Sleepover Ready

Well, I don’t think we can do anymore, we are just taking a breather before the festivities commence for our annual, traditional Halloween sleepover, starting tomorrow morning.

The party food has arrived, no substitutions,  a gruesome cocktail bar and pick n mix pop up table set up, Christmas crackers have been appropriately doctored with spooky treats inserted, and the bath time rubber ducks suitably arranged …….

…….. new batteries put in all our various light up, novelty torches for our midnight walk in the park to play ghosts and ghoulies …….

…….. a game of Hotel Transylvania (all parts present) pounced upon by Darrell for £1 in a charity shop for afternoon fun and games, before watching the film in the evening ………

…….. we can’t have forgotten anything can we?

Hopefully, we will just about have the energy to post the ensuing mayhem for you on Monday morning …………… Happy Days!

Yellow Car ……..

We have a game we always play whenever we are on a long journey, where we have to shout “yellow car” whenever we see a yellow car, yellow, because generally they tend to be few and far between, unless of course you should find yourself in a queue of said coloured cars ……. off to a yellow car rally!

However, we don’t have to go very far these days to yell “yellow car”, in fact it’s getting a little boring …….

…… because the “new people” in the other block actually have a yellow car, with, I might add, a trio of seasonally apt skeleton stickers on the back.

Darrell has called a house meeting tonight to see if we should change the colour of our game and if so, what to.  What is he like?  It may be whistle blowing before the event, but I am going to state a pretty strong case for orange ……….

A New School Run Ritual – Rubbing The Bumstone

You can never say that the school run is ever boring when Uncle Nigel’s in charge, he’s always on the look out for anything new to capture Iris and Bertie’s imagination and add a little frizzante to the routine walk home ……….

….. and yesterday he found just the thing ………

…… ladies and gentlemen, may I present you, for your delectation,   …… Nigel’s “bum-stone”, named aptly, because in Nigel’s expert opinion (????) said stone looks like a little bum poking out from the stony verge!

He’s told Iris and Bertie that they need to find it each day, as it’s pretty well hidden and then rub it with their feet ……. and if they rub it enough, they might just find that one day it will have turned to gold and they’ll be able to make a special wish! Let’s just say they have swallowed it hook, line and sinker ……. with the bumstone now a designated stop of national importance! What on earth am I going to do with him?

Coming Across Tables ……

Let’s just say Darrell has been on the look out for a bijouxesque table that he can zhuzh up for the festive season ……. (our most favouritist time of the year), because, it seems, he is considering a slight deviation as to where he/we put our Christmas tree this year ……….

I did happen upon one outside the second hand/vintage emporium in town, it fell well within Darrell’s strict budget of “£5 and not a penny more” at £4 ……..

…… and I thought having a second shelf underneath might be useful, I’m not sure what for, but you never know what Darrell has up his sleeve. However as it wasn’t the prettiest of tables and might have taken more zhuzhing than Darrell had bargained for, after hivering and hovering for five or so minutes I decided to simply take a picture for him to peruse and cogitate over …….

……. which was a quite a wise and spooky move really because ……….

…… guess who also found a table on the very same day?  Trust Nigel and his uncanny knack of finding “stuff” on his constant toing and froing on the school run …….

……. and this one was free, just left sat sitting outside someone’s house for the taking of, well, that’s our story and we’re sticking to it governor! Well, it would have been rude not to avail ourselves of it wouldn’t it?  Luckily it was only about 5 minutes away from The Towers, so after Nigel sent Darrell a picture, while standing keeping guard, Darrell and I were out there, like a shot, to help drag it home

All I can say is that when we arrived Nigel was like a dog with two tails, two bones and two balls with his find, as was Darrell, who preened and exclaimed that it was exactly as he had envisioned he’d wanted! What are they both like?

Soooooooooooo, next challenge please ………………..

Tis The Season Of Hot Chocolate ……

Although we are still enjoying very much enjoying the joys of clement weather at the moment, Nigel has decided to declare that it is officially the hot chocolate season sur la school run.

So, when he is on rota, a flask is duly made, mini marshmallows bagged and biscuits suitably individually painted (with Jane Asher’s edible felt pens) ………..

Then it’s nom nom nom as everyone settles down on their tree stump of choice, to scoop said mini marshmallows with shards of Nigel’s painted biscuits.

What a devoted Uncle Nigel has turned out to be ………. with so many memories in the making. 

Nigel Is Proved Right ……

Remember Nigel’s Halloween window display of choice up at the florists in Port Street, where he had wondered if they might just perhaps add a little soupcon of spookiness in homage to the season of Halloween …….  ??????

Well……..

…….. his eerie, Derek Accorah (RIP) type tingling's and dreams were well and truly founded……..

……. the little fella was in no way, shape or form disappointed, to be honest, he returned home almost totally overwhelmed and bereft of adequate words to describe how he felt.

