The Last Day of 2018–And A Time To Reflect

We are teetering on the cusp of 2019 and what better place to both end and start a year but back in Wolverhampton as guests of Lucy Lu Chez Lu Lu.

It’s all been a little last minute but when the family shouts “PARTY” and you’re at a bit of a loose end  ….. well, it would have looked rude to say “Sorry we’re washing our hair”, especially when Hugh is off doing things of a nursery décor type nature with his friends Hazza and Sparkles up in Windsor. It’s all a bit hush hush, and as ever Hugh is the very sole of discretion ….. and we know when not to ask.

For Darrell it also seems to be a time for reflection, Lucy is a wonderful host especially in the guest room refreshment department ……..

While we have been proud to proffer a cheeky cappuccino or latte macchiato in our own guest room, I have to agree with Darrell that they just don’t have the same romantic zing of Lucy’s China Rose, Freshly Cut Garden Mint and Spicy Chai ........ and we are in fact to be found sadly wanting.

Lucy’s pared down, almost Hoppenesque festive décor has also got Darrell wondering as to whether his own designs have been a little too over the top this year, a spooky prediction/reflection of the effervescent Hugh’s surprise visit perhaps?

When we get home, all those fiddly twiddly displays will have to be taken apart and stored in goodness knows how many boxes and then put away somewhere, a task I know Darrell is not relishing.  I have to be careful what I say to Darrell at such times, but I think the words “Less is More” may have passed my lips.

Lucy’s luxury Advent Calendar didn’t go unnoticed either, and again I may have subtly suggested that if we spent a little less on frou frou next year perhaps we could enjoy the pleasures of such a calendar ourselves instead of our usual de rigueuer 99p Kinnertons Home Bargains affair …… I believe I heard a few cogs turning and Darrell go hmmmmmmmmm. Me thinks we shall see if anything has really sunk in this time next year, but we shall see.

However, I must leave you here with these thoughts  ……. we have said party to prepare for, so may we all take this opportunity to wish you all a VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY

……. wherever and whoever you might spend it with, near or far  …… have fun and stay safe. xxxxxx

Christmas Morning 2018

Oh my goodness me, he’s been …….. and yes, for all the most perfect reasons, Christmas morning has been very, very emotional, to be honest, almost too emotional for words.

Santa left us everything we had asked for in our letter……. something to drink – a bottle of Cherry B each, our most favourite festive tipple of choice, with which Darrell will probably work a little of his cocktail magic on.

There was something to eat – to wit a very sufficient box of Thorntons Continental chocolates,

…….. again, our number one indulgent chocolaty comestible of choice ……..

……. nom, nom, nom.

And finally a bottle of Unicorn Magic for all our fragrant and luxurious festive bathing needs, so no chance of any of us ponking over the holidays.  How does he do it?

As for the teeny weenie surprise as requested by Nigel? ……. Well, that was just  tooooooooooooooooooooooo WONDERFUL, hence all the unfettered emotion.

At around 7.30am we became aware of a light tapping at our bedroom door (we always snuggle down together on Christmas Eve) followed by a very familiar voice asking if anyone wanted “Champers Darlings” ………

………. and then in sashayed Hugh, Darrell’s best friend and mentor, saying he’d come to spend the day with us ……. as I said, it was emotional. 

He had turned down a couple of days on the Sandringham Estate with Her Maj, Brunch with Sir Simon Cowell and an invitation to Chequers, to name but a few, just to be with us. Today, he said he was all ours and, if we didn’t mind, could he pop in between “gigs” over the next few weeks or so as he’d missed us sooooooo much and we really were his three “dear, dear” rocks of normality. We, in turn, felt truly blessed in a Hello magazine type way ………

…….. but Nigel said later that he thought that perhaps Hugh, for all his showbiz ways, felt even more blesseder than even we did .

It’s Christmas, and it’s going to be special.  We’re going to take a few days off from posting over Christmas to embrace Hugh’s presence and to return to the Homeland for a family gathering or two ….. but we’ll be back with reports of all our adventures, but in the meantime

A Very Very Happy Christmas From

xxxx All Of Us xxxx

It’s Christmas Eve

It’s Christmas Eve, not long to go now! We’re spending Christmas a La Towers and then heading to “The Homeland” for a family Boxing Day in Wolverhampton, staying Chez LuLu.

