Happy Christmas ………

Nigel was in one of the card shops in town trying to find an appropriate card for Tom and The Lovely Laura’s fourth Wedding Anniversary ……

……. when a rather hot under the collar gentleman came in to complain to the lady behind the counter about the Christmas cards that she had on sale, saying that he hadn’t even been on his summer holidays yet ……

…… to which Nigel piped up that that was nothing …….  we’ve had our Christmas tree up for the past month, as it was our most favourite time of the year, and never was early enough!  What on earth is he like? One day he will get himself into serious hot water if people start believing what he says!

Please Note – contrary to what Nigel so publically announced, our Christmas Tree is NOT up, and we will continue to strictly adhere to 1st December being the start date of our festive adornment of The Towers

A Beloved Favourite Returns

Last night we all settled down, with a cup of tea and a Mr Kipling mini Battenberg for the much anticipated return of The Great British Bake Off since its controversial departure from the BBC to Channel 4.

To be honest, it was reassuringly almost exactly the same, Paul (the Silver Fox),  the location, the tent, the kitchens, and the commentary was all comfortably familiar, and we also liked the new people, Pru, Sandi, Noel.

All bodes well for a wonderful nom-nom-tastic series of Wednesday evenings for the next ten weeks.

Plus ……. Darrell applied weeks ago for tickets for it’s sister show, An Extra Slice with Jo Brand, how brilliant would it be if he was successful and we could be in the audience with our own version of one of the shows showstoppers, that would be an absolute dream come true ……

…….. Darrell has already started to air our baking tins just in case!

Nigel Makes A Certain Little Lady Very Happy

Nigel took Iris down to the fair on the river bank yesterday afternoon to embrace a glorious and record breakingly hot Bank Holiday Monday……..

……. well, it would have been rude not to.

Iris’s very favourite fairground stall ever since she was a tiny little thing has been the Hook a Duck ………and her first ever prize, a fluffy yellow duck is still a treasured possession.

 

And, according to Nigel, true to form she spotted the stall from across the field, and then when she saw that it had (Frozen) Elsa’s as prizes that was it (but not in a spoilt way, we don’t allow that) ……… Nigel’s honour as a champion hooker of ducks was truly on the line.

When Nigel asked Iris what colour duck she would like him to hook, she replied “ ….a big pink one”, her favourite colour, with the kind of giggle that couldn’t fail to melt the most frozen of hearts!!!!!Let’s just say Nigel made it look much, much harder than it actually was in order to build up his part and the excitement, to help turn the moment into, hopefully, a special memory for her, …….. what is he like, if not a totally besotted uncle!

Let’s just say, it was very, very, very emotional as Iris was handed “her” prize, her exact words being “I can sleep with her!”. Nigel was rewarded with an extra sloppy sticky kiss, which he pretended to wipe off in mock horror, but was secretly very touched, bless him.  xxx Happy Days xxx.

An Evesham Ambition Finally Ticked Off For Nigel

August Bank Holiday, the sun was blazing down and the crowds were out, including Nigel, who had gone for a little saunter around the Evesham Fishing Festival, when all of a sudden he decided it was time he finally took to the Evesham waters ……..

…… ever since we moved he’s been going on about how he wanted to go on a “cruise” and do the whole tourist thing.

 

The conditions were perfect, no waves, no wind, no under currents and none predicted either for the twenty five minute voyage, so despite not having taken any precautions of a sea sickness tablet or wrist band type nature  ……

…….. Nigel thought it was worth the risk, especially as he’d only had a light breakfast of scrambled egg, toast and a lightly grilled tomato as opposed to his usual Sunday full English!

Sadly the ship doesn’t go past The Towers as the weir gets in the way, and going through the lock isn’t really an option …….

…… but going under the bridge that we must go over almost every day was a great thrill, and yes, he did yell “Hello” as he passed under it to see if it gave a satisfying echo.

It was real treat, and well worth the wait to see Evesham from the middle so as to speak,  however, when he came home he immediately started to badger Darrell to look up what qualifications you needed to be a Ships Captain, a Chief Petty Officer, or at very least the person who whistles passengers aboard. as it’s now his most wanted and most romantic job in Evesham ……

…….. what is he like?

Another Day … Another Chalkboard.

Following on from yesterday and Nigel spotting the “menu” board outside The Swan for their Sunday Roast ……….

………I hope this isn’t a foreboding Derek Acorah type omen of things to come!!!! 

What are we like?

So Many Vegetables ….. So Little Time……..

At The Towers we are all robustly partial to a full roast dinner, and if I say so myself,  I reckon Darrell and I give a pretty good account of ourselves on a Sunday, doing our prep as we listen to the omnibus edition of The Archers.

However, a chalkboard outside one of the pubs on the way to Tom and the Lovely Laura’s has put a huge glint in Nigel’s eye ………

……. as well as raising a couple of pertinent vegetable related questions! Six vegetables?  Six vegetables? That is all our strict five a day regime encompassed in just one meal …….. but is that six vegetables, plus the cauliflower in the cauliflower cheese, because that would actually then be seven vegetables to Nigel’s way of thinking.

