An Unbuttoned Performance? How Very Dare You!

As you know we very much enjoy the odd odyssey, especially of the Greek variety (fingers crossed for June 2022)……….

…… so when Nigel spotted this banner on the long, boring walk home from the school run, it was obvious that he’d do a double take on seeing said word, admittedly not a Greek Odyssey, but a European one was none the less intriguing.

However, it turned out not to be a travelogue as Nigel first thought, but a piano concert, something our beloved follower and cereal serial commenter Mr D in romantic Mexico would very much appreciate, an odyssey taking in  the delights of D’Anglebert, Scarlatti, Bach, Albeniz, Beethoven, Chopin, not to mention Schubert.       

Not quite us perhaps, but as Nigel started to read the accompanying bumf, his was a little surprised to read that Mr Soares has been praised for his “brilliantly unbuttoned” performances? How very rude!

Performing unbuttoned, brilliantly or not,  seemed a trifle remiss, if not slightly draughty ………. or perhaps, the little fella reasoned,  the unbuttoning was more the result of the “huge intensity” of his playing upon Mr Soares fastenings, rather than simply for comfort or an airing!

It all sounded very “liberating” to Nigel, perhaps, he mused when he got back to The Towers …….

…….. we ought to broaden our musical horizons a little wider than our televisual highlight of the year the Eurovision Song Contest, The Masked Singer, Little Mix and Rod Stewart ………. if only to see what affect it would have on our own, at present, very secure buttonage?  Mr D?

Tempted By Abundance……

Nigel says he has always felt comfortable and at home at school as a Helping Hand Volunteer listening to his beloved Year 2 Readers since his very first day . ……..

…… and he has put this down, in part, to the huge plethora of laden baskets of fruit and veg that abound around the school, ready for breaktime.

 

As you know, we at The Towers have always followed a robust and rigorous  5 a day regime, our own fruit bowl doth constantly overflow, so it’s only natural that said baskets make the school feel like a home from home for the little fella.

However, there have been times when Nigel has admitted to feeling sooooooo at home that he has almost gone to avail himself of the odd  banana or tempting satsuma …….

…….. only to remember at the very last moment exactly where he was, should temptation have prevailed, how unprofessional and bad would that have looked …….

…….. an impulsive action that could have possibly lead him to being struck off from the register of helpers, bringing shame to The Towers! So, now Darrell or I always make sure there’s always something in the little fella’s school bag that he can reach for and nibble if ever the urge comes upon him thus upholding our good name …….  what are we like?

A Non Fizz Sort Of A Day

Yesterday was another one of those run of the mill sort of days when it’s hard to put your finger on the highlight ……..

……..sooooooo in the end it came down to Darrell treating himself to and then trying out some new toilet cleaning tablets, I think, after all these years blogging,  we may have finally plunged the very depths of mediocrity!

He reckoned that bleach, although it does do the job, is just a bit boring …….  so when he spotted the Fizz and Fresh box on the shelf in Home Bargains the thought of having a little effervescence in the shower room might be a pleasant change, while getting a serious job done………

…… not of course, you understand, that he would ever allow our bowels bowls to ever get beyond the any point of redemption!

And, how did he get on? Well, I’m not sure what he was expecting, but he said that there was no hint of a fizz or any robust foaming action as the tablet hit the water, just a plop!

So, what was going on up the u-bend at this point to our calcium, rust and limescale is anybody’s business.  He just had to put his cleaning faith and trust in 40 years of Astonish’s product history.

All in all our highlight of the day was a bit of a damp squid squib. I have seen the way Darrell wields his toilet brush, I told him he should feel proud and that I doubted whether we would even have the tiniest build up of said deposits to get rid of anyway. The next time he felt compelled to try something new of a cleaning type nature, he should treat himself to a little something instead, bless his little hygienic heart! 

Darrell’s Guilty Pleasure

While Nigel is on the school run and I take Victoria Hislop into the bedroom for five minutes literary indulgence, Darrell often sits back to to enjoy a guilty pleasure of his own while it’s quiet  ………..

