Fridays Word Of The Week ……..

Today, a word or feeling familiar to us all I think, not least Darrell who is almost in a constant state of this, what with all his tidying ways ……..

I present you with “huckmuck”  - the confusion that results when things aren’t in the place you expected them to be ……..

……. especially, in Darrell’s case, after giving The Towers, what he likes to call a good rogering bottoming …….

……… after which you can lay bets on him not being able to find various bits and pieces he’s “put somewhere safe” ……..

…… which is generally followed by him having to have a little lie down because he’s developed one of his heads with the stress of it all,   what is he like?

Congratulations and Jubilations

What can we say ……….

……. this morning, to congratulate us on and mark Part 1 of our COVID-19 mRNa Vaccine BNT162b2, Kata our lovely neighbour from across the hall, had baked us some celebratory Covid-19 cupcakes!

She said we were the first people she knew who had “been done” and that it couldn’t have happened to three nicer, more diligent, Covid conscious people. Let’s just say, it was emotional, especially when she asked to see our arms and saw that not one of us had needed a cotton wool swab and plaster, we had to admit we felt very proud.

It also has to be said that Kata also makes the most wonderful cupcakes, her vanilla buttercream is a featherlight dream, so much so we are thinking that we really should enter her in next years Great British Bake Off.  Needless to say said cakes have been duly consumed ……. and if it isn’t too presumptuous, we are now eagerly looking forward to when we are fully dosed up, when hopefully Kata will be as equally excited and greet our triumphant return with more cupcakes or other such delicacies, what are we like?

We’re Half Baked………

I know it’s hard to tell just by looking at our pictures, but, we have, at this very moment ………. the COVID-19 mRNa Vaccine BNT162b2 coursing through our veins, we’ve been done, we’ve been Pfizered!

I can’t tell you how emotional it was when we got our text on Friday asking us to “book our jabs” or yesterday at Riverside Surgery, when  at precisely 11.00am we were all simultaneously given the first half of our Covid vacation vaccination!  We’re officially half baked?  Can you believe it?

We apologise for not telling you of the joyous news before, but we were so worried that it may have been a hoax …… but as nobody asked for our inside leg measurements or bank details we thought we had best just select our time of choice, turn up and see what happened.

It was all a bit of a shock, because to the best of our knowledge we have no serious underwriting skills and certainly don’t fit into the age group being done at present, but it seems there are no others “quite like us” in Evesham and they thought they had best get us done where best was most appropriate!

Obviously, it wasn’t the time and place for taking photos, however we did manage to get a couple of surreptitious ones of Nigel sat sitting in the 10 minutes holding room waiting for any adverse reactions, of which, thankfully, there were none.

It was all very organised, a little bit of queuing and standing on designated spots outside our appointed jabbing rooms.  Nigel and I were fine, I wouldn’t say either of us felt a little prick, to be honest it was quite a sharp one, but what price immunity and hopefully, in the end, freedom.  Darrell was also surprisingly calm, seeing as he especially prefers to be a stranger to the hypodermic needle,  but was, perhaps, a tad disappointed when told that there weren’t any bravery stickers, no matter how “good” he had been!

We now await our next call up in about 12 weeks time, when we should be completely baked and perhaps now knowing the set up we’ll have a few more pictures of the monumental moment we become fully continent, but until then we feel well and truly blessed in a Kerry Catona Hello Magazine special edition type way.

  STAY SAFE

Snickers White Limited Edition

This week, we are embracing, as our comestible, chocolatey snack of choice Snickers White Limited Edition bars ……..

Darrell found them, while out on his weekly essential shop in Home Bargains for just £1.49 for a pack of five and it would have been rude not to logically purchase two of said packs, thus alleviating any risk of unseemly squabbling over the remaining two if he had only bought one!

They are exactly the same as a normal Snickers in all their peanut, nougat and caramel glory but for a limited time (we presume) they have been entombed in ‘a rich, white chocolate’ covering …… and as you know, we are extremely partial to anything of a white chocolate type nature.

They were not found wanting in any way and so did not disappoint, in fact Darrell has strict instructions to look for another couple of packs when he is out next week! We have also heard on the grapevine that there are White Lion Bars afoot too ………all I can say is thank goodness we didn’t decide to give up chocolate up Lent!

Our score on our world famous Richter Scale of Noms ………a hare’s breath 10.56 square cubits!

“Gold” Fingers Crossed

It has to be said that despite four meltdowns now, Nigel’s diligent and robust dental hygiene regime has not suffered, however, his routine check ups are now a very different, more formal affair now, not that he is grumbling.

He now has to ring the bell to be let in, where his name checked off on the list (a bit like the entry to a VIP event), his temperature taken and finally an ample squirt of sanitizer administered to his hands.

Then, left sat sitting, the  waiting room is now a lonely place, with no other patients to surreptitiously look up and down, pondering what they were “in” for …….

…….. no magazines to pass the time, just laminated signs of chairs warning you not to sit there and cabinets of teeth that you could possibly have, if you could afford them, to gaze at in awe and wonder.

However, after the little fella had had a robust scrap and polish and a really good rinse, followed by a full bill of dental health from Claire his dentist, he noticed at the desk as he went to book his next six monthly appointment that they were having a Patient Prize Draw ……….

