Roman Ponderings

With Eric and the ever fragrant ones sojourn to the Eternal City not that far off now, it isn't all that surprising that the little fella's mind occasionally wanders to more Romanesque persuasions and yesterday it indeed roamed to The Pantheon via Evesham's current church without a spire .........

...... with him pondering if said "non spire" had been securely capped when it had been taken down or perhaps left open to the elements a la Pantheon's unique oculus, so that the parish could also celebrate, at a pertinent time, a Rose Petal Ceremony of its own .........

Now that, even by Evesham standards, would be almost too romantic for words and an occasion not to be missed, well, we'd buy tickets!  However,  I told him that I thought it was probably very unlikely, but then, on the other hand, why not?  I fear, due to my uncertain response, that questions are now in grave danger of being proffered for inclusion at the next Prime Minister's Question Time ...... me and my big mouth!

The Charity Shop Gods Keep Smiling Upon Us!

Well, what can I say? The Charity Shop Gods have certainly been watching over us the last little while .......

..... as our beloved digital photo frame finally gave up the ghost about six weeks ago, it was old, neigh, positively ancient. It had been "in the family" for a long, long time, so it owed us nothing, but when it started to reject some of our pictures we knew its days were numbered and then one morning ....... pooooooofffffff, it was no more, it had popped its mortal coil.

We were lost without it, but looking for a new, latest model, just confused us, even Darrell, who's generally well up on the game.  We didn't want an all singing, all dancing one, just something basic that we could coo over when we were in the kitchen area whenever a special memory popped up. To be honest, we were so confused we'd even contemplated putting one on our Christmas list so Santa could work it out for us!

And then, would you believe it, low and behold in the Sue Ryder window there was not only one, but two, for just £4 each? We've paid more than that for a cup of tea and sticky bun!  We didn't recognise the one brand, but we knew Jessops, even if they did close all their shops in 2024 ...... it was worth a punt, and if it didn't work, at that price we'd still have only lost two lines on the lottery!

Darrell and I got home quivering in anticipation, on opening, it didn't even looked used ......... 

....... let's just say it loaded up straight away, no hassle, no nothing .......

......... we felt truly blessed, it was emotional, very emotional, especially when holidays, Christmas's and just ordinary days began to appear before our very eyes, evoking so many happy memories .......

.......... charity shop shopping just doesn't get any betterer than that! 

Postman Paul

We've been soooooo remiss, we'd completely forgotten to tell you that we've finally been assigned a new postman after our beloved Postman Rob retired. Said new postman is Postman Paul, who "requested" our round especially ..........

......... and we have to say it all seems to be working out really well .......

....... because despite our not receiving that many letters, other than bills and reminders that our eye testing is due ......

...... Postman Paul is certainly making it up with a whole gamut of flyers. Never let it be said that we are not aware that we now have two pet supermarkets within walking distance of The Towers, food establishments (one recently refurbished) gagging for our custom, among other things offering us 40% off a main and another pizza toppings galore  .......

..... not to mention an open morning at a very posh school in Worcester, only one hundred steps from the cathedral, an open day at a care home with the promise of  "joy, laughter and companionship" every day, the opportunity of having our unwanted valuables valued with "hot drinks and sweet treats" if we cut out the voucher and take it along with us .......

...... plus the obligatory advertiser magazine, which proffers everything from accountancy, double glazing, will writing, podiatry and painting and decorating for Christmas!  The only thing Postman Paul hasn't delivered (yet) is the Vale Magazine, a publication, we loved but haven't been privy to for absolute months.  Anyways up, it looks like we're going to be busy for quite a while with all these wonderful opportunities, should we wish to accept the challenge, happy, happy days! 

Operation Bamboozled?

Oh my goodness, we received a rather out of the ordinary letter from the HMRC Fraud Investigations Officer yesterday morning, but we're not actually 100% sure it's the real deal .......

...... to be honest, we've got doubts as to it's authenticity and it's put us in a right quandary!

Firstly, why us? As you know, we are the most devoted of charity shop shoppers and as tax payers we always tick the Gift Aid box if ever asked, but the Higher HMRC Officer has asked us about a very specific charity and two "persons of interest" connected to said charity, who we "may" have donated too. Well, to the best of our knowledge, we have never donated to them of a knowingly type nature, honest gov!

However, to Darrell something didn't seem quite right, he's watched and listened to an awful lot of programmes about scammers and in his opinion he said he didn't think we should fill in the questionnaire milli vanilli willy nilly, without undertaking our own due diligence, because, perhaps, this was a new elaborate sort of phishing scam?

