Derek and Eric And Tom Read Wilson

Derek and Eric are in the posh town of Cheltenham to see Tom Read-Wilson. They've "loved" him for ages, whatever he's been on, the likes of I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, Tom Read Wilson's Magnificent Journey and Celebs Go Dating among many other things.

He knows so many very wonderful and interesting words, that he uses very correctly and precisely, something they both greatly admire, but more often than not, are not quite as successful at. So, when they heard that Mr Read Wilson was on tour with "The A to Z of Me", it was a no brainer, they got their tickets, bless them, in order to learn a little more about the man himself and his love for words.

It was all just as they'd hoped, there were so many new words for them to cogitate and digest, written, during the show, on a very large A and Z, spoken in sonnets, poems and conversation, in his own voice and in accents and sung.  There was even a bit of tap dancing, that they really hadn't expected.

Unfortunately, they perhaps got a little too excited, resulting in only two of the many  pictures they took at the end of the evening being barely usable.  They were gutted (disheartened, devastated, downcast......) when they got home and saw them, too much shake and blur, but as Eric opined, the memories are still well and truly implanted in his bonce. 

Their mission, forthwith, is to learn a new word from Tom on his Word Of The Day postings on Instagram and then attempt to wheedle it into one of our own conversations during that day,...... today's word was "pootle" so, wasn't too challenging.  

Unbelievable Charity Shop Treasure

Oh my goodness, we hit the charity shop jackpot today, both on the wonderous present front and for ourselves! What can I say, other than Darrell and I came home with our tails wagging between our legs and the biggest smiles on our faces!

First of all, the present, I mean who wouldn't want a crocheted Freddie Mercury, complete with mic stand, toilet roll holder gracing their bathroom?  An exquisite, handmade work of art for just £2.50 including the loo roll?  I ask you?  It's very tempting, to be honest, to just keep it for ourselves, but that, would be too easy. The hard task is going to be choosing who is going to be its lucky recipient, as, if most of our family or friends found out what we'd actually got, there could easily be an unseemly kerfuffle of those yelling "choose me, me, me"! 

As for the biggest candle we've ever seen for just £3.50 and the stand £1? Well, as we spend most of the now very dark evenings romantically ensconced in the glorious glow of candlelight, this will probably last us until Christmas, if not beyond.  It's flipping mahoooooooooosive. What a blooming bargain!

We are so well chuffed, it's going to be quite a while before we can top this haul, but that's the beauty of charity shop shopping .......

......... you just never know what you'll stumble upon next ......... 

The Bus We Have No Desire To Catch

There is one bus in Evesham that none of us, including Eric, have any wish to avail the service of  .......

..... not even out of some weird sort of morbid curiosity to see how the other half live, by simply travelling to it's maximum security destination, but staying firmly in situ, by not getting off and coming straight back home ..........

...... at the same time not wishing to draw attention to ourselves by piquing the interest of any fellow travellers on said bus, wondering who we might be possibly visiting on the outbound journey by taking a large cake tin with us!

Some things in life, it has to be said are best remaining total strangers to ....... 

...... although, we have had, in the past, a slight connection to the establishment when in our early days at The Towers the lovely couple in one of the top floor flats used to work as officers there and always looked most resplendent in their uniforms, with Darrell often musing as to what washing powder they used to keep their shirts so brilliantly white!  

A Bounty Of Discarded Treasure?

Well, it has to be said that the summer didn't produce the whole plethora of left out treasure Eric had at first anticipated, perhaps it was sooooooooo unbelievably hot that people just hadn't got the heart or sheer energy to sort out their unwanted items for others delectation. 

However, with the temperature now being much more manageable, Eric hasn't been too disappointed so far, in one day he managed to "stumble" across a very respectable and comfortable looking dining chair, sat sitting at the bottom of the "killer" hill in and out of town. Now if that was left there, it could offer much comfort and respite to those struggling up and down said hill, especially when laden with enormous bags of shopping! 

