May We All Sleep Easy Tonight

Andrew – 10 years ago one of the most unimaginable things occurred.

Everyone knows where they were when the twin towers fell and most us feel a heavy weight on our hearts as we sit, ponder and watch as the media remind us of those who are no longer with us.

10 years ago I was at Gusband’s place that he was renting, he had cooked me dinner and he (unexpectedly) asked me to move in with him. You don’t need to know what happened next however we were woken by our friend and editor telling us to turn on the tele.

The world will never be the same again.

10 years later I, like most of the world am taking a moment to remember those who lost their lives on September 11 and all those people who have lost their loved ones. May they rest in peace.

I am also taking a moment to say a silent prayer (who knows who to) to say thank you for all the wonderful things in my life.

One day soon I’ll do a list of the top 10 things I am thankful for but today I, like all of you, are asking the universe to make sure that all those effected by 9/11 are resting easy.

Very thankful for this pair.

Rest easy campers. xx

Who's a Sook!

Andrew – I am a sook and everyone knows it. I will cry at the drop of a hat and television shows bring me undone on a regular basis. Gusband can often be found rolling his eyes at me and handing me a tissue. So is it because I wear my heart on my sleeve or am I just a big fat cry baby? Perhaps it’s a little bit of column A and a little bit of column B.

So what’s brought me undone on the box? Here’s just a few and believe me this is just the tip of the iceburg.

·      The news. Lately the Morcombe case has had me on the verge of tears on a regular basis;

·      Chris Bath on Sunday night presented a story about soldiers and their views on being in Afghanistan. Big strong men crying turns me into a blubbery mess;

·      Remember when Molly died on A Country Practice? The nation bawled but as a wee lad I was inconsolable;

·      There was a greeting card commercial on the television a few years ago. An old lady would go everyday to her mailbox and she would never receive anything. A neighbour saw this and wrote her a card and put it in her mailbox which made the elderly lady very happy. Christ on crutches I could start crying again just thinking about the happy look on her face;

·      There was an episode of Melrose Place where the gay character Matt, was fostering a child and eventually had to give her up. When they were saying goodbye at the airport I lost the plot completely! How pathetic;

Don’t even go there with the movies Beaches or Stepmom. It’s always embarrassing leaving the cinema with puffy eyes. Perhaps this is why I always carry tissues. I thought it was a habit I got into while teaching, I hate snot and if a child had green gunk pouring from their nose I would hand them a tissue and tell them to clean themselves up. Really, it’s in case I come across something that will send me into floods of tears.

So I guess you could say I’m living on the edge. I cry when I’m happy and cry when I’m sad. I wonder if it has anything to do with my consumption of Hendricks Gin? Nah that couldn’t be it.

What brings you undone campers?


Lucy - Now we all know why the TV isn't on very often at your place, there is not enough tissues in the OC to handle the flood. 

I am sure that it is not all Gin & tears at Castello Edwardo, although no one can fault you for crying over Beaches and that greeting card commercial. 


You are a sook & it's ok, 
better out than in I say,
the Gin is flowing
and the tears are growing
Gusbands knowing
....
I have lost my train of thought as Sawusbands contribution is:
There once was a man from Nantucket.  
Thanks Sawusband now i'll never finish it.


I should have been a poet, a bad poet.

You are a sook & it's ok,  better out than in I say.

Happy crying, campers!

The Humble TV Chef

Lucy - I used to love great cooking shows years ago. Now there are so many it’s hard to keep up. Sawusband just read me a review about my most frustrating TV Chef. I have been known to yell a few choice words at the television when he appears. Here are a few quotes from the mag to help you guess who it is:

“With braces stretched to breaking point against his ample shirtfront” 

or 

“He dishes up fuss free meals and Dad jokes.” 

Yes it’s Huey, he is so hard for me to tolerate. Sawusband has been known yell from the other room “just change the channel, why do you persist in watching this, it makes you crazy!” The answer is until recently Huey’s show was on before the Bold & the Beautiful (you can write comments about me watching that show later. I think Andrew is nearly convinced it’s not such a bad show as the cast walks around semi naked most days).

