Just Waiting To Be Asked …….

There is always a frisson of excitement when a pile of the local free magazine is dropped off in the corner of The Towers communal entrance ……….

……. to be honest, I think we are the only ones who avail ourselves of its many pleasures, be it local places of interest, walks, events, puzzles, recipes, even the adverts  …….

……. so I guess we devour it for everyone in the block, except you know who!

At the moment Darrell and Nigel’s favourite page is “You Say”, where roving reporter Donna Lawson stops and asks people in town the probing question of the day.

Now …… Darrell and Nigel are desperate to know what the undoubtedly fragrant Donna looks like, so that if she’s ever around when they are also in town, they could discreetly hang around in the hope of being approached to give their very sage words or opinions while posing for a cheeky photograph! 

Oh, and in answer to this months question ………….

…….. well, Darrell said he would take his much flicked through copy of The Seaweed Cookbook (by Aster) as seaweed would probably form the majority of his diet until he was rescued from the island and in return Nigel decided he’d be sure to take an ample supply on indigestion tablets.  What on earth are they like?

Nigel Has An Uncomfortable Experience

Nigel was in school yesterday to listen to his beloved little class of readers ……….

…… when the adventures of Biff, Chip and Kipper were suddenly disturbed by the ringing of bells for a scheduled, practice, lockdown drill (for terrorist, riot or intruder attack).

He had to instantly take his reader to the nearest classroom, then quickly get under a table/desk without a peep until they got the call to say all was safe, about ten minutes later.

It was only a practice, the children took it all in their stride as they had before, but the need to do such a thing, throughout the school and on a regular basis, left Nigel deep and alone in his thoughts.

Sometimes ……..

…….. the world can be a scary place.

Out And About With Darrell

We’ve got a new tourist attraction in Evesham ………

….. to wit the Bengeworth Fountain ……

We’ve passed it millions of times before, as it’s on the way to Tom the Scientist and The Lovely Laura’s house, but now with it’s shiny new information board it would have been rude not to check it out properly.

The corner it’s on doesn’t seem to have changed much over the years …….

……. but according to Darrell it can’t but help look just a touch more romantic in the black and white days, with a horse and carriage centre stage.

It’s a pity that the fountain is no longer fountaining to give succour to any weary traveller that passes by ……

……. but that could be down to the old fashioned plumbing and after Covid all manner of communal quaffing of a Health and Safety issues type nature.

Darrell even found “us” on the modern day representation of Evesham without the buildings,  Darrell said that being “a tourist” again filled him with all the memories of when we ourselves were strangers to the town …… and now look at us, proper fully fledged inhabitants!

Nigel Wonders …….How And Why?

Poor Nigel ………

…….. sometimes there are just …….

…… sooooooooooooooooo many more questions ……..

…….. than answers!!!!!!

Darrell Finds A True Culinary Treasure

Yesterday, Darrell had a very most excellent morning “wombling” as he likes to call it.

He’d nipped into Imagine (a community space offering free books, art displays and opportunity) for his usual weekly perusal ……..

https://www.creative-lives.org/imagine

…….. and struck gold with a 1,000 piece jigsaw of the London Underground system for Tom the Scientist to take into work for his group of young technicians who have formed a Jigsaw club in their lunchbreak, which no doubt will be duly returned when they’ve completed it ……

…….. PLUS the smallest, 1954 copy of the  most undistinguished cookery book you could imagine, but the stuff that made Darrell’s little heart sing to almost epic Freddie Mercury proportions ……

….. with each page opening up was an new epicurean delight……….

……. with recipes for confectionary delicacies and skills …….

…… almost lost in these Haribo of days ………

…… measured in long forgotten gills ……….

………. while using wooden paddles, iron hooks and small brushes for moistening the sides of pans, in order to prepare, coat and stretch ones prize dates and prunes for sweetmeat heaven.

It was almost too romantic a find for words ………

Who knew there were quite so many variations on the crack and ball?  It all held Darrell spellbound for hours.

Even the page listing the other books in the series was long mulled over, who wouldn’t want to share their kitchen with the likes of Dame Muriel Beckwith, Gretel Beer and Mollie Stanley-Wrench, not to mention the magic weaved by Ambrose Heath with his “Herrings, Bloaters and Kippers”!

This was a treasure indeed, to be shared with Hugh, Darrell’s best friend and mentor of all thing almost culinary extinct, during his next stay, with dreams of making tablets, all manner of fudge, French ribbons and something called divinity together in the cottage kitchen, sharing their mutual love for the lost arts of confectionary!