Then, there was this coffee table near the church without a (as of yet) spire, unfortunately, it was in Eric's expert opinion, not of the best quality, it was quite warped and chipped and not as appealing as the aforesaid "respite" chair, so no great temptation there to plunder.

And finally, and most unusually, a pair of children's boots, the type with handles on either side to heave up and on, something Eric has always quite fancied.  Usually, if something originally comes in a pair Eric only tends to find one, so to the right sized person, this could indeed be a most fortuitous find, especially when, at this time of year, we are more prone to heavier type rain and the prospect of jumping in puddles should the mood so take you!  A most excellent day "wombling", with the extra bonus of Eric not actually heaving anything home behind him! 

We're Not Turning Yet ......

Following Darrell's little debacle contemplating the price of lamb the other day, he decided to take himself off to the vegan market in town yesterday morning to see if there were any comestible alternatives we might embrace ........

The market was a little disappointing in size, but undeterred Darrell was still determined to do his "market research"

His first observation was that there were more cake venders than anything ........ 

...... but they were a tad on the expensive side, tempting and delicious as they looked, £6.50 for a small pot of cheesecake and £4.50 for a single donut,  crammed to the rafters with vegan substitutes though they may be, he couldn't really justify making a purchase, especially considering the wonderful cakes he makes from scratch himself anyway.  He also wasn't tempted by the vegan hot dogs made in every guise imaginable or the cheese that looked like something Alice would buy in Lush!

However, he did make two considered purchases, to wit three wonderful looking onion bhaji's, something we absolutely crave since moving to Evesham, usually only getting our "fix" when we return to the homeland  for family high days and holidays where they are abundant

On the other hand, he'd never ever seen an apple crumble samosa before, even in Wolverhampton, but on this occasion he passed ............

...... because he'd got his beady eye on a "very berry crumble top pie" that he thought would go down a treat for our pudding later on in the day and save him getting one of his own out of the freezer .......  nevertheless, for all this glorious foody adventure, we all still remain very much strangers to the porkless pork pie ......... 

Eric's Nomination For Next Years Tree Of The Year

A while back our beloved No. 1 Fan, Jan the Fan sent us a link to vote for our favouritist tree a la Vote for your Tree of the Year 2026 - Woodland Trust.  We voted unanimously for the Culmstock Yew for growing in a place against all adversity ........

...... however, after waiting for his train at Worcester Foregate Street Station, Eric has a nomination of his own for 2027 ........

...... again, a tree, a breed as of yet unidentified ........

...... growing and seeming to thrive against all odds in the middle of two exceedingly busy mainline tracks ........

...... courageous, proud, fearless, resplendent and totally unapologetic .......
 

Eric has decided to name said tree, Cassius and he's mission now is to find out how to get Cassius on the list for next years Woodland Trust competition!  What is he like?  

We Try Wotsits Bag Of Bones

Well, it wouldn't be October, the spookiest, creepiest month of the year, without our sampling some kind of seasonal type comestibles would it?

So, today Darrell and I, for your delectation have decided to try out Wotsits Bag of Bones, before proffering them to everyone else at home, during our televisual viewing of an evening 

First of all we were quite impressed with the bags ample plenitude of savouries for just £1.50, there was more than enough to go around for two evenings worth of nomming  ...... 

...... and we were able to create a reasonable and pleasing, if not atomically correct skeleton, if we used what we think are actually hands for feet! 

They were light, baked, so not too greasy and melted in your mouth. Said bones were suitably "really" cheesy, but you know us, with regards to cheese, you can always, always ramp the cheese up! 

It was perhaps a little odd chomping, nonchalantly, into a full skeleton ribcage, but would we recommend them? Yes, certainly, we liked them very much and would buy them again, as we much prefer just a good, old, plain cheese flavour as opposed to the more fanciful pickled onion (excepting Monster Munch of course)  or those eye watering, hot chilli ones that seem to be tres en trend at the moment.

So, our score on our world famous Richter scale of noms?  Ten out of ten bats hanging upside down in the belfry, plus an additional bubbling cauldron to Wotsits for keeping things tasty but simple! 