I think we can all agree that it is a good sign they have moved this program far far away from The Bold & the Beautiful and therefore me.

Another TV chef who I idolized until his head grew bigger than the Masterchef doors is George Columbaris. It is so sad to see what TV can do to some peoples heads. 

I remember the good old days when he was on Ready Steady Cook, so humble back then. It’s just sad now, his acting is atrocious…..

Why not sell out like Darren did with KFC.

All I can say is thank god for Maeve, 

she still has one of the great cooking shows in Food Safari 

and who can forget Rick Stein, he is fantastic.

I love myself a quality cooking show. 

What's for dinner Sawusband? I'd help cook but another cooking show is on!

Who's cooking in your kitchen tonight, campers ?


Andrew- I'll bloody well tell you who cooked in our house last night. Me! Gusband fell asleep on the lounge so it was up to me to splatter oil all over the floor and set off the smoke detectors. These things never happen when Gusband is in the kitchen, maybe he's watched more cooking shows than me or maybe he cares..... because......


I FUCKING HATE COOKING! I hate the whole experience and I FUCKING HATE COOKING SHOWS. Lucy I know that you love them, so does Gusband but I would rather  get a book and climb into the bath.


Gusband was even made to watch Masterchef in another room until the final weeks when Kate was looking good to win. I'm not down with reality television (he says as he is typing this in front of the X-Factor.)

2 Masterchefs

Yep, I'm getting in on the act

So, you all can have your cooking shows and I will support your interest in them because the meals you all make are amazing. I shall lovingly be standing in the wings making the cocktails and pouring the wine. Go forth and watch. 


I'm not actually convinced that Darren sold out with the whole KFC disaster. If we all criticise the fast food chains for serving unhealthy food, shouldn't we embrace someone who puts their celebrity behind attempting to change this? I'll have an opinion until he does a cooking show.


Lucy, I know you watch the Bold and the Beautiful for the storylines...

Yep definitely the storylines

Does Your Bush Need a Trim?

Andrew – I sometimes wonder why we start things. And being the peeps who start things and then go “Ok that’s enough can we call in the experts now?” This last weekend was a big surprise fro Gusband & I.

Unfortunately we had a very unsightly bush. I know! The gays gererally have their man-scaping under control but this was a bush that was out of control. The council even intervened…. “Fix it or remove it.”

Google shot of our house before council intervened

And so it was that 2 years ago we pruned our neglected hedge hoping that it would come back in the Spring. Well it did but not in the way we hoped. It grew like a muppet in that it grew out the top but didn’t fill or grow from the bottom.

Imagine the orange was green and that was our hedge

So it was a sad day on Sunday when Gusband and I went out early and started taking out the hedge. We sawed and chopped and then the Tree Man turned up. He wrapped his winch around our newly pruned trunks and yanked them so hard they just flew out of the ground.

Apparently some of you have gone somewhere completely filthy in your heads. I wouldn’t bother if I was you. It was very butch at Castello Edwardo  that day however with C-Bear and I wandering with a Benson & Hedges in our mouth it seemed more GLAM than sexy.

Sans Hedge

The Hedge is gone and Gusband and I are busy planning the new garden. We are going mnimalist, ie. We shall plan something that looks fab but requires minimal work.

Have we given our front yard the equivalent of a brazilian? I think so. We are man-scapers 
from way back. 

Man-scaping

WE ALSO BUILT A FENCE! YAY US!!!!

The fence the gays built

Lucy - Andrew, only you  could make Bush trimming dirty!

We have gone for a hedge of spikes instead of a bush here on the GC. It has proven to be a well planned out presence in our front yard. 

Just the other night we had the displeasure of some peeps jumping the front fence when Sawusband chanced upon them with a few choice words  they jumped back over only to be spiked by the razor blade trees. I love my spiky trees. Beware peeps....enter at own risk...If the trees won't get you, crazy Henry will!

I am so very proud of the fact you were able to erect a fence. That is indeed a great improvement to add other erecting qualities to your repertoire.

Happy manscaping campers!