We're Not Like That!

Hmmmmmmm ........

........ I'm not sure that this is really our sort of film ........

..... us being total strangers to riding in a saddle, whilst trying to balance a very large bird of prey on our arm and looking rather menacing!

I don't think it's the sort of film that gives us monkeys a good name ....... what am I like? 

Darrell was a very happy, content, busy little bunny over the weekend (a bit late now I know) ..........

...... because not only was it Eurovision, our televisual highlight of the year, but he was able to hang the washing out to dry for the very first time this year, needless to say, no extra sheet, pillow case, towel or bath mat were safe with our usual, single, weekly load turning into four in unfettered, jubilant celebration ........

....... with our lovely and very wonderful, romantically Transylvanian neighbour Kata quickly following behind us !

No doubt there will be complaints, perhaps even questions asked in Parliament, however, hmmmm, perhaps in this instance, we weren't the only ones taking advantage of such clement weather!

Rife With Emotion ......

Sadly, no swanlings again for Nigel this year .........

...... however, we've had a new family move in at the bottom of our bank ...... 

...... so, as you can imagine, Nigel is absolutely beside himself!

Never before, in the history of our "backyard" has there ever been such proud and  protective parents.

As soon as mum and dad get a slightest whiff of a dog walker(s) coming along the path, their precious babies are quickly herded, with military precision, to the safety of the water .......

...... and then, when the coast is clear, they are all gently guided back to their place of safety, to wit, one of the most converted fishing platforms along this stretch of river!

At least now when we can't find "Uncle" Nigel, we know where to look first!  So far he's raided Darrell's freezer for a bag of peas (allowing to thaw) and half a cucumber to take down to them, to make sure they get at least a little of their five a day.  What is he like?  Happy days! 

A Different Sort Of Wind!

How wonderfully romantic must it be to play music in a renowned Wind Quintet? 

However ........ I have to say that after one of Darrell's particularly "potent" 5 bean casseroles ........

....... Darrell, Nigel and I could almost lay claim to being a Wind Trio, though truly not of a Beethoven or Bach type nature!

However, I think Alice would almost certainly past on accepting an invitation to such an evening repas, she is much too fragrant to ever flatulate in company to make even the most impromptu of quartets! 

What are we like?

Seeds Of Doubt Perhaps .........

We think, we may have perhaps reached a quite turning point in our lives, because  we have a confession to make today! Much as we have obsessed over Eurovision as per usual this year, on Saturday night we found that we were a just a teensy bit bored and perhaps a little distracted (as will be explained) and, as such, we "actually" nipped out twice during the proceedings in order to try and get a glimpse of the aurora borealis instead ..... pyjama clad, accompanied by our lovely neighbour Kata (also sporting her PJ's)  .......... 

........ because, when we woke up on Saturday morning, we found that we'd missed out on a spectacular display of the real life Northern Lights over Evesham (photo below taken by a neighbour from our park, scene of our many New Years midnight walks). To say we were GUTTED after seeing all the pictures on Facebook is a mahooooosive understatement, this was a once in a lifetime experience and unbeknownst to us, we'd slept right through it!

We then decided to keep an extra vigilant eye on the news for the rest of the day, and saw that said lights might be visible again later in the evening, so it would have been totally remiss of us not to attempt to experience the Aurora Borealis for ourselves, not matter what we were watching on TV, although Darrell, a little nervous of going out in the midst of a  storm of an extreme geomagnetic type nature, opted to wear a hat, just to be on the safe side!

The first time we went out with Kata, missing out on Norway, Italy and Serbia taking to the stage, all eyes were steadfastly fixed on the sky, however on this occassion we saw nothing untoward or unusual.

However, after another text from Kata, we decided to go out again, just as they announced that Nemo, singing for Switzerland had won, so, we missed out on the winners victorious encore, but, by then, we'd already seen the song being sung goodness knows how many times during the run up to the contest. It goes without saying that such a wanton action on our part, in the past, would have been totally unthinkable!

We were rewarded by a faintly pink sky, not the dramatic, dancing curtains of light of the night before, but nonetheless it was all strangely romantic, despite standing in our slippers (in the park), each straining to see any flicker of colour in the sky.

So, where does that leave our future visual participation of next years Eurovision in Switzerland? Who knows, but this year, we have to admit, it was not the best! Perhaps, if we're honest, was there too much empathise on the various states of undress of some of the singers and their dancers, rather than the actual song? Anyway, we'll have to see if we break "the code" of a lifetime in 2025! .........  

