Christmas Day 2020–He’s Been, He’s Been, He’s Been!

Oh my goodness he’s been ……. as if we ever doubted that he wouldn’t, but with this flipping virus, you just never know.

Nigel was up at 3 o’clock, then four o’clock, then five until Darrell and I finally gave up and told him he could look in his stocking at six o’clock, what is he like?

As we all looked in our stockings and unwrapped our presents in turn, starting with Nigel first, naturally, it was emotional.  Santa got it all so wonderfully perfect for each and every one of us.  Nigel got a lovely deckchair for watching the world go by either indoor or outdoors or wherever he might be, Darrell says he will look for a small box to sit beside it for Nigel  to rest his cup, snacks, paper and/or binoculars, but I had to tell him that no, he couldn’t eat his Christmas dinner while sitting in it.

Darrell found six exquisite, vintage Cherry B glasses in his stocking. There were muffled sniffs and hastily wiped away tears as he unwrapped each glass, with a wistful sigh.  They are perfect, just what he wanted, and I now I think we can expect a whole flotilla of Cherry B based cocktails being served over the rest of the holiday in celebration …….. happy days!

And, last but not least, I got my Things To Dobook, it’s brilliant, just what I wanted and as I flicked through it’s empty pages I couldn’t help wonder what exciting things would be written in it in the coming year …….. all good stuff I hope.

There was also a HUGE, and I mean HUGE, hamper of Thorntons chocolates from Hugh, Darrell’s best friend and mentor.  I reckon it will take us until next Christmas to work our way through it …… and just as we were on the cusp of starting our New Years diet, well it would be rude to start now with such chocolatey pleasures abounding.  

We hope you have as wonderful, happy (and safe) day, just like what we are planning.

We’re going to take a few days off now until New Years Day when we’ll be in the midst of celebrating with our traditional (2020/21 three household bubble) Iris and Bertie Sleepover, but if we can find some time to post we will …… happy days!

XXXXXXXXXXX

Christmas Eve 2020

It really feels like it’s been a long time coming, but  finally, finally, finally, finally it’s Christmas Eve, our most favourite day before our MOST favourite day of the year!

Our turkey crown, according to Darrell is defrosted beyond perfection, our stockings hang proud and resplendent waiting to be hopefully filled with a certain degree of pleasurable bulge ....

....... our beds are plumped, in fact they've been plumped twice for the optimum silent night and heavenly peace ..........

.......... and Nigel, bless him, says that he is totally focused and honed, ready, willing and able to eat his own body weight in chocolate, milk or white, but preferably not dark, well ....... except for the odd After Eight and Matchmaker that is!

All that’s left to do now is hang up our traditional Christmas Eve lantern to light a candle at around seven o’clock tonight, just before we cosy down, to remember all our loved one who are no longer with us to share this wonderful time, but who are always, always in our hearts.  

We know they are watching over us from the little, spooky, late great Derek Acorah things that happen now and again ……. and hopefully they'll still be there in the coming year.

This year, as we said, we won't be travelling back to The Homeland for Christmas, sooooooooo we thought we would bring a tiny bit of Wolverhampton back to Evesham (and perhaps even the world) .....

What are we like?  

XXX Merry Christmas Everybody XXX

Our 2020 Letter To Santa …….

Oh my goodness, here we are again…….

…….. that very special evening when we all get together to write our letter to Santa, to be followed, I am told, by a celebratory and experimental Vodka and 4% alcohol Cherryade On The Rocks cocktail from Darrell.  I have to say I think they are getting a little more potent with each trail, but it’s Christmas and after the year we’ve had, who am I to quibble about the odd hazy head in the morning.

There’s been an awful lot of tangible and palpable concentrated and robust consideration thronging The Towers these past few days, but I think we have all finally come up with exactly what we would like Santa to bring us.

Nigel has decided, after much musing  and cogitation that, after all exciting bridge renovations in the autumn among other things, that it would be rather nice to have his very own chair of a portable type nature from where he could watch the world go by wherever he may happen be,  a most excellent choice.

Darrell, on the other hand, has had a very long felt want for a set of “antique/retro” Cherry B glasses to grace his cocktail cabinet.  To be honest, he’s never actually seen a set in real life, but if anyone can find one, he reckons Santa is the man.

And me?  Well, I am really hoping that with a potential Covid vaccine on the horizon, life may start to get back to normal and perhaps even a little busier, so I would really like a “To Do” list book to help keep me organised……..

Said letter will be cast to the wind a little later on (before cocktails, for obvious reasons), after that I expect we will all get a touch lost in our hopes and dreams for Christmas morning and beyond ……… before, I fear feel, a fuzzy retirement to our beds.

New Festive Words We Quite Like

Well, it goes without saying that we all very much love to come across the odd and unusual Christmas word that we haven’t heard before, which we then like to drop into casual conversation to add a little frizzante to our festive vocabulary ……..

Take for example, the need to “scurryfunge” or hastily tidy The Towers before unexpected visitors arrive. As part of a rigid three household bubble, there won’t be any random guests crossing our portal this year, leaving, sadly, any manic “scurryfunging” until Christmas 2021 perhaps.

Then there is “yule-hole”, the last hole on your belt you can stretch to after eating Christmas dinner! Let’s just say there will be three yule-holes stretched to capacity, if you’ll pardon the expression, on the big day after Darrell’s much anticipated Christmas lunch.

It would be nice to then think that we could then avail ourselves of jolly good “crump” after said meal, but as a white Christmas isn’t forecast I doubt we will be in luck, but I have to say there’s nothing more satisfying than hearing the crunching sound or crumping as you walk across frozen snow, another pleasure, for another time I suspect.