…….. to wit, all that is Ask The Midwife.  He looked it up it up on BBC iPlayer and found it’s there from the very first series. I think Hugh, Darrell’s best friend and mentor in all things of trimester type of nature, may have something to do with it, as he is oft to hold Darrell in thrall with tales of his own mother, who was,  in real life, also a midwife in the 50’s and 60’s.

To be honest, what could be more romantic and compelling than a story about nuns, especially when the top nun also used to be one of the Railway Children, in the days before she got her “calling”, all living in a nunnery  ……….

……. with another group of none nun ladies in uniform,  who are also kind, competent, often very pretty …….

…….. and ride bikes ……..

…… where Nuns and Non Nuns find themselves constantly on call to deliver the millions of babies of Poplar and coping with all the problems that ensue. Who would have thought that such a programme with all it’s urine testing, free orange juice, problems with latching on and waters constantly breaking could have Darrell so hooked ……..

……… although I suspect he also has a “thing” for Nurse Trixie!

What is he like?

Putting All Our Hopes In Sam Ryder for Eurovision 2022 ………

To be honest we were a bit surprised when Darrell’s phone pinged last week (10th March) with the BBC announcing that Sam Ryder was going to represent the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest  (our most televisual highlight of the year) in Italy this year.

Now, we have to apologise profusely because we are total strangers to Tik Tok and therefore Sam ………

……. and we’re not afraid to admit that at first we were all felt a little let down, especially when  remembering last years horrific gastropublic nul points!

However, we’d be incredibly remiss and dismissive if we didn’t at least try to find out more about Sam, so imagine how we felt when learned that he is one of the most followed singers on said Tik Tok with 20 million fans ....... 

……. and then …….. we went on YouTube to find his/our song ……….

……… and that’s when Darrell got his beloved, lucky Stockholm Eurovision bangle, from when he actually went in 2016 in real life, off his bedroom shelf, exclaiming that he had a funny, fizzy feeling in his water that this year, could very well be “Our Year”...........

............ and with hair like Sam's, his team would be missing a trick if they didn't plan to make good use of the Eurovision wind machine when they start planning his set!

So it's with a feeling of tangible and palpable excitement that we are completely behind Sam ........ and anything we can do for him ……. he’s only to ask!

Free Knitted Toys ……..

It’s usually Nigel that does the “finding” when he’s out and about, but this morning it was my turn. One of the charity shops in town was given a huge box of knitted toys, but unfortunately because none of them had a CE tag with the fibre content and care instructions on, the shop was unable to, so they were giving them away for free.  It broke my heart, thinking about all the hard work and love that was put into each and every one.

So, although it didn’t feel quite right to “just” take, I thought it might look rude not to have a bit of a rummage, perhaps to find a “snuggly” in need of a new home, where no one cares whether it has a CE tag or not. I was, of course thinking of Nigel, who would have got in a terrible state had he known about the shop and toys predicament. 

It didn’t take me long to find the most perfect one for Nigel, with Easter in my thoughts, a funny, little, yellow rabbit just leapt out at me, the likes of which I knew Nigel could/would take to his heart, they were made for each other. I then put a donation in the box on the counter as I really couldn’t take it for “free”.

Said rabbit just needs a ribbon for round his neck and perhaps a carrot to hold and then I’ll put him away until the appropriate time…….

……. but I won’t tell Nigel the story behind him, because if I do, he’ll just worry himself silly about all the other toys who may not have managed to find a new home. What is he and I like?

Filling The Towers With Friendliness

There’s a new banner on the school run, just outside Iris and Bertie’s school, which has given Nigel much pause for thought. According to the bumf, its message was launched on Valentines Day,  to help forge friendship, fun, belonging and a helping hand between people who live on the same street.  There was also mench of “As One Tea Parties”, which are never to be refused as far as young Nigel is concerned.

Now, whether it will spread to our very small estate is debatable, but Nigel says he’s going to do his best to be pleasant and friendly to all the people who share The Towers with us, despite the complaints from “him upstairs” when Darrell and Kata  decorated the communal areas and garden to lift spirits at Christmas and Easter during Covid!

