Morning all, how is everyone?
We checked in online for our midnight flight tonight to London Heathrow
Passport
My UK passport is up for renewal, so I used a bot to access the passport website every minute from 1 minute to 8 in the morning when HM Passport office releases slots to online premium applications.
Standard applications are taking up to 10 weeks or 15 weeks from abroad.
2 days ago at 1 minute to 8 a.m I was lucky, the bot accessed the online slots for passport collections flashed up on the laptop;
“Only available in Glasgow or Belfast”.
When I clicked on Glasgow, another message flashed up, “the appointments have gone”.
However on clicking on the Belfast Passport office, 12 appointments were available, so I took one.
We have booked a flight with hotel to Belfast in 2 weeks time and will make it into long weekend stay.
Hopefully the flight will not get cancelled and everything will work out okay….
Because we haven’t been anywhere since December, it will be a mini break. Looking forward to a glass of the black stuff
Fire
Yesterday we received news from South Africa, a wild fire had swept in from our neighbours spreading onto the family farm.
In 2011, this happened to us whilst we were there and we lost everything. The house was burned to the ground and the vineyard became cinders. It took us 3 plus years to rebuild.
The house is located high up on a mountain overlooking Erinvale Private Estate, Laurensford and Gordon’s Bay. We are next to the Helderberg Nature Reserve which has been badly hit by the fire.
Fortunately the fire brigade reached the house and managed to save it even though the flames surrounded the house and reached the roof. We are lucky to have a tenant living there who is fire fighter and a builder. He would have mobilised the fire fighters to save the house. He had built a series of waterfalls and ponds all round the house and the gardens. He said the water pipes have been burned right across the farm. Fortunately we are fully insured for fire etc,
We are very grateful to the fire brigade and to the tenant for saving the house. We are waiting to hear about the damage to the rest of the farm and about what has happened to our neighbours, the wildlife and the homeless sleeping rough in the mountain caves. Hopefully mountain rescue and the fire brigade were able to get them out.
Heavy rains are forecast for tonight….
What is everyone up to?