Tales of Evesham Past .......

We've always been very curious about the stretch of wasteland along our road ........

...... so, when we asked a couple of local, born and bred friends about it, they held us in thrall with their memories of the open air swimming pool that used to be there. 

OMG, how truly romantic must that have been? 

Wanting to know more and see what it actually looked like, we joined the local historical photographs of Evesham page on  Facebook and asked a few questions ......... 

........ and got the following responses.

They must have been wonderful, heady times, but sadly, the pool fell into disrepair, was abandoned and eventually filled in.  

If it was there now, we would truly treasure it. It would be right next to our beloved park (scene of many a midnight walk and summer picnic). We could just toddle over anytime we fancied, with, no doubt, our beloved niece and nephew becoming almost a permanent summer feature chez Towers with their love of water.

And that's not all!  We've also learned that the Lock House, currently under renovation (https://eveshamlock.uk/) was featured on 90's children's TV programme Rosie and Jim ....... perhaps questions should be asked in Parliament for the pool to be resurrected, as it would only be a short walk to the Lock House (see below), thus creating two, close by tourist attractions ....... instead of the housing that's been bandied about ever since we moved to The Towers.  

Nigel Makes A Find That He Wished He Hadn't Found!

Now, as you know Nigel likes to find the odd curio that he might like to ponder upon or find useful, if it's going free .......

..... but what he doesn't really like to happen upon are things that are possibly of a nefarious type nature, which unfortunately was probably the case yesterday when he spotted what looked like some sort tool box hidden amongst the tall grass and brambles of the verge, on his way to school.

Curiosity, naturally, got the better of him and on approaching in a careful and mindful manner, he quickly saw that a hedge cutter and strimmer had been left lying there (in the rain)  ........  

...... along with a tile cutter (??) in it's box.  His little heart sank, as he knew he had to do his civic duty, but he was on his way to read and this was going to take time. So, he posted his find on the local Facebook pages and then called the police, where he was told, after giving his details and a rough summary of what he'd found, there was, at least, a 15 minute waiting time for him to be further assisted. Well, after ten minutes of holding on .........

........ he decided to report it online instead, as it might be quicker, but then he thinks he might have got a "bot" ....... only to be told, after answering some seemingly random and irrelevant, stilted questions,  that he was in fact "talking" to the wrong police force .......

In the end, to his shame, he gave up, he'd arrived at school (very late) and he'd got reading to do. He felt awful, but what more could he do? He could already see that his Facebook post has been shared and was doing the rounds locally. It seems that the sheds on the allotments, along the road, are always being broken into and people were asking their friends if the tools looked like they might be theirs. He reasoned that he'd got the jungle drums going at least and perhaps even deterred any perpetrators from going back for their now "hot" spoils. 

Then, when he returned later that evening, he could see that only the strimmer remained. He didn't know whether to feel relieved or re-worried, perhaps "finding things" isn't such an enjoyable experience after all! 

And no, even though he had left his contact details with all manner of police online and on the phone, no one has got back to him!  C'est la vie I guess, bigger fish to fry elsewhere! 

A Little Taste Of Greece

Well, Nigel certainly came up trumps in Lidl this week, on his way back from the school run, as it just happened to be Greek week, something, that somehow had  flown completely under our comestible radar! We must have missed the corresponding flyer, which was incredibly remiss of us, considering our love for all things of a Greek type nature.

However, the little fella was still able to secure us a most ample supply of pastitsio, the first thing we ever look for on a traditional Greek menu board, as our meal of choice whenever we are on an odyssey ......

...... and something we sadly couldn't get our mits on during the last Lidl Greek Week last year.  So, we shall feast greatly indeed, pretending, as we dine, that we are sat sitting in some wonderfully, romantic taverna, overlooking the sea, people watching, in Kos (our 2024 destination).

Greek meatballs will also be on our menu in the coming weeks, as will some lovely thyme honey poured over our not so thick (British) Greek yoghurt .......... however Nigel resisted the octopus tentacles ...... 

..... they, perhaps, are one Greek delicacy too far  as, to our shame, we remain very much strangers to the fishier side of a Greek smorgasbord! But, having said that, the boy dun gud, very gud! 

Fragrant, Just Fragrant

Can anyone possibly be more fragrant than our own very lovely Alice. I swear at times she has (invisible) bluebirds flying all round her, like a simian Snow White!

