Snow Hill

A cloudy & overcast morning here 9C, showers expected later. I am going through a non-fiction phase at the moment, just finished A Promised Land by Barack Obama, a weighty book, now reading Powers and Thrones a History of the Middle Ages by Dan Jones, then Michel Barnier’s book to follow. Then it will be back to the fiction with Ken Follett’s The Evening and The Morning, with 2 books my wife has been reading by Kate Mosse, The Burning Chambers and The City of Tears, the latter 2 set in Carcassonne, one of my favourite parts of France. All of the books above have one thing in common, they are a long read and quite weighty.

Cruise ships are not covered by the Equality Act 2010 https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/legal-work-scotland/ship-called-dignity#:~:text=But while services on ferries,at ports and ferry terminals. Airlines are a different matter, but whether it would extend to PE is unclear https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/advice-and-guidance-faq/air-travel-faqs#:~:text=The new law states that,the necessary staff and equipment'.

I know booking ahead can get you what you want, but booking 202 years ahead😂

I was a local councillor for 10 years, some of that time spent on planning committee, unfortunately wrong decisions can be made by officers, but sometimes they are mislead by the agents of the applicant who get creative with location plans, I have seen some interesting examples in my time. Unfortunately officers don’t have the time for site visits for every application, which is why planning notices are issue to neighbours who can raise issue either direct to the planning office or via local councillor. In my time as a councillor probably around 30% of issues raised with me relating to planning, most could be resolved by conversations with the applicant (no brown envelopes involved), others would need to be called in for a fuller debate by the planning committee. To this day I still receive notices of planning applications in my area, as any local resident can, so I can be aware of what is happening in my area. I am glad your situation was resolved thanks to you local councillor get involved and someone with experience speaking on your behalf.

Doorbell rang just after 8:30 this morning I had not long got up to make a couple of cups of tea, looking at video alert on phone could see it was Royal Mail. I opened door and said I thought it was Sunday and you didn’t deliver in a Sunday, He said we do from late September as the Christmas rush starts and now more people shop online the amount of parcels rockets. He had been at work since 5:00 am and out on the round at 8 would finish delivering around 2 this afternoon.

But if you are doing a land based holiday to any of those countries it will affect you,

It’s been announced as from 2025 that ETIAS will be extended to EFTA & Non-Schengen Countries as well, so one will be needed for Norway, Switzerland, Iceland & Liechtenstein, plus non-Schengen countries of Romania, Bulgaria & Cyprus. Ireland is exempt for U.K. travellers currently due to Common Travel Agreement.

I have 2 compost bins, one for hot composting the other standard composting both are full or nearly full, so have been using the green bin more as of late. However just replace my shredder, so will be shredding the branches and twigs and using as a mulch on borders. The mulch will keep weeds down so less for the bin. I used the leaf mould I started off two ears ago in my large planters this year mixed in with the multi purpose compost, plants have done well this year as result.

I have been toying with the idea of fixing although more than current price cap, will give some stability in costs for a year, we are currently £500 in credit, a deliberate action for the winter.

Ours is based solely on numbers of items 1 - 3 items £15 4 - 6 items £28 7 - 9 items £43 10 - 12 items £56 There is a list of items that they won’t collect mainly related in garden, building or household waste, but curiously includes pianos. Those aged 80 and over get 2 free bulk collection of 1-6 items per year, those 65-79 get 1 free collection as do those with a long standing illness or disability. Those on Housing Benefit or CT support get 50% reduction on 2 bulk collections, whist those with Council loyalty card get a 10% discount. All scrap metal dealers etc have to have a licence, those without are liable to prosecution, as for fly tipping there have been a number of prosecutions this year, both the tipper and the householder who engaged them.

I see the same pouring with rain this morning here, seen children walking to local secondary school in their blazers, as they have to wear them in class at this school, I can’t imagine sitting in a soaking wet blazer all day is a good idea 🤷‍♂️

In the purple topped bin, I missed it off initially and too late to edit.

The green waste here is composted and reused on council owned parks, gardens etc.The opposition party did plan to charge for the service, but lost the subsequent elections and the plan was scrapped.

