Who Needs Other People To Do Things For You .......

We've just about recovered from our bitter rejection by a certain online selling platform who purport to fashion you with personalised gifts (as per yesterdays post), however at the time, we were left in total limbo as to how to fulfil our idea of giving truly memorable presents to Seaside Karen and Pharmacy Michelle on the occasion of our Southport Meet-Up.

Well, let's just say, in the face of adversity, if we do say so ourselves, we excelled beyond all our expectation. 

The first thing we decided we had to do was find another company that didn't baulk at the very thought of putting our faces on a mug. To Photobox, we are eternally grateful, thank you so much, you did us proud!

After that we got all arts and craftsy and did the rest all on our own. Darrell printed off our picture on sheets of magical transfer paper .........

 ..... which he then ironed onto plain shopping bags that he's had squirrelled away for ages.

There were a few hiccoughs along the way and not a few tears of frustration, but fortunately, we'd got ample supplies of both to cover all the mistakes and, in the end, the finished results, thanks to Darrell's valiant efforts and Alice's wiping of his fevered brow, came out perfectly.  It was ...... emotional, very, very emotional, very emotional indeed.

Buoyed by success, we then went one step further and using the same picture Darrell created some stickers to decorate two, blue candles in jars (to reflect the colour of the Southport sea) to complete our trio of gifts. 

We didn't want to post our endeavours until after the event for fear of spoiling the surprise for our lovely friends. 

We were so proud and as you've seen in our previous posts Seaside Karen and Pharmacy Michelle were just as delighted as we were ....... 

As ever, happy, happy days, with difficulty and disaster overcome with aplomb!

URGENT Questions Need To Be Asked In Parliament

We are NOT happy bunnies, NOT happy bunnies at all!  I don't think we've ever been so dejected or hot under the collar before!

As you know, we had our glorious meet up with our best beloved fans Pharmacy Michelle and Seaside Karen in Southport last week and we really wanted to put a few personalised bits and pieces together as mementoes of such a auspicious occasion, however a certain online company totally rejected us!!!!

Now, can you honestly see anything remotely wrong or disturbing in the picture above? OK, it's had a bit of Ai jiggery pokery added to the background, but it's just us, on the beach at Southport, on a glorious sunny day.

However, the unnamed company has refused to put the image on absolutely everything, from bags, mugs and keyrings to cushion covers, badges and blankets?!!!

Poor Alice was in an absolute flood of tears, thinking that in some way our faces are deemed, in some way totally unacceptable for putting on even so much as a jigsaw or diamond dot set, despite our scrubbing up so well for the picture, and, it has to be said, after 17 years of blogging. Trust us, we've tried to find out why we don't comply with their community guidelines, without avail!

QUESTIONS REALLY HAVE TO BE ASKED IN PARLIAMENT, but our custom, has now been lost! 

OMG Soooooooo Many Presents

Following on from Friday ....... it was such a relief to finally get home from Southport, not to get away from it or from our beloved Seaside Karen and Pharmacy Michelle, but let's just say that changing trains a total of five times was somewhat taxing, especially when everyone was also accompanied by a suitcase that had to go somewhere!  Thank goodness for reserved seating. 

However, after a very large mug of hot, sweetened tea and a whole packet of chocolate Hob Nobs, it was soon a very dim and distant memory .........

....... especially when there was a whole pile of, as of yet unopened presents, from our aforementioned beloved friends, that we'd saved chiefly to help buoy our spirits after such an adventure.      

What can we say but a huge heartfelt thank you, as we were totally overwhelmed when the unwrapping began. From Seaside Karen there were mementoes from her Cunard half way around the world cruise .......

..... a new, real life Cunard i-pad cover, perfect to replace our ancient and very tatty one ........ won by Seaside Karen during a game of Cunard Disco Bingo!

Plus, a lovely China Southern Airlines pochette containing all a traveller could possibly need, but may have forgotten in all their anticipatory cruise excitement, to wit earplugs, a collapsible  brush, cotton buds and wipes, a toothbrush ........

..... and Eric's very favourite, which was nabbed straight away, an Eric sized tube of toothpaste, which are neigh on impossible to find in any chemist or supermarche!

Alice's choice was a beautiful beaded rendition of the rare and beautiful quetzal bird, at present hanging from the horns of a bull magnet we bought back from Spain, but she says she's working on an idea to use it as one of her signature hair adornments for "posh" occasions!  What is she like?

And then, there was enough foreign confectionary to keep our reviews from never going stale, from Sao Miguel in The Azores, Portugal ........

 ...... not not forgetting the now obligatory local St Anne's freebie magazines to peruse, to see what they've got and we haven't and vice versa. What can we say, we were unbelievably soooooooo spoilt ......

But there was more, from Pharmacy Michelle, all wrapped up in an actual NHS Pharmacy carrier bag from the very hospital she works, making up all the medicines, drips etc. for people who are suffering from cancer.  In our eyes she is a TRUE TRUE HERO! 

In delicate tissue, she'd wrapped up a small bottle of prosecco, perfect for sneaking in our Greek Oddity suitcase, to quaff as our traditional toast to our holiday and memories on our last evening as the the sun is setting, Pharmacy Michelle will be there too in our hearts.  There was also a box of our very favourite Southport clotted cream fudge, which will be very much nommed during our next Saturday night televisual viewing.

And then last, but by no means least, she'd given us a beautiful Southport tea towel, with beach huts, deck chairs etc. ........

...... which was commandeered straight away by Darrell, to hang, resplendent, on our cooker door, with strict instructions that it is not for wiping mucky hands, it is strictly for display and memories!  

Goodness me, how truly blessed and incredibly spoilt we are ....... the journey home?  What journey home!!!!?????