…….. yes, it was emotional, very emotional!!!  What is he like?

Thronging Seasonal Emotions

Oh my goodness, how can I describe yesterday morning?  An unexpected package arrived by courier for Darrell from Hugh, his best friend and mentor of all things Depeche Mode and a la carte ……..

Inside said package, wrapped in tissue paper, with an accompanying sachet of fragranced beads was a black, velvet jacket with an embroidered star and moon motif running through it. 

It had taken Hugh’s fancy, especially with the Halloween season upon us and thought how Darrell could pull such an elaborate garment off……..

However, with Darrell’s ever increasing confidence and sense of saveloy savoir faire and flair, he thought that Darrell might even be able to “own” it for much of the year.

Well ……. perhaps not on a beach in Greece in full summer, but otherwise ….. the fashionista world was Darrell’s lobster of a Vogue magazine type nature.

Yes, it was emotional.  Yes, eyes were dabbed and noses blown profusely, but once composed Darrell was up and away to town doing the weekly fruit and veg shop, cutting, I understand, quite a swathe of admiration. What are Hugh and he like? 

Bring Back Brut and Old Spice …….

As you know, Nigel loves to have a mooch, in town, during the week especially when he’s not on the school run and although it might seem a touch premature, he’s already on the look out for small things for Christmas …… what with the news constantly telling us to start early because everything’s stuck in containers in various ports around the world and there are no HMV HGV drivers to get things to the shops anyway.

However, in his own little world, he was relieved to find that Lynx, described as an iconic brand on the Lynx website, is not in short supply, in fact, in Savers in Evesham it was bountiful ……….. and they had a new range ……..

…… among which, you could have 48 hours of Leather and Cookies high definition fragrance!  This in the eyes of the little fella was a definite goer for Darrell.  I, on the other hand, am trying my level best to dissuade him, suggesting that it might be something of a niche aroma and that he really ought to consult Hugh, Darrell’s mentor and I understand expert in all things of a male perfumery type nature before making a considered purchase.  I’m not sure he was listening.

It all seems a far cry from the Brut, Old Spice and the odd splash of Hai Karate of my day, when men were men and didn’t feel the need to smell like a leathery old biscuit!

A Most Unsavoury Sort Of Scarf

Nigel did a mahoooosive double take when he walked past the charity shop on the corner, on his way back from the school run ……..

……. there was a scarf in the window, which could possibly be seen as quite pertinent for the time of year, what with an impending Halloween etc …….

……. but Nigel wasn’t at all keen. He will admit to liking a touch of leopard print, especially on Rod Stewart, but this particular leopard looked as if it had been in for the kill, with some poor  gazelle as it’s prey. He just found the whole colour/pattern combination thing questionable and to be honest, a little unsavoury for his taste.

However …….. since said scarf had gone when he next went past, it can only be assumed that  it had caught someone’s fancy enough for them to make a considered purchase.  Nigel is just hoping/praying that that person wasn’t  Darrell, looking for a tres en trend sort of bargain, because in his opinion, though almost a total stranger to neckwear……… it was, in truth, the scarf of nightmares!

Haribo Scaremix – Something To Please Everyone

This month we have mainly been eating the seasonally appropriate Haribo Scaremix ……….

……. as our evenings televisual watching confectionary of choice.

Nigel is always rummaging in the bowl for a toffee apple eye or cherry boo bear……..

……. whereas Darrell like a blackcurrant and blueberry Dracula ring as well as a blood orange witches brew one.

I prefer to take them as they come, but I have to admit being rather partial to a vampire blackcurrant and bubble gum heart, when I get one ……….

What are we like?

Seasonal Emotion Followed By Overwhelming Joy

Yesterday our lovely neighbours Nat and Dan on the top floor whatsapped Darrell saying that as they knew how much Darrell liked a little seasonal festooning and adornment  ……….

……. they’d left him a little “something outside our front door to make up for the miserable gentleman on the middle floor complaining about the totally unobtrusive and tasteful Christmas and Easter displays Darrell had put up in the communal area of our block, which Nat and Dan had loved and appreciated in helping to put them in the festive mood.

Let’s just say it was emotional, with a couple of tears shed when Darrell returned  from the front door  ………

…… as they’d left him two boxes of Halloween lights, one of pumpkins and the other of ghosts, he was absolutely thrilled……..

…….. he was like a dog with two bones, two tails and two balls! They were perfect and he knew exactly where to put them ……….

His little face as he titivated was a joy to behold …… he thought he’d all but finished decking our halls ………

…….. but these were the icing on the proverbial cake.  How very, very kind.  He made a note in his Halloween Sleepover Party  Planning diary to send Iris and Bertie upstairs with a little Halloween treat to say “Thank You” for Nat and Dan ……. and to make sure they made a few spooky noises as they passed the aforementioned miserable gentleman’s door on their way and up and down!  What is he like?