Snow Hill

We have had a nice so far, start per last Friday with a meal out with my son and his girlfriend, caught on their travels this year, with their trips to Japan, Northern Italy and Turkey. We entered the restaurant at 7, left. 10:30, excellent meal and company. Christmas Eve we had visits from my daughter and other son & 2 grandchildren, a interesting 3 hours, especially when my daughter & daughter in law strayed in the world of teaching, both are Primary school teachers, and the pressure they both under in their jobs and the lack of respect their profession is getting. My grandson lost his first tooth last week and was eager to show me the gap! We had a quiet evening, we watched Toy Story 4 without grandchildren present and we both enjoyed the film, followed by the Christmas edition of Beyond Paradise, which featured op one of our favourite groups Bellowhead at the end, we have seen them 3 times over the last 10 years. Christmas Day, we had Roast Chicken, sprouts, parsnips & roast potatoes, the latter cooked in the air fryer with butter we reckoned the best roast potatoes we have ever had, washed down with an excellent German white wine, followed by the King’s broadcast and Christmas pud with Brandy Sauce. We then sat down to watch A Haunting in Venice adapted from an Agatha Christie book, a very dark Poroit film. Then an evening of BBC programmes 2 well recorded the other Call the Midwife was watched live. Looking at terrestrial channels the BBC seem to have the best options. Boxing Day a quite visit to the sales…..online and then lunch, then to decide what to watch this evening.

One is Miller & Carter as looks very much like the meal I had there a few weeks ago, this No 2 must be The Glasshouse

Merry Christmas everyone. This is very weird Victorian Christmas Card. 😂

According to reports the Eu Entry Exit System is going live in October 2024, Simon Calder has indicated the date of Sunday 6 October 2024, this will to apply to Airports and Ports from that date, no indication what effect it will have for Cruise passengers. https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/eu-ees-border-launch-2024-date-b2467028.html Indications are that ETIAS will go live 6 months later.

Nipped into M&S food to pick up some GF Items, the main store is relatively quiet, the food part is a bit busier. We decided to get some sprouts as well as the farm shop hadn’t got any this morning and mine in the garden a very late. Option of prepared sprouts with bacon & maple syrup, looking at pack sprouts looked unappealing, a suspect there was only one rasher of bacon chopped up and as for maple syrup where was it? These were £3.75 or get a bag of sprouts for 65p and add your own bacon and maple syrup, for much less. The words “rip off” come to mind. The parsnips were £4 ready prepared, we got 4 large ones for 45p at the local farm shop this morning, we can prepare them ourselves.

If they accept the exemption certificate without question, I would invoice P&O for the £30.

Surprisingly warm at 13C here, but very windy, a few trees down in area according to community pages, but council have been quick to deal with them where road & public safety is concerned. Noticeable from some pictures that a number are trees that have fallen from private property onto the road, so owners could be getting a bill for the removal off the highway.

I access the Radio Times via my library app for free, don’t even have to buy a newspaper.

It’s either that or they did their Christmas shopping a while back, I know a few people who get most of theirs done in the summer & early autumn, plus with the in crease in cost of living people have cut back on traditional present buying either getting experience related presents or even gift vouchers. We bought out Christmas Chicken and a piece of gammon back in October and stuck them in the freezer, had we waited it would go have cost us double. Not Turkey this year as only the 2 of us.

I went out this afternoon to do a few final bits of Christmas shopping, things I didn’t want to or could not order online, surprised how easy it was to park, plenty of spaces, there were not many people about given the time of year I didn’t have to queue at any till. I was also surprised how quiet it was, until I realised I wasn’t wearing my hearing aids. 😂 Our daughter in law is manager of a large chain store, she has said footfall is down and people are not spending as much as expected, guess the figures for Christmas trading won’t make pleasant reading in January.

Must be a day for GP sessions, I had my appointment with my GP today, made last Monday to go through recent blood tests, a problem I raised with physio regarding my right foot. No concerns with the tests, couple of abnormal returns but only minor increases, which will be monitored, suggested a few dietary changes I might wish to consider to deal with the blood sugar issue. The foot issue is Morton’s Neuroma, which is uncomfortable but can be dealt with if it gets worse, he will refer me back to the practice physio to deal with for now. oh an BP was the best it’s been for a few years.

I find it odd that an iconic British cruise line chooses to price drinks etc in Dollars rather than sterling. Do they charge your credit card in dollars when settling on board account at end of cruises, thus rendering customers liable to currency exchange charges.

They got 12 votes from us, glad she won, “from a complete novice to an accomplished dancer” as my wife said earlier this evening, which is what it should be.

I suspect you maybe right, they are probably working to a script on the screen and medical decisions are made by the system and agents can’t override, so it’s a case of “Computer says No”

Perhaps P&O don’t have access to a dictionary, perhaps 🧑‍🎄 will get them one for Christmas . 😂😂

I think I know which station you are referring to, but I wouldn’t call it reputable given who owns it.

If they do then I would expect to see anti-trust cases filed against Apple.

The new iPhone 15 and the iPad from 2022 now have usb-C ports following EU pressure, to standardise in USB-C ports. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-66708571

😂😂

Just return from a long weekend in South Wales weather was awful, we stopped at the services at Bridgend on the way down, sat in the car whilst the area was pummelled with extremely strong Will and horizontal rain/sleet which last about 10 mins, when over walked into services saws a number of destroyed umbrellas in bins. No much better Saturday or Sunday, with strong winds and rain, our hotel room overlooked a golf course on Sunday morning in a howling gale and pouring rain there were players out on the course at 9am, the sheep in the area were sheltering under shrubs. Went a concert on Sunday evening with friends who got tickets, we left at interval, as was truly awful, never done that before and we were not the only ones, we counted at least 30 others leaving at same time. A certain German composer will be turning in his grave after this.

Out of 6 delivery days in the last week we had post on 5 of them, I am wondering therefore is this a local issue of understaffing in RM rather than a National one?

We don’t like JamShed wines we find them too sweet, much prefer a Rioja or a Malbec in red wines.

Perhaps RM delivery person is ex-Yodel!

Same happened last Christmas, although in the past couple of days we have had 2 Christmas Cards, other post including 2 magazines I subscribe to and a couple of parcels, so not sure whether it’s happening at my local sorting office or not. Not had chance to speak to postie yet as we get our post around 8.45am, and we are usually eating breakfast then.

I remove the leaves from the lawn with my leaf blower, I blow them onto the borders to provide a mulch and they rot down over winter or used by insects etc for shelter. Those on the drive get sucked up and put into bag into which I punch holes and after I after about 18 months behind te garage I have leaf mould which I mix with multi purpose compost for the patio pots or mix in with the top layer on existing pots. The only leaves that go in the bin are those from roses, to try and prevent spreading of rose rust & black spot, or tough leaves that won’t rot easily like holly.In the winter our green bins are still collect except over the Christmas/New Year period.