Happy Halloween ?????

Our Halloween sleepover was a twenty four hours of two parts, the before and the aftermath.

Before, The Towers had been scrubbed, primed and prepared to an inch of its life ………

…… everything carefully planned and in position ……

……. from the table setting………..

…… festive treat supply …….

……. and cocktail bar.

And then within said twenty fours hours, ten of which we were actually doing the “sleeping over” ……..  we were left with what seemed absolute carnage ……

……. bless our little, beloved guests cotton socks!

We rode on Evesham Vale Light Railway to play at The Fort for a good hour and then spent a rigorous and robust session at the Soft Play at The Valley down the hill …….

…… before heading home for one of Darrell’s Chinese feasts …….

….. and a master class in cocktail making ………

…… with recipes carefully recorded for prosperity, should we ever wish to sample their delights again at another one of our junctures of celebration.

The council helped furnish us a personal and most wonderous firework display, accompanied by the romantic ringing of bells from the Bell Tower, which although it was actually well over a mile away, as the crow flies, were both still visible and clearly heard from the deserted (except for us) park on our estate.

Hot chocolate and brownies were obligatory, naturally, sat sitting on one of the park benches,  as was the dropping of goodness knows how many glow sticks along on our journey there, so that we could magically find our way back to The Towers at the stroke of, what Iris and Bertie believed was midnight!

Then, after quickly climbing into our pyjamas, the watching of Hotel Transylvanian 3 ensued with buckets of popcorn, before we all finally crashed exhausted into our beds.

I think we will be cleaning up for the next week at least, goodness only knows what delights we’ll be finding under the settee, table etc., but you know we wouldn’t have it any other way ……. I can’t believe I’m saying this but roll on New Years Eve for another unforgettable and precious Towers sleepover.

Please Kata, Can We Have Some More?

What better time of year for us to finally try some of Kata’s, (our lovely neighbour across the hall) real life Hungarian Goulash, what proper, real life Hungarians eat!

OMG, we were not disappointed, and again, it would be just tooooooooo rude to put anywhere near our Richter Scale of Noms.

Let’s put it this way, Darrell now feels the urgent need to up his culinary game, because competent, basic cook with the occasional Avant Garde twist though he may be, he can’t compete with the likes of our genuinely Transylvanian friend or her mum, who stuffs a Hungarian cabbage leaf like no other!

Said Goulash was rich, full bodied and surprisingly spicy with a kick, taking, according to the aforementioned Kata, a whole day to gently cook and absorb all the flavours, but it was so well worth it, the perfect comfort food for these autumnal days and approaching winter.

What else can we say, except ……….  “Please Kata, can we have some more!” What are we like? 

Whistle A Merry Tune ……

Darrell, in these times of austerity and energy crisis, has read somewhere that it’s cheaper to boil a kettle on a gas ring, rather than in an electric kettle, so for now, at least, The Towers will be thronging with the romantically, old fashioned whistle of brews of yesteryear ……….

Hopefully, he said, the kettle will have paid for itself in a couple of months time. He has also mentioned the boiling in bulk to fill a flask for our drinks during the day, but that’s a step a little too far for me at the moment, I’m afraid.

But, in the meantime he says the colour alone will be a constant reminder of the beautiful turquoise blue seas and warmth of our Greek odysseys past and future …….. what on earth is he like? 

Nigel Finds ……….

This isn’t really a proper “Nigel Finds …..” as he’s been walking past the subject of this post for at least 10+ months now, so long, in fact, that it could be said that it’s become an established marker on the school run.

However, yesterday the little fella did an abrupt double take to stopped and ponder, as this must be the longest discarded Christmas tree left outside a house ever, ever, ever ………

No longer lush and green green after said months of pretty robust weathering, but transformed instead into what Darrell might describe as an quite lovely, tres en trend, vintage, faded rose type hue.

And well, what with the festive season fast approaching, Nigel thought it might be worth his while sending Darrell a cheeky pic to ask if he might consider a slightly second hand, real life, mummified Christmas tree in amongst his festive décor, that was not only “spookily beautiful” in its own way, but also quite a conversation piece!

Darrell actually replied, asking Nigel to give it a bit of a shake to check the “shed factor”, which I was told later, wasn’t “all that bad”, as the needles had probably become fused over time ………. but I put my foot down, commendable though it is to reuse/breathe new life into decarded and unwanted items, but this was perhaps taking it a little too far!  WHAT are they both like?

Darrell Finally Gets Into The Halloween Spirit.

What with being in Dawlish at the start of October and other stuff that cropped up, it has to be said that Darrell had gotten an uncharacteristically soupcon behind with his usual seasonal décor.

However, an out of the blue present from Hugh, his best friend and mentor of all things of a frivolous, occult type nature, soon got him back on track …….

….. as he was then like a dog with two tails, who had also found a bone and a ball, to get rifling through his pumpkins.

It all looks pretty tasteful at the moment …….

…….. but, with our annual Iris and Bertie Halloween sleepover fast approaching, I suspect it will get a lot more trashy and garish,  just for them ……….

I am wondering if we still have that awful, speaking and flashing haunted house, door knocker from last year or did I actually throw it out of the window after I threatened too? Ahhhhhhh happy days!

A Huge, Mahooooosive Surprise From Our Beloved No. 1 Fan, Jan The Fan, Rylan - Ten

Yesterday, Nigel started to stand guard at the window and front door from 8.00  after we received a message from our beloved No. 1 Fan, Jan the Fan, saying that she had sent us a slightly unusual but pertinent to “recent events ”……… surprise present.

Thank goodness that she also sent another message at around 9.30 letting us know that said parcel was due to be delivered between 3.30 and 4.30 ……..

……. otherwise I strongly suspect that Nigel would have either burst with anticipation and collapsed with exhaustion waiting for the Amazon Man.

And when it finally arrived the Towers was filled with an air of silent expectation and suspense, what on earth could Jan the Fan have sent us?

OMG, it was only Rylan’s autobiography, “Ten The Decade That Changed My Future” which she had told us she had greatly enjoyed.

WE ABSOLUTEY LOVE RYLAN.  Hugh, Darrell’s best friend and Mentor of all things of a showbiz type nature has long told us how lovely and down to earth in real life the 6ft 4ins Rylan is ……. and the pertinacity was all explained in her note, as there is a whole section in the book devoted to Rylan’s own love for our most favourite televisual event of the year.

Let’s just say it was erm …….. emotional, very emotional, very, very, emotional.  What are we like?

Now, obviously we all wanted to be the one to read it first, but then Darrell offered to do a “Book at Bedtime” reading a chapter a night to Nigel and I as we snuggled down and sipped on our Horlicks.

We’ve never written a “proper professional” Mariella Frostbite Frostrup book review before, and we’re not promising we will,  but we’ll certainly let you know how we get on when Darrell has completed his marathon.

Thank you sooooooo much Jan The Fan. What can we say but a very huge, mahooooosive THANK YOU!

Comfort Food Of The Gods……

It’s a pity you/we don’t have smellyvision, because the aroma that is currently pervading The Towers is just tooooooooo wonderful for words.

With a chill in the air, the dark nights beginning to set in earlier and earlier and with a mind to the horrendous price of gas and electricity Darrell decided it was time to get out his slow cooker and cook in bulk to provide chez nous with a little comfort as autumn starts to bed in and winter looms …….

……. and make rich beef stew, complete with real, proper, mahoosive dumplings, OMG, heaven personified on a plate.  It just doesn’t get any better than that. 

Let’s just say it was and is very, very, very emotional ………

Where would we be without our beloved Darrell and his incredible nomtastic culinary skills, apart from skinnier?