Free Knitted Toys ……..

It’s usually Nigel that does the “finding” when he’s out and about, but this morning it was my turn. One of the charity shops in town was given a huge box of knitted toys, but unfortunately because none of them had a CE tag with the fibre content and care instructions on, the shop was unable to, so they were giving them away for free.  It broke my heart, thinking about all the hard work and love that was put into each and every one.

So, although it didn’t feel quite right to “just” take, I thought it might look rude not to have a bit of a rummage, perhaps to find a “snuggly” in need of a new home, where no one cares whether it has a CE tag or not. I was, of course thinking of Nigel, who would have got in a terrible state had he known about the shop and toys predicament. 

It didn’t take me long to find the most perfect one for Nigel, with Easter in my thoughts, a funny, little, yellow rabbit just leapt out at me, the likes of which I knew Nigel could/would take to his heart, they were made for each other. I then put a donation in the box on the counter as I really couldn’t take it for “free”.

Said rabbit just needs a ribbon for round his neck and perhaps a carrot to hold and then I’ll put him away until the appropriate time…….

……. but I won’t tell Nigel the story behind him, because if I do, he’ll just worry himself silly about all the other toys who may not have managed to find a new home. What is he and I like?

Filling The Towers With Friendliness

There’s a new banner on the school run, just outside Iris and Bertie’s school, which has given Nigel much pause for thought. According to the bumf, its message was launched on Valentines Day,  to help forge friendship, fun, belonging and a helping hand between people who live on the same street.  There was also mench of “As One Tea Parties”, which are never to be refused as far as young Nigel is concerned.

Now, whether it will spread to our very small estate is debatable, but Nigel says he’s going to do his best to be pleasant and friendly to all the people who share The Towers with us, despite the complaints from “him upstairs” when Darrell and Kata  decorated the communal areas and garden to lift spirits at Christmas and Easter during Covid!

Now, as well as Kata, who is always making us lovely Hungarian sweetmeats, not to mention offering the occasional Sunday lunch, when she’s gone a little awry with her portion size,  we have another lovely new lady called Rebecca, who lives upstairs, who also very much likes to bake and more importantly, share ……. in abundance! Nigel wants to get very friendly with her! So far she has furnished him with the most wonderful slices of banana cake ….. plus the odd lemon buttercream muffin.

He thinks his first move should be when he next smells the delicious aroma of baking wafting and wefting it’s way downstairs and then go knock on her door to ask if she’s got any bowls (and spoons) that she might need licking clean ……… what on earth is he he like?

https://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/news/article/2769/st_valentines_day_launch_for_worcestershire_bid_to_spread_the_love_street_by_street

A Changing Vista A La Towers

The view from The Towers is changing, but only everso slightly ………

The old Evesham sanitorium behind the marina was demolished a little while ago and in its place a small estate of 76 prefabricated, modular homes looms.

We can just about see the top of some of the said houses, but once the leaves reappear on the trees I doubt very much if we’ll see anything, other than a few lights shining through at night.

…… so it’s not that dramatic a development from here …….

However, on the other side of the river, it’s a very different scene especially from the perimeter of Iris and Bertie’s school, which has had Nigel enthralled for quite a few months now, with huge chunks of house being transported to the site on wide beam lorries and then lifted up gracefully, according to Nigel, and then lowered into place by a huge telescopic crane, a thing of very great beauty and wonder to both Bertie and himself.

Nigel has promised that when the showhomes are open to view, he’ll take Iris and Bertie “round for a gander” as an after school treat, if they are “very good”.  I also suspect that Darrell might invite himself along too as part of a fact finding mission, in his quest to keep abreast of all the latest interior design trends. What are they like? To be honest, I call it being plain nosey ……. so I think, when the time comes I’ll just stay at home and wallow in the peace and quiet while the opportunity is there! What am I like?????

A Pretty Run Of The Mill Sort Of A Day

Today, is one of those nothing really happens sort of days, there’s no school run for Nigel, there’s no cooking to do, save toss a little light salad as Darrell plundered the freezer last night for one of his pre-prepared frozen lasagnes, which is now thawing nicely and I am up to date with almost everything, which is a pretty satisfying place to be ………

So really the grand highlight of our day (so far……. but, there’s time!) was when the Postman arrived with the free note and sketchbook Darrell had sent for after perusing our grounds management newsletter which accompanied our half yearly bill. It’s probably not actually that free, as it’s bound to be taken from some budget in amongst our fees, but hey ho, don’t look a gift horse in the eye!

Darrell thought it might be a nice little thing to give to Iris and Bertie when the weather is a little better and they can sit in the garden for some squirrel spotting (we’ve got a Boris and a Carrie now).  There are pages to colour, blank pages to draw on and lined pages to write on ……

Nigel was very impressed, wondering the colouring and drawing pages were best suited to what genre of artistic medium, to wit the pencil crayon or the felt pen …….. musing that from his own personal choice and experience,  he would always favour the former, as he hates it when felt pen often goes through the paper thus ruining the picture on the opposite side.  Wax crayons did rear their head briefly, but were more or less instantly dismissed because once the pointy end is worn down, Nigel finds it impossible to colour with any satisfaction as it’s so difficult to stay within the lines with a stumpy end.  What is he like?  But then again, I did warn you that it was a slow, no news day!

There was also a packet of sweet peas in the package, would that we could plant them, but that’s against the rules of the garden (???), however they will be given to The Lovely Laura who is quite the green fingered one of the family and if they hatch, will look most  romantic gracing the trellising of Snake Mountain.   