We've looked up the charity and, as much as we could, the people "implicated", we've also looked up Mr HMRC and called his number, no official HMRC welcome or irritating holding music, just a not available at the moment message ....... after that we spent ages looking up scams on the official HMRC website and we're still none the wiser .......

So, in the end we emailed Mr HMRC, we got a reply within twelve hours and were assured that all was well and this was a genuine investigation, but even now Darrell is still hesitant, I mean, he says, anyone can set up a fake e-mail. Plus in Darrell's expert opinion, shouldn't the return envelope be an official, printed, freepost brown envelope?  What we've got is a really cheap, flimsy window envelope, certainly not of Basildon Bond quality. Sometimes it's like living with Jacques Cousteau when Darrell's got a full investigative bit between his teeth!

We not even sure how much of this matter we can actually divulge in public, even though we don't actually think we can assist in any of their enquiries. However, after discovering that for our time in completing and returning said questionnaire we are the ones actually responsible for paying the postage! So, despite the fear of repercussions for none compliance, we've decided to be guided by Darrell's initial gut feelings and not on this occasion fulfilling the brief!  What do you think?

Such Devoted Uncles

Now, for all Uncle Eric and Derek know about airplanes, they could easily fit it on the back of a stamp, but for their beloved nephew ..........

 

...... they are willing to learn, even if doesn't much seem to stick for long .........

..... which is why they found themselves firmly ensconced at Birmingham airport viewing area in Sheldon Country Park over the weekend .......

..... with a huge picnic basket, ably supplied by Darrell, to stave off any impending flagging energy.

The young master is obsessed by the Airbus A380, unfortunately, that morning, it landed early meaning that they missed it's arrival by a mere fifteen minutes, so it was therefore absolutely imperative that they were witness to it taking off again around two hours later.

I won't bore you with all the vital statistics, of which young Bertie naturally knows inside out and upside down, as well as forwards and backwards, but even I have to admit that it is quite the magnificent beast.

As take off time approached the whole park area, according to Eric and Derek seemed to exude a very respectful pent up excitement and anticipation, the most advantageous view points were found, cameras were poised and the air hushed as the plane approached the runway .......

...... and when it took off, Eric said it was quite emotional, especially seeing his nephew quiver at seeing the object of his obsession. He who already harbours great dreams of moving to France in order to work at Airbus in Toulouse ........

......... even if it does mean leaving his two favourite uncles far behind!

Eric and Derek have now decided that they really need to win the lottery or start saving hard to get Bertie to the aforementioned Toulouse so that they can take him on the Airbus factory tour to see things really up close and personal Airbus Toulouse Factory Tour: What To Expect | Nomad eSIM ....... even if they still might find it hard to retain much of the information ........ what are they like? 

Reece Shearsmith - Things I Took From The Dark

Another night away in exotic climes (Coventry) with tickets held aloft for another much anticipated show for the dynamic duo ........

...... to wit Reece Shearsmith's "Things I Took From The Dark" ........

...... and yes, such was their humungous and pent up excitement, they were among the first to take their seats in the venue, bless their little cotton socks!! 

Sooooooo, was the wait and effort all worth said excitement? Well, I think you could answer that with a resounding affirmative, Derek having downloaded the book (of the same name) during the interval, via his Audible account, so that they could start listening to it (the first chapter at least) in bed when they got back to their hotel.  What are they like?  I just hope it doesn't give them nightmares!

A Spiritual And Poignant Find ....... ??????

Eric and the ever fragrant one's monumental trip to romantic and religious Rome is looming ........

...... and in turn it would seem that Eric's most recent find has also taken on an ecclesiastical type persuasion ......

...... in the form of, in his opinion, quite a masculine crucifix and chain. Naturally, he lifted it off the pavement and put it on a nearby wall, pondering whether it was some sort of a sign/omen, especially with a visit to the Vatican very definitely on his and Alice's agenda.

He says it's been of weighing on his mind, so, if it's still there in a couple of days time he's going to pick it up and put it somewhere safe until they go and then, if possible get it blessed, as there must more than enough priests milling around Rome who would be happy to do it for him. In the Vatican gift shops, according to what Eric has seen of YouTube, there are even priests sitting in booths ready to bless your considered religious purchases, which means he could possibly get it done there, if he buys a bookmark or something to go with it.  What he's going to do with it then, I don't know, but he says, it'll give him a pilgrimage sort of mission, what on earth is he like?