Alas Poor Richard .......

Richard, Darrell's horticultural companion of the last month or so has finally and very sadly reached the end of his magnificent bloomage .......

...... after bringing so much expectation and joy to The Towers and the aforementioned Darrell.

It was the day we all knew would come, but poor Darrell not even daring to contemplate after all the loving care he'd given Richard, but this morning, finding all blooms wilted and Richard's stem drooping sadly, Darrell knew he'd have to do the obvious and put Richard, he hoped and prayed, temporarily out of his misery. 

So, with that, Richard was gently lifted from his pot and lain on the table ......

..... where Darrell lovingly laid a paper towel over his face, to avoid Richard any further distress ......

 

.......... before cutting his stem right to the bottom of his shooting, embryonic leaves and then removing the wax cover that had kept him balanced and nutritionalised whilst in Darrell's tender care.

It was emotional!  What comes next is now in the lap of the botanical gods.  Darrell has tasked all of us to look out for a bulb vase dans les charity shops of Evesham to help Richard establish some new healthy and robust roots and after that, if successful, he will be re-potted in appropriate soil to wishfully ride/rise again ........ therefore the crossing of fingers, toes and anything else that can be crossed is required during the coming weeks and possibly months ........ let us pray!

We Try Kunafa Dubai Chocolate With Pistachio

You find Darrell and I trying out another Dubai chocolate, but obviously, once again, one at the lower end of the market, because availing ourselves of the absolute "real thing" would be way way out of our stringent budget! 

So, today we have Kunafa, which cost us £5.90 for 100g bar from Amazon.

To be honest we weren't really sure what to expect, perhaps a tad more lux in the presentation department, with a more ample fillage than the first bar of Dubai chocolate we tried the other week?

Certainly, the inner gold wrapper was suitably impressive, but there again, we're not really going to eat that are we?

And, the all important filling of a viral sensation type nature? 

Well, it looked as if there was more, with a softer, creamier texture.

 BUT, how did it taste?

Well, the chocolate itself, although pretty thick, was nothing special, in fact it tasted on the cheap side, if we're brutally honest.

And the all important filling?  Nah, it didn't do anything for us, as it was hard to pick out any discernible pistachio taste.  It had crunch, but then there was far too much kataifi in it for our liking, which left a strange aftertaste, like a breakfast cereal we just can't quite put our fingers on, Weetabix perhaps, anyway, it spoilt it.

Now, would we buy it again? No.  Would we recommend it to family, friends or strangers? No.  We know we can do better, so upwards and onwards, to the next bar please .........