Hankering For A Bannister?

After living in a bijoux, ground floor flat for the past six years we have all become pretty much strangers to a flight of stairs. Where, once upon a time, back in the homeland, we would be going up and down without even a second thought ……..

…….. we’ve all now grown very used to “on the level living”, as my legs will attest whenever I do have to make the occasional summit or plummet upon one!

I think Nigel has the odd hankering now and again, especially for a slippery bannister and Darrell sometimes from the interior design aspect ……

………. but the thought of the pastels that fair took Nigel’s fancy in the window of the local carpet shop in town, I don’t very think so  ……. especially not with that certain person’s mucky shoes, boots or trainers ……… it would be a case of socks at dawn me thinks!

Out With The Old ……In With The New

Today was an emotional rollercoaster of a bittersweet day for poor old Darrell ………..

…… when his beloved, won’t leave The Towers without,  shopping trolley that he has had forever, and I mean absolutely forever, forever, forever  ……..

……. finally gave up the ghost. It had, among other things, a wonky wheel ………

…… that no amount of fiddling and diddling could make it better.  Poor Darrell was, to put it bluntly, distraught! I felt totally helpless at first ………..

…….. but then dragged him into town, sans trolley, despite him feeling totally naked and not himself without it …………

…….. to treat him to a new one.  There was an awful lot of dramatic erming and ahhing, not to mention enough walking round the shop trying each and every trolley, to make me feel quite dizzy, before he finally made his much considered choice …… it’s a dotty one, which dare I say, sums up it’s new owner, pretty well!

So I am happy to announce that the air of abject despair has now been lifted from The Towers ……..

…….. with Darrell is now happily humming, putting a shopping list together and planning his next foray into town. What on earth is he like?

Poundstretcher’s Closing Down Sale

It has to be said that everything has been half price in the Poundstretchers in town for months now, they said they weren’t closing, but Darrell’s been popping in on a regular basis to keep his cleaning products well stocked up in the meantime.

But yesterday Nigel spotted the closing down notices plastered all over the windows and was told that they weren’t “going”, but just relocating to the old Argos which was a little nearer to the town centre.  To be honest, we can’t really see that, being as said Argos has been empty since before we even thought of moving to Evesham  …….. and it’s is in a right state, but we shall see ……..

Well, it would have looked rude for Nigel not to have his usual Tuesday morning quick mooch, but the poor, little fella couldn't believe his eyes, as I said, its been half price everything for ages, but it must have been the “closing down” bit that had drawn the crowds ……..

…….. shelves were being emptied at a speed of knots, but not refilled ……

……. which Nigel found it not a little emotional …….

….. especially when he came to what used to be their most magnificent “Wall of Confectionary” as he’d first discovered in May 2021 on their opening day………..

Let’s just say it had been very robustly pillaged and plundered.  Nigel simply left with a couple of  packs of AA batteries as spares always come in useful, a bag of marshmallows for Iris and Bertie’s school run hot chocolate stop, and an extremely  heavy heart. He LOVED that wall of confectionary, it was unique and a vision of all that is wonderful in his/ the world ……. of which Evesham may probably never see the likes again, old Argos or not!

A Monumental Eurovision Decision

Darrell and Nigel were away in Dawlish when Grahame Norton opened the golden envelope to pronounce that Liverpool was to host Eurovision 2023 (our most favourite televisual night of the year). The Eurovision Song Contest  of our dreams was finally back in the UK after way too many years ………. all of which, you can imagine  gave Darrell, in particular, much food for thought.

Although ticket sales are yet to be announced, Darrell it might be apropos and forwarding thinking  to secure a room for a couple of nights at our Liverpool hotel of choice (The Liner) in advance of our getting any tickets.  They’ve never let us down before, but sadly on this occassion, there was no room at the inn!

Undeterred and buoyant Darrell Googled onwards ……. Oh My, Oh My, OMG…….

Every flipping single, hotel in the whole of Liverpool was fully booked for said Eurovision weekend ………

…… all that is/was left appears to be apartments and houses on the outskirts ……..

……. but the prices they were asking, even if there was a group of you to help split the cost,  was way, way, way out of our league!

For the price of just two nights of Eurovision, wonderful, romantic and exciting though it might be, we could also enjoy the pleasures of (the way prices are going up) one, two or possibly three Greek Odysseys??!!!!

It was a real reality check, much as we LOVE Eurovision we had to be sensible.  Of course, not everyone who has already booked their hotel will even get any tickets, but as sure as Abba won in Brighton with Waterloo, prices won’t go down.

With that Darrell had a very long conversation with Hugh, his best friend and mentor of all things of a Eurovision type nature and with whom we have shared so many glorious Eurovision nights a La Chicken Coop ……..

…… and that’s where we’ve all agreed to spend it again …….. Darrell, after all, went to Stockholm in 2016 (where the hotels were charging “normal” prices) and  he mused, that it was, perhaps, too special and magical an experience to even dare try to repeat again, just in case it didn’t  live up to his memories.

