Darrell Finds ……… A Pope Plate.

Darrell was out and about in town, taking in all the charity shops, looking for some choice pieces for his upcoming seasonal autumn/Halloween and Christmas displays, when what did he spy ………..

…….. ONLY a Pope plate!!!!!  His heart almost skipped a beat ……

……. as it was the very same (RIP and beatified) Pope, Hugh had received his proclamation from.

It was only £1, and to be honest I am really surprised when no considered purchase was made, either as a gift for Hugh or for Darrell himself, as he does have a penchant for a bit of religious kitsch, but then perhaps favours the Mary side of things rather than the papal variety. He did say that he did think long and hard about it, both for Hugh and himself, envisioning how either of them could incorporate it within their very carefully curated displays …… and then didn’t really like to ask at the counter if the plate stand was included in said £1.

I just hope he doesn’t rue his decision, as Pope plates aren't easy to come by and you can be sure as eggs is eggs that it will be long gone if he does suffer any non purchasers regret!

Nigel’s First Find Of The New School Run Year …….

Yesterday Nigel, Iris and Bertie found their first “find” of the new school run year, to wit a box of free books looking for a new home ………

…… the box was outside one of the houses in Nigel’s favourite road on the journey as it’s a bit on the posh side! There were a lot of travel guides, so obviously a well travelled household. All the books were perused with consideration, however in the end the little gaggle opted for a book on handcrafted Christmas and festive decorations as it was the most useful, not only to them but also Darrell, what with his obsession for all things of a seasonal décor type nature.

It was fortuitous that Nigel also had a pen in his school run trolley so that,  he could write “thank you” on the piece of card beside the box that said “help yourself”. Sometimes the school run can be a little boring, but it’s boxes like this that help break up the journey and monotony ……. and when the festive season is eventually upon us Nigel had a little plan to repay the kind gesture ……….

Nothing Seasonally Goes Past Nigel….

Well, I was hoping we’d have a couple more weeks without too much seasonal pester power, but it seems, just like Christmas, shops are stocking their Halloween shelves earlier and earlier each year ……..  

……… which naturally, knowing the nature of the beast, doesn’t go past Nigel, and yes, said pestering has begun in earnest…….

……. not for himself you understand …….. he’s only spending so much time cogitating and ruminating over each and every spooky item for Iris and Bertie and our traditional Halloween Sleepover, he’ll have you believe!

Complete and utter tosh……. he’s like a dog with two bones, two tails and a ball, he’s soooooooooo excited.

I’ve told him that he will have to consult Darrell on anything of a decor type nature enters The Towers as Darrell is very precious about his festive shelves and he will, most probably, already have a few ideas/themes in mind.

However, to keep the peace and not wishing to tread on any of  Darrell’s toes, I‘ve given Nigel a budget and put him in charge of prizes for games and the obligatory Halloween crackers, a few surprises for the aforementioned I and B and treats for the Trick or Treat Cauldron, and yes, a special Halloween hand wash in the bathroom is a most excellent idea Nigel!

He went away a pretty happy (spooky) bunny with the deal ………..

……… how many weeks to go???????

Procrastination ....... and Comfort From Hugh's Man What Does!

Darrell’s time with Hugh was, as always, all too short, but hopefully it won’t be long before they can meet up again.

As per usual Hugh tried to delay their parting for as long as he could, suddenly remembering, with apologetic profusion, that he hadn’t put the obligatory dozen of his finest home grown eggs for Darrell to bring home to The Towers.

This delay tactic worked for around another fifteen minutes, shooing chickens and carefully selecting the biggest and freshest eggs, but then Hugh’s man  “what does” (who had been on his annual leave during Darrell's visit) intervened and said that if they procrastinated any longer Darrell would almost certainly miss his train and so  “….begging his pardon, if it was alright with Sir….”  he really must load Darrell’s bags into the back of the Bentley.

Poor Hugh was devastated, it was a very moist and emotional farewell. In the end he chose to bid his last final goodbye to Darrell in the kitchen and not wave from the gate, as he really didn’t want anyone passing the cottage at the same time to see him in such a state. Darrell understood perfectly, it was exactly the same for him too.

Mellors, now well versed in the melodrama of one of Hugh and Darrell’s epic farewells  handed over one of his mahoooosive hankies as they drove off sagely saying “There, there young fella me lad, the agony of your parting aint nowt compared to the joy when you two get back together again, right?”  Wise words indeed!

Hugh’s Consummate Credibility Has No Bounds

Hugh’s consummate credibility knows no bounds and still leaves Darrell in a state of thrall, even after almost ten years of mentor and friendship.

Hugh had been having a bit of a change around at the Chicken Coop and Darrell noticed something on his wall that he’d never seen before, only an apostolic blessing from a (past) Pope!

…… and not any Pope, only a Pope who is now a real life saint!

Darrell said it made him go a little giddy, well very giddy to be honest  …………

He’d always known that Hugh was special and knew just about everyone, but until now Darrell had always considered Simon Cowell to be the most famous ……. a pope, who is now a saint is a completely different ball game ………… he wondered if he really ought to genuflect on meeting Hugh after time apart as an act of reverence.  I think I really need to talk to him when he comes home or heaven knows what he’ll be thinking/doing next of a religious type nature!

Something You Just Can’t Have Too Many Of ……….

According to Hugh a home is not a home without cushions and you really can’t have too many ………

…… and it has to be said that Hugh certainly has the most wonderous profusion and abandoned gay abundance of the aforementioned!

