We Were Out Early,

so only one post today, 

wrapped up for the chill,

as it happens it was not that cold, we caught the tram into Croydon,

the homes by East Croydon station all finished now,

we started our walk to hand in Diana's paperwork, for hopefully the last time for her visa to stay in the UK,

the last time we were here,

two and a half years ago,

many of these buildings were still being built, I waited awhile with Diana, then made my way to Costa to wait for Diana, I was not allowed into the visa building,

another new building, after what seemed a short time Diana joined me, £3,885 lighter, yes you read that correctly £3,885! this is the third time we have been through this procedure in the last 5 years, we did pay £1,000 extra, to receive the result within a working week, rather that wait for between 4 - 6 months, that money goes to the UK government and the National Health Service, but for the government to receive that money and the paperwork, we have to submit everything to UKVCAS for which you need to make an appointment, as we did for today, a further £199 for the appointment, Diana joined me in Costa where I finished my coffee and we decided to walk into Croydon,

we walked through George Street, that was dying on its feet, shop after shop closed, and over the tram lines leading down to the fresh fruit and vegetable market, 

into the High Street, 

on one side the huge Alders store now closed, if you have ever watcher Are You Being Served? this like Alders, Kennard's and Grants was, the three stores are what kept Croydon together, all three now sadly disappeared forever, I should say that Croydon town centre is failing, after all it is not many councils that can go bankrupt three times in two years, but they did it! and if this piece of planning is anything to go by, 

I can see why, 

who on earth gave the go ahead for the bench to view the High Street to be placed right behind some sort of control box? or perhaps the bench was here first? in any event some planner somewhere must have given the go ahead for this appalling piece of street planning to take place!

Diana had been clothes-rail shopping,

we started to walk to the market, 

but waited for the tram to pass, it seems amazing that they are 25 years old and will soon be replaced, 

into the market,

looking at the stalls