A Festive Gift From Pharmacy Michelle

When our lovely and beloved Postman Rob hands to us a very serious looking envelope that bears the words "DO NOT BEND" in very large, no nonsense letters.........

...... and the postmark indicates that is was posted in the vicinity of Southport or thereabouts .....

...... it can only mean one thing, to wit, it's come from our also best beloved Pharmacy Michelle .......

....... bringing much joy .......... and dare I say, not a little emotion!

We weren't far wrong.

Said envelope contained a packet of Malteser Rabbits, one of our confectionaries of choice over the Easter holiday, a delicate bundle of ribbon bound cards of a most romantic, Emily Bronte type nature, one for each of us and a note ........

..... mentioning, at the bottom the possibility of a "Southport Meet Up" which, for some bizarre reason, despite having been booked for quite a while now ........

...... we'd somehow omitted to send poor Michelle the details thereof! We hang our collective heads in shame. Perhaps the excitement of booking our bijoux hotel, as well as researching the train journey had made us just go completely giddy and awol re: passing on wise!  

We cannot apologise enough, however, all being well, the arrangements will stand, so that Seaside Karen (coming over from Lytham St Annes), Michelle and all of us can finally meet in May!  Can you imagine the wild and abandoned, unfettered and unbridled emotion of it all? I filling up just writing about it, silly sausage!

Anyway, our beautiful, beautiful cards are all now standing resplendent on our "best" shelf .......

..... and the chocolate bunnies shared between four of us, with one left over.........

Darrell suggested chopping it up with his best chefs knife, but I think it would be simpler if we just put it in our festive bowl of plenty for our "little" holiday guests to fight over!  

Thank you so much Pharmacy Karen, everything is so special and perfect ..... here's to our glorious Southport countdown!

Easter Advent Calendars?

Who knew there was such things ...... but yesterday, while the ever fragrant one was mooching in our local Iceland, her eyes alighted upon, believe it or not, an Easter Advent Calendar!

Well, it would have been rude not to make a considered purchase, especially as it was, to be honest, only a matter of time before young Eric himself got wind of such a festive innovation and then no doubt The Towers would be riddled with pester power and/or the constant musings as to whether he should himself invest for FOMO ........fear of missing out.

Sooooooo, Alice beat Eric to it and let's just say, up until it's presentation, the little fella had no idea such a wonderous thing existed and was totally overwhelmed and not a little emotional when Alice gave it to him this morning ...... 

...... the first door, number 23, was ripe to be opened (continuing up until 5th April, the big day itself) .........

....... to reveal a very cute, small, yellow, gummy rabbit which kept Eric's jaws occupied for a little while. He was overjoyed and thanked goodness that he hadn't actually given sweets up for Lent (as he had considered), as such a wonderful gift would have had to remain redundant until Easter morning!  What on earth is he like? 

Where Does Six Months Go?

Can it really be six months since young Eric was last at Active Smile, it only seems like yesterday he came home jubilant that once again he didn't need anything doing, brandishing a free sample of toothpaste and a new roll of dental floss.

   

He'd started with his usual cheeky ten minutes in Claire's very comfortable dental chair, goggles akimbo, to check that nothing was wobbly, chipped or heaven forbid, holey  ........

..... followed by twenty minutes or so upstairs with Jo, his very favouritist hygienist, for a good old scrap and polish, although Jo is oft to remark, that it's really hardly necessary thanks to the little fellas robust and diligent oral practices.

However, despite his innate fascination and curiosity for all the toothy models in the various display cases .......

..... according to the aforesaid Claire and Jo, the chances of Eric ever needing any sort of alignment or implantation are pretty much non existent ......

..... therefore he should remain totally intact, a complete stranger to the appliance of any sort of science to his molars, incisors and biceps.....

...... and on this occasion, the newly installed, ginormous TV, as he's wasn't in either waiting area long enough to take any advantage whatsoever, maybe next time ......

 ..... in another, appointments made, six months time?  We shall see and if he does then rest assured you'll be the very first to know!