When he’s feeling even the teensiest bit stressed or when that certain tightness comes creeping across his shoulders and up his neck, he told Darrell, there’s nothing that cures it faster and he likes more than a good old robust and vigorous shake and plump to cast all to the wind ………..

…… especially, he added, to a very chilled and laid back Darrell, when the reward from all said shaking and plumping action is flinging yourself wantonly into a fabuuuuuuuulous mountain of feathery, fabreezed, loveliness when you’re done …… what is he like?

Treading The Worcestershire Grape?

The grapes growing aloft in Hugh’s little veranda vineyard are his absolute pride and joy, grown, “according” to Hugh, from pips he spat out and saved following a Tesco substitution, when black seedless grapes were temporarily out of stock …….

When they are at their optimum stage of ripeness he had high hopes of harvesting them and then treading them, in order to home brew some of his own wine, Chateau De Chicken Coop Deux Mille Vingt-Et-Un having a certain ring to it!

He was thinking about inviting all his neighbours from far and wide to come round for a bit of a soiree and tread his said grape in his currently empty swimming pool ………

Darrell had to admit he wasn’t too sure about the idea ……….

……. Hugh was brimming with enthusiasm, but had he really thought his health and safety through properly, a crowded grape filled pool of strangers, treading with a devil may care, Worcestershire gay abandon? It would probably be the most exciting night they’d had since Karina and The Waves won Eurovision in 1997, it could be risky!  Hugh said he’d think about it some more.

He’d put the exclusive wine bottles he’d had specially blown back in their boxes for a bit while he pondered, perhaps he’d just ask his “man what does” to tread them for him.

Then wondered if he should also put his dreams of producing his own select vintage demi brut pear champagne and a possibly acclaimed tanquillo apple prosecco on hold too, as the fruit would undoubtedly be an awful lot harder to tread than grapes, especially when his “man what does” already has a wonky ankle.

What is he like?

For once Darrell chose to simply admire Hugh’s large, autumnal, pink blooms and let Hugh work this quandary out for himself …….

Checking Out Hugh’s Latest Designer Pieces ……

Obviously, for Darrell, no short stay with Hugh would be a short stay with Hugh without a forensic check of all the latest pieces sent to him “to play with” by all the very best designers vying for Hugh’s much considered consideration, approval and affirmation that their tranklements were “an absolute must have” or “to die for darling” item!

Darrell could see that famous landmarks were obviously very much de rigueur this season.

…… and chuffed to see that he himself was well ahead of the trend with his own incorporation of the Eifel Tower and Statue of Liberty amongst others on the shelves Chez Towers.

However, he was behind on all things white (something he thought a can of white spray paint could easily fix),  in particular wild animals ………

…… from rhinos to elephants balancing their balls on their heads and Moomins!

Sometimes Hugh only has things “up” for a few days, others last a few weeks as he tweaks their position to see how they work in various situ’s. Some pieces aren’t really him, so they are usually donated to his local Emporium de Charity of choice after he has “tried them out”, but he had to admit that the Moomin was staying as he had a huge soft spot for the little creatures.

In the garden Darrell found that we were also pretty well on trend, as Hugh too has a small collection of weathering “holy stones”

……. like the ones I bought back from Southport for Darrell  to use as candle holders, where Hugh has plans to plant his burgeoning supply of hens and chicks in his.

Hugh said that it was very emotional to see what an impassioned pupil Darrell had turned out to be and Darrell in turn was overjoyed that when it came to the aforementioned  landmark trend he was, he felt, well ahead of the game ……. as he could easily trade a Blackpool Tower for one of Hugh’s Eiffels any day!  What is he like?

The Morning After The Night Before & Hugh’s Little Kitchen Idiosyncrasies

Let’s just say after Darrell and Hugh’s overindulgence in potent cocktails and showbiz gossip the night before, neither was up that early.  Darrell got up first, desperate for a coffee with a Panadol a deux accompaniment ……….

……. but that wasn’t quite as easy as he had first thought, not helped by a thumping head, as Darrell quickly found out …….

……. as Hugh has a few little idiosyncrasies as far as his coffee/tea etc. storage is concerned, so it was indeed fortunate that Darrell’s opening of cupboards etc. got Hugh up too to find out what all the commotion was.

It was all very simple he explained, the coffee was in the blue Stilton pot and the sweeteners were in the Stilton with port one …….. and if Darrell didn’t mind, as he was getting acquainted with Hugh’s kitchen, could he possibly have the teeniest tiniest of cup of tea ……. he’d find the Earl Grey in the Fortnum and Mason Earl Grey tin.  Never, said Darrell, has a coffee and pain relief been more welcome, bless him!

Friends Re-United

With the new, revised, queue free, unmasked school run now under the expert guidance of Nigel, Darrell felt it it would be safe leave us and to spend some much needed quality time with Hugh, his best friend and mentor of all things a la mode, de rigueur and kosher, at his almost permanent bolt hole, in the heart of the Worcester countryside.

It was an emotional reunion as Darrell rang the bell on Hugh’s gate ………..

……. and saw Hugh, who had been waiting impatiently for his friend to finally appear from down the road …….

…… rush to greet him in a full, teary flurry of robust and overwhelming excitement .

After that, according to Darrell they didn’t stop talking on the veranda until their jaws ached so much they couldn’t talk any more, not to mention the effect of Hugh’s very potent Penile Collider cocktails  which didn’t much help ………..

……. forcing them, in the wee small hours to their slumbers, with the prospect of a wonderful few days together gloriously spread out before them.  Very happy days!