Tis The Season ........

Tis the season for the using of  .......

....... pertinent and appropriately flavoured household cleaning products this autumn dans Les Towers!!!!  What are we like, if not always on trend!

The Flipping Price Of Lamb!

With the summer holidays now seeming like a life time away, Darrell thought he might revive a few Greek memories by preparing a traditional lamb kleftiko to warm our hearts and fill our bellies for this weeks Sunday lunch .......

....... however, after a bit of a giddy swoon on seeing the price of two, small lamb shanks, he decided that perhaps he ought to find a less expensive cut of meat other than lamb for our delectation that he could possibly adapt.

He was, it has to be said, genuinely crestfallen upon his return ....... even if he had been looking in Waitrose!

He's also made a very serious note, in red ink and circled, on our calendar, to remind him that there's a "plant based market" next weekend, in town, that he now fully intends to explore, trying a few samples, should they be proffered, if only to research our gastronomic options in the future .......

........seriously contemplating the idea of a full and varied nut rissole combo replacing our beloved Sunday roast before the year is out!  What is he like?

A Flavoured Candle Too Far

This has to be a joke yes?  Even for Eric with all his avant-garde tastes and ever open mind, this was one candle whiff/flavour too far ....... although, he did say, after a very robust inhale, it didn't really smell all that ketchupy! 

Needless to say, however, on this occasion, no considered purchase was made by Eric in B & M today.

Now, if they bought out a Marmite candle we might be talking, if only as a conversation piece!

We've Scored Again ......

Soooooo, we've scored again of a charity shop "perfect buy" type nature ...... let's just say there were squeals when our eyes alighted upon it .......

....... only a totally unused, festive memorial candle, perfect for our Christmas Eve tradition of remembering all our loved who are no longer with us to share our most favourite time of the year .....

..... for the princely sum of just £1!  Well, it had to be done!

We might still hang a lantern on a tree, but this will almost certainly stand resplendent on our window sill over the holiday.

However, we still have one Christmas quarry, Eric and Alice swear they saw them in Dollar Tree when they were over in Florida last year and that's a Dolly candle, to go with all the other Dolly stuff they bought back with them for our seasonal celebrations.  

Who could have known that our beloved Dolly wouldn't be with us this year. I dare say Darrell and Alice will share at least one, extra long squirt of the ever fragrant ones favourite Dolly perfume to remember her by this Christmas morning, what are they like?

Putting On A Brave Seasonal Face!

Following yesterdays post and Eric and Derek's natural exuberance and excitement, it being Derek's first actual, real life October with us ...........

....... The Towers just wouldn't be the The Towers without just the merest soupcon of Darrell's usual seasonal elevation.

Our beloved niece and nephew might not be spending their traditional sleepover with us this year ..........

........ but it would look churlish not to do a little something .........

...... if only to help lift Eric and Derek's disappointed spirits!!! 

Well that's our story and Darrell, Alice and I are sticking to it, what are we like? 

A Different Sort Of Halloween This Year?

Sooooooo, I don't know how its happened, but we're already five days into October, the celebrated month of ghosts, ghoulies and all things of a spooky type nature and I have to admit, a perfect excuse for us all to don some seasonal, gay apparel!  

It's also the season of robust and almost constant pester power when it comes to visiting some of our local shops up town, especially with Derek now on board, it's comes in duplicate!

However, I've told them that they might need to repress their effervescent, exuberance just a tad because, this year, our usual Halloween Sleepover is not to be, as our beloved niece and nephew will be celebrating the holiday dans foreign climes, to wit, en Francais!

Naturally, they were a little downcast at first, but with what's now beginning to appear in the aisles of various emporiums ......... 

.......I fear think they are still planning a few bits and bobs of their own ..........

........ heaven (or hell) help us all!!!!!

On this outing, however, the only considered purchase made was of a rather lovely and fragrant Spooky Vanilla candle for Darrell. Not wishing to cast any nasturtiums, I've still gently warned him to be on his guard, as goodness only knows what they plan to roped him in to!