I can only compare her to young Joanna Lumley, mixed in with a sprinkling of Stacey Solomon, and yes, I have to admit, I am a little bewitched by her.

She has, according to Darrell, her own unique sense of style, blending the old with the new and very much embracing a certain, sustainable, Charity Shop Chic, despite her previous (but thankfully very short lived) experience at The Vale.  

As for her cooking, well, she can certainly give Darrell a run for his money, in a totally uncompetitive type way of course, her Sunday scones are ........ divine! 

I can't believe how, in the short a time she has been Chez Towers, she's made such an impact on all our lives and, for such confirmed bachelors, all for the better  

Do Questions Need To Be Asked In Parliament!?

Poor Nigel's brain has been much pondering as to what it's called, when a body of water becomes significantly larger than a puddle, as has happened the under the bridge, at the top of our estate ....... 

......... could it possibly be classified as a pond or even a lake?  It's gotten so large that it's now overflowing, forming it's own romantic stream, that channels down the road leading to The Towers.  

Perhaps questions need to be asked in Parliament, as well as Darrell doing a quick double check of our building insurance, because said Towers already has a once in a hundred years risk of flooding at the back, from the river, but what if this once unconcerning, large puddle continues to gather momentum and starts to threaten the front as well.........????   Oh good grief, what on earth is he like? 

Suits You Sir .........

Darrell nipped into town for "nothing in particular" and an hour or so later returned with a small pile of "select" DVD's .........

..... he'd reasoned, we'd got a few sleepovers with our beloved niece and nephew coming up .........

....... and at just 5 for £1, it would have been rude not to have in a cheeky little mooch. 

However, he said that when it came to his final choice, he was a bit stuck, but then he spotted a box set of Suits, Season 5, (4 discs, 16 episodes), again for only 20p, when included in a bundle. 

Well, for Darrell, it was a bit of a no brainer, especially as we've still got quite a few long, dark nights ahead of us before the clocks finally go forward. It could, he said, be the perfect binge fodder, something we could all watch without having to concentrate too much if the phone rang or he got up to fetch snacks and/or put the kettle on. 

I'll be honest, I wasn't that convinced, but hey ho, it might be interesting to see what all the "hype" was about, especially when, how shall I put it, a certain someone starred in it before they joined and then left the Royal Family.

Two episodes in, if I were to review it in just one word, "wooden" would spring to mind.  I'm not hooked, but Darrell and Nigel are being more magnanimous, saying that we should give it until we've at least finished the first disc, before deciding whether to possibly re-donate it or see what it's worth at CEX. Perhaps something in the plot would grip us and then, who knows, we'll be out scouring the charity shops of Evesham or eBay for the entire collection!

Hmmmm, I'm not so sure, they seem to have a lot more faith in it than I do ...... I think I might prefer the Alvin and the Chipmunks Darrell also bought back (or perhaps they're really the same thing?????)  What am I like?  

Happy Easter

 It's Easter ......... well, Easter Monday to be exact .......

....... and you find us, this beautiful spring morning, well and truly egg bound of a dippy, fried, scrambled, poached, omeletted and coddled type nature .........

...... with Darrell not wishing to be found in any way wanting in the Easter eggs stakes, especially, as this year, we've had Alice over, as our guest, for the whole of the holiday weekend.

It also goes without saying that the Easter Bunny hopped by and dropped off an wonderful assortment of chocolatey delicacies for our comestible pleasure too, hence our aforementioned happy eggy boundness!

Naturally, Darrell spent most of yesterday morning in the kitchen cooking up an absolute storm with his traditional, absolutely fabulous, Easter Sunday roast ........

....... with me acting as his sous chef, prepping the veg, stirring the gravy and trusted with the occasional cheeky baste.  

Then, when they were able to move again after this glorious feast, Alice and Nigel volunteered to do the washing and drying up and putting everything away, working together like a crack, well oiled cleaning team ........ 

....... before it was time to get out the Simnel cake, cornflake chocolate nests and one or two mini carrot cake slices for our afternoon delectation, which we managed to work off with quite a lively Easter egg hunt in the garden with Kata's lovely little boy Krisztian.

It was the best Easter ever ....... and, perhaps, a step or two nearer to Alice feeling comfortable enough to move in with us permanently!