Eurovision, Nul Points Before We've Even Started This Year ......

As you can see, we've made it home, safely, in one piece from our glorious and emotional Southport meet up, with soooooooo many wonderful memories still whirling about our heads. It's going to take quite some time to come back down to earth, it was just too magical for words. 

And, you'll also note, that we are back, just in time for Eurovision, which used to be our ultimate televisual highlight of the year, before, in our opinion, "it went a bit off" ..........

........ so, it has to be said, that we're not as obsessed as we used to be and obviously, while we were away enjoying the pleasures of Southport, we were far too busy and otherwise occupied to even give the ensuing semi finals a second thought, so we return knowing nothing, except perhaps that Boy George is making and appearance and someone from Neighbours????

AND, believe it or not, we're away again, leaving first thing tomorrow morning for a longish weekend away, May being quite a month for us, therefore it would obviously look exceptionally rude if we curtailed all activities on Saturday evening in order to catch the multi lingual warblings from Europe, and as such, we don't think we're going to catch up on any of it until at least Monday night, if we're even up to it and by then, to be honest the boat will have sailed and Eurovision will be yesterdays chip paper! 

Sooooooooo for this year at least, it's highly unlikely that we'll be giving any of our reflections or insightful opinions on the event.......

......  but, if the UK does actually lift the trophy (let alone manages to get on the left hand side of the score board) we'll eat our collective "kiss me quick" Southport hats!

A Bit Of A Failed Southport Mission .......

Last night we had planned to feast greatly on fish and chips at the acclaimed Swan Fish and Chips restaurant, washed down with lashings of dandelion and burdock pop, as enthusiastically recommended by Pharmacy Michelle ........

 ..... however, in our last ditch effort to catch a twilight glimpse of the Southport sea .......

 ...... we found ourselves very hopelessly lost ...... 

...... despite Darrell having early boasted of having earned the prestigious compass badge when he was in Scouts!

When we eventually found the beach, let's just say the sea was miles away, just about visible on the horizon  ........

..... far to far to walk for Eric's intended cheeky paddle, so after taking a few wistful photos, sharing a few memories, the plan was supper at the aforesaid Swan .....

..... but we got lost yet again! We took all the wrong turnings, backtracked goodness knows how many times and most probably even walked right past the shop, until in the end we had to admit defeat, calling at another establishment, which was just closing its restaurant, so haddock and chips had to be duly purchased to be eaten back at our hotel ......

...... by which time the batter had gone very soggy, although the fish itself was really meaty and delicious!

And, did you get an ice-cream I hear you ask, Southport being the seaside town of a million and one exotic flavours?

Well, unbelievable as it may seem, no ....... time was running away with us and not one of us could actually decide from the huge range proffered for fear of making the wrong choice and having instant buyers regret or envy of others.  To be honest I think we were all incredibly tired and overawed by the excitement of our meeting with Seaside Karen and Pharmacy Michelle and subsequent sad goodbyes, coupled with all the travelling. We were tired and emotional, no wonder we got lost and not able to choose between a simple Snickers, Bounty, Irun Bru or mango to name just a few ........ but still very incredible, very happy days.  At the back of our minds we knew we needed to hold a little something back for tomorrow, when we travel back home catching five different trains ...........

Embracing The Pleasures Of Funland Southport

Coming down from the humungous high of meeting Seaside Karen and Pharmacy Michelle in real life for the very first time was just too emotional and wonderful for words, after we'd said our tearful, hankie soaked farewells, waved our last wave, we all fell back down to earth with an almighty bump. 

However, as we still had some spare time in the evening, we knew we all needed to get out to buoy our flagging spirits, after all this wasn't going to be our first or last meeting!

So, it would have just looked plain rude for us not to embrace one or two extra of Southport's finest pleasures, to wit Funland, on the cusp of Southport's currently not in use pier. 

Alice was very enamoured by the galloping horse carousel, hoping for a romantic and picturesque Mary Poppins type moment, however, being quite early on in the summer season sadly it wasn't actually running.

Darrell was drawn to the free Hall of Mirrors .......

.... although I'm not sure what he made of it all, especially the almighty gust of air and loud siren that went off just as he was about to turn the corner ......

.... the shock of which made him almost jump out of his skin and I'm sure his hair stand on end!

To help the ever fragrant one get over her carousel disappointment Eric treated Alice to a ride in Cinderella's carriage, the phrase "to the manor born" springs to mind, it really suited her!

In the meantime Darrell and I took a spin in a rather snazzy sports car, at which point I think we all started to all our spirits soar "up where they belong" and, it has to be said, it was nice to roam the arcade while it was so quiet.

It goes without saying that several tubs of 2p's were deliciously squandered .......

I'm not sure if Alice's pre-trip YouTube research trying to hone her skills and knowledge of winning big time in the art of the falling 2p ......

..... but she certainly kept Eric busy collecting all the won dropped coins, to be put safely in a bank coin bag ........

....... ready for our skirmishes in the arcades of Dawlish with our beloved niece and nephew later in the "proper" summer.

Eric tried his best to perfect his claw grabbing skills but to no avail.  How proud young Bertie would be if Uncle Eric could actually grab and keep hold of a much yearned for, but incarcerated Squishem in said claw and then swing it confidently to the open hatch to be released into the awaiting arms of a deliriously happy nephew!

I think, for the moment, such an event is still well within the realms of fantasy, but you know Eric, he's not one to give up without a fight, while limiting himself to two tries per session at £1 a pop, otherwise if he went all gung ho with his coins, he could probably buy the same toy from the shop next door for half the money he'd put in the machine!

Still, a very happy day, with many, many happy days to come and a million memories to make!