Eric Tries To Get Real A Wiggle On

He won't have otherwise, but Eric is absolutely convinced that a certain set of speed meters on the school run can also measure his own, real life, walking pace.

He's desperate to "score" a 30 and although he can certainly get a wiggle on, when he has a mind to, even with a good wind behind him  ......

...... I doubt very much he'll ever reach such a lofty ambition, but then, what do I know, when Eric's determined, he's pretty relentless, heaven help us all!

I'm really not sure about the music, it's a bit of a black and white Keystone Cops type nature, but our couldn't be without "backstage team" are, how shall I put it, "experimenting" to get us more currants current!  What are they like?

NOOOOOOOOOO Nom Nom

As you can imagine, with Easter being in the ascension, there has been much ongoing consultation and consideration, along with the obligatory copious tooing and frooing, with regards to Eric's Easter egg of choice ......

....... however, it has to be said that much as we all love chocolate, including appreciating and embracing the more unusual, along with the usual, of almost any combination or persuasion, but hand on heart, I think I can safely say that a Flamming Anus bar will probably not have place in our Easter basket this year, thank you very much!

Tumultuous Hard Hat Envy

Work on the new Tesco Express on Eric's school run is moving apace, making the return journey a little more interesting for the ever curious Eric.

 What will be the parking and delivery area is taking shape ........

...... with fascinating trenches, piles of bricks and outside portable toilet facilities!

However, it is in the building itself, where major renovations are occurring .......

..... that has caused the little fella's heart to flutter, as well as arousing a torrent of hard hat envy!

Just one look at the builders break time area and he was totally smitten.  All those rufty tufty  hard hats, fluorescent jackets, work boots and discarded daily newspapers, what tales of building sites of yore must be told there each day, over large, steaming mugs of impossibly strong builders tea?  

Such a scene, set before him is like heaven to young Eric, how he'd give his eye teeth to be sat sitting at that table, with all the comradery, surrounded by tall step ladders, indoor scaffolding, mixing buckets, hawks and trowels, ready for some of robust and manly plastering .......

Separated by only a pane of glass, it's an ambition that feels as if it's within touching distance, but at the same time, soooooooooooo very far away, an as of yet, unfulfilled yearning! What on earth are we going to do with him?

The Last Remaining Comestible Remnants From A Wonderful Holiday

Eric and the ever fragrant one are still "homesick" for their American Adventure last November, it really was a holiday of a lifetime. They hide it well, but both Darrell and I know that underneath it all they are still pining for palm trees, manatees, pizza, Dollar Tree and Goodwills!

That being said, most of the wonderful comestibles they bought back are long gone, but yesterday, while Darrell was spring cleaning his food cupboards, he happened upon three rogue Laffy Taffy sweets, goodness knows how they were "missed" as they were one of our most favourite sweets of an American type nature, as we always gravitate towards anything that is banana flavour ......

...... and these were truly banana-ery, we absolutely devoured them, so finding three more was very much a "Brucey Bonus".

The name Laffy Taffy comes from the jokes, the type that makes you groan, printed on the wrapper, jokes like - how does the beach greet you?  It waves!!!!

However, we did know we had a pack of snowman peeps in the cupboard .......

..... to be honest we were going to tuck into them too, but then decided to check the use by date ......

.... and low and behold, they are good until July 2027, so we are going to squirrel them away for this Christmas and then pop them into either Eric or Alice's stocking as a huge, memory filled, surprise.

And then there is the turkey stuffing mix, as triumphantly found and purchased from Dollar Tree for the princely sum of 2$! It was originally intended for our Christmas lunch but somehow escaped. Again, it has a very generous January 2027 use by date, but Darrell is thinking perhaps Easter, either as an accompaniment to our celebratory Sunday lunch or entirely separately, using any leftover chicken/turkey, we may have for the recipe on the back of the packet, which does look rather tempting. We shall see ......

This got us to wondering what other delights we'll bring back from any of our other holidays and weekends away, planned for the coming year ..... definitely there'll be  obligatory honey, olives and baclava from our Greek Oddity ...... but what pleasures might we find in Southport in May apart from seaside rock ...... ??????