But before we finally settled down in tangible and palpable anticipation, ready embrace the festivities, we all went down to the river bank to put up our Christmas Eve lantern to remember all our loved ones who are no longer able to share our Christmases

For health and safety reasons we used a battery operated candle, had we used a real one, which was then caught by a rogue gust of wind, we just couldn’t live with ourselves if it started off a bush fire along said bank, despite the present damp conditions.

Before we found a suitable bough we sat a while and shared memories of Christmases past ……

…….. and then, after we’d hung our lantern, we sat a little while longer, lost in our thoughts, until it started to go dark.

I think all our loved ones would be so happy knowing where we are now settled, sometimes even we have to pinch ourselves.

Have a VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS 

Love from The Boyz xxxx

Our 2018 Letter To Santa

As you can imagine there has been a great deal of debate dans le The Towers as to what we each like to ask Santa for this year…..

    ……..  but to be honest, we all found that we really wanted for nothing of an individual type nature, not even Nigel

So we got to thinking, what if we asked for a present that we could all share and enjoy together, “Something to eat, something to drink and something fragrant and luxurious for the bath or shower” Darrell suggested ….. with perhaps a tiny weenie surprise at the end, added Nigel.

Well, it was a no brainer with only one letter to write, scribed by Darrell but signed by all.

This will make the excitement of Christmas morning even more wonderful ……

……. and the time leading up to the “Big Day” filled, no doubt, with much musing on what we might actually find in our stockings ……. fishfingers, Hob Nobs, Horlicks, Um Bongo, a bar of Pears Imperial Leather or a pope soap on a rope? Who knows, this could be the start of a completely new family Christmas tradition.

Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This

Nigel has returned from Liverpool with one very definite and positive dream ……..

……. to one day sleep, every night, between the sheets of Kylie Minogue in a purely metaphorical type nature of course!   He feels he has finally “found” his style after discovering and trying out several examples of said lady’s bed linen collection in Taskers.

However, he doesn’t think he is not going to ask Santa for any as we have already muted an idea or two on that front and he feels he needs to do a little more research to find the perfect set……

……. but, he knows for certain that being under sequins is the only place to start and end your day to ensure that “you shine bright like a diamond” …… all day.

I am not so sure, I have a lot of questions to ask, especially about the washing and ironing of them ………

…….. and whether you would wake up in the morning with the various sequin patterns embossed on your face and how long the effect would last, especially with prolonged use……… but on the other hand I don’t want to shatter the little fellas dreams.

Liverpool Is Soooooo Lush.

Nigel says that Liverpool is the most sparkly place he has ever, ever, ever been too, even perhaps more sparkly than Last Vegas ….. He said that Darrell would think he’d died and gone to heaven if he just caught the merest glimpse of the shoe shops there!

Now….. Lu had wanted to visit the renowned Taskers in Aintree to get a few ideas for her home for absolute ages and since their Christmas department was in full festive flow it was a win win situation all round for both her and Nigel.  I don’t know about Darrell, but from what Nigel has told me he was in seventh heaven too.

Taskers certainly did not disappoint and far surpassed both Lu’s and Nigel’s expectations

Darrell’s decorating of The Towers has been pretty spectacular but compared to Taskers ……. it could possibly be seen as wanting.

Nigel said it was hard to know where to look first ……..

……. there was a flock of reindeers and illuminated, magical sleighs set up in the rafters …….

…….. there Christmas trees in every direction, in every different shade and hue and tables laden with so much glitter, tinsel and diamante that they would even put Hugh and all his showbiz glamour in the shade.

And Father Christmases? Why have one when you can have a whole sleigh full? A little confusing but no less soooooooo wonderful.

Poor Lu thought she might have to administer smelling salts to Nigel at one stage when it all rendered him so speechless he even developed a limp????? 

Lu indeed gathered a great many ideas for Chateau LuLu, and although Nigel was truly inspired and wanting to buy a little something, sadly everything was how shall I say …… just a touch out of his price range ………

……… however, in the bedroom department ….. he returned to The Towers with a dream, but of that more tomorrow.