A Most Fortuitous Charity Shop Find!

All is very right in the world for Darrell this morning, he was truly gutted when his trusty electric diffuser decided, after many years of service, to pack in over the weekend. It wasn't in use twenty fours a day, seven days a week, just generally when Darrell fancied a fragrant pick me up, to add a little atmosphere or when we were expecting visitors. He considered the possibility of a new one from Amazon, but decided he ought to save up a bit first, our budget for personal spending being a bit tight this month.

So, imagine his abject delight when he stumbled upon a brand new, unused, still in its box one in our local Salvation Army shop for the princely sum of £4.50.  Well, it was a no brainer and said diffuser was bought in a huge flurry of excitement I understand!

It diffuses, humidifies, changes colour and is even betterer than the old one it seems.  Let's just say it was an emotional home coming! 

It's a pity this post doesn't come with smelly-vision as The Towers is currently thronging, neigh pulsating with the aroma of Dove Soap, Darrell's very most favourite diffuser flavour of choice.  What is he like? 

Not So Salubrious Of Places

It has to be said that Evesham's shopping centre is not the most salubrious of places to visit, in fact, embarrassingly, it has been named, in certain quarters, as one of the worst in the country, which is pretty shameful.

When we first moved it was quite a hub of activity, where we had the opportunity to met and great the characters from Ice Age with a very tiny Iris, in the shade of a most resplendent Christmas tree, but since then all but Home Bargains and a café remain from all the other shops we used to frequent and make considered purchases from.

At times it feels as if it is frequented more by pigeons and yellow buckets to catch the leaks than actual , real life customers.

However, word is abound that plans are now very much afoot to knock it all down to be replaced by new retail opportunities, housing and perhaps even some kind of entertainment facility. We of course will be bereft without our beloved Home Bargains, the nearest one, when it finally closes, being a goodly bus ride away. I'm not at all sure where we're going to go for our cut price confectionary, snacks and Darrell's cleaning products and candles locally in the meantime.

I guess we'll just have to suck it up, embrace the challenges and look forward to the retail experiences that might be.  As for the pigeons and buckets ............!!! 

Harry Potter Seems To Be Amongst Us

From the days when our dining table would be covered with an extra large throw and then filled with pillows, blankets, cuddly toys and emergency comestibles whenever our beloved niece and nephew came to play ........

......... it would now seem that young master Bertie, at least, has graduated to our hall cupboard to be our very own Harry Potter.  This necessitated the removal of our Henry (vacuum cleaner), the clothes dryer and Darrell's shopping trolley .......

 ........to be replaced by more blankets and cushions!  So, over the weekend let's just say we had a very contented little bunny, sat sitting in the pitch black with a torch and his tablet, left to his imagination, where no one would ever think of looking for him!!!!!!!

Obviously, all necessary health and safety precautions were strictly followed and adhered to the absolute letter ........

...... including Darrell being on the other end of a walkie talkie, ready for any request for extra cushions, books, drinks and snacks with the minimum of fuss!  What are we like if not totally devoted Uncles and Aunt!!

A Long Felt Not Worth It

Until now, Eric will be the first to admit he's always been tempted to write his name on the back of a really dirty van (??????), it's been quite a long felt want for quite a long time .......

.... but as an honest, law abiding citizen with unsullied school run duties, he's always refrained for fear of finding himself in a prison cell, with only bread and water rations and the abject shame of us having to visit him in such insalubrious surroundings. 

However, yesterday fate seemed to present him with almost perfect conditions to make that "want" come true, a filthy van, parked just up the road from us, out in the open, without being overlooked, the nearest ring doorbell or CCTV being at least a hundred yards away ....

 ....... soooooo, looking in every directions, finger trembling, he only went for it, however it didn't feel as exciting, or give him the buzzing thrill he'd thought it might ...... BUT he'd DONE it!

However, he's now vowed never ever to do it again. He says he's not cut out for nefarious, opportunistic actions of an indulgent graffiti type nature. Rubbing it out, after the fact, would have simply made it worse, with even more finger prints to be had. What if anyone had seen him and worst still, what if Tom the Scientist had to send one of his forensic teams out to investigate.  The poor fella was riddled with shame when he got back home. We've done our best to calm his fears, but I can promise you, long felt want or no, he'll NEVER put his name to anything every again!  What on earth is he like?

The Mini Malteser Bunny Challenge

I know it's been a while since our beloved follower Pharmacy Michelle threw down the gauntlet for us to indulge and review a selection of the mini Malteser Bunnies available this Easter .........

 ..... and so with our palates now cleansed of quite so much seasonal chocolate, we now feel well able to afford said bunnies our best and fairest shot.

Let's just say it was a lot trickier than we first anticipated.  Fortunately, we were tres au fait with the "ordinary", traditional bunnies, to wit milk chocolate with the iconic Malteser centre and as such, they didn't present us with any problems. So, with no unexpected plot twists or surprises, we liked them very much, they were familiar and comforting, scoring an assured ten out of ten!

