Waste Less Water

 

Cannot argue with saving our streams, but this huge bath being trundled around Hertfordshire by Affinity Water provokes a wry smile in this very wet year,

Forget-Me-Nots

 

Apple blossom and Forget-Me-Nots in back garden. More of the latter than ever before, and so colourful.

New Passport

The newspapers are warning that millions of people who have delayed renewing their passports are all wanting to do so now and to allow plenty of time. The passport office says to allow 10 weeks.

Passports covering period from January 1982 to May 2031

I applied online last Monday afternoon. Less than one complete week later my new passport arrived at 10:15 today

Timeline

Monday 3 May (Bank Holiday) - Afternoon I pressed send on my online application for passport renewal

Monday 3 May (Bank Holiday) 17:27 - email from Passport Office saying they'd received my application and asking for old passport.

Tuesday 4 May - I posted old passport, 1st Class Post

Wednesday 5 May 16:58 - email from Passport Office saying they'd received my old passport.

Thursday 6 May 20:33 - email from Passport Office saying passport application approved and sent to print.

Friday 7 May 11:43 - email from Passport Office saying passport despatched with link to courier tracking

Monday 10 May 10:15 - new passport posted through letter box.

I applied online, took my photo using selfie function on mobile phone. Very simple, answer a few questions by radio button, fill in name, DOB, old passport no. and expiry date.

There's lots of info on their site and a video about photo requirements, and when you upload the photo their software rates it from poor to good. Ones not rated good are likely to be rejected, so you can take another and upload till you get 'good'.

Last time I renewed my passport I had to fill in a paper form, pay to use a photo booth, cut out and send off two copies of the photo with the form.

This was painless, easy and quick!

I am impressed

Around the World - Hungary

 

Hungary was the 14th country we virtually visited in our Lockdown World Tour.

The meal was Goulash (Gulyás), the most famous Hungarian dish, though none of the times we've been in Hungary have we seen it. 

I searched the web for recipes; there are a great deal and none of them agree. Only certainty seems to be meat and paprika, the meat is usually beef but there's pork or sausage versions. Paprika can be hot, mild, smoked, red wine, white wine or no wine, caraway seeds, caraway powder or no caraway.....

Some recipes insisted that the stew contained  lots of root vegetables, others none. Most included bell pepper.

So after reading several recipes, I steered my own course.

Mine used diced beef braising steak, caraway seeds, sweet unsmoked paprika powder, a tin of plum tomatoes, red wine, beef gravy and garlic. After an hour cooking I added large chunks of carrot and after another two hours in a low oven I added most of an orange pepper.

The  wine was

2013 St. Andrea Egri Bikaver Grand Superior Hangács (Hungary, Felső-Magyarország, Eger)

Egri Bikaver used to be sold as Bulls Blood and was the most famous Hungarian red wine. It's a Kekfrankos (aka Blaufränkisch and Lemberger) blend with Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Kadarka. This one was very enjoyable and quite unlike the cheap and cheerful rough Bull's Blood of my younger days.

Country 13 was Austria