Something What You Never Knew You Needed Until You See It!

You know those days when even stirring your tea/coffee seems just too much trouble ………

……. well, rather than getting poor Nigel to do it for him on an as and when type basis,  Darrell has finally found the perfect solution for when he’s having one of his (to be honest, few and far between) limp lettuce sort of a days ……….

……. ta dah …… only,  a flipping, self stirring mug!

Does life get any betterer than that and for just £4.99 a pop?  Sorry Mr D, these are probably unavailable in hot and steamy Mexico, where lettuces must also be constantly on the cusp of going limp, with regards to all the aforementioned heat!

A Trip Down Memory Lane ……. And Trying A Camel Ball.

The only thing that Evesham doesn’t seem to have but our Wolverhampton homeland has in spades is the good, old, corner shop …….

…… in all our time here we’ve only found one and that’s only since Nigel changed his school run route ……….

…… and yesterday Nigel decided that it would have been rude not to call in for memories sake at least ………

……. but sadly on this occassion it disappointed, greatly. He found that it wasn’t of the usual corner shop calibre we’re used to and to be honest Nigel struggled to find anything he wanted to buy, but as he didn’t want to leave without anything he opted for a singular bubble gum, just for politeness sake, what is he like?

However, when he got home and looked properly, it seemed that he’d grabbed a rather unusual bubble gum, of a variety, none of us had ever heard, let alone seen before ……. and which, going from it’s rather unedifying name, would have been more suited to an I’m A Celebrity bushtucker trail than something you could proffer to your friends.

However, rather than be a wuss and put off by the erm …… far from subtle illustration on the wrapper and its name, Nigel decided to give the gum the benefit of the doubt.

His observations were that although the colour sort of looked right, the shape did not look as erm …….. testicular as he thought it might have done. ………

……. but, how did it taste? Well, usually Nigel prefers to remain a stranger to all things sour, but he selflessly ploughed on, his face contorting wildly to start with, but once the initial tartness began to wear off, said camel ball became a lot more acceptable to chew on.

Would he be tempted to try another ball, just to say that he’d tackled a full pair? Most probably not ……. the same, sadly, goes for making a return visit to the shop, leaving the true pleasures until we’re staying at  Lu’s next, hey ho.

An Ask The Midwife Jug …… So Close, Yet So Far …..

As you know, we all love a good, old charity shop mooch looking for untold treasures, soooooooo, last night, after we’d settled down to catch up on our Ask The Midwife viewing on BBC I Player, Darrell suddenly got rather excited during a breakfast scene, revolving round a nun who’d been a little over zealous with her marmalade making ……..

“OMG, I’ve seen that jug before …….  in The Vale” (our Evesham, very most favourite  charity shop of choice) he gasped,  “….. it’s been there for ages. It did call to me, but as we’ve already got an amber coloured water jug I held back from making a considered purchase, but it did give me the chills, I just couldn’t work out why”

I guess it’s pretty obvious where he took himself first thing this morning, especially after he told us that said Ask The Midwife jug had been “speaking” to him all through the night.  He’d even looked it up and found out that it was Art Deco, 1930’s made by Sowerby,  What is he like?

It was still there on the Vale’s shelves when Darrell got to the shop, it was rather lovely and at £2.50 a steal for something that was quite possibly almost 100 years old and featured on top TV show ………

He was  so tempted, it seemed like it was spookily meant to be, but he decided to check it over very, very carefully …….. but sadly he discovered that the  jug he had been so drawn to, had been left on the shelf for a good reason, it’s base was badly chipped.  It had not been meant to be after all, despite all the nocturnal calling …….

……. however, we now know that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with Darrell’s powers of recall and association and if he really wants the jug, well there are at least 20 odd on eBay, but perhaps not at £2.50!

Pic N Mix Cake …… It’s The Future!

You know when you just can’t decide on which cake to make a considered purchase of because there’s too many to choose from and you really wouldn’t turn your nose up at any of them?  Well, the little fella has finally found the answer to all our sponge based deliberations ……..

……. to wit, the very wonderful Allison’s Kitchen Pic n Mix cake!  Can life get any better than this?

Four glorious quarters of coffee, lemon, chocolate and Victoria sponge in one cake and each said quarter amply sufficient to be carved in two, perhaps even, (considering there are three of us), three generous slices!!!

And well, it would have been rude for Nigel not to have returned home holding one aloft wouldn’t it?

https://www.facebook.com/Allisons.Kitchen11/ Sorry Mr D, most likely not available in romantic Mexico, but you can still dream!

A New, Handy Emporium Coming Soon ………

According to the ever observant Nigel, it seems that after many months, perhaps even a year of being empty, the old “slots arcade” on the corner of our road …….

…. is being transformed into a new and possibly romantic convenience store, come off licence.

