Lost ….. But Not Found!

Poor Darrell is in quite a state of seasonal flux ………

…… he’d decided it might be best to give into an onslaught of Nigel’s finest seasonal pester power by injecting  a subtle flavour of all that is Easter to The Towers interior décor.

I have to say he has, as per usual, done really well ……

……. it’s all very understated but “present” in a Darrell “enough’s as good as a feast” type way, if you know what I mean ……..

…… but then he started mithering about the little hanging tranklements he thought he had to make a twig tree decoration for the table, the only trouble is he can’t find them anywhere, the last time he/we saw them was way back in Easter 2018 …..

……. and I know that because he made me trawl through three years worth of  Easter posts to look for “evidence”.  He says he can see them in his minds eye, in a plastic box with the miniature bunting laid carefully on top, but as to their whereabouts, to quote a young Toyah Wilcox, “….it’s a mystery!”

I’ve told him not to worry, we’ve more than Eastery enough and that I’d treat us to a couple of bunches of festive daffodils for the table in their place. However, I have a very spooky late great Derek Acorah type feeling that although he seems resigned to them not being around for this year (at least), we are now due, post holiday, the most mahooooooosive spring clean of all time, as I am sure I’ve heard him sigh, on more than one occassion “In such a bijoux and orderly residence, they can’t be that far!” ……… heaven help me!

Nigel, Iris And Bertie Find ………. A Bottomless, Hose-less, Tool-less Henry Hoover

Iris and Bertie seem to have caught on to Nigel’s knack for “finding things” when they are out, with them both spotting, from afar, something shiny, domed and black sitting on the grass on the opposite side of the road.  There was no way of making it out from that distance but as they got nearer they could just about make out a white note stuck on it that Nigel was absolutely certain would either say “free” or “please take”.

The excitement of finding prospective treasure was both palpable and tangible as all three finally crossed the road to find ………

…… a bottomless Henry hoover!  Bertie, who is obsessed by all things Hoover (having both a toy Henry and upright Dyson of his own), was all for taking it home there and then as it was bound to come in useful, however, for once, Nigel had to be the voice of reason ……..

It had no bottom, hose or tools, it was just the top, and though wonderfully fascinating to a little boy who adores machines and knowing how they work, we are not really the sort of family that needs, let alone knows how to make use of any such spare spares we might happen upon on the road side, that used to be Andy’s department, there wasn’t a single thing he couldn’t fix, so sadly they left said spare part where it was for someone else to find  …… however Nigel couldn’t help but ponder aloud when he got back to The Towers that it’s obviously a gene that the Young Master has spookily inherited from a beloved Grandy Andy he never got to meet ………..

It’s Beginning to Look, A Bit, Like Easter!

Not going into town very often, with Darrell tending to take care of all our essential shopping needs during meltdown, Nigel has been rather limited in the scope of seasonal windows he can stand outside and admire while out on the school run …….

…… however Silver Birch, the florist, has managed to satisfy the little fella’s yen for a good seasonal display.

It’s pretty much got everything to warm the little cockles of his Easter loving heart,  from Easter egg trees, decorative wood tulips, the odd golden egg, wooden and moss bunnies, Easter signs and ornamentally carved ducks, not to mention seasonal faux blooms …….  and well,  who doesn’t just love a string of en trend concertina-ed carrots?

Even the slightly off piste and out of season snowmen at the counter seem pretty impressed ……. it’s been a weird, weird year …….

…….. but Silver Birch dun gud, especially for our Nigel!

Fridays Word ………….

Well, Sunday afternoon, just wouldn’t be Sunday afternoon after one of Darrell’s full on and glorious Sunday Roasts ……………

……. when we all take a wonderful undermeal ……….

…….. to wit an after dinner nap ……. to hell with the washing up this is  what Sunday, especially in meltdown is all about!

Nigel Finds ………

There’s always seems to be something new for Nigel to see or discover when he’s on the school run and yesterday was no different ……..

……as he stumbled upon a bag outside a house that said “Please help yourself” …… and well, it would have been rude not to throw covid caution to the wind and take a little peak at its contents, wouldn’t it?

Needless to say the little fella returned to The Towers in triumphant mood as he gratefully helped himself and brought home a game of Jenga, something he and Darrell had always had a long felt want for.

Needless to say, much noisy fun ensued after Darrell’s wonderful Toad in the Hole with baked beans accompaniment tea.

Nigel also came back with an unopened Minions colouring/sticker pack, now safely put away for when there is a lull in proceedings when Iris and Bertie come over.  Once more, one mans rubbish is a little monkeys treasure, Nigel dun gud!

A Year Ago Today ……..

On this day last year we were still getting our heads round Boris’s not totally unexpected announcement the night before that we had to go into hibernation/meltdown, where has that year gone?

Today you still find us in meltdown, meltdown No.3 to be exact, although, dare I say, now there is the smallest glimpse of light at the end of the Covid 19 tunnel.

