Snow Hill

We have been being going to France every year since 2006 and have never been asked for financial evidence or where we were staying. Three times we have flown, the rest we have driven, mostly going via Eurotunnel, once by ferry Dover To Calais and once Portsmouth to Saint Malo. We also made a substitute port stop at Cherbourg in 2018 on a cruise after Amsterdam, no checking do then either. All this course was pre leaving EU in 2020, maybe different on our next trip though.

The Spanish Ministry website states that online bank statements are not acceptable so suspect that may apply to ATM statements as well. https://www.exteriores.gob.es/Consulados/washington/en/ServiciosConsulares/Paginas/Consular/Condiciones-de-entrada-en-Espana.aspx

They seem to focus on just the €100 aspect of a number of rules applying to Spain and other Schengen countries which apply to non EU Nationals. We are planning to visit my cousin in Spain later this year, he has said he will need to provide us with a carta de invitation so we can show that to border agency if asked, something we didn’t need on our last visit in 2016. Again certain sections of media scaremongering, people need to take note of entry rules to countries they visit as rules have changed.

Extremely unlikely you would be asked if just a cruise passenger ashore for a few hours.

I would just show my balance on my mobile banking app if required to do so.

The rules existed before January 2022, has applied to 3rd Party countries for some years before then, as U.K. now a 3rd Party Country now applies to us as well. The Spanish Government up the amount to €100 a day in January 2022.

A cloudy morning here 9C, although forecast says is currently sunny, probably is above the clouds! Hope to finish off removing Ivy from lower wall today, the unexpected rain late yesterday afternoon stopped my work on it. Once that is done just one more area to be removed, which in a more awkward spot behind the rockery. Once that is done then I will tackle killing off the rootstock, have found a few suggestions online so will try the safer versions suggested. As hawthorn hedge not yet in full leaf will trim the top of it before it gets too high, have checked there are no birds nesting in it. I think they may have realised it’s a killing ground for the local Sparrowhawk who sits on garage roof waiting for an opportunity to strike.

That certainly was the case this evening, one even abandoned their plan in the program and fell back on his existing business.

The length of time the preauthorisation lasts is determined by the Merchant Category Code assigned to Merchants by the financial sector. Codes are then classified on risk, cruise lines are in the high risk category which may result in higher fees being charged to them. https://www.merchantsavvy.co.uk/knowledge-hub/mcc/

We have been watching, tonight will be the time to face Claude and see their plans ripped apart, most of them in this series have not impressed me at all I would have fired more each show, but that would have left a gap in the schedules for few weeks. 😂

Bob Dylan is on my list. I limited it to 10, but there were a number of other songs that could be added. Could include songs by Wet wet Wet 🤣🤣

Another wet and dreary day, feel for one of my volunteer colleagues doing a members tour this morning, trying to explain a site and point out overhead features not easy when the rain is pouring down. Tomorrow looks dry with temperatures reaching the dizzy heights of 18C. However for fun I have put together a rain related playlist to add to my phone. 🤣 1. Here comes the rain again - The Eurythmics 2. It’s raining again - Supertramp 3. Who’ll stop the rain - Creedence Clearwater Revival 4. Why does it always rain on me - Travis 5. Purple Rain - Prince 6. Rain - The Beatles 7. November Rain - Guns ‘N Roses 8. A Hard Rains gonna fall - Bob Dylan 9. Raindrops keep falling on my head - B J Thomas 10. Singing in the Rain - Gene Kelly Apart from last 2, all the others are in my music collection be that Vinyl, CD or Digital.

64 years of following Wolves throughout the good times and the bad, but getting a ticket nowadays is almost impossible unless a season ticket holder. My neighbour at the time I started to watch them, was a first team player at the club. I thought this season we would be in a relegation dogfight with our previous manager leaving on the eve of the season starting, limited new squad members and having to sell our best player in order to satisfy the heavily weighted FFP rules. But we drafted in Gary O’Neill, I thought at the time not the right appointment, but I was proved wrong no relegation battle, on the edge of possible European football next season, although with a small squad and injuries this might no be possible. Already we have the vultures from the top 6 eying up our best players, even though they still have a number of years on their contracts.