It goes without saying that this could be a very welcome and useful development, especially on the way back from the school run when Darrell could simply text Nigel to pick something up that he may need for tea, or, if we fancy, a few treats to enjoy later during our evenings televisual viewing, not to mention the opportunity for a little diversion and mooch, perhaps even the odd ice cream on the final leg of his journey home.

At the moment it’s hard to see what’s going on behind the dark glass windows and door to ascertain exactly what Mr Mansour has planned or when he’ll be ready to open, but as soon as we know rest assured, as always, you will be the first to know and we’ll make sure Nigel is among the very first customers for an insightful review!  Happy days!

Nigel Goes A-Jumbling …….

Nigel has often been hung on tales of the joys of a good olden day Jumble Sale, the pleasure of the rummage, long before the era of the Car Boot and Charity Shop,  but as they are a bit of a rarity these days he’d never actually been to a real life one ………

…….. so when he saw a big banner in town advertising one, well, there was no way he wasn’t going to be there.

Darrell and I helped arm him with a bundle of carrier bags and an ample pocket of small change, but even we didn’t really know what awaited the little fella.  In our day, things were usually priced in pence, but for good measure we also made sure he had plenty of pound coins just in case inflation had also hit jumbling over the passing years.

To our recollection the Jumble Sales of yore were held in musty Church/Village/School Halls, but it seems that Nigel’s sale was far, far more romantic than that, being in the actual church itself, now, does  the setting for a good, old furtle get any betterer than that?  

It was also very well organised, with defined areas for all the different categories of wares on sale.

It wasn’t too busy either, Nigel had arrived a little late as we’d warned him that from past experience sometimes there can be a bit of a scrum for “the gud stuff” at the very start, so he found he was able to turn over and browse without any elbowing and in turn made some most excellent and very useful purchases, which he proudly showed off when he got back home.………

….. to wit, a set of three brand new, still tagged, storage bags, perfect for all our planned (and unplanned) holidays and long weekends away for just 50p and an unopened/unused  Avon beach wrap also 50p, which he then passed on to an equally thrilled Darrell, who’d had one on his shopping list for our next Greek Odyssey!  How spooky and fortuitous was that?

However, his best buy had to be the handmade, patchwork Advent calendar which both he and Darrell sat stroking in admiration for ages, for one single pound.

They are already thinking of filling it with small trinkets and fairings to then gift it to Hugh (Darrell’s best friend and connoisseur of all things festive and handcrafted) for the Advent season of 2023.

Nigel may not have returned with the bulging, bin bags of yester year, as we’d first anticipated, but  was nevertheless extremely proud and happy with all his considered purchases ……. but now he is absolutely desperate to find another one that he can drag both Darrell and I too, what is he like?

Cadbury’s Layers Of Joy

I guess, with the countdown to Easter already begun, it’s the open season for comestible pester power from his Lordship!

Currently in his sights are the delights of a Limited Edition Cadbury Layers of Joy trifle. To quote the bumf  “ ….. a layered sharing dessert with Cadbury milk chocolate dessert, chocolate mousse, chocolate chip cookie and fondant dessert with a creamy topping”.

Sorry Mr D, said pleasure is probably totally unavailable in hot and humid Mexico, but Nigel says he’ll gladly avail himself of it’s delectation on your behalf.

At present both Darrell and I are holding fire on such an indulgence purchase as we’re not entirely sure they are “our thing”, however,  we understand that individual trifles are also available………

http://grocerygems.blogspot.com/2016/01/review-cadbury-eggciting-layers-of-joy.html

……… so have suggested that if/when the little fella can locate said pack, he might also like to do an inciteful review of his very own, at our expense …….. let’s just say the challenge has been accepted and the search for the puddings robustly commenced!

The Fear That Is Holding Darrell Back……..

Following our emotional Valentine’s card, from we suspect, our No. 1 Fan, Jan the Fan back in February  …………

……. I couldn’t but help notice Darrell has been spending the odd pensive moment staring down at his arm and sighing.

I know exactly what he’s thinking, we’ve been there several times before.

What he’d really, really, really like is a tattoo to express his undying devotion to our very favourite savoury spread of choice ……..

……… the only stumbling block? His terrible Trypanophobia (an intense fear of needles, of any description), which explains why it’s me who has to replace lost buttons or picks up any sort of running repairs of a sewing type nature Chez Les Towers!  I think it all goes back to a particularly traumatic rendition of  Sleeping Beauty somewhere in his dim and distant childhood, but, what do I know?

To be honest I’m not all that keen on the idea any way, I like his arm just as nature intended. However, I don’t think he’ll ever be able to gear himself up to getting it done anyway, especially after I may have dropped it into conversation that his affections could just as easily be demonstrated in the wearing of all manner of t-shirts. What am I like, if not subtle!