A Celebrity Breakfast With ………..

Breakfast at The Drayton Manor Park started of pretty normally, with all the family meeting up in the dining room ………

……. with Nigel leading the way with a Frosties, apple juice and a pot of tea type combo  ………

……. followed by a, for him, quite reserved English with toast.

……. and then ……..

……… the excitement began ………

……. with Rusty AND The Fat Controller making a surprise (masked) entrance …….. and it has to be said that the Fat Controller was the loveliest Fat Controller you could have ever wished for.

It was, according to Nigel emotional, very emotional and all thoughts of just perhaps another round of toast quickly forgotten ……..

……. when there were photos to be posed for and memories made! What a brilliant start to any staycation day!

The Stuff Of Nigel’s Dreams - An Amusement Arcade To Himself ….. Well, Almost!

Due to a few lingering Covid restrictions the small “Family Amusement Room” at The Drayton Manor Hotel was limited to just one family at a time ………..

……. and with a little squanderment money burning a huge-mongous hole in his pocket, it would have simply looked rude not to take the opportunity of its “exclusive” usage by treating Iris and Bertie to roam free ……. tonight the “milky bars” as they used to say …….. were on Uncle Nigel.

Oh my goodness, according to Nigel afterwards, the noise from the machines, not even counting Iris and Bertie squeals of delight was so LOUD …….. and the heat …….. it so hot that even Nigel was forced to perspire!

……….. but no grabber was left redundant, no Minion unbanged, no horse unridden, no level unreached, no button unpressed, and no prize unfought for ………..

……. until it was Nigel who had to admit defeat, he was well and truly pooped (as well as not having a single penny left), declaring to his beloved niece and nephew that it really was time for bed ………. especially  as they had a mahooooosive day tomorrow.

Nigel Embraces The Joys Of The Drayton Manor Hotel

Well, with the school holidays in full unfettered swing, who wouldn’t accept an invitation to join Iris and Bertie et toute la famille for an overnight stay at the Drayton Manor Hotel with the accompanying pleasures of Thomas Land included.

Certainly not Nigel ………….

……… he’s having, from what I can gather from his garbled text messages a wonderful time, and they haven’t even been to the park yet!

On this occassion they’ve not opted for a Thomas themed room …..

……. but there’s more than enough Thomas around the hotel to keep Nigel and Little Miss Iris and Young Master Bertie happy, as I’m sure we’ll find out later. Nigel’s room even has, he’s announced in capital letters, a real life fridge so his Maltesers and Chocolate Buttons can stay in tip top unmelted condition in this sweltering weather …….

……… what is he like?

…… and a garden area which promises much beyond it’s boundaries………

……… to wit the park, zoo and ……… dinosaurs! 

I think Nigel might burst before he even gets on any rides!

Keeping A Keen Eye On The Hedgerows.

We are all currently on hedge patrol …………

……. noting all blackberry bushes and the occasional plum tree  of a promising pickage type nature …….

….. as a source of totally free fruit, most excellent in burgeoning vitamin C.

Last year, in the midst of Covid meltdown we were a little lacklustre in our foraging and regretfully Darrell didn’t even get down and dirty to make a single one jar of his prize blackberry and plum compost compote………

Well, this year the blossom looks most promising and we are more in the mood …….. we just need to keep checking and be patient for a few weeks more, for hopefully, the bumper harvest to begin ………

Nigel Does A Double Take Of A Seasonal Type Nature

Out mooching in Evesham the other day poor Nigel had “a bit of a moment”, where he found self doubt completely clouding his normal buoyant spirit …….

…… had he, somehow …… found himself in a weird sort of time warp where it was …… Easter?  As it appeared that the carpet/come mattress shop at the top of the High Street was in full Easter egg, chick, bunny and lamb type mode…….

It was all too disconcerting for words, until the little fella had the good sense to double check his phone, yes ….. it was still very much July, verging on August 2021.

Goodness only knows what’s happened/happening in Bradfords world, but according to Nigel questions need to be seriously asked in Parliament, because, for a few minutes there, and I quote, his “total equilibrium had been shot and gone to cock!” and that’s never a good thing, especially for Nigel!

Fingers (And Other Things) Tightly Crossed For Commonwealth Games Birmingham 2022 Ticket Ballot

Well, living in the West Midlands type area of the UK it would look most rude if we didn’t take advantage of being the first in the country to be able to enter the ballot for tickets for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, especially when all the action will be taking place just down the road in Birmingham, wouldn’t it?

Darrell agreed that he’d try to get us all registered and then see what else we needed to do to secure potential tickets, while I was more than happy to sit beside him, observe the process and hand over the credit card, if/when it was needed!

It wasn’t that difficult or onerous a task ……… but then Darrell prides himself on being a bit of a whizz on the computer.

We decided that although it would be wonderful to be part of history at the opening and closing ceremonies, the chances of us actually getting tickets would be very almost zilch ………..

……. so we went a bit random and off paste and selected diving, gymnastics and weightlifting without looking too carefully at which actual events they were for, because, to be honest, we’d just be grateful, ecstatic and honoured to simply be there in real, real life and in person!

Well, it’s all now in the lap of the gods, our credit card also now registered and poised to take whatever damage will be done to it, if we are successful ……….

……. all we can do is now wait until around the end of August to know if we’ve got anything ………….

…….. our fingers, toes and eyes will remain robustly crossed until we get that hopefully successful confirmation e-mail.  It’s just too exciting for words!

Fishing Pickles From The Jar! …….

Darrell always takes a great interest in any new shops that open in town ……..

…… particularly of a personal beauty type nature ……..

…… and it seems we have a new nail bar/spa ………….

“What they can to do with your nails and toes is out of this world ” he declared when he got back to The Towers………..

…….. “but perhaps only for the brave, you could easily take someone’s or even your own eye out with one if you’re not careful! There are also a couple of probing questions that need to be asked like …… erm ……. what do you do in a  toilet type situation?

He says he is  sorely tempted to go in and ask if they would just do him one on the index finger of his right hand …….. how brilliant would that be for skewering pickled onions (or olives) straight from the  jar!  I give up, what on earth is he like?