Living In Lockdown - Day 8 - Dreams of Judge Rinder

It's been quite a while now since Darrell was off gadding to and fro to London after applying for tickets to be in the studio audience for the likes of The X-Factor, The Apprentice and The Great British Bake Off ............

...... well,  he says he's going to start again ........

...... beginning with his Lordship and Honour Judge Rinder, who we've always much admired, recording the show if/when we were out and about on the afternoon nursery/school run so we never missed it. 

Darrell has already done his homework and registered ...........

....... goodness only knows when the opportunity to travel up/down (?) to Manchester will arise ............

...... but at these times of meltdown, to quote Captain Sensible .........

"Happy talk, keep talkin' happy talk,

Talk about things you'd like to do. You gotta have a dream,

If you don't have a dream, how you gonna have a dream come true?"

........ and, as Darrell says, if the worst comes to the worst and we are under Marshall Law for the next six months, we really do need to have plenty of dreams to keep us going,  God bless his little cotton, multicoloured socks!

XXX STAY HOME -STAY SAFE XXX

Living in Lockdown - Day 7 - Still Trying to Maintain A Degree of Romantic Ambiance Chez Le Towers

In light of our impromptu power cut last week and while we are still able, Darrell ordered an humongous amount of tea lights for The Towers from Amazon.

"We might be in meltdown for goodness knows how long," he announced, ".....but it's no excuse to be found wanting in the romantic and ambient lighting department in the evenings, even if the clocks have gone forward and the evenings are gradually getting lighter 

I have to be honest, I do find candlelight rather comforting at times like these, I am not sure why, but in a strange sort of way it makes me feel cocooned and secure ..... and judging by the said amount of tealights Darrell has purchased (the pictures don't do his stash justice) The Towers will be certainly be glowing and flickering long dans le nuit for an awful long time to come, bless him.

XXX STAY HOME -STAY SAFE XXX 

Living In Lockdown - Day 6 - Taking The Pee .........

With being in lockdown Darrell and I have charged Nigel with finding us some intellectual and stimulating programmes  for our evenings televisual delectation ..........

....... however, I afraid this Channel 5 offering from last week fair took the wind from beneath the little fella's wings rather ......

...... especially when you can see how so close it was put to our beloved Celebrity Bake Off, poor Prue and her co-ordinating glasses and necklaces!

It was just tooooooooooooooooo unsavoury for our visually delicate palates to contemplate .........

........ it certainly left poor Nigel, with his very endearing inquiring mind a little shell shocked .......

........ he certainly didn't want to delve any deeper, as he so succinctly put it "Some depths are best left unplumbed and best remain ever a mystery!", I have to agree!

Living in Lockdown - Day 5 - Nigel Finds Something We Can't Put A Name To.

Although we are in lock-down we can still go out for a bit of fresh air and exercise each day while robustly adhering to social distancing practices of course ........ so yesterday Nigel, who was really up for a bit of spotting, spotted something, that to be honest looked rather unsavoury, growing in amongst the gravel, next to a wall on our estate!!!!

At first he thought it might just be pieces of wet, curled up cardboard that had simply settled next to said wall, but on closer inspection, but without daring to touch, he now suspects they may be of a creepy, fungusy type nature.

None of us have a clue, other than we really don't like the look of it/them .........

We did consider sending a picture to Gardeners Question Time to see if the experts would be able to identify it/them, before we alert the authorities in case it's something that needs cordoning off and then treating with flame throwers, but then we thought of our beloved Mr D in Mexico, the oracle of everything and anything ........ Mr D? 

A PERSONAL THANK YOU

A special and very humongous THANK YOU to Crafty Coffey one of our most beloved followers who posted this comment today ............ 

"Thank you very much for your support to all NHS staff. I’ve taken 2 much needed days off then I’ll be straight back into “work mode “ on Monday as the world of Hospital Pharmacy is always open"

NO ......... THANK YOU MICHELLE, we LOVE you xxxxx 

Living In Lockdown - Day 4 - Clap For Our Carers - Thanking The NHS

Last night we took part in the "Clap For Our Carers"campaign where people all across the country applauded all our NHS workers from their doorsteps, balconies or windows of their homes, in order to say thank you for all of their incredible work, bravery and endeavor trying to save 100's and 1,000's of lives. 

We weren't sure if we would be heard or would hear anything as we are right at the bottom of an estate, that leads to nowhere except the river, but as 8 o'clock sounded the air was filled with waves of claps and cheers coming from Robins Corner and way out in the distance.