I have to say that this meltdown feels very different from that first meltdown in March 2020, when the streets were truly empty, the wearing of masks still a novelty and optional, sanitizer couldn’t be found for love nor money, there were queues to get into Tesco and Zoom meetings were very much a mystery to the likes of us, Eurovision, what there was of it,  was just weird and depressing  and delayed until this May in some guise or another, but fingers crossed   …… and worst of all, we didn’t see our beloved Iris and Bertie for three whole months and that truly broke our hearts.

But in June bubbles were invented and we have been able to snuggle Iris and Bertie as much as we want ever since then. We are also fortunate enough to be able to count ourselves half baked, having received our first dose of the vaccine a month or so ago, something that was only a dream a year ago. We had the flyspray taser Pfizer one, hopefully sometime in May we will get fully done, however, our spooky, late great Derek Acorah senses tell us we might have to have at least one extra booster shot, but our arms will be pumped, ready and primed for that event, come what may.

We have tasted and embraced freedom in between lockdowns, be it all too fleeting. That felt strange too, but we took full advantage without taking any risks and most importantly memories were made, but perhaps we took it for granted that it would last, we never will again …….

Who knows where we will be this time next year … ….. what a year, but we are all safe and that’s all that really matters.

A Most Indelicate Mathematical Matter

Iris and Bertie were very taken by a dog fouling sign they read on the school run yesterday with Nigel ……

……. in particular that there was a maximum penalty of £1,000 for, how shall I say, any poop found of an unpicked up type nature.

Let’s just say, according to Nigel, it turned out to be a very productive (if indelicate) lesson in learning their 1,000 times table ……..

……… when working out that they’d been witness to a possible £7,000 worth of doggy doo doo fines, had there been a person of an official fouling penalty type capacity on their route to implement said law.

Nigel returned to The Towers musing that it was  a clear case of where there’s muck there’s (or rather, could be) money.  What is he like?

The Forgotten Abandoned And Neglected

With almost constant mention of Covid on the TV, radio and in papers, Nigel has become aware of a totally unmentioned phenomena as witnessed at first hand, by him, in the shop windows of Evesham, in particular but not exclusive to the hairdressers and barbers of said town ………

……. to wit, the sad and neglected plants, forgotten and abandoned without a single drop to  drink when all non essential establishments were locked up and deserted as another meltdown was announced just after New Year.

Succulents seem to be fairing a little better than most of the “ordinary” plants of a foliage type nature, but he wonders how many can/will be revived once hairdressers (as well as non essential shopkeepers) are able to open up again, dependent, of course, on Boris’s meltdown road trip map in mid April. There could total plant carnage!.

According to the little fella urgent questions need to be asked in Parliament about this wanton neglect …….. what is he like?

Don’t Do This To Me!

As you know I very much enjoy listening to talk radio…….

……. but there is something that is really starting to grate on me, a word I now can’t help myself listening for whenever a dialogue starts, even though it’s constant use irritates the hell out of me, simply because its only a matter of time before it rears its ugly head to ruin my quite enjoyment …… and then to make matters worse, I then find myself counting how many times it’s used during an interview or call to the radio station  ……..

It’s the word “conversation”, such an innocuous word, but it’s constant use at the moment has me is driving me up the wall.  Once I counted it being used four times in a single sentence …….

Why does everyone feel the constant need for “conversations to be had” or question why “conversations were not been had”, about absolutely everything!  Aghhhhhh

I think perhaps I have been in meltdown for too long and I need to embrace Darrell’s peppermint tea a little more robustly……………….

Serious Easter Egg Envy

Darrell has just started to put together his/our 2021 festive Easter decor, something he hadn’t actually been planning for, as we were all booked into the Butlins Hotel in Minehead to celebrate Young Master Bertie’s birthday, (long story short, due to covid restrictions  now re-booked for Easter 2022!)  but, despite our disappointment, The Towers portal is looking most resplendent with a little seasonal confection he just threw together to get things started …….

However, I am afraid he may have to seriously up his game after young Nigel came home absolutely full of a house he’d spotted while out on the school run ……..

…… they’d only got a display of huge coloured Easter eggs in their front garden causing Nigel to suffer from an unprecedented attack of an Easter egg envy type nature.

Poor Darrell ………

Timber ………...

Oh dear, the high winds of late have taken a cruel toll on fences that surround The Towers.

They’ve had a couple of patch up jobs, but are now, sadly, beyond that now. It’s time to ratchet things up and call in the big guns….. much to Nigel’s delight.

We performed our civic duty by informing our managing agent of developments of a fallen fence type nature and in turn have received a letter telling us that their renovation is now imminent, we need to remove all cars from the area (not that we have one) while the work is being done and to take extra care on site.  Needless to say Nigel has his hard hat and hi-viz vest on standby, plus, he has set his deck chair up in prime position in his bedroom window. 

However, on the plus side, it appears that the San Andreas Fault in bin area seems to have closed up a little …….

……… much to Darrell’s relief, who has confined in me on more than one occassion that he’s had nightmares about going out to the bins late at night and being swallowed up by said fault, never to be seen again, leaving Nigel and I to wonder, long into our old age, where he’d disappeared to……. what on earth is he like?