Well, who wouldn’t want the opportunity to win a gold plated, ultra soft toothbrush with matching 24 carat tooth gel, it’s the prize of dreams, well, for Nigel anyway and if he didn’t win that there were other mysterious, unlisted prizes, no doubt of a oral type nature ……..

Needless to say, Nigel’s entry was completed and the pen he used carefully put into a container to be safely sterilised later on ……. there were only a couple of other forms in the box, so Nigel returned to The Towers in very hopeful mood, not even Hugh, Darrell’s best friend and mentor with all his show business ways has a gold toothbrush, let alone 24 carat toothpaste …………… Nigel could dine out on that for hours …….. when we are next able to stay over at Le Chicken Coup. Happy Days!

Friday Word Of The Week …….

I hold my hands up, I am sooooooo humungously guilty of  “fudgeling ”, especially when in whatever lockdown we have found ourselves in …… and I think I am getting worse ……..

And Darrell is just as guilty as I am ………

……. but perhaps not so Nigel, who is generally always very purposeful and focused …….

Fudgel - pretending to work without actually accomplishing anything, what about you?

Strangers To A Subway

It goes without saying that we, and in particular Nigel, are very fond of almost all comestibles, however, it might come as a bit of a surprise when we confess that we are very much strangers to a Subway ……….

……. it’s that smell, unique to all Subways that really puts us off, it might be just their various  breads baking in the oven, but it’s most odd and therefore fails to entice us through their portals.

…… And then, as per yesterday, apart from the whiff, the thought of chicken made from plants was just toooooooo much for the Nigel to take in, the stuff scientists and nightmares ……

…… do they have petals instead of feathers and twigs for feet?

Sometimes, it’s best to just walk on by …….. before your little brain explodes.

A Whole Lot Of Tossing Going On ……

How on earth did yesterday get to be Pancake Day? To be honest, we almost missed it completely because no way did it seem as if we’d had enough year to be even thinking about Lenten sacrifice, but there you go, it’s as if being in our fourth meltdown has taken away all sense of time and occassion from us.

However, Darrell caught something on the radio that made him double check and before we knew it he was tossing away like there was no tomorrow.

He did, bless him, try to persuade Nigel and I that this year (especially as we hadn’t even realised it was upon us) we could, perhaps, go all continental and exotic by offering to make, for a change, American buttermilk pancakes to celebrate, but I’ll be honest, we were having none of his fancy ideas, tradition is tradition and besides, who knows what fate could befall us should we dare veer from ancient custom, but we’d have no objection to said American pancakes at any other time this week!

It goes without saying that Darrell did not disappoint, he does make a most excellent and generous pile pancakes, served simply with lemon juice and a sprinkle of sugar. It didn’t take long for the huge stack he had prepared to dwindle down to nothing.

We’ve also came to the joint decision that we won’t be giving anything up this year for Lent, after being in meltdown four times in twelve months we think we’ve given up quite enough, holidays, The Eurovision Song Contest and the pleasures of a good mooch ……. so it’ll just be 40 days of Nigel’s constant musing about which Easter egg he would like then!

No Nom Nom – Marmite Dynamite

After our post last week enthusing over the prospect of, hopefully, partaking of a Marmite hot cross bun or two in the coming weeks, several people messaged us asking if we were equally eager to savour the delights of the limited edition Marmite Dynamite with chilli.

Well, we wouldn’t be us if we weren't always robustly honest, so on this one occassion we have to say it’s a resounding no merci from us, which might come as a shock to a lot of you.  We have dabbled in most things of a Marmite type nature, however it’s extremely doubtful that a considered purchase will be made because, if we are perfectly frank, we don’t much care for chilli.

The idea of, to very roughly quote the advertising bumf, starting our morning torching our toast and experiencing the odd bagel boom or crumpet kap-ow just doesn’t appeal, we much prefer a more sedate morning repast, not unlike our  beloved Queen no doubt.

Even Darrell with all his wonderous culinary skills knows to be parsimonious to the extreme in it’s usage and, though no one could ever call us frugal, having a jar sat sitting on the cupboard, just because it’s Marmite, would be a tad wasteful.

However, don’t let us put you off, each to his own and naturally we would be very interested in any followers reviews, after all, we are not ones for not turning …….. if the argument is persuasive!

A Proud Moment Of A Home Schooling Type Nature.

Bertie’s first Zoom meeting of the day last Friday was, how shall I put it, emotional, particularly for Nigel who was down for Home Schooling that morning …….

…… because Bertie was made the class Values Champion for the spring term. Nigel was beside himself as he read the letter, to be honest it could have had Buckingham Palace’s letter heading on it, the little fella couldn’t have been any prouder …….

……. and …… Nigel was to present his beloved nephew with his medal.

Let’s just say it was a very wonderful shared moment …………..

Nigel has always, always wanted a medal, but the pride he felt as he carefully slipped Bertie’s over his head was, he sniffed, was a feeling that could never be equalled.

There was a certificate to go with the medal which Nigel also presented to Bertie with great ceremony, a strong handshake and manly pat on the shoulder.  Nigel said it was then hard emotionally to continue with the first lesson of the day, so proclaimed an early break with milk and chocolate digestives all round and five minutes on his own to compose himself for the rest of the day.  What is he like?

Words Of A Significant and Poignant Type Nature ………

Let’s be honest ……..

……. hand ups all those who don’t love a really good “snerdle”, especially on a cold dank night ………

…… it’s our highlight of the day!

To wit ……. to wrap up cosily in bed!