WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Stanley]

The quiet weather mainly. On the whole it's drier at this time of year than I can ever remember. I wonder what the summer will bring......

[Tizer]

The oilseed rape crop flowered a week earlier than usual but some of the crops have then failed in the south due to drought. An amateur weather observer has noted that the last few months of weather are almost identical to those in 1976, the year of the heat wave and wildfires in Britain.

[Whyperion]

I was wondering about the rain, or lack of. It has been far less than I expected in Burnley, I have enough water bottles filled for the garden to last probably a week.... London has enough groundwater to keep the grass green for now, I think more moisture is from the not-quite-dew from cold nights into warmer days (well warmer if you ignore the wind).

[Stanley]

Breaking a small tap. First time I have done that for years. Sheer carelessness. Mind you it was tiny.....

[Stanley]

The fact that the media an general have had an easy year.... Referendum, Brexit and now the election. Other news is taking a back seat and a lot of deterioration in public services is passing under the radar. Not good!
One good bit of news just in is that due to the election plans to change (raise) Inheritance Tax this month have been dropped. My interest in this is that it was going to have a big impact on the probate process for Janet's estate. This might help us to a conclusion.

[Tizer]

Mrs Tiz's father's estate is going through probate. He died in November and our plan to move house is based on her receiving a portion of the estate. The inheritance tax has been paid and the bank had put out a statement of who would get what. Today we've learned that there is an enormous backlog at Customs & Revenue and it could be a lot longer than we expected before they allow release of funds. The bank says there's nothing they can do to speed it up, they've got lots of people with the same problem but nobody can get the Revenue to speed up the process. Mrs Tiz asked the bank about security of the funds during this period because it's all still in the name of her father. What happens if the bank went bust? The contact at the bank, who has spent her career working for them as a specialist in this department, admitted she didn't know and that nobody had ever asked her before. She's gone off to ask a more senior person... Banks, grrrh!!

[Whyperion]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39664537
With prices rising now by 3.3% (isnt that over BofE target) unsurprisingly consumers have cut back how much they buy, with a 1.7% reduction, so money spent has gone up, mostly as for those in work wages supposedly have increased by about 3.3% (so once again, its fixed incomers that have problems, and not surprising that on street sellers are going to continue to struggle.
Nice to know we have a government thats good for business in charge.

[Stanley]

I've talked to Susan about our probate Tiz, it is now all agreed and finished and with the court awaiting a decision from HMRC. I think that like Janet we may be helped by yesterday's announcement about the dropping of the Inheritance Tax changes. It seems fairly obvious to me that the Jobsworths at HMRC were waiting for the higher rate of tax to come in. That is now out of the way and this will speed up the process I think. It is still a ridiculously long drawn out process and in our case was complicated by the fact that there were to elements to the estate, that in Oz and ours in the UK.
The waiting has been stressful and expensive but we are surviving and hoping that by the time we have our trip on the Fellsman on August 1st we might have something to celebrate!

[Tizer]

The bank tells us that it's the decision from HMRC that now takes a long time. There aren't enough staff and the number of cases is rising fast because so many people now own a house and fall into the inheritance tax bracket.

[Stanley]

Undoubtedly a factor Tiz but the imminence of a possible rise in tax would have been doing nothing to accelerate the process. And yes, I have a suspicious mind!
The half truths, downright untruths and general mind games that are already colouring the electioneering.

[Big Kev]

The 2017 Bands on the Square line up was announced over the weekend, should be a good do.
The promo video is here on YouTube https://youtu.be/KKw7HBHkvbA

[Stanley]

Lovely to see the imaginative uses the Square is put to. I'm not a fan of that sort of music but with them well with it!
What struck me as I puzzled over my valve motion was that the more thought you put into studying a problem, the clearer it becomes and the more likely you are to get a good resolution.
The latest news about the challenge to the government on the implementation of measures to reduce air pollution (including anti-diesel measures) which are already seven years behind schedule. This is not what the Tories want in the run-up to the election and even if the judge rules against them they can go to appeal and kick the matter into touch until after the election. Actually it is a national scandal that this matter has been ignored for so long.....

[Tripps]

My attention was attracted today by Dr Julian Huppert the former Lib Dem MP riding his bicycle in a very determined manner up Northampton Street in Cambridge this afternoon. I don't think he will be 'former' for much longer - that is assuming he is standing again.

[Stanley]

You could be right David. There is more than an outside chance that May has blown it. (I hope so anyway!)
The fact that my next bit for the engine is the smallest so far...... Bloody watchmaking!

[Tizer]

...Dr Julian Huppert the former Lib Dem MP riding his bicycle in a very determined manner up Northampton Street in Cambridge this afternoon...

Was he going in the direction of Westminster or in the opposite direction?

[Stanley]

Yet again.... the fact that the Co-op sells 2 X four pint containers of milk for less than the cost per pint of a six pint one..... A marketing mystery! It's almost like a prize for being able to do mental arithmetic.

[Tizer]

I've just seen cans of paint sold for £8 each or two for £10! It'll result in lots of people buying two cans just in case one isn't enough but then throwing away all or most of the second can.

[Big Kev]

Yet again.... the fact that the Co-op sells 2 X four pint containers of milk for less than the cost per pint of a six pint one..... A marketing mystery! It's almost like a prize for being able to do mental arithmetic.

It gives the option to freeze one of the four pint container, not that freezing would benefit me. Four pints of milk doesn't last long once it's open in my house

[Stanley]

Could be correct Tiz but the arithmetic still doesn't add up.
Kev, I get through a gallon in about a week and modern milk can easily last in the fridge that long.
What grabbed me is the fact that if I can live another year I get to see all of Margaret's family including my great grandson, they are planning a trip over to go to two weddings then. There's an incentive for you!

[Tizer]

I get through a gallon in about a week and modern milk can easily last in the fridge that long.

Do you have whole, semi, or skimmed milk?

[Stanley]

Semi skimmed, I have got used to it but if they only have whole milk that's no problem. Never skimmed milk. We used to call it 'blue milk' and it went for stock feed either as liquid for pigs or for drying. A very small amount was concentrated by evaporation to make evaporated skimmed milk as a cream substitute.

[PanBiker]

Skimmed milk, white water in my book. I have recently moved back to full fat, the difference is negligible for a nutrient point of view but the taste is a lot better, makes a better rice pudding as well.

[Big Kev]

Skimmed milk, white water in my book. I have recently moved back to full fat, the difference is negligible for a nutrient point of view but the taste is a lot better, makes a better rice pudding as well.

I prefer semi skimmed personally, especially in a brew. Full fat seems a bit 'greasy' to me.

[Moh]

I don't have milk - hubby has just gone back to semi-skimmed after quite a while on full milk.

[Stanley]

I agree with Kev about full cream in tea, it's OK in coffee. Funny how we are usually so particular about our tea, everyone brews slightly differently....