now looking as if it is looming, Darrell has started to consider the idea of bulking up and working on a little upper body definition for the t-shirt season …….

And as such, has asked the advice from his old mate Shazam, who has a very well defined physique which Darrell has oft admired in a natural man to man appreciation type nature.

However, Shazam’s recommendation of bulking up by drinking pure egg white wasn’t quite the answer Darrell had expected … and neither was the sample gift of said egg white Shazam kindly gave him to try.

It would have been rude to refuse it, but Darrell’s eagerness for the body beautiful was not reflected in his eagerness to down a whole cartoon of egg white in one …..

Nigel and I gathered round the table to give Darrell some morale support in his quest for the body beautiful for the summer of 2014 …… however, the glass never got past his lips, or Nigel’s,  who is usually up for anything of a comestible type nature …..

…….. it was sadly a robust case of no nom nom!!!! But we are wondering if, rather than let it all go to waste, we could perhaps make meringues with it, as a more digestible way for Darrell to take in his extra protein, if not in such as rufty tufty fashion as Shazam!!!