![\"Bicester](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stragnell.com\/befoulednews\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/winners_1200x800.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nIn short, it\u2019s a great day. The kids have a huge amount of fun and imagine seeing your film projected on the big screen! You can catch this year\u2019s winning films at the web site I maintain for them: http:\/\/www.bicesterfilmfestival.org.uk<\/a><\/p>\n The film below, just to give you a feel for what it\u2019s like, was created by Foundation Stage children (four and five year olds) and won the Foundation Stage category. Sure, there\u2019s quite a bit of teacher input here (although surprisingly not as much as in some of the others) but the kids have an absolute ball and it\u2019s an experience they\u2019re not likely to forget for some little time.<\/p>\n httpv:\/\/vimeo.com\/98538223<\/p>\n For many years Ms Playchute and I have had some sort of vague \u201cplan\u201d about what we might do once we retired. One thing we\u2019d always intended to do was to sell this house \u2013 it\u2019s much, much too large for the two of us \u2013 and downsize to something more appropriate. Alongside that, we\u2019ve always rather liked the idea of having another property in France where we could spend part of our supposedly increasing leisure time. Having to care for Pen\u2019s mum for a couple of years delayed the exercise somewhat but now we are finally more or less ready to go!<\/p>\n So, on Monday we had a couple of estate agents round to give us their views and to give us a feel for what we might expect to get if we put the house on the market. Not surprisingly, each agent assured us that they (and probably only they) were uniquely placed to sell the property inside a week for double the asking price! While we are certainly not expecting to agree a sale inside a week nor for double the asking price, we\u2019ll see how it goes. If it doesn\u2019t go we\u2019ll take it off the market and start again in the Spring \u2013 exciting times!<\/p>\n And, if that\u2019s not exciting enough for you, yesterday Le Tour started and, even better, it started in Yorkshire! Just think \u2013 three weeks of reclining on the sofa watching these guys pedal their way around France (and part of England). A mere 3664 kilometres \u2013 not sure why it takes them three weeks! That\u2019s the sort of distance I could do in three years.<\/p>\n We were sorry to lose our resident housekeeper, chief bottle washer and dog walker this past week – Penny’s sister J has gone back to Toronto! Not only do we miss her company but Molly is distraught – she now has to go on her morning walk with me rather than J and that is a truly depressing experience.\u00a0Amazingly, the other thing we’ve noticed is that dirty cups and mugs seem to accumulate around the sink whereas when J was in residence\u00a0any crockery found loitering with intent was quickly washed, rinsed and dispatched. It’s going to be hard work getting back into the routine of washing up after ourselves again!<\/p>\n I ran across an article in Private Eye the other day to which my immediate reaction was, \u201cOh, there\u2019s a surprise \u2013 the government exaggerating their \u2018achievements\u2019 to gain a bit of support in an area where they are undeniably weak.\u201d The article described claims by the tax authorities of having made huge gains in the amount of previously evaded taxation that the authorities have now been able to recoup. It seems that HMRC claimed that they had improved their performance so significantly that they had so far been able to recoup a whopping \u00a31.9 billion.<\/p>\n As this is essentially the government seeking to claim credit for improvement in an area where they are perceived as being \u201cweak\u201d, it probably won\u2019t surprise you to learn that the figures aren\u2019t quite what they seem. It turns out that included in the \u00a31.9 billion is a significant sum of money which they \u201chope\u201d they will recoup. As Private Eye referred to it \u2013 \u201cwishful thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n Then, on Thursday there was an article in the Guardian<\/a> which makes clear that not only are HMRC\u2019s claims of having recovered vast billions pure fantasy, their figures are also just plain wrong. Instead of having recovered \u00a31.9 billion they have, in fact, recovered around \u00a3100 million. Not an insignificant sum by any means but nowhere near the \u00a34 billion which Vodaphone alone should have paid which Osborne and HMRC let off with a handshake. It seems that if you are generous enough with your donations to the Tory party you can get away with just about anything.<\/p>\n And, finally, in the \u201cYou Couldn\u2019t make it Up\u201d department . . .<\/p>\n