Our Eurovision Top 5 For Tonight .........

Soooooooooo, lets just say the semi finals left us a little nonplussed when a few of what we considered to be dead certs didn't make it through to the Grand Final tonight, to wit Denmark, Iceland and Belgium, which to be honest has knocked our confidence in choosing our top five ............. 

........ in no particular order ......

We LOVE Netherlands, Europapa but there was an "incident" yesterday and we're told that the singer won't be rehearsing until further notice ......... so we're not sure if he'll actually be appearing now?????  It's a crazy song, perhaps too crazy to actually win, but we thought it would do well.

As for Spain ......... we'll let you judge ....... but we think it could win, but, is it perhaps too raunchy?

However, if we're talking raunch, then our very own Olly Alexander can certainly give Spain a very good run for their money, with a very ample proliferation of groin guards!!! 

Then there's Estonia ......... mad as a bag of frogs, with the longest ever title for a song in Eurovision history, but trust us and imagine Chez Towers as we all join in  the dance as soon as they get into their stride, with popcorn and Maltesers, no doubt, flying in every which way direction!!   

...... and finally Switzerland ...... we've had a lot of debate about this song, we're not entirely sure that we haven't been persuaded by all the hype, but with all the leaping about on an old satellite dish and the singers ruffled jacket and slippers  that Darrell has his beady eye on ......... we think he's going to be up there when the voting starts

......... it's all in the lap of the gods now!  Enjoy ..........

Pre Eurovision Plumbing Issues ....... Not So Romantic

Oh my life, on the very cusp of The Eurovision Grand Final, we've had a bit of a situation at The Towers ..... 

We've had the tiniest of dribbles on our spare loo for a while now, but yesterday Darrell decided, thinking that even a smallest of trickles could have an impact on our water consumption and this our next bill, it might be best to sort it out now before it gets any worse.

Our poor, poor plumber, he couldn't believe how badly installed all the pipework was, especially as it was also all boxed in, with no access ..... aghhhhhhh!  It took about an hour and a half just to get the toilet out. 

It was indeed a very stressful operation, with Darrell totally exhausting our paper bag supply and said poor plumber having to be supplied with several large mugs of hot, sweetened tea to calm his nerves too! 

Once extracted from its unyielding shackles, extra parts had to be gone for, with a quick job taking 3 hours! But, all is now well and thank goodness it's a loo we only use on high days and holidays and when we have visitors with the plumbing suitably adjusted, should we have such an issue again. This was as far from a romantic experience as you could get, something that we would never wish to go through again! We have all vowed that we never take a flushing toilet for granted ever again.

And the bill? Let's just say the Maltesers will have to be rationed, after Eurovision,  for a while!!!! 

Eurovision Semi Final 2 - Using Extremely Tenuous Links To Make A Post!

Woo hoo, despite trying to maintain our usual normal routine, The Towers is still thronging with tangible and palpable excitement (as per Tuesday) ....... because tonight is only the second semi final of the Eurovision Song Contest, our most televisual highlight of the year!

Again, our semi final score sheets have been printed off, attached to our clipboards, together with an eraser pencil so we can make amendments our scores etc. should our opinions change during the evening, before the voting begins and the finalists announced.  What are we like, if not truly, truly dedicated?

Then in honour of Greece, who sing in 3rd spot tonight ...... and it being Greek Week at Lidl, Nigel had been tasked by Darrell, on his way back from the school run, to pick up a few packs of Pastitsio, our forever meal of choice whenever we are on an Oddity!

And yes, I am hanging my head in shame ....... as I scrabble around looking for the tiniest tenuous link to help pull this post together ......... 

  ....... so, I might as well go the whole hog and full yard, without prejudice and present, for your delectation ......... Greek's Eurovision entry for 2024  ..........which, at the moment, we don't have the foggiest as to whether it'll go through to the final or not ...... enjoy.

Darrell Goes Mooching .........

Well, that was a Eurovision semi final and a half we had last night and from the little ones scorecards from Saturday night, Little Miss Iris won herself 80p and Young Master Bertie, the princely sum of 70p, for managing to pick  8 and 7 (respectfully) of the 10 songs going through to the Grand Final on Saturday. However, today, we need to inject a little normality back into our lives, before doing it all again tomorrow night ..........