Now, as well as Kata, who is always making us lovely Hungarian sweetmeats, not to mention offering the occasional Sunday lunch, when she’s gone a little awry with her portion size,  we have another lovely new lady called Rebecca, who lives upstairs, who also very much likes to bake and more importantly, share ……. in abundance! Nigel wants to get very friendly with her! So far she has furnished him with the most wonderful slices of banana cake ….. plus the odd lemon buttercream muffin.

He thinks his first move should be when he next smells the delicious aroma of baking wafting and wefting it’s way downstairs and then go knock on her door to ask if she’s got any bowls (and spoons) that she might need licking clean ……… what on earth is he he like?

https://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/news/article/2769/st_valentines_day_launch_for_worcestershire_bid_to_spread_the_love_street_by_street

A Changing Vista A La Towers

The view from The Towers is changing, but only everso slightly ………

The old Evesham sanitorium behind the marina was demolished a little while ago and in its place a small estate of 76 prefabricated, modular homes looms.

We can just about see the top of some of the said houses, but once the leaves reappear on the trees I doubt very much if we’ll see anything, other than a few lights shining through at night.

…… so it’s not that dramatic a development from here …….

However, on the other side of the river, it’s a very different scene especially from the perimeter of Iris and Bertie’s school, which has had Nigel enthralled for quite a few months now, with huge chunks of house being transported to the site on wide beam lorries and then lifted up gracefully, according to Nigel, and then lowered into place by a huge telescopic crane, a thing of very great beauty and wonder to both Bertie and himself.

Nigel has promised that when the showhomes are open to view, he’ll take Iris and Bertie “round for a gander” as an after school treat, if they are “very good”.  I also suspect that Darrell might invite himself along too as part of a fact finding mission, in his quest to keep abreast of all the latest interior design trends. What are they like? To be honest, I call it being plain nosey ……. so I think, when the time comes I’ll just stay at home and wallow in the peace and quiet while the opportunity is there! What am I like?????

A Pretty Run Of The Mill Sort Of A Day

Today, is one of those nothing really happens sort of days, there’s no school run for Nigel, there’s no cooking to do, save toss a little light salad as Darrell plundered the freezer last night for one of his pre-prepared frozen lasagnes, which is now thawing nicely and I am up to date with almost everything, which is a pretty satisfying place to be ………

So really the grand highlight of our day (so far……. but, there’s time!) was when the Postman arrived with the free note and sketchbook Darrell had sent for after perusing our grounds management newsletter which accompanied our half yearly bill. It’s probably not actually that free, as it’s bound to be taken from some budget in amongst our fees, but hey ho, don’t look a gift horse in the eye!

Darrell thought it might be a nice little thing to give to Iris and Bertie when the weather is a little better and they can sit in the garden for some squirrel spotting (we’ve got a Boris and a Carrie now).  There are pages to colour, blank pages to draw on and lined pages to write on ……

Nigel was very impressed, wondering the colouring and drawing pages were best suited to what genre of artistic medium, to wit the pencil crayon or the felt pen …….. musing that from his own personal choice and experience,  he would always favour the former, as he hates it when felt pen often goes through the paper thus ruining the picture on the opposite side.  Wax crayons did rear their head briefly, but were more or less instantly dismissed because once the pointy end is worn down, Nigel finds it impossible to colour with any satisfaction as it’s so difficult to stay within the lines with a stumpy end.  What is he like?  But then again, I did warn you that it was a slow, no news day!

There was also a packet of sweet peas in the package, would that we could plant them, but that’s against the rules of the garden (???), however they will be given to The Lovely Laura who is quite the green fingered one of the family and if they hatch, will look most  romantic gracing the trellising of Snake Mountain.   

Darrell also applied for a free bird box, but we don’t think he was quite as successful in his application as he was with the book and seeds.  Never mind …… perhaps another form, on another day!

The Flying Scotsman Returns To The Towers

On Saturday morning, at approximately 10.40, The Flying Scotsman made a jubilant return to “our” bridge ……….

It was almost too romantic ……..

…….. and emotional for words ……….

If Darrell had had a white petticoat, I swear he’d have ripped it up to use as a flag to wave to all the people who were enthusiastically waving down at him…….

He was fair got carried away by the occasion ……. I’m sure he wiped away a tear or two as it went past, but I tactfully pretended not to notice.

What is he like?