Sand, plants and taxes

Another busy weekend has been and gone, this time spent in Belgium.  Whilst the UK was battening down the hatches, stacking sandbags outside front doors and using up emergency stocks of food, we were basking in 23 degrees of sunshine, warm winds and taking in the sights.  We spent a few hours on the beach but despite being lathered in sun cream, still managed to burn and emerged from the sun loungers looking rather like radishes.  Half the problem was the wind.............much of the sand swirling around stuck to the sun cream and, to be honest, every time I touched my arms or legs I believed I was morphing into an emery board.  Talk about exfoliation.........who needs to visit expensive spas or salons?  Head on over to Blankenberge for a couple of hours, job done and a nice little trip into the bargain.

Further to the Olympic Torch appearance from the week in Northumberland, I have been reliably informed by my parents who are currently holidaying in the same area that the photo taken by a local reporter has appeared in the paper!  Several copies have been purchased and there is a website to order original pictures.  Fame at last!  Please form an orderly queue for signed copies (don’t all rush now).

Once again the England football team bowed out of the Euro competition by losing on penalties to Italy (great National Anthem they have).  Was anyone really surprised?  No, not really.  Most of the squad looked knackered from 20 minutes into the game so what little chance they had prior to kick off evaporated in their sweat.  Lovely.  We are now being told to rejoice in Wimbledon fortnight................ha ha, here we go again, more opportunity to be let down and embarrassed by our overpaid and overhyped entrants.  Roll on the Olympics.............at least we stand some chance of winning a few medals.

I have been watering my parents’ garden whilst they are on their jollies and all the fruit, veg and flowers are thriving.  The same cannot be said for the veg growing in my garden.  Despite my tomatoes being planted out at the same time as Dad’s, his are four foot tall but mine are about six inches.  No idea why, they all get watered and are sitting in the sun (when it appears), however despite my four plants being the runts of the seedling box they have flowers on so apparently I will be getting some tomatoes later on.  My runner beans are way behind Dad’s too..........I suspect sabotage by the vegetable devil and will have to lie in wait one night to see what happens.  Fortunately my fruit bushes are doing well so perhaps I should order some punnets in case of a surplus so I can set up a stall in the front garden?

Whilst in Belgium I clocked the price of diesel and petrol.  Now then, over here in rip off Britain we are paying around 5p per litre more for diesel than petrol and we just accept it.  In Belgium however, diesel was €1.37  per litre whereas petrol was €1.52 per litre.  There are many more diesel than petrol cars in use both here and in mainland Europe and we are constantly told that diesel is more economical etc......... I changed from petrol to diesel 18 months ago and am still filling up just as often and giving the government more of my hard earned money in fuel duty.  I have not seen any mileage benefit with the diesel so we appear to have been fed another pile of hocus pocus from the powers that be.

Adding to the theme of injustice, have you ever thought about how many times the same money in your wallet is taxed?  Take for example this crisp £50 note here in my dainty (if slightly sunburned) hand.  I have earned this and paid tax on it.  Now then, I am going to put this £50 into the building society to save some money towards another holiday...........when I get my end of year statement from the building society I will see that I have been taxed on this £50 again.  At the end of the year I decide not to take a holiday (unlikely I know) and instead choose to withdraw my £50 to put diesel in my car..........and hey ho, this £50 is now being used to pay tax on the fuel I want to buy.  So then, we are all paying tax on anything and everything, the government folk are rubbing their hands in glee (before taking their several weeks holiday over the summer period) and what do we, the general public do about it?  Nothing.  We are unable to break this cycle and each week more nonsense spouts forth from the mouths of those leading (allegedly) our country.

Apparently VAT in Belgium is 7% - does anyone want to buy a four bedroomed house with great views out of the front windows and a few sad looking vegetable plants out the back?  Comes with large bird dollop on the lounge window (top to bottom) as window cleaner gave up his round some time ago and the feathery winged ones are having a modern art competition in a Banksy sort of style.  I could put up with the emery board skin for a cheaper lifestyle.

Torches, glossing and fat

I was away last week in sunny Northumberland, my favourite county in the UK doing some sightseeing and catching up with family and friends.  We stayed in a holiday cottage literally on the sea front in a village where the wonders of the internet and mobile telephone coverage have yet to arrive.  It was certainly a little bizarre not being able to email and text but not any real problem – in fact it was good not to feel compelled to check for new messages!  On a visit to a nearby town I popped into a card and gift shop and on the counter were two local history books.  On the front cover of one was a photo of my late Aunty Thelma with her work colleagues back in the 1950’s!  No excuse needed to buy the book and read about the goings on from past days in the area.

One of the many highlights of the week centred on the Olympic Torch route which happened to be in the county for two days and we were lucky enough to run into a chap who had carried his torch earlier in the day at another location – he happily posed for photos and said he was not going to sell his torch on eBay (as so many others have done) despite the fact the runners have to fork out almost £200 to buy it in the first place!  We had visions of crowded streets and having to jostle to get a good view.........however by pitching up at the start of the route there were only a couple of dozen people as the rest of the throng had amassed at the finishing post.  As result we got talking to a local reporter who took our photograph and there is a possibility we may appear in this week’s edition of the paper!  After waiting around for forty minutes the great moment arrived...............the runner trotted past carrying her flaming torch aloft.................and then she was gone!  A young girl standing alongside us with her father summed it up well as she asked “Is that it?”!  So much preparation for a fleeting moment’s viewing.  The security measures in place are extensive for each town and police forces from all over the UK have been deployed.  In the short time we were there we spotted vehicles from five different forces plus the police helicopter.  All these officers need to be housed whilst away from their usual base..............I dread to think what the total cost is, but hopefully the whole Olympic spectacle will be worth it.  I am looking forward to watching the coverage but I do hope the BBC have got their presentation sorted out by then after their shockingly dire and downright embarrassing screening of the Diamond Jubilee River Pageant.

My parents have headed up north for their annual holiday and once again I have taken advantage of this to get the paint brushes out at their place.  After my last decorating venture there when I discovered just how hard it is to cover blue paint with pink, this time I have glossed the woodwork in the hallway.  All the skirtings and five doors took six hours in total and I am really pleased with the result – the place is shiny and new looking.  I have no idea what colour scheme the previous residents had prior to it being neutralised for selling, but I have come across splashes of yellow and brown which have been glossed over and hidden.  On my first visit to start the project I discovered a note in the kitchen saying ‘NO DECORATING’ and promptly ignored it in the same way my Dad ignores my requests for him not to prune my garden down to an inch high whenever I am away.  I daresay once the conservatory is finally finished (it must happen eventually) there will be some painting to be done on the newly plastered walls.  Actually I can probably fit this in before they get home and just let the builders work around it................

Off to Belgium this weekend for a short sightseeing trip and very likely the purchase of a product of two of chocolate.  I am thinking that perhaps the one Zumba class a week is not going to be enough to deal with the extra fat intake..........only a few months to go until I have to bare my pasty flesh on the Spanish beach. Hmmm, some serious chocolate deprivation is needed before then but it will have to wait until after my weekend purchases have been consumed!