2210.24 NATIONAL EMBARRASSMENT

Where do I start? As I write this the conservative party are selecting a new leader, the 3rd in less than 2 months.

2209.19 GODS SAVE THE KING

It's a sad time for our country. A sad time for the commonwealth and for many across the world. It's also an historic point in time, We have lost our Queen but with that we have a new King.

2206.03 PLATTY JOOBS

It's the Queen's Platinum Jubliee which is a massive deal for the whole of the United Kingdom. The late spring bank holiday has been moved from the last monday in May to 2nd June and combined with an extra holiday on the forth to give most of the country a long weekend off.

1911.12 A CHRISTMAS ELECTION

It's been almost 100 years since the UK saw a December general election. But that's not the only thing different about this election.

1903.05 BREATH OF FREYA

When I initially planned this post I thought that the forecast storm was going to be a lot more than what it was. The reason it got my attention was of course that they had named it after a Norse god and I have been doing quite a bit of reading about Norse mythology recently. Vikings have always interested me since I was a child but over the last few years I've been drawn towards the culture and art of what is one of the most intriguing periods of history.

1808.12 HEATWAVE

If there's one thing most people will remember about 2018 it will be the record breaking heatwave and it would be remiss of me to mention it. I've chosen to use this current hiatus in the soaring temperatures to mention it.

1803.04 THE BEAST FROM THE EAST

The great Siberian freeze and follow up storm came. The snow was followed by a mighty freeze with a 'feels like' temperature reaching a bone chilling -12°C! The landscape became white and services ground to a halt. The storm became know as "The Beast from the East"

1802.25 ZERO - WILL I EVER BE WARM AGAIN?

Winter is my least favourite season, especially as I get older. All it does is stop me from doing stuff I like to do. If I had my way I think I'd like to hibernate until the spring.

1610.06 NEW FIVER

Last month in the UK a new £5 banknote printed on polymer, a thin flexible plastic film, was issued. The new note bears the image of wartime leader Sir Winston Churchill on the reverse. The new note can apparently last about five years longer than paper notes and features loads of new security features, making the note extra hard to counterfeit. They include a see through window featuring the Queen’s portrait as well as the Elizabeth Tower (commonly mistakenly known as Big Ben) depicted in gold foil on the front of the note and silver on the back. The £5 will be joined shortly by new £10 and £20 notes which also will be printed on polymer.

Since the new notes came into circulation there has been a movement on social media under the hashtags of #firstfiver and #fivergiver to donate the first £5 note you receive to charity.

I got my first one this week and thought it was a great idea to give it away so I donated my first fiver to Action for ME, a life changing condition my wonderful Morticia has struggled with for almost 10 years.

1607.13 LEAKY TOILET

At the weekend I received a frantic phone call from Morticia telling me that water was dripping from the kitchen ceiling. I was just finishing work so I rushed home (as fast as my legs would pedal). The water was coming from the inlet pipe from the cistern of the upstairs toilet. I isolated the water supply to the toilet so I could repair the leak in my next day off.

My day off was Monday so I put my DIY skills to good use.* I purchase a new inlet pipe and some O rings. It took me a couple of hours but it's now fixed, it flushes and doesn't leak. I was pretty proud of myself and please we hadn't had to call anyone out.

Add this almost disasterous event to the fact that our vacuum cleaner (our trusty old Dyson) started to smell of burning and I could see sparks coming from the motor. They say things come in threes, what's next?

Today we got a new Prime Minister and rather than pay tribute to the outgoing Mr Cameron I thought I'd talk about my toilet.

*My DIY skills are pretty poor, although I have done a fair bit of home plumbing.

1604.21 HAPPY BIRTHDAY MA'AM

I'm not a massive royal fan, not as much as Morticia, but I'd be pretty heartless if I didn't wish the old dear a happy 90th birthday.

1010.20 SPENDING REVIEW

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm no lover of the Tories. I watched Thatcher destroy the community I grew up in. The North has taken years to get back up on it's feet only to be knocked on it's arse again by Cameron and his Tory boy sidekick.

I sat and watched George Osborne deliver his 'smoke and mirrors' presentation waiting to see how far he was going to cut my department. Watching it turned my stomach and yet the information he passed was so vague that lots of public sector workers are still in the dark.

It appears that my job is safe at least for the next couple of years. The future for the whole country is in doubt now but what is clear is that while Osbourne says we are all in it together, it's apparent that some are more in it than others.