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<\/p>\nGood morning and \u201cHappy Autumn\u201d to you all. We\u2019ve had a pretty decent week of weather \u2013 the mornings have been quite autumnal with mist and heavy morning dew but we\u2019ve generally maintained good temperatures with some lovely sunny afternoons. You can tell it\u2019s Autumn, though \u2013 our Boston Ivy is exhibiting its finest crimson red foliage and it gets dark earlier and earlier. On Wednesday I had to put the outside light on for Penelope for her return from an evening of jumping about at the gym \u2013 it\u2019s dark by 8.00 pm!<\/p>\n
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I had my \u201cfinal\u201d interview in relation to my UK passport application. Don\u2019t worry \u2013 they weren\u2019t separating me out specifically \u2013 it\u2019s standard practice for any adult applying for his\/her first UK passport to be summoned for an interview. And despite what you\u2019re thinking, it\u2019s not so that they can determine whether I am the right sort of person to be allowed to travel on a British passport \u2013 they\u2019d already (surprisingly) determined that! It\u2019s to do with ensuring that I am who I say I am and that I\u2019m not masquerading as someone else.<\/p>\n
And let me tell you \u2013 this was like the third degree! I was asked for my name, my date and place of birth, my mother\u2019s middle name (oops! She doesn\u2019t have one unless you consider her maiden name to now be her middle name), my father\u2019s place of birth, my inside leg measurement and loads of other details. They had clearly done their homework \u2013 they asked about my bank accounts and credit card details \u2013 but I passed with (almost) flying colours. The one question which tripped me up momentarily was \u201cwho signed my passport photos?\u201d You would think that would be pretty simple but, because of a glitch in the system, I had to send two sets of photos (on different occasions) and each set was signed by a different person. I know that Paul across the road signed the first set and Pete next door signed the second set. But, when they asked my mind went blank \u2013 I couldn\u2019t remember Paul\u2019s surname!! Still, I did eventually remember and they must have been satisfied with my various responses as I had a text message on Monday telling me that my passport had been sent for printing and then on Wednesday it arrived! I\u2019m not too convinced by the photo but the passport itself is very nice.<\/p>\n
As we were going to be in Warwick on last Saturday for this interview, we arranged to drop in to Nick and Lucy\u2019s to squeeze Annabelle and go out to lunch to \u201ccelebrate\u201d my successfully navigating the final hurdle in my passport saga. So, we ventured into Leamington and decided on Las Iguanas<\/a> and very good it was too. Penny and I are both very fond of Mexican food and that\u2019s what we had. It\u2019s perhaps not quite as good as Wahaca<\/a> but considerably closer \u2013 we\u2019ll go again, I\u2019m sure.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve run across lots of \u201cinteresting\u201d things this week. How about some iconic photographs posed in PlayDoh<\/a>? (Click the link to the right of each image on the Guardian site to see the original photograph).<\/p>\n
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<\/a><\/td>\n![\"Bar](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stragnell.com\/befoulednews\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/bar_girl_in_a_brothel_01.jpg?resize=300%2C180\")
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