……. And then roast and mash? Well counting them once as potatoes, that’s another one ……. making eight!  A meal that would have Nigel thinking that he must have died and gone to heaven, especially with a pig in blanket! 

Nigel has studied the board for more than a healthy amount of time, and is still pondering ……  would he be eligible for all six vegetables (excluding said cauliflower and potatoes) or would he have to choose for example three or four out of the six,  because, if truth be known  he’d much rather have all six and skip the choice …….. unless one of them was broad or butter beans, as they are the only vegetables that make him gag.  What is he like?

I suppose there’s only one way to find out, well, it would be rude not to, but we’re a bit busy for the next few Sundays so Nigel might have to wait and dream for a little bit longer, but I don’t think I will hear the end of it until we do ………

Darrell’s Last Day Avec Hugh

Sadly, for Darrell and Hugh, Darrell should be returning home tomorrow, so, to soften the blow, Hugh asked if he fancied spending his last day with a pint, a hog roast (although Hugh is a strict vegetarian himself) and a mooch round the Farmers Market at The Talbot Inn.

Well, it would have been ungracious and rude not to according to Darrell (who did see Derek Acorah the other night in his budgie smugglers, and said that Sam, Derek’s Ethiopian spirit  guide, must have been absolutely spinning in his parallel universe!).

Hugh made several considered purchases of jam, marmalade, honey, scotch eggs, carrots fresh from the soil, goat and ewe milk cheese, plus several crates of assorted apple juice, country gifts for his showbiz friends and royal connections, as well as his agent for when he returns to London at the end of “his” Village Show Season.Darrell in turn was just happy to browse ……… and carry Hugh’s many bags!

Darrell said that he had never seen Hugh so relaxed and at one with himself and the country way of life …..

………..he was living the dream ………. if only briefly, for said “season”!

APOLOGIES ......

Please accept our apologies as a couple of our posts have gone a bit a drift of late, some days there hasn't been a post and on others there's been two!!!  It seems that our lady what schedules has been having the odd senior moment or two ...... we have told her, one more mistake and we may have to someone younger and more up to the task .........

WARNING– Avert Your Eyes–This Post Contains Pictures Of A Delicate Nature!!!

You know when you know that you really should to avert your gaze, but no matter how hard you try, you just cant, like a rabbit caught in headlights?

Well, last night Nigel and I faced such a dilemma as we watched Celebrity Big Brother, our programme of choice at the moment.

We have been unwaveringly saving our beloved Derek Acorah with all our votes …..

…… but, during last nights programme he did something that made reaching for our phone and dialling VERY, VERY difficult …….

……. he got into the pool ……. wearing a pair of minuscule budgie smugglers, not that dissimilar to those sported by Darrell on our recent Greek Odyssey ……

……. lets just say they were …….. erm …… snug!

Darrell is still with Hugh at the moment, so we are not sure whether he too has been witness to this “unveiling” but he will no doubt have something to say …… or not ……. as these “revelations” may have rendered him as temporarily silent as Nigel and I!

They say “you should never meet your hero” ……. I think I am now qualified to add another quote to the annals of sayings about heroes  ……. to wit,  “You should cast your eyes upon your hero dans budgie smugglers”.  I think Nigel may never fully  recover!

Hugh’s Canine Objets D'Arts….

Back in Notting Hill Hugh has a  collection of Baftas, signed photos in frames of his celebrity friends on his piano and some very exquisite objets d’arts, presents, he modesty revealed, from Royalty and Heads of State who he has entertained. Darrell always seems to spot something “lovely” that he hasn’t noticed before, but doesn’t touch!

….. but in his Worcester bolt hole Le Chicken Coup, it is Hugh’s collection of his beloved basset hounds that take pride of place ……

…… Darrell could touch, but doesn’t, just in case!

We are always on the lookout for a little ceramic basset during our forays into the odd Evesham charity shop to add to Hugh’s collection, but they are quite hard to find, especially as Hugh is quite fussy, he can’t abear to see bassets being depicted as being overly intellectual by wearing glasses, because, although he loves them to pieces, as he is oft heard to mutter, as a breed, they are not the brightest doggies in the window!!!

What Are They Like ……..

Darrell says Hugh has been practising for a “possible” debut foray into the Worcestershire Village Show Circuit ……..

…….. with a composition called ……. “What Lies Beneath”

…… and has made Darrell take pictures of it from every conceivable angle so that he can critique it and then tweak the “concept” for said debut!

Darrell has confessed that he was not too sure about Hugh’s creation, a veritable  cornucopia of home grown garden produce it may well be, but when all is said and done  “what lies beneath” is still rather ugly, misshapen and over grown courgette ………

……. and he had questioned in his mind  whether “these village judge type people” are quite ready for Hugh and his creations!

Fortunately, as it turned out, Hugh had had second thoughts too and wasn’t sure how his overt showbiz tendencies would go down at the local village fete either ……

…… so, with the summer sangria flowing,  in erm ……. great abundance, he decided that he and Darrell should make an exhibition of themselves instead ……..

……. with all the typical Hugh and Darrell dreams and aspirations …….. but, in the privacy of their own back yard, and for their eyes only!!!!

Heaven help me …….. what do they look like?????