So Darrell, bless him, has been out and about charity shop shopping  in town ........

....... "With summer on the cusp and in ascendance, it's always nice to add a few new key pieces to ones wardrobe, to help give you a bit of an extra spring in your step!" he informed me, What on earth is he like?

Let's just say there wasn't a 50p or 3 for a £1 basket in Evesham left unturned ........

....... with him returning home with a triumphant haul........

...... including a Christmas shirt, but hey, now's the best time to find those out of season bargains he reasoned.

Obviously, he was keen to model one in particular that just had summer fun written all over it, which, he said, would definitely be going on our next Greek oddity with him.

There was also one I quite fancied with a subtle, pastel, palm tree pattern on, so Darrell encouraged me to try it on and I have to admit I loved it, it fit like a dream and I was instantly transported to a beach holding a pina colada, Darrel could see it too, so, bless him, said I could keep it!

What a truly wonderful, wonderful generous friend! So its swits-swoo and wolf whistles at dawn ........... wait 'till Alice gets a gander of us! 

After All The Months Of Waiting ..... It's Euro Semi 1

Oh my goodness, its only 8 o'clock in the morning and there's already a palpable and tangible Euro Semi 1 excitement pulsating and thronging through The Towers How we are going to manage to get through the next twelve hours until 8 o'clock tonight without spontaneously combusting I just don't know.

However, we're trying ........ 

Iris & Bertie's sleepover really dug deep into our Malteser supply, we've got no salty popcorn whatsoever, I'm really fancying a cheeky bag of Revels and Darrell's also hinted to him that a bag of Iceland's all butter fudge wouldn't go amiss, so Nigel is going to keep himself busy by nipping into town later on to find a few more comestible treats for tonight and Thursday and, to be honest, he'll probably need to do it  all again on Saturday, judging by the rate we chow on down, but then, that's all part of our Eurovision build up anyway ..........

....... so the little fella could be gone for a while!

Darrell, meanwhile, is planning on throwing together a very simple, running buffet style tea ...........

.......... as he says he doesn't think he could cope with preparing anything more elaborate, as he knows he's mind will very much be elsewhere and, let's be honest, no one needs a burnt meatball at the best of times, let alone on the cusp of such a glorious event! 

I, on the other hand, will attempt to simply spend the day reading my new charity shop Richard E Grant book in the peace and quiet of my room, even though I'm sure the words will be dancing on the page because, inside, I'll be just as excited as everyone else!

What are we like? 

Our Eurovision Party Has Already Begun

This week will no doubt be almost as palpably and tangibly exciting as the run up to Christmas, except without the decorations, Christmas tree, presents and Darrell's usually wonderful dinner!

We've started extra early this year, by having a pre-Eurovision sleepover with our beloved niece and nephew, as we have bought them up well, by being as bonkers about the contest as we are.  

So, we ordered in a Chinese for tea, so Darrell was able to channel his full concentration on the runners and riders of both two semi finals, printing score cards off for all of us, while Nigel and I set up a cocktail bar for Bertie, who was on table service duty, with salty popcorn and Maltesers at the ready for our delectation during the evening.

We then sat down to watch all the songs on YouTube, marking them ahead of the semi finals as to who we each thought would make it to the Grand Final.

There was some debate, but none, thank goodness, heated and as Iris is desperately saving towards a new Botanical Gardens Lego set, we decided to club together to help towards the funds by giving both little ones 10p each for every country they thought would get through to Saturday.

Fingers crossed for a bumper win ...... with, slightly higher stakes (50p per country) to anyone getting any of the top 5 songs on The Big Night!

Our "current", prediction for the ultimate winner of Eurovision 2024 is Denmark, with Sand, but who knows, it could all change before then  ....... in the meantime enjoy!

 

We've Got Lemons ........ But No Jam!

Sadly, it seems, we were not on the list to receive a limited edition jar of Montecito Riveria Orchard jam ......

........ but then, everyone who knows and is in the know, knows that our beloved spread of choice has always been and will always be ...... Marmite, so perhaps a jar of  jam, now matter how royal, numbered and hand curated, would probably be lost on us.

However, in light of all the fuss and furore over the aforementioned jam across the pond, we thought we would celebrate our unstinting love for Marmite by having a  cheeky little photoshoot of our own ..........

What are we like, if not truly devoted?