Post Office Scandal - The Inside Story With Nick Wallis

Following on from our post of Monday, re: our obsession with The Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry and Jason Beer KC's line of unfaltering and forensic questioning  of selected witnesses ..........

....... our Row J tickets have been well secured and QCode installed on Darrell's phone, thanks to Nigel popping into The Regal on his way home from the school run .........

There's no way we are going to miss this one! 

Another Week ...... Another Enticing Lidl Flyer

It looks as it Nigel has been assigned to another Lidl shopping mission, should he choose to accept it .......

...... and knowing just how fond the little fella is of his tummy, I would think said acceptance is a no brainer.

So, this week's Lidl flyer contains all manner of delicacies of a Valentines type nature ......... 

...... and though, sadly, we have no romantic interest in this "mois d'amour", our experience with Tallulah while we were working at The Girls School all those years ago now,  still weighs a little heavy on our hearts, minds and souls ........  

....... that's still no excuse to be found wanting in this seasons comestible department.

....... from heart shaped macarons, potato hearts, gnocchi ........

....... cheese melts and chicken nuggets and pizza .......

....... not to mention 69p, filled heart doughnuts ......... 

...... well, it would just look plain rude not too, especially as Nigel has to pop in anyway .....

...... to claim his free, toffee filled yum yum with his Lidl Plus Card.

It's a totally win, win, win type situation all the way around!  What are we like? 

Spring Is Trying To Sprung .......

Oh my goodness me, I was sitting at the computer, sorting out one or two things of a financial type nature ..........

....... when I just happened to glance out of the window and behold, there on the bank was all the wonder of the natural rhythm of the seasons opening up before me.  I'll admit my heart swelled a little (but obviously not of an emergency fashion) at such a lovely sight because, I'll be honest, I find winter quite a depressing season to get through, with all the dips and dives in temperature, the dark mornings and evenings, not to mention all the grey skies ..........

....... but knowing that spring was now trying its best to blossom forth has worked immeasurable miracles to lighten my mood and soul.

However, it is still far too soon for thoughts of casting any sort of clout ........

....... so, until the clocks go firmly forwards at the end of March, all vests and winter duvets are staying exactly where they are, on our backs and on our beds, no matter how Nigel might pleads to go unfettered! 

We Try Polish German Style Chocolate Cheesecake.

With it being Eastern European week up at Lidl this week Darrell asked Nigel if he wouldn't mind picking up a Poppy Seek Crumble (as seen in last weeks Lidl flyer)  on his way back from the school run to tickle our taste buds.

Unfortunately, despite him scouring the exotic aisle several times, Nigel wasn't able to locate any of said crumble, but he did find some Polish German Style Chocolate Cheesecake ........

...... which, after some consideration, he thought might be a suitably acceptable substitute ........

....... as it indeed was! Call us fickle, but as much as we appreciate the delights of the odd poppy seed filled dessert, when pitted against something of a chocolate type nature ........

...... to be honest, there is no contest!  

So, how did we score this fine Polish German style delicacy .........

...... well, for a baked cheesecake we found it moist and very moreish, something that would go down very well served with perhaps a few black cherries in thick syrup on the side and perhaps even an extravagant swirl of squirty cream! And, speaking of cherries, Nigel had also slipped a cheeky bar of Polish cherry creme filled chocolate in his basket for another tasting, what is he like?

Needless to say, very little was left on our plate after we had sampled to our hearts delight ........ and the score on our world famous Richter Scale of Noms ......... drum roll please .......

...... a highly commended 6 slices out of 7 with three spoons! 

Nigel dun gud! Nigel dun very gud! 

Our Guilty Pleasure - Jason Beer KC

We have been harbouring a very secret pleasure for quite some time now .........

..... to wit, watching the proceedings (on Youtube) of the true horror that is the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry, of an evening. Let's just say it eclipses anything else we would otherwise watch, like Gladiators, The Masked Singer or Traitors, we're sooooooo tangibly and palpably gripped.