We all found it extremely emotional and moving and a little eerie, it feels as if like we are in a dream and if we just rub our eyes we'll wake up  (if only)  ........ but this is real, very, very real and frightening ......... especially knowing that the world and life that we knew just three or four weeks ago is being changed forever and will never be the same again.

XXX  STAY HOME - STAY SAFE  XXX

Living In Lockdown - Day 3 - A Rude Awakening.

This morning we were all very rudely awoke .........

....... by the approaching, slightly ominous sound of chainsaw(s).

It goes without saying, but naturally not of a Hilda Ogden curtain twitching type nature (as we don't actually have curtains) that I was up at the window to see what was occurring .......

...... to be greeted by the sight of three shadowy figures clad entirely in orange from head to toe ........

.......two of whom appeared to supervise one who was wielding and using said chainsaw with great aplomb.  It was a little disconcerting when the London Paddington train came hurtling past them at break neck speed, but it didn't seem to bother them at all.

They didn't stay that long, so I am not sure if they were just doing a light seasonal trim or if they will be back later for a more drastic cull, I hope it is the former because I have never seen our poor squirrel (Boris) move quite so fast, and believe me, he can move really fast!

Living In Lockdown Day 2 - We Are Honoured.

Yesterday we got our text message from our beloved Majesty's Government .......... (the beloved  being her Majesty the Queen and not the Government to clear up Mr.D's quandary, see comments) 

...... we all took it very much to heart, following the link and assured that we are doing all the right things .......... ....... and if it was possible we would have text back, saying something along the lines of  "You can count on us, we aint for budging!" 

Then around 2 o'clock all the lights, radio and wifi went off, at first we thought it was us, we flicked various switches and checked the fuse box before texting our lovely neighbour Kata .......

...... and then we go another message ...........

Bless him, Nigel was the ball straight away, getting out the candle box ....... he certainly wasn't going to be found wanting in the being prepared for anything type department. He also had a box of matches, battery operated night lights and torches if need be.  It was sadly too late to make up a flask, so we made do with a Fruit Shoot and caramel wafer each to buoy spirits. ....... so, an eventful first day in lock-down all round for us.

XXX STAY HOME XXX

Living In Lockdown Day 1 - Community Spirit

After Boris's message to the nation last night we are all in a bit of a state of shock, though to be honest, it was not unexpected. We won't say that we are not feeling a little apprehensive, but at least we have each other and Mum, (who doesn't get much of a mention but is always lurking in the background!) We are all safe and hope that all our beloved followers are too. We will get through this together, hopefully with a whimsical smile or two.

Anyway, before we had melt down, yesterday morning we were given a flyer of great import and to that end we have now joined the Community Help Group Facebook Page for our estate and the road leading up to it.

,

Nigel is desperate to volunteer to dog walk, but due to his diminutive size we are fearful that it might be him who could be the one who's being walked!

We will check in each day and if we can be of any help we will certainly step up to the mark .........  and hopefully, won't be found wanting ....... although, with lock-down, I am not sure how it will now work.

XXX STAY HOME XXX

Life In Self Hibernation ............

An awful lot has happened since our last post ....... we are still adjusting to the news that the Eurovision Song Contest has been cancelled, but compared to what is going on in the world and our own beloved Great Britain it really is small cheese. On the evening of the 16th May, when it was scheduled, we intend to spend the evening watching contests from the past on YouTube instead ..... although we hear there could be other plans afoot.

Soooooooooo, this morning you find us in a self imposed state of safe hibernation, Tom the Scientist and The Lovely Laura have taken over all our child minding duties leaving us to stay distant at The Towers.  We don't intend to venture out other than a walk along the river for a daily breath of fresh air, trips up into town will be very few and far between and only of a robustly urgent type nature.  Touch wood, none of us have had any symptoms of the virus, but, needless to say we are prepared.

But with at least 12 weeks of isolation ahead of us we need to keep occupied.  We have a "Things To Do" book and each day we will have a list of things to work through, lets just say The Towers will never have been so clean or so organised ........

We are hoping to blog a little more often too, just to help keep our brains working, looking for the little quirks of life, perhaps sharing the odd recipe or a cleaning top tip or two, and a whimsical thought or observation etc.  I hope that our readers will not find us wanting in helping them to smile  a little each day.

XXX Stay Safe Everyone XXX

More Pointing A La Bridge

It has to be said that when I see a hi-viz vest on the either side of the river my interest is immediately perked ......

...... and I become an unashamed curtain twitcher ............

............even if  we don't actually have any curtains to twitch!