However, on the other hand, the white chocolate bunnies with the same centre, even for our famous, communal, mega sweet tooth, proved to be a little too sweet for our liking. The sweetness was striking, therefore we felt we could only award them a score of five out of ten, making it highly unlikely that we would dash out to replenish the bag, even if they are/were still available in the shops.

Then the most contentious of the three varieties of bunny proffered by Pharmacy Michelle were undoubtedly the popcorn flavour ones ........

We'll be honest, we weren't too sure what to expect, from the wrapper we sort of assumed they would be white chocolate too, but were in fact milk.  At first we quite liked the toasty flavour of popcorn melded in with the usual Malteser ........

..... however as the chocolate melted along with the Malteser, the popcorn came to the fore, there was some extra crunch, but that quickly gave way to the huskiness (??) of the popcorn ...... a bits that get between your teeth type of scenario, that we just didn't like and so, only four and a half out of ten were awarded this time.
  

Our conclusion, keep to the tried and tested recipe Mars, don't mess around with our much loved, good and honest Malteser. If you need to do anything, simply bring down the price of what was always our confectionary of choice for our televisual viewing. At £3.00 for a 110gram box, they are a luxury we just don't buy that often any more. It's now cheaper to serve up steak instead! A year or so ago you could get two 110 gram boxes, when on offer, for the same sum ...... as for the bigger 310 gram boxes, they are also way out of our league these days.  Sad, sad times ......

A Time, Perhaps, To Reveal A Little?

This morning Postman Rob delivered unto us a small package, it was not totally unexpected as our beloved No 1 Fan, Jan the Fan had already sent a card ahead of it, with the mysterious tome that there should be " ....... a little something arriving soon to help you (us) on your (our) way to your (our) Greek Oddity" 

As you can imagine, there was a palpable and tangible excitement running rife through The Towers as we all tried to guess what was secreted within, as the outer packaging gave absolutely nothing away!

Neither did the second layer or, to be honest the third, except that whatever it was that Jan the Fan had sent, not intended to get broken! 

However on removing the final foam layer, all was revealed, a scented candle named "Apollo", the Greek God of sun (very apt for a Greek Oddity), light, music, prophecy, healing and knowledge.  I suppose it goes without saying that its unveiling was emotional!

The delicate notes of ylang ylang, patchouli and rose made, according to Eric evoked the heady and romantic memories of sooooooooo many oddities past, although he wasn't entirely sure if it was actually representative of the way Apollo may have smelt himself in real life, as a beardless and athletic youth going about his Godly duties on the island of Delos!  What is he like?

And now with it's arrival would seem to be an opportune moment to reveal that for a second year running Darrell and I will be holidaying on our own, enjoying the pleasures of Kefalonia together, leaving Eric and the ever fragrant Alice to their own devices for a week or so, when we suggested they could light "Apollo" in our absence so that we and Greece could still be close to their hearts.

But, I hear you ask, what about a break for "poor" Eric and Alice?  Well, fear not, they already have an wonderful adventure of they're own booked for November, where even more candle lighting will be very much de rigueur, in fact they've already got a designated budget for it .......... !!!!!!!!  Any suggestions where?????? 

The Special Benches Of Birkenead.

After a rousing and comprehensive, full English breakfast ..........

 ...... at their forever hotel of choice in Liverpool, The Liner ......

...... including pocketing three different cheese portions for a snack later on in the day, should hunger call  ......

...... before departing Liverpool and heading back home, Eric and Lu decided to pay a visit to Birkenhead to catch a cheeky glimpse of the sea (?), as well as a lung full of bracing Liverpudlian sea air!

It did not disappoint ......

 ......... despite the aforementioned bracing part .......

..... and it seemed as if every man (and woman) and his/her dog had the same idea.

 Let's just say, any metaphorical cobwebs ........

..... were well and truly blown.

Now, along with a very impressive Home Bargains on the front, Birkenhead has another phenomena that Eric didn't think he'd ever seen before, on any of his travels .....

...... to wit, memorial benches, so many he lost count.  He'd seen benches with plaques on before, but never ones pictures of beloved, lost ones or vases fitted on to the back to hold flowers.  It was all quite moving and seemed almost too personal to encroach upon when reading, but as Eric reasoned, when someone is no longer with us, talked about, or in this case "seen", then, they are truly gone and that's too sad to think about.

Eric has oft mused that if he was no longer with us, he'd wouldn't mind being remembered with a plaque that said "Paradise found", on a bench, overlooking a beach in Greece, possibly Elounda, but now, after seeing all these benches, instead of a single floral receptacle, if we didn't mind, he wouldn't be averse to a whole window box on the back of "his" bench.  Good grief ........ what on earth is he like?