Eventful week

Well this is an eventful week for the Hyde family.

Ellie has bought a house near Leeds, the exchange was on Tuesday and the completion is Thursday!  I don't think she can quite believe that she will soon own her own home.  I do know that she is very excited and nervous.  I have a feeling that I might be asked to do some interior painting soon.

Then on Saturday this week Stuart is moving to London to live with Tab.  The house is full of boxes and he is nearly ready for the off.  I just have to check his boxes to see if he has packed the family silver!

And of course, this is the busy week for me with the run-up to the Corsley Show on Bank Holiday Monday.  I have processed all the entries for the Horticulture and Craft Tent, the exhibitors cards are printed.  The committee have a busy day on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and hopefully on Sunday we will be read to receive over 820 entries.

Just one glitch so far, the A3 printer that I use on Show Day has finally died.  I bought 2 lots of new ink carts and it will still not print.  Anyhow a new A3 printer is on order and should be delivered tomorrow!!  Hurrah...

Last year the show was so good and we all had so much fun doing it (mostly because the organisation made it go so smoothly) that we are all looking forward to this year's show.  Pray for good weather.

Japan here I come!

Well what a fortunate thing that I read what I thought was going to be a 'spam'email last night.  It contained a link to a Flash Sale of business class seats to Japan.  I have managed to book my return flight for November 2014 for just £1000 - this is amazing value especially for business class and I feel very lucky to have got such a deal.

My tour is with Festival of Japan - have a look at their website

Sooo excited now!!

Flame Thrower

So on Sunday afternoon having done a spot of weeding was when I realised that  I do not use any chemicals in my garden.  This does mean that the weeds can tend to get the upper hand and take over the garden, especially on the patio areas.   

Now I have found in the garage the flame thrower that David used to use.  

What fun!!  

I have burned to death a whole patio of weeds all around the conservatory.   Yes I did then put water over the area in case the house caught on fire but I did enjoy burning the bliters.

It is also a good thing that ‘health and safety’ rules do not apply to households and I was wearing flip flops and a flowing cape – well I know I am mad.

I have now ordered 2 more canisters of gas so I can flame throw the rest of the garden, very satisfying

No telephones!!

Please note that our telephone does not work since the lightening storm.  Use my mobile 07740 468 003

Heavens Gate

What a beautiful evening walk with the dogs at Heavens Gate, got there about 9pm and the sun was setting but made the stones look quite different.  It was warm and blissfully peaceful, I am so lucky to live here.
Took the motorhome and had a nice cup of tea afterwards - yes I know how to push the boat out LOL

Scary letters from HMRC

Have you received a scary letter from HMRC lately? Perhaps all HMRC letters are scary, but this latest nudge-letter really takes the biscuit.

In it HMRC says the taxpayer's effective rate of income tax is lower than the average for taxpayers with similar levels of income. It goes on to suggest that there could be something wrong with the self-assessment tax return for 2011/12 and the taxpayer should check what they submitted for that year. Penalties and interest are mentioned, which would worry anyone - even those with nothing to hide.

Bear in mind the period in which the 2011/12 tax return can be investigated closed for most taxpayers on 31st January 2014. This means HMRC can't open an enquiry into your tax return for that year unless it discovers new information which was previously not disclosed.

HMRC sent these letters as part of a pilot to nudge non-compliant taxpayers into paying the right amount of tax. However, in this case HMRC made no attempt to screen out those taxpayers who have good reasons for paying a low proportion of their income in tax - for example because of a loss claim, gift aid donation, or pension contribution. HMRC did not read the disclosures on the tax return before pressing the send button.

Flexible working hours

From today all employees can ask for flexible working hours - sounds like a good idea to me.  When I was office based I often took a longer lunch hour and made up the time at the end of the day.

Being flexible makes the employer better to work for.  Might be difficult if you have a factory to run and production lines........