Darrell also applied for a free bird box, but we don’t think he was quite as successful in his application as he was with the book and seeds.  Never mind …… perhaps another form, on another day!

The Flying Scotsman Returns To The Towers

On Saturday morning, at approximately 10.40, The Flying Scotsman made a jubilant return to “our” bridge ……….

It was almost too romantic ……..

…….. and emotional for words ……….

If Darrell had had a white petticoat, I swear he’d have ripped it up to use as a flag to wave to all the people who were enthusiastically waving down at him…….

He was fair got carried away by the occasion ……. I’m sure he wiped away a tear or two as it went past, but I tactfully pretended not to notice.

What is he like?

Nigel Goes For Afternoon Tea ……

Today, was rife with palpable and tangible emotion as Nigel had been invited into school to share in the Year One Afternoon Tea Event.  He was so excited I thought he might spontaneously combust.

Not wishing to let young Bertie down, Nigel decided that no outfit could be any more fitting for such an occasion than his very best Buckingham Palace Garden Party morning suit ……

…… and said, as he took his place in the queue to go into school at the appointed time, he was just as nervous as he’d been at said party, if not a little more.

Once inside the school it was all just tooooooooooooooooooo wonderful for words ….. with not even the faintest whiff of cabbage and school dinners.

The bunting was up ………

…… and the tables laid with different vintage cups, saucers, plates and teapots, sourced Nigel suspected, from the many charity shops of Evesham and possibly beyond.

There were  “proper” cake stands laden with cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches (brown and white) and lemon and chocolate cake, all shopped for and then made by the children.

How Nigel held it together when he saw young Bertie come into the hall and look for his beloved Uncle Nigel, he says he’ll never know …… let’s just say there was a long, tight embrace, where Nigel admits to taking advantage of Bertie’s shoulder to wipe away a tear or two, hoping no one would notice the couple of damp patches he left!

Nigel told Bertie how proud he was of him and all the other children, this was an afternoon he’d remember forever and ever and ever  ……..

With such emotion racking his body, poor Nigel said he found it a little hard to swallow his daintily cut sandwiches and cake, but swallow he did, aided by lashings of hot sweet tea, for fear of looking rude and ungrateful.

What are we going to do with him, he is such a proud uncle!

World Book Day 2022 ………….

Well, with his Buckingham Palace Garden Party Morning Suit hanging up on the back of Nigel’s bedroom door ready for his afternoon tea in school tomorrow, it didn’t take all that much thought as to who the little fella could dress up as, when he went in to listen to “his beloved” Year 2 readers on World Book Day today.

……… to wit The Fat Controller, Sir Topham Hat, from the Thomas the Tank Engine books ………

……… pure genius and the likeness ……… uncanny! What is he like?

OMG …….. How On Earth Did This Happen?

We just don’t know how we could have been sooooooooooooooooooo remiss, but for the first time ever, ever, ever in our entire history,  Pancake Day just totally passed us by yesterday. We all just went about our Tuesday, like any other, without once taking heed of the calendar!

With Darrell’s relatively new, Christmas present, frying pan remaining unknowingly redundant in the cupboard ……

….. and no thought of a seasonal tossing crossing his or anyone else's mind.

There were even lemons in the fridge ……….. but no hint taken.

What on earth are we like?  I wouldn’t even mind, but there’s been Easter eggs in the shops since just after Christmas, but still not one of us twigged, but then, to be honest, there’s an awful lot going on in the world at the moment that simply took our eye off the batter and ball!

And strictly speaking it’s not something we can really go back on if we want to adhere to the rules, Shrove Tuesday being the last chance for indulgence before forty days and nights of Lent. 

So,  I guess you can say that this is going to be the one Pancake Day we’ll never, ever forget, for all the wrong reasons ……. the year we unintentionally gave pancakes up for Lent!

Darrell’s Much Considered Decor Decision Finally Comes to Fruition

For a while now I couldn’t help noticing Darrell quietly tutting and wrinkling his nose every time he drew the blinds Chez Towers. I recognised this look of yore and knew he was getting restless in a Laurence Llewellyn Bowen type way and it was only a matter of time before he said something!

When it finally came, he announced that he thought that said blinds were looking a touch tired, they had been cheap when we bought them off the peg from Dunelm, when we first moved in. They had done their job and owed us nothing, so why not, he suggested, replace them with something new and fresh, ready to welcome in the spring.  

I told him that if he got the quotes, interviewed all the prospective fitters and pored over the sample books, as they would mean nothing to me (……. ah Vienna…..),  he could have carte blanche on whatever his little heart desired as I trusted him and his taste implicitly …….

…… and in return, when the time came, Nigel and I would be his able bodied and very willing furniture shifters and purveyors in chief of tea and biscuits!

So this morning, after three weeks on tenter hooks Darrell finally got the call to say that his “bespoke” blinds were finally ready, I thought he might spontaneously combust ……

……. and while Nigel and I channelled our inner most Mr Shifter,  Darrell was stood on the door step, clearing the carpark and making way for “his man” to arrive. What is he like?

It took just over an hour for Darrell to finally see his vision come to fruition, it was EMOTIONAL ……….. very emotional, very, very, emotional!

I’ll be honest I was really surprised how plain and simple Darrell’s dream had actually been, with not a pleat, ruche or billowing flounce to be seen.

As he tested out each premium roller blind chrome, beaded, pull chain for the first time his little face was a picture.

I think the boy dun gud!