So there you have it, the decisions a “gud un” and our hard earned cash is safe and sound to enjoy on other sensible, reckless pursuits!

Up, Up and Away …….

I was just putting the rubbish out first thing in the morning, tidying up ready for Darrell and Nigel’s return from Dawlish, when I looked up to be greeted by a most wonderous sight ……..

……. the Virgin air balloon was sat stationary over The Towers, no doubt taking in the birds eye view of the marina, river and railway winding below.

How romantic must it have been in that basket, despite the early hour …… although, if they had binoculars, perhaps the sight of me in my pyjamas and slippers, hair sticking up everywhere, pre shower, clutching a bulging, black bin bag, might not have afforded them such a glamourous and picturesque vista!  What am I like?

Homeward Bound

Darrell and Nigel are homeward bound, but not before Nigel had been  to the arcade with his precious, much counted, prize tickets ……

…… of which he’d managed to amass 632 of the things, peanuts by others standards, but more than enough for the little fella.

Now, they’d been pretty meticulous in their preparation for exchanging said tickets, not wanting to be stood standing at the counter erming and ahhing like lemons, trying to do the maths for any combination of prizes Nigel could and couldn’t “afford” because Darrell had made a comprehensive list of all the lower bracket items and the tickets they required, the day before, so that Nigel could make his considered choice in the relative peace of the caravan, while Darrell packed up the caravan ready for the morning.. 

So very, very organised, although this was entirely lost on the young lady at the counter, who had, Darrell said,  a very questionable attitude, Customer Service, he mused, was definitely not her forte! 

It wasn’t as if the arcade was even busy, as Darrell and Nigel were the first (and only) ones in at the time, at ten o’clock, as the doors opened. which was quite an experience in itself, in a deserted, spooky sort of way ……. with all the machines going!

Nigel, bless him, opted for a sequined mermaid purse for Iris and a weird, silly sand egg timer for Bertie, leaving him just enough tickets left over for some Lovehearts to savour on the way home, making sure he said a heartfelt thank you, accompanied with a huge smile, to the vapid, lacklustre, young lady who served him!

Then, it was off to the beach to say a long lingering farewell and adieu to their beloved sea, this, more than like, being their very last visit of the year  ……….. BUT you never know ………..

…… and yes, Darrell did find a holey stone, as he’d almost given up finding one, there it was, as if waiting for him ……. the final piece to their holiday

HAPPY, HAPPY DAYS

Birdies, Fores and Goals ……..

As the crazy golf is free on Darrell and Nigel’s Dawlish holiday park it would have only looked rude not to partake in a round or two while they were there  …….

Nigel, a little too high on his visits to the arcade each day, suggested a small wager, but Darrell resisted, saying that the daily squanderment of a plastic pot of 2p’s, plus a couple of pounds on the Bingo in the evening was all part of the great British holiday, but if Nigel didn’t mind, he’d prefer to remain a stranger to anything stronger, fearing the slide down the slippery slope! Instead he suggested they share a pot of tea and a cream horn at the café across the road after their toils as their prize.

Well, as neither is any great shakes at the sport anyway, their game, to be honest, resembling something more akin to a hockey pitch ………

…… it was a most excellent good compromise, with Darrell declaring that the pastry in his cream horns to be par excellence, light and delicate and above all very, very flaky!  Nigel said his was very lovely too, but it disappeared so quickly there really wasn’t time for any in-depth review!  What are they like? Happy days!

No One Wants A Dodgy Knob ……..

Last night Darrell and Nigel returned from the site Clubhouse after an exhausting evening of bingo, rambunctious audience participation activities and party dances until midnight to an unbelievably hot caravan ……..

It appeared that poor Darrell had left the oven on full pelt while they were out, despite him being absolutely positive he hadn’t. The knob was definitely in the “off” position, so it was all a bit of a mystery. Anyway, after stripping down to his Pierre Cardin boxers in order to cool down and fiddling with said knob a bit, he managed to get it switched off “again” and didn’t give it another thought until after tea this evening ………

…….. when no matter what he did with the oven and it’s knob, he just couldn’t switch it off again, so totally perplexed, while he sent Nigel to “bags” their favourite table and then get their bingo cards and Vimtos in, he called reception to explain his dilemma.

Happily, within ten minutes, a very lovely gentleman appeared at the caravan door, brandishing a brand new, shiny knob. Apparently dodgy knobs were a common problem on the site, which is why he always carried a couple of spare ones for whenever the occassion arose.  Darrell breathed a sigh of relief knowing it wasn’t something he’d done, in all his years in the kitchen he’d never had a knob go wrong on him before. 

After thanking the knob-man profusely and double checking the oven again, just in case, Darrell was able to head over to the Clubhouse to find a bingo ready Nigel and recant the tale, safe in the knowledge that the oven was safely switched off and that they wouldn’t be returning to a sauna when they got back. What a pavlova!