So yesterday, when I spotted these two, official looking gentlemen in deep conversation on yonder bank, I must have been "occupied" for the best part of half hour.  Let's just say there was much dramatic gesticulation from both parties ........

......... accompanied by much meaningful walking back and forth ........

......... pointing and the consulting of a many paged document .......

 .......... what was occurring goodness only knows, but once they appeared to have gone I naturally got back to my domestic chores ........

....... only to see them to return, but, on our side of the river, amidst much looking at our building, in fact I quite forgot myself and waved to them  ........ what am I like?

There was also some taking of pictures, which seemed a little ominous! 

I will ask Gary at the train station, who seems to be the oracle of everything Evesham, what might be  going on when I am up there next ......... We have often voiced how wonderful it would be to have a footbridge (or a ferry) thereby cutting the school run down to a mere 10 minutes, if that, but I don't think that's what's going to happen!

A Little Spark to the Pasta Shortage

Following on from yesterday .........there has been much news of the panic buying of pasta with the shelves in supermarkets almost stripped bare and so us, being us, just can't help but be curious as to what delicacies are being being made with said versatile wheat based product. We have also noticed that there doesn't seems to have been such a great demand for ready made pasta sauces which leads us to believe that people are making their own, so would it be too contentious of us to ponder the potential for a corona pasta cook book, or is that a just a step too far?

Now, we do have plenty of pasta which is pretty good news as Darrell does make a pretty spectacular tuna pasta bake, but when he spotted these Easter pasta shapes in the Easter section in Lidl he did relent and bought a bag, just in case it too disappeared.

Easter isn't that far away and with us all unexpectedly being together, he thought he might try to incorporate a little pasta into our festive diet to help counter balance all the chocolate we also hope to consume, bless him.  I can't wait to see what he comes up with and dare I say there might be a tiny bit left over for some seasonal craft activities for Iris and Bertie with Uncle Nigel.  Happy days!

A Towers Coronavirus Update

We were hoping to avoid any mention of coronavirus, but with a few followers asking us how we are, we though we had better bite the bullet. 

To be honest, we are not that sure if the virus can transfer to Monkeys, but with Mum and looking after Iris and Bertie it goes without saying that we are being robustly vigilant, washing our hands to the national anthem for extra peace of mind, as well as all the other advised precautions. We have also attached a small bottle of sanitizer to the pushchair and about our person whenever we are out and about, as well as wearing gloves whenever we have to touch anything outside The Towers. We have not yet resorted to wearing masks however.

We really hope we don't have to self orientate hibernate flatulate, but we run a pretty tight ship at The Towers as far as personal hygiene and household cleaning products are concerned, so there really hasn't been any need for us to rush out and panic buy masses of toilet rolls etc. and more importantly, risk any contamination from fellow shoppers. As Nigel has so succinctly put it, it's not our bottoms we need to really worry about!  To be honest any sort of shop is the very last place anyone of us want to be in at the moment so we are aiming to avoid them for as long as possible.

With Darrell very much in charge of batch cooking we also have a freezer full of lovely homemade ready meals ..........

........ in fact he has at least a  months worth of  his truly spectacular  spaghetti bolognese on the go as I write.

We can't really call ourselves "preppers" but we are prepared .......  having enough Maltesers to keep us going.  Just everyone stay safe xxxxxxxxx

Time To Say Goodbye

The PE and Finance Ladies visit has been all too short, but last night, as a last hurrah, Darrell opened up his beloved cocktail cabinet up to the PE Lady to do as she will.

Let's just say, once more, that the PE Lady is very adept at producing a very potent concoction ........ or two ......

....... which I believe helped towards a very sanguine and laid back evening .........

....... and our somewhat stiff and hesitant start to the morning!

But, before it was time to say goodbye, the PE Lady wanted Nigel to take her over to B & Q to pick up some split green canes for a project she was planning for the nature reserve where she volunteers.

It has to been said that the PE Lady showed an extremely dogged determination to find every single cane that had slipped from an opened pack ....... 

...... in order to obtain them for the bargain half price for a full, but open pack.  Nigel was very, very impressed as she managed to find two more than was meant to be

Then it was time to say a very emotional fond goodbye with the PE Lady set on a mission to get at least some of the money everyone had put towards their Italian trip back, although, to be honest we are not hopeful.

We decided it might not be prudent at this time to consider making any exotic plans for any more trips in the next month or so and just to see how things lie for a while, such a shame, but at least Darrell and Nigel and I will all be together for Easter after all ....... so one of Darrell's infamous Sunday lunches to look forward to at the very least.