Isn't She Lovely, Isn't She Wonderful?

Following on from the post of the other day, with Nigel and the ever fragrant Alice discussing our Halloween arrangements for this year (????), Alice came round to give us a most glorious twirl of her very lovely, new Halloween dress, saying that come what may, she's determined to get the utmost usage out of it, for as long as possible, be it before, during and even after the official celebrations, if need be!

 I have to say the girl can certainly rock a seasonal frock like no other .......

....... from the colour (not the easiest to pull off) ...... the stripes ..... not to mention a pumpkin motif .......

....... and as for the way she seems to effortlessly flounce and shimmy a ruffle,  she's ...... well, utterly enchanting!  What more can I say ...... the gal has it all, in lorry loads! 

This Months Edition Of The Vale

Another month and another edition of The Vale, Evesham's free, glossy magazine .......

 ..... where I have to say I am very much admiring the apt seasonal cover.

There is still an abundance of ear wax removal, funeral directors, memorial stones, chiropody and care homes being advertised ....... 

...... but the urgency to book your works or family Christmas meal is starting to creep in.

It may seem a little mundane perhaps, but I've taken the liberty of circling all the oven cleaning services for Darrell, as he has muted, several times now, getting someone in to clean ours this year, as it's the one pre-festive, domestic chore he struggles to fully embrace.   

However on a much more exciting tack I've entered the quiz to win a music voucher, fingers crossed, to identify the title and artist from a snippet of lyrics (Mr D, fountain of all knowledge???) .........

...... PLUS PLUS PLUS there was a 20% voucher off food at one of our most favourite Italian cafes, to wit Buongiorno, to celebrate their first ten years in Evesham. They welcomed us even before we took the plunge to move and we've feasted greatly there on many an occassion, if fact it's also Iris's eating place of choice. When she was a tiny she very much enjoyed an adult portion of their cannelloni and has since moved up to their most excellent spaghetti bolognaise, with Young Master Bertie opting for their traditional Italian pizza .........

So it's win, win, win, said voucher will come in very useful at some juncture of this month, well, it would be just plain rude not to avail ourselves of it!  This month, I have to say, The Vale, after a barren couple of months has really excelled itself, happy days!

A Different Sort Of Halloween This Year?..............

Oh dear, Nigel and Alice were out shopping. with no particular, considered purchase in mind ........

...... but obviously Halloween is now very much to the fore at the moment, be it in Evesham's finest charity emporiums .....

.... or the "normal shops" the likes of Home Bargains and The Works to name but a few ......

...... but poor Nigel's heart skipped a beat when Alice mentioned just how much she was looking forward to her first Halloween with us chez The Towers and that she'd already got herself a rather wonderful outfit to wear .......

...... adding that the thought of partaking in a few zombie brains, served up in one of Darrell's finest, cut glass bon bon dishes was quite exhilarating!

However ....... with Iris and Bertie due to embrace the pleasures of foreign climes, to wit La Belle France, during half term (when Halloween strikes) and we ourselves being on the very cusp of our forthcoming, autumnal Greek Oddity (another first), Halloween is going to be a different sort of affair this year, something we're still trying to iron out, hopefully there will still be a sleepover, but when is the big question at the moment.

Alice however remained philosophical and buoyed up, she was going to rock that outfit for all it was worth for the rest of the month and possibly beyond and she was still going to invest in a couple of bags of zombie brains, among other things to share with the Lovely Kata, with whom she still currently residing, whatever happens ......

 ...... and then happily do it all over again eventually when Iris and Bertie are back on England's terra firma ......... what a gal!

Nigel Hits The Marmite Jackpot

After the initial disappointment of finding, when he went to our local Home Bargains to top up on our supply of our current crisp of choice, to wit the Seabrooks tomato ketchup flavour, that they had completely sold out ........

....... he only then went on to smash the Marmite jackpot with .......

...... Marmite deep ridge crisps PLUS cheese and Marmite puffs, OMG, OMG. OMG!!!!!

Needless to say, a quite substantial purchase was then made, with little, if any consideration at all, as it was a given that these would be very gratefully received back at The Towers, as well as looking rude and ungrateful not to almost clear the shelves, what are we like? The boy dun gud ........ very gud, very gud indeed! 

A Little Twinkle Can Go An Awful Long Way

It goes without saying that none of us are exactly embracing the fact that the nights starting to draw in, with Darrell already having to light our ambient candles by at least seven o'clock in the evening.

However, in order to inject just a little lightness to our mood, he's been on the interweb and ordered a whole pile of solar lights to jolly up the communal garden ........

........ with he says, something quite spectacular, he hopes for December, our most favourite month of the year!

No doubt this will not best please some people, to which we say .......we will hold firm our conviction should questions be asked in Parliament, with petitions raised on our behalf if troops are called to muster, ringing out our autumnal chant "fairy lights bring happy nights!"

If we need to Go Fund Me, then we'll jolly well Go Fund Me, in order to fill the whole garden with even more lights to spread the joy and supposing, after all that, we're incarcerated for our cause, we're sure Jan, our beloved No. 1 fan will organise a prison visitors rota and smuggle in nail files in fruit cakes for Darrell ........ what are we like?

Autumn hasn't been quite autumn this year for Nigel, as the school run has now taken on a completely different route, with Iris having moved on to Middle School and with it, there has been no conkering or many memories made.

New traditions will no doubt be made, like Bertie and Nigel nipping into Lldl to shelter from the rain or choose a bagel or some other such treat for Iris, to help bide their time while waiting for her to rendezvous with them just by the dentist!!!  

So, it's a bittersweet affair when Nigel has to pass what is now left of their beloved conker tree each night on his way home, a place where they shared so many happy moments, with Iris filling the pockets of her skirt with so many conkers it could barely hold up under the weight!

The tree's branches were cut down without warning last year, but it's heart still remains. 

It's fighting back, with new shoots growing around the bottom of its trunk ......

...... and as for the top!

Who knows, perhaps in another couple of hundred years a little monkey and his beloved niece and nephew might start the age old traditional all over again! 

Spawning In Plain Sight

I have to admit that we've been quite remiss as to the care of our one and only cactus plant, more or less leaving it to it's own devices .......

..... so imagine my surprise when I spotted that said succulent has been pretty much taking care of itself quite happily despite all this laxity .......

....... not only growing by at least a centimetre ...........

....... but also, in plain sight of all at The Towers, spawning tiny babies .......triplets in fact. This discovery was quite emotional, though tinged with an awful sense of regret that all it's stoic efforts have, until now, gone unnoticed.

I'm not sure how I/we can make it up, except for a little more water now and again to help to vitalise the mother, as well as keeping those little babies nice and plump ......... and then a lot of praise? Any other suggestions would be most welcome, especially from Mr D, who must find himself continually surrounded by cacti in the wild in hot and romantic Mexico and thus, no doubt, an expert!