And  finally, just for today, a couple of seasonal puzzles for you to solve ……

…….. since we are in a festively, frivolous frame of mind ……….

……. what are we like?

Questions Need To Be Asked ......

Oh my goodness, poor Darrell nearly choked on his festive Twiglets last night when Sir Lord Cliff and Blessed Saint of Richard popped up on a TV interview ……….

What is he wearing, what was he thinking and who on earth advised him …….

…….. that putting a tie with an old man’s pyjama top (and a crumpled one at that) was ever a good look and never ever, ever a fashion statement in any shape or form!

Questions seriously need to be asked in Parliament as to how  one of Britain’s best beloved (allegedly)  national treasures was ever allowed to appear on TV looking like ……. well, we are far to polite to say, but a kinder version of our thoughts would be ….. like he got dressed in the dark backwards, in the back of a van!

Darrell was straight on the phone to Hugh, his best friend and mentor of all things a la mode, de rigueur and tres en trend, who was equally left speechless ……….

……. and though not a personal friend of said Sir Lord Cliff and Blessed Saint of Richard, Hugh has nevertheless promised to have a word in the right circles to find out who is responsible for this sartorial abomination and either get them sacked or at least a flipping good steam iron! 

Deck The Hall, Literally!

Darrell has pared down the festive décor a little at The Towers this year, it still all looks very resplendent, but memories of a week spent at the start of 2020 trying to prize everything back into their boxes and then climbing up to the top of the wardrobe in an effort to put them away safely for another year is still very much indelibly etched on his mind, in particular the causalities …….

…… but when Kata, our lovely Hungarian neighbour across the hall and he were bemoaning, over a coffee, how our communal entrance was so unwelcoming and devoid of any Christmas spirit they decided they ought do a little something to brighten things up a bit.

So Kata bought some snowflakes to cut out for the windows  …….

…….. and then, knowing Darrell as she does, left him, along with a few of our unused bits and pieces to weave his magic.

Kata and The Boy “dun gud” ……. it probably breaks some obscure clause in our lease, but what the heck, everyone in the block has said how cheerful and sparkly it all looks now when they come in from work and the cold ……..

Happy days  ………………. it really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Festive Illuminations Of An Estate Type Nature

It has to be said that Nigel is inclined to dawdle through our estate on the way back from the school run as more and more festive lights begin to appear.

Last night he saw that this projected sign for “Santa to Stop Here” had popped up, which got him in to a right spin, now that was the sort of sign we NEEDED too, just in case Santa happened to forget that we live at the end of the road too.

And what the little fella would do for an festive inflatable ….. of any description, there’s a snowmen, a polar bear and a toy soldier  but a Santa, in his sleigh, being pulled by two reindeer, well, that’s beyond Nigel’s wildest dreams!

Our neighbour John has, this year forgone his usually flashing snowflake and embraced the whole window full of random lights effect, which we all much prefer as it seems to beckons us ever homeward from the top of the estate.

The Marina and its many boats is also all of a twinkle too, made all the more romantic by the added watery reflections.

But, we are not to be found wanting in the illumination stakes, oh no! Our frontage, if we don’t mind saying so ourselves is most resplendent thanks to Darrell and his curtains of Christmas stars……

…… then to the side, on the fence, our own projector with it’s moving evocative snowflakes.  Last year we had it on the front of the building, but the gentleman upstairs complained that it shone into his bedroom while his nephew was staying and ruined his  sleep …… we’re not saying “a thing” …… but “draw your flipping curtains then” springs to mind ……. so this year we have hopefully compromised.

And the back of The Towers is equally emblazoned, thanks to Home Bargains ……..

…….. I’ve told Nigel that we really don’t need to have a Santa Stop Here on our wall/roof as there’s no possible way Santa can actually miss us, what are we like?

Festive Review–Walkers By The Power Of Sausage Roll Flavoured Crisps.

There is nothing that says festive spread more than a sausage roll and as I write, it goes without saying that we have an ample supply of Greggs mini sausage rolls sitting, thanks to Darrell, in our freezer ready for our Stay At Home Boxing Day Buffet.

So, when he also spotted a pack of Walkers Sausage Roll flavour crisps in Home Bargains it would have looked rude of him not to avail himself of some for a bit of a Christmas comestible review.

Let’s just say they were OK, we liked them.

The quality was unmistakably Walkers. Yes, they tasted sausagey, but perhaps not totally unlike a smoky bacon flavour crisp, perhaps we need to get a packet of them too, to do a proper compare and contrast test?

Would we buy them again? Perhaps not, but as a festive novelty, served with a gin and hibiscus tonic water  cocktail,  curtesy of Darrell’s ever flowing and inventive seasonal and celebratory recipe ideas, it would be churlish not to immerse ourselves in the occassion.

And the score on our world famous Richter Scale of Noms? A very creditable three hicks and an indelicate burp out of 5! 

School Run Treats

Uncle Nigel, bless him, is trying his best to make the slow walk home from school as festive as possible for his beloved niece and nephew.

Every time they spot any mistletoe growing in a tree along the route, they have to stop, have a kiss under it and wish each other a very Happy Christmas. What is he like?

He has also found them an old tree stump at around the half way mark to sit for hot chocolate with marshmallows and a dippy biscuit.

But, these are no ordinary biscuits, these are Darrell and Nigel individually painted Christmas biscuits. They found some Jane Asher edible ink marker pens in Home Bargains and it was a festive treat no brainer.

Every morning Darrell and Nigel get together to decide on their designs for the day …… 

Let’s just say they go down very well with those important childhood memories being made ……..

…….. especially by the little multicoloured mouths that need to be wiped before they set off again! 

Happy Days.