A stupid bit of paper

 We've had hardly any post lately, we go days without getting any at all, and then yesterday morning we got a job lot of 7 or 8 letters, some of which had been sent a fortnight ago.  People on our local FB pages for surrounding villages have also been complaining about the lack of post, several people said they'd gone to the main sorting office in town to check where important mail they were expecting had gone.  There seems to be a bit of a postal crisis going on - people have been told that if their rounds person hasn't turned up for work, then that round's post doesn't get sorted or delivered and, in fact, there are numerous sacksful of post in the sorting office waiting to be sorted!!  And to think they had the cheek recently to put up the cost of 1st class postage!

Anyway, 3 or 4 weeks ago I applied for a Voter Authority Certificate - it's a document issued by your local Electoral Registration Office which has your photo and address on it and basically proves who you are and that you are eligible to vote.  It's for people who have no other forms of photo ID, as that is now required to be able to vote in local or national elections.  Whilst husband has his photo driving licence, I have no form of photo ID at all - my passport expired about 10 years ago and I only ever had a paper provisional driving licence, which also expired numerous years ago.  Well, the Voter Authority finally arrived yesterday (no doubt held up at the sorting office!) and, much to my surprise, it's a flimsy sheet of paper - I had assumed it would be a plastic card, like the driving licence.  My photo on it, which is a selfie I did on my phone, is horrible - I look like a startled rabbit caught in headlights.  Still, I don't suppose anyone's going to scrutinise it really closely!  It apparently lasts for 10 years.....somehow I can't see a flimsy bit of paper lasting that long, it would have been much better to have a card.  Cost cutting, I expect.

We went to town yesterday morning and did 4 jobs at once - the small bit of shopping in Sainsburys, Superdrug for a chemist thing, the charity shop to drop off some shoes and clothes and get some more books (must have books in the caravan!) and Matalan for some PJs.  I spent the rest of the afternoon packing clothes and more food for the caravan.  I've also sorted out some balls of yarn and a hook - Joy has given me the nudge to start making another granny squares blanket - have you seen her beautiful one on her blog?  Here

I had my phone consultation with my physiotherapist, which took all of 5 minutes, if that.  I've told her I don't need another one.  I asked her if the first exercise class is going ahead next week, it having been cancelled last month (seems to be a recurring theme with physio appointments!) - she confirmed it is, and in fact is now fully booked.  I'm looking forward to it, it should be fun.

Today I'll be planting up some of the geraniums and petunias I bought the other day, I'll put the pots in a sheltered spot in the garden near the house, so they're protected.  The rest of the plants are going with us to the caravan.  I've also got dog food to make, and the frozen homecooked meals we're taking to be put all in one freezer drawer together, so they can be easily grabbed and packed in the coolbox tomorrow morning.  Husband needs to sort out all the meds he's got to take (and I've got to check he's got them all, else he'll forget some of them).  I'm also doing one final wash load, which will be collected when we come back mid week.  8 jobs in total on my list for today....I'm not feeling too good so husband will have to help me out and do a couple of them.  I feel washed out and achy and have a very unsettled stomach - nothing serious, it's all just the result of anxiety and severe lack of sleep over husband's possible diagnosis.  I'm sure I'll feel better having a nice long stay at the caravan and catching up with our lovely van neighbours C & J.  They texted me yesterday to say they've arrived safely at the park (they have a nearly 4 hour journey) and are looking forward to seeing us.