We all love Sir Wyn Williams (who should be made a Lord, if not higher, after all this is over or questions will need to be asked in Parliament). He's the Chair of the Inquiry, but who, I think, Nigel secretly wishes could be his granddad in real life, someone to go fishing with and ponder greater things with!  

Then, among the Counsel to the Inquiry are Julian Blake and Emma Price, who are truly formidable in their intense, forensic questioning. If we had to chose, I think we'd all probably prefer to be questioned by Mr Blake, as he does occassionally smile and show a slight compassionate side, but, what do we know, perhaps it's all a façade, when really he's the silent, unassuming assassin in the world of inquiry probing ???

However, our most favouritist, favouritist counsel, the one we always hope will be asking  the questions that day is Jason Beer KC. He's our absolute hero, but, would never ever wish to be questioned by, as we'd confess to anything, even voting more than once for the same person to do a Bush Tucker Trial in I'm A Celebrity, but, on the other hand, if we were ever in a spot of trouble, trust us, we'd break the bank to have him representing us!  Man, he's good and we like his yellow tie! 

He is mesmerising. We love watching him, especially when someone appears to be trying to avoid answering a "difficult" question (as quite a few have), then he's like a dog with a bone, patiently repeating said question, sometimes worded slightly differently, over and over again until they have to give a "proper" answer. He just won't accept a "I don't recall/remember who, when, why or how or it's too long ago" without a fight.  We think we've only ever seen him get slightly exasperated once, as we all were, with a lady, who was a train wreck of a witness. We don't think she could even "recall" her own name, let alone hold down an important job within the Post Office that warranted her being called to give evidence!   

"Smooth, cerebral and reliable with impeccable judgement" ............ 

https://www.5essex.co.uk/profile/jason-beer-kc/

A Cycle Lane Of His Very Own?

Oh dear, Nigel came home yesterday so excited we thought he might burst.

The reason for all this feverish excitement and enthusiasm?  Well, he’s pretty sure that the council have put a cycling lane down the middle of the pavement, along part of the school run and it’s just perfect for him!

Sadly, Darrell and I have had to tell him to “Woooooooo boy!”, letting him down gently, pointing out that to start with, he doesn’t actually own a bike, let alone all the accoutrements he’d need to go with one, to wit a helmet, bicycle clips and water bottle, not to mention tight shorts and a vest ……… OR a cycling proficiency test certificate and badge.

And though it does look very much like a cycle lane, it is very doubtful that the said council would actually put one running down the middle of a pavement, as a young monkey, travelling at speed or even leisurely, taking in his surroundings, for that matter, could prove to be quite a trip hazard and questions could very well be asked in Parliament to justify such an enterprise!

The “bike lane”, we explained, is more likely to be a simple patch up job, following all the work done by Open Reach laying cables (?) to provide faster internet access in the area.   Needless to say young Nigel is very disappointed, it looks like he’ll still be using Shanks' pony for a little while longer to collect his beloved niece and nephew from school, bless his little cotton socks!

Find A Penny ........

This morning Nigel was fortunate enough to find a coin on his way into town and as you all well know, the little fella is a great exponent of the "find a penny" saying ...........

..... however, he didn't actually find a penny in this instance, what he in fact found, after some pretty intensive research, was a Polish zloty of a 2 denomination. 

So, as you can imagine much debate, thereafter, ensued as to whether said saying would still stand if said "found" coin was of a foreign persuasion.

In the end we came to the conclusion that it would, as it did have a current value (£0.00243) and could be spent in it's country of origin, should Nigel ever visit, so the saying would still stand, however, for good measure Darrell nipped onto his computer to translate it into the coin's mother tongue .........

....... which unfortunately none of us could actually get our mouths round, but the spirit was very much there.

Should Nigel have any further good look in the next day or two, you, as always, will be the very first to know!