Alice Gets All Artistic

Our lovely neighbour Kata's little boy Krisztian has been very busy learning about London, including The Great Fire Of London, in school and as such, had been given a crafty assignment to complete at home, for which there was a certificate and points at stake.

Well, it was a no brainer that the ever fragrant Alice offer to help the little man while, in turn, giving the forever busy Kata a chance to catch her breath.  

It has to be said that Alice, at times, is apt to hide her light under a bushel as far being creative is concerned, but trust me, she really is the Queen of the PVA bottle and all manner of other crafty materials, being particularly adept, I would say, in the art of scrunched up tissue paper ..........

...... a skill just perfect for making a facsimile bonfire, using a tealight under a clear, plastic cup, covered with said paper, to give the illusion of flickering flames, along with a string of tiny, battery operated lights in amongst the logs to represent sparks spitting from the fire and gold tinsel for extra effect.

It was a absolute triumph and dare I say an emotional one to boot, worthy of A*++++, a PhD. and maximum pointage for the little fella and trust me I'm in no way biased!!!!

Then, as if that wasn't enough, they moved onto the most magnificent and most anatomically correct Union Flag, ever to be created on blue card with red crepe paper and strips of white A4, again, there wasn't a dry eye in the house, when they'd finished!

Young Krisztian and Alice dun gud, bring on the next school project as Alice's is ready, willing and able .......... !!!!

A Most Unexpected Treat

Eric and Alice popped into Costa yesterday afternoon after a spot of mooching, using the gift card they'd been given for Christmas (yes, they are really trying to make the joy last!) ........

 ...... enjoying a pot of tea for one and a small cappuccino.

Then, after they had finished and while the ever fragrant one had gone to powder her nose, the gentleman, who they thought was the manager, came round to each of the tables proffering a rather large mug of individually wrapped chocolate orange segments (probably left over from some sort of promotion or something) asking if anyone would like one.

Well, for the little fella, as you might imagine, it was an absolute no brainer, who doesn't not look a gift horse (or, in this case, manager bearing gifts) in the face mouth he said afterwards, especially when you are rather partial to said chocolate treat ......

...... and, as ever thinking of Alice, proceeded to ask, very politely, if he could possibly take another one for his companion who was currently absent from the table polishing her nose, it was a done deal. It's not every day you get something so totally unexpected for free when your out for a coffee, so as you can imagine, it was emotional!!!!!  What on earth are they like? 

Eins Zwie Drie - UK Eurovision Entry 2026, Dix or Null Points???

Oh dear, we're not convinced, Mr. Look Mum No Computer seems like a very lovely young man ..... and yes, we'll fly the flag, it would be rude not to ....... 

.... but whether this year the UK will manage to move from the lowly depths of the right hand side of the Eurovision scoreboard to a more positive and uplifting left hand side, we're not so sure.  

To be honest, one listening was more than enough to form our opinion, to quote Mary Poppins, "Enough is as good as a feast", and so, without much debate whatsoever, for 2026 at least,  we've elected to wait until the "Big Night" before we listen to it properly again, without prejudice and through almost (if you'll pardon the expression) virgin ears ......... 

...... then, what will, be will be .......... but we're no holding our breath!

Twittervision

Oh my goodness, all of a sudden our small part of the world seems to have burst forth with life, where once we had naked bare branches, now, in almost a blink of an eye, we're surrounded by a bombardment of delicate pink blossom and we're pretty certain we've seen our first bee.

Let's just say, it seems as if it's been a long, dull winter, but now look where we are, all memory of SAD lamps and vitamin D supplements are well and truly in the past .......

......the sun, blue skies, flowers in bloom and a new, rarified air has boosted our spirits beyond recognition ......

...... with Darrell even flinging the windows of The Towers wide open to let it all in .......

........ nothing (except perhaps the rain) is going to rain on our springtime parade, even if it's not officially here until 20th March.

It's a shame we haven't got full on twittervision, but hopefully you can hear the glorious cacophony of birdsong that is currently all around us .

 It's truly, truly joyous, if not totally uplifting, bring it on ..........

Understated, Simple And Very Mr Berts ...... World Book Day 2026

This is probably our beloved nephews very last World Book Day, which, as you can imagine, we are finding pretty emotional ........

...... it therefore goes without saying that it was only natural that we all wanted to get involved in his "costume", not an easy task, as young Master Bertie doesn't like too much attention on him on such occasions, therefore our brief was strictly as understated and simple as possible.

Soooooooooo, following some debate, none heated, old Berts said he'd be perfectly happy to go as George from Roald Dhal's George Marvellous Medicine, a most excellent choice and one of our very most favourite books too.  

The ever fragrant Alice and Eric were then put in charge of his t-shirt, George's is a very simple red one, but they decided to take a quote from the story and get it printed on a suitable shirt, to, how shall I say, spell it out! 

Darrell was put in charge of the all important props, to wit a large spoon from the cutlery drawer and George's medicine bottle.

I have to say the bottle was truly disgusting from both the front and the back. I could almost smell the ponk it would have had, let alone imagine just how foul it's contents would have tasted.

Anyways up, I think we all "dun gud" (I polished the spoon!), I don't think our efforts will win any prizes, but then, that's the last thing our bashful nephew would want, but in our eyes ....... he's a winner! 

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Vienna?????????

I thinks it's become pretty obvious by now that we've gone pretty cold as far as The Eurovision Song Contest is concerned, this year being held in Ahhhhhh Vienna, on 16th  May.  

It sooooooooooo used to be our televisual highlight of the year, we practically put our lives on hold during Eurovision Week, but after Finland was outrageously robbed in 2023 and the UK being stuck steadfastly on the right side of the score board since "Spaceman", despite our undying love and support, it's been hard to embrace the competition with all our unbridled and unfettered gusto of yore.

And ..... sadly, I fear, that this 2026 may follow a very similar path in the aforesaid said Ahhhhhh Vienna, as we've just heard that the UK are fielding "Look Mum No Computer", no, we've not a clue either, perhaps we're just too out of touch with music these days ????? 

We've looked the gentleman up on YouTube and we're currently ambivalent, but having said that, he does seem like a very nice, enthusiastic young man! However, the proof of the pudding is in the nomming, so we'll just have to wait for the song to debut ...... hope against hope, it will send us into absolute raptures and multiplying thrills (aka John Travolta) and all will be forgiven and our usual vinegar vigour reinstated!

 ....... soooooooo, as and when we hear more, trust us, you'll be the very first to know, with our initial reaction, but at present, to be honest, our union flag is flying, limply at half mast! 

LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER to represent the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026

Music To Eric's Ears

Although the skies are more grey than blue (over Evesham at least) and there still seems to be no end to the rain, the daffodils are really starting to bloom, causing young Eric's heart and spirits to soar as we teeter towards spring, with only eighteen official days to go .......

..... and with the impending season sees the return of enterprising buskers to Evesham's main pedestrian street, even if they have to shelter from the rain, to prevent their equipment potentially blowing up, lifting the little fella's said spirits even higher.......

..... especially when you never know what musical delights you are going to encounter, lyrics you might mishear and do a double take or the occasional, pardon the expression, odd "bum" note or two.

It's also a salient reminder for Eric to keep a few spare coins in his pocket for such happenstance as, he says, such upliftment, especially on wet days needs rewarding.