Monday 31 August 2020

There has been much "messing about on the river" over the weekend and again today, and as you can imagine Nigel has been almost beside himself ........ 

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....... we've had pilot ships ........


.......... three men in a (rescue) boat  .......


........ plus a mahoooosive barge with a crane on bashing (we think) large poles into the river bed.


Nigel has also now convinced himself that he really needs a life jacket, to go over his hi-viz vest (which we still haven't found yet), just in case he is invited on board at sometime during all the work, for his valued opinion!!!!

It's almost too industrially romantic and exciting for the little fella to bear, although I have to add he is a little concerned about how his swans will be able to cope with all this upheaval.

Goodness knows what we are going to do with him over the next few months  ...... as this is only just the beginning of "our adventure", let's just hope it doesn't turn out to be a bridge to far, as far as keeping him grounded (or afloat) is concerned.

Friday 28 August 2020

Some Very Exciting News

As soon as Nigel burst in from his few days in Malvern with Lucy the first thing he wanted to know was what was happening to our/his bridge. I thought he might go bang he was so excited, so, we got out the letter we had received from Network Rail ….. and at that point I had to tell him to take a breath and calm down.

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It appears that Network Rail will working on the bridge during the day until 21st October, starting from next week and more exciting than that, for Nigel at least, all through the nights at weekends ……. which means, I think, “Pont éclairé la nuit”!  I am just glad we all sleep at the front of The Towers as it might get a tad noisy at times and the presence of floodlights may not be all that conducive to a good nights sleep, if indeed Nigel can steal himself away from the window.  I will wait until after our first weekend and then see if the considered purchase of ear plugs and eye masks will be needed.

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I am not sure how many times Nigel read the letter but he says he needs a compass,  as there were a lot of north, south, east and wests in the letter and to be honest we are all complete strangers to directions, other than left and right.

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Darrell and I think that a lot of the work will be based on the west side (?) of the bridge, opposite us, next to the marina, which, if we are right, means that we live on the east side (fingers crossed), so Nigel will have to watch developments from afar, rather than actually being able to get up close and personal with all the workers.

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…….. but that hasn’t stopped him from wondering where on earth we put his hard hat and hi-viz jacket when we moved.  Heaven help us, this could be quite an adventure!

Thursday 27 August 2020

Farewell Wyche Inn, They Will Be Back.

Nigel and Lucy have been so impressed by their brief stay at The Wyche Inn that they have promised that they will return as soon as the world becomes more normal again ……..

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…… but this time with Darrell and me in tow too, as they are sure that we will love it as much as they do.

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Nigel has taken lots of photos so we can get a proper flavour of the place ……….

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…… including one of the bathroom walls, especially for Darrell ……..

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…… as they are all very sparkly, having large flecks of iridescent glitter in them …….

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…….. which he reckons has the potential to be impossibly romantic when taking a bath by candle light as the glow would undoubtedly reflect in the glitter, something Darrell would really greatly appreciate amidst his perfumed, bath bomb bubbles and chilled to perfection Prosecco.

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The bathroom, unusually has it’s own “proper” back door, with a “proper” letter box, something Nigel or Lucy have never seen in a bathroom before and quite a novel place to have your letters and/or newspapers delivered.

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They have not ventured beyond said portal, but if they had parked at the back, no doubt they would have availed themselves of it, just for the novelty of finding themselves entering the flat via a bathroom.

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Anyway, they should be slowly wending their way back home now, full of the wonderful Malvern mountain air and having quaffed and bathed in the famous restorative spring waters of the town ……..

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We’ve missed the little fella, but we have some very interesting news to impart to him upon his return which concerns our bridge and it’s abutments!

Wednesday 26 August 2020

Nigel Finds An Absolutely Mahoooosive Cock ……. At Malvern Flea.

Nigel and Lucy, by all accounts, had a wonderful time together enjoying  the pleasures of the Malvern Flea.

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As you know, Nigel very much appreciates a good charity shop mooch and from what he has told me the flea was like a million and one charity shop bric a brac shelves in one, it was just too brilliant.

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Although he didn’t actually make any considered purchases himself, it was lovely, he says to see Lucy’s face when she finally found “the ice bucket of her dreams”, something she’s been looking for for ages,  the  perfect addition to her carefully put together cocktail shelf in her kitchen at home.

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It was, he said …….. “….. a little bit emotional to witness”

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A couple of things did catch his eye, like this mahooooosive cock that would have undoubtedly looked most splendid gracing the garden of Hugh’s (Darrel’s best friend and mentor of all things what are de rigueur and a la mode) Worcester Bolt Hole. 