Perhaps it’s time for the CMA to conduct an investigation into travel insurance especially for those with medical issues, to see if they are being treated fairly or not. Being charged £15 additional premium for something such as a bacterial infection is ridiculous, what next being charged for the number of times you have had a common cold? I am, like many I am now looking at the packaged bank account route for travel cover, starting with my current bank.

It’s UAE that own Man City, not Saudi, they own Newcastle Utd. If I was a Forest or Everton fan I would be angry that the accusations against City and Chelsea have not been dealt with as fast as the accusations against their individual clubs, it seem extremely unfair and the EPL seem to be favouring the clubs with money and influential ownership against the smaller clubs.

The Dark Arts of the travel insurance industry are a mystery to me. I recently has a stay of 24hr in hospital due to a swelling in my cheek due to a sinus infection, which was drained, plus my wife had an alteration in in her medication. As they needed to be declared I went online to notify the insurer as a result there was an increase in premium of £15 for me and £1.93 for my wife. Why I was charged £15 additional premium for an infection which has cleared and no follow up needed is beyond me.

Eclipse wasn’t visible from here in Shropshire, if it was we wouldn’t have seen it due to the rain we had around 8pm last night. I love my Yaris Cross, possibly the best car I have ever owned and the first automatic, certainly uses less petrol than any previous car and more comfortable I feel less stiff after a long journey. I would buy it again. We are thinking of driving to Southern France in September so the ultimate test for a long journey. My wife owns a Yaris as well and loves driving it, especially with the 77mpg she is currently getting. Hope you find a car that suits your needs.

A wet and windy morning here, not as bad as yesterday evenings squall, when we had strong winds and torrential rain which last about 20 mins before it abated. Reports of a number of trees being blown down ensued. Yesterday had been a very windy day as Storm Kathleen made her presence known, I did however manage to weed one the borders in the garden as well as sort out some shelves in the garage, the ones just inside which have accumulated all sorts of bits over the last 12 months, now have bagful o f rubbish to take to recycling centre all Ithaca a number of boxes and a broken lawnmower.

When I was in hospital in February, the biggest problem was finding beds for patients who need to be admitted, thus causing blockages in A&E. The big issue is finding places of care or care packages for those who need them after a stay in hospital. The an in the next bed to me was fit to be discharged however he could not return to his home as he would be unable to look after himself and need a place in a care home for a few months whilst he recovered, he had been waiting 3 weeks for such a place. It’s the lack of social care and investment in it that causes many but not all of the issues within the NHS.

Norovirus can strike at anytime of the year, our neighbours were on a summer cruise, not with P&O when they caught it.

Awoke a 5:30, tried to get back to sleep, but hunger pangs made me get up at 6:15 for tea and biscuits. Currently 7C and raining at the moment. Have a volunteer shift this afternoon weather permitting, the site is quite muddy in parts and spend much of the time telling visitors to avoid certain areas and to watch their footing, in the 3 years I have been at the site never known it to be this bad.

Well that was an expensive first mowing of the lawn this year, my trusty 10 year old Bosch lawnmower gave up after I had done 75% of the bottom lawn, the switch that you hold just snapped off in my hand and it just stopped. A quick trip to B&Q and got a replacement, another Bosch, very similar to my old on but much lighter, plus 15% off weekend, so if was going to break it choose best weekend to do so. Quickly assembled and finished off both top and bottom lawns, (our garden is terraced as we are on side of a hill)

Looking like a sunshine and showers day after yesterday’s deluges, my drive got flooded yesterday after the new garage doors were fitted. Appears the soak away is struggling to soak away as the group is saturated and nowhere for excess water to go. Flood warnings have been issued for rivers locally yet again, lost count how many times this has happened in the last 6 months. Looks like tomorrow is a rare dry day, so I will mow the lawn as grass is currently at least 4 inches long. At some point will need to jet wash patios as the wet weather has encouraged most, lichen and other slimy things to grow.

Just saying Christianity used existing pagan festivals and repurposed for their own agenda. The similarity in the words of both events are clear Eostre & Easter.

Easter said to originate of the pagan festival of Eostre, celebrating the Anglo Saxon Goddess Ostara who was believed to be the bringer of spring. Christianity then came along and repurposed the festival as they did with the Roman Festival of Saturnalia, which took place over a few days at the end of December.