Snow Hill

Looks like they just added balconies and windows to a stack of containers, perhaps designed by AI. 😂

Some sad news today the author of the Shardlake books, C J Sansom has passed away aged 71. Lovers of historical fiction will mourn his passing as was one the best writers of that genre. The mini series based on his books is due to start streaming on Disney+ on Wednesday.

Overcast here this morning around 8C, strong winds and showers forecast for this afternoon, so my volunteering shift will be spent mostly indoors. What we don’t need is more rain, we already have a few areas roped off due to mud.

Starring Victor Meldrew

I had a similar experience in York Minister 2 weeks ago, I got told off by a vlogger for walking across the area he was filming and having the temerity to speak to wife. He told me he was filming for his online channel and would have to redo the shot again. I said did he have permission from the Minister for commercial filming, he went quiet and moved off.

It’s 5C here feels like 1C and of course it’s raining again, has been midnight looking a security cameras. Doubt we will be going anywhere today we are not ones for wandering around shopping centres. My outdoor jobs are starting to mount up, but need dry weather for many of them, in the garage I have paint for the fence, clear stain for the decking, masonry paint for the walls of the garage and paint for the door Then there is a need for a skip for the pile of old wood, bricks etc behind the garage from various jobs done in last 6 months. I am hoping for a long dry warm spell in the next month.

We haven’t caught it on a cruise either, but then we spend much of our time off ship where ever possible. I have caught it twice in the last 15 years, once when cleaning my late moms flat after she went down with it, despite latex gloves and a mask and other precautions. The second time as after an outpatient visit to hospital, they had to close the department for a deep clean which took 2 days.

My local school primary school was closed for 2 days after a Norovirus outbreak a few years ago, doesn’t disappear overnight. My brother runs a cleaning business, they deal with land based outbreaks of various viruses and to do the job properly can take many hours. He has said many times you can’t deep clean a cruise ship fully in a few hours.

True, but most land based locations deal with it better than cruise ships.

Probably right, but given there is no gap between cruises in most case that would mean cruise companies having to cancel or shorten cruises and refund passengers the full amount. The Norovirus can survive for almost 2 weeks on carpet on soft furnishings, they are never going to clean all the carpets & furnishings in the time they are allowing themselves. Land based outbreaks often use fogging to deal with the virus, not sure how that work on a ship in the large open areas such as the restaurants and atrium.

Back from a meal out and an evening at the theatre, saw Cluedo 2, very funny. Next theatre trip is in July when we go to see Hamilton at Birmingham Hippodrome, we have had the tickets since last year. Nothing then booked until October when we go to see Talon, a excellent Eagles Tribute act, could afford to the real Eagles in Manchester at well over £100 per ticket. Next on agenda is a trip to London and trying to fit in a two week break in late August/early September probably a land based holiday either in Balearics or Canary Islands where we are looking at Villa holidays.

I tried the Fairy liquid method on removing moss on a slabbed patio a few years ago, it killed the moss but left an orange stain on the slabs, which took some effort to remove. I now just use a long handled scraper, a brush and jet washer.

Does your medical insurance cover your medical needs? If so you would potentially only need cover for evacuation and repatriation as well as cancellation cover. Have you asked your Travel Agent for advice on what you need in respect of travel insurance? I certainly wouldn’t consider travel anywhere outside of the U.K. without Travel Insurance.

Went to get my car valeted today after our Yorkshire trip, found the valeting place was closed due to lack of water, after all this rain you would have thought it would be the last thing to be short of. Apparently builders of some nearby houses have gone through a marked water pipe with their digger, I suspect the builders will be getting a repair bill for the damage from the water company. So still have dirty car, but did work out the mpg for our break in Yorkshire, returning a figure of 68.7mpg, more than happy with that.

Must admit I haven’t used Fahrenheit as temperature measure for over 30 years, see no point as the majority of the world uses Celsius, freezing 0C, boiling point 100C, couldn’t be simpler, about time the US caught up with the rest of the world.

Back home from a windy week in Yorkshire, cottage we rented was very cosy and welcoming, the owners who lived on site were very helpful when a couple of problems outside of their control arose, we intend to return a some point in the future. Has an excellent anniversary meal in an Italian Restaurant in Harrogate on Sunday, followed by a visit to Fountains Abbey & Royal Studley Water Gardens on Monday. Tuesday was a visit to York where we took in the Minister The Shambles and I climbed to the roof of a very windy Gifford’s Tower. Wednesday was Castle Howard and Thursday Helmsley, so we managed to get around quite a bit. Back home checked my plants, tomato seedlings have come through and surprising every seed sown has germinated, so will have excess plants for friends and neighbours. The Dwarf French Beans I sewed on Saturday have in 2 cases already started to peak through, so hopefully will have another good crop of green beans this year.

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/