We have a service contract with a local company, covers service, parts and call-outs, cost use £22 a month, but was worth it when our old boiler broke down and spare part cost £230 plus labour. The plan covers the boilers, radiators and gas fire.

We have a red top bin for non recyclables, a purple topped bid for glass & plastic, a blue bag for paper & cardboard, a green bin for garden waste, and a small grey container for food waste. The Purple Bin, Green Bin and Blue bag are collected every fortnight as is the Red topped bin, the food waste is collected every week. We find out Red top bin only has one bag of waste as we recycle as much as we can. If item is too big for bin or not collected at kerbside we just take it to recycling centre or book a bulk collection. We are lucky to have a very efficient system, no additional fees, except for bulk collection’s which if over 65 or disabled are at a reduced cost, with one free collections year.

We found that place when we were in Arrecife a few years back, even though it was late December was still very warm, the gelato was very welcome.

If using LF tests from 2 years ago possible may not show up the new strain. I was testing negative in August, but someone I was at a meeting at was positive, difference she had purchased tests recently. Mine were from 2021 with Jan 2024 expiry date. We have ordered some new ones given my MiL has a weak immune system at aged 89 and we visit her on a weekly basis.

Postponed until 2025 partly due to delays in rolling out the Entry/Exit System (EES) and the Summer Olympic Games in Paris. EES going live is a precursor to ETIAS going live, so until that happens there will be a delay.In theory once biometric data is collected it should speed up travel to EU countries.

An awful nights sleep, kept waking up when I rolled onto my right arm, the flu one, then woke up at 6 soaked in sweat, the nurse did say I might get flu like symptoms, not wrong there.

Just been outside to check on cabbages & cauliflowers and see whether my “slug pub” deterrent was working, seems 6 slugs have been tasting the brew! The culprits seem to have found the beer more favourable than the cabbage leaves. Nipped into the greenhouse to pick some peppers, temperature had reached 32C at some point, outside it has hit 22C, although has now gone cloudy, tomorrow looks a similar day, so arms permitting I will start the planting of the winter bedding and spring bulbs on the containers, although some will have to be held back as the dahlias are still in full bloom in two of my larger containers.

Yes we had some eye watering quotes for our annual insurance premium this year. We played around with the add on’s the add on for cruise cover was greater than the add on for winter sports holiday, my wife skis, I don’t. I am convinced that travel insurance companies have hiked their premiums to increase profits rather than provide a better service, it’s time that the CMA investigated them to ensure the consumer is getting a fair deal.

Currently cloudy & 21C here, sun trying to peek thru, due to hit the dizzy heights of 22C this afternoon, will wait and see. We had our Covid & Flu vaccinations this morning 2 sore arms now went into practice at my booked time of 10:45, out again at 10:55, my GP and 2 practice nurses doing the jabs, nurse said they have almost 250 patients at Covid/Flu Clinic this morning and all have turned up on time. Once again a well organised session. Then went into town had a coffee and a muffin, bought a pair of boots in sale reduce from £85 to £27 plus 10% BLC discount. Back home now with 2 sore arms and a headache, probably mixture of vaccine and caffeine!

Temperature currently at 19C, cloudy with the occasional sun spell, just checked the lawn, it is dry so will cut it now, although due to be dry and warm tomorrow, we are due our Covid/Flu jabs tomorrow at our GP Practice, so not sure whether will be able to cut lawn tomorrow if any reaction. Removed summer bedding from planters ready for the winter bedding to go in and bulbs to be planted. I have winter pansies, cyclamen and wallflowers to plant, as well as narcissuses, tulips and hyacinths. Looking a dry week ahead, so should get them all in, plus I may even order a skip to get rid of rubble of small wall I demolished in the garden a few weeks ago, together with pile of accumulated rubbish behind the garage. After the failure of our Fridge Freezer a few weeks back and the subsequent delivery of a replacement, yesterday our small freezer got written off as well when the part needed to fix it was no longer available. So after almost 14 years of service both have given up virtually at the same time, glad we had both covered, so we get a replacement, just need to choose which one from list sent us.

With Bluetooth you can only share to one device and it’s very slow, the wifi option is quicker and allows more than one device. A travel router would be better option than hotspot on your phone.

I am fairly sure you need to be attached to land based cell towers in order for hot spot to work.