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Nigel says his pictures don’t really do the cocks size justice, but trust him it was mahoooooosive, and while not claiming to be any sort of expert on such things, although he does enjoy the odd Bargain Hunt or two, in his opinion there wasn’t much age to said cock, as he believed this type of garden ornament can be aged during manufacturing to look an awful lot older than it actually was.

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There was one moment when Nigel got his wallet out, but Lucy gave him one of her looks and said “If you rock up with “that” in a black bin bag, excited for the big reveal, do you really think Darrell would actually allow you to put “it” on display among all his carefully curated décor?”

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The little fella was naturally gutted, but knew exactly what Lu meant, without a doubt Darrell would swoon and possibly collapse at very sight of this homage to c**p. It would have to be forever fondly remembered as “the one that got away”, but at least he had the pictures to show Darrell just to see his reaction!  What is he like?

To make up for Nigel’s disappointment Lu said she’d treat him to the pie of his choice and a pint of Vimto  when they got back to the Wyche Inn …..

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……. while sharing the papers and the fantastic view together on the patio ……..

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…….. it had, they both agreed, been a brilliant day!

Tuesday 25 August 2020

The Pleasures Of The Wyche Inn, Malvern

Nigel tells us that The Wyche Inn is like a home from home, he and Lucy have a beautiful flat all to themselves with it’s own front door ……..

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………. and a stunning view from the kitchen ……..

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…….. PLUS a door leading directly into the bar ……….

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………. so any time Nigel fancies a bottle of Vimto and bag of plain crisps he can just casually saunter in (at a safe distance of course) and place his order.

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It’s all very romantic and atmospheric he says …….. both Darrell and I would absolutely love it ……..

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……. it even has it’s own resident Wyche

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Their hosts are also extremely attentive ………

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…….. with Nigel and Lucy finding themselves positively awash with complimentary products …….

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……. there was even milk and fruit juice waiting for them in the fridge ……..

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…… and a loaf of locally baked granary bread ……..

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…… on which to spread their mountain of butter, marmalade and jam …..

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……. in fact Nigel found the array almost too overwhelming

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…… as he didn’t want to appear rude in not trying everything …… but even he has a limit to how many cups of tea and coffee he can get through in a day.

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The bathroom was exactly the same!

They even, he says have got their own washing machine including washing powder …….. Happy Days!

Monday 24 August 2020

The Wyche Inn

With nothing, disappointingly, happening on the bridge abutment front Nigel decided, with meltdown easing just a little, he would take up Lucy’s very kind invitation to enjoy the pleasures of Malvern for a day or two as she was desperate to go round Malvern Flea Market at the showground to hopefully find a few choice items of a cocktail bar type nature.IMG_1980

She had booked the downstairs flat at The Wyche Inn for their stay………

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……. perched high up on the Malvern Hills, it was almost too exciting for Nigel to bear, having not ventured much beyond Evesham since March.

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The view, Lucy promised, was spectacular and she wasn’t kidding ……

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…… with Nigel noting, that it would have probably have bought on one of Darrell’s nose bleeds had he come too …….. what with him being a martyr to his attitude sickness.

IMG_1981The Inn, in particular the car parking  facilities, were just a bit close “to the edge” for Lucy’s liking, so after a couple of trial runs they decided, for Lucy’s well being to park a little way down the road, where there wasn’t an edge …….

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…… and she felt safer, as it was definitely was not a place to lose control of the brake pedal!

Friday 21 August 2020

A Sorry Lack Of Action.

After all Nigel’s initial excitement over the proposed work due to be carried out on “our” bridge in the coming next six months ………

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…… it’s fair to say the diddly squat has happened, save for three gentlemen standing, talking and pointing for a few minutes in our “garden” on the very first morning. As soon as he is up Nigel goes straight to the window in the hope of seeing anything …… cranes, rafts, scaffolding, cradles  …… only to be greeted time and again with absolutely nothing.

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Naturally he’s now blaming meltdown, however as he had been a little concerned as to how the disruption might effect on his beloved swans. No swanlings at all this year, again, according to Nigel probably due to the flipping the virus, but I am not really sure exactly how he’s worked that one out. 

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Anyway, when he’s been out for a stroll, he’s been telling them that they are best staying at the bottom end of the river, nearest the weir, as, he in his expert opinion, it could possibly be a lot quieter and safer there than at our end, if/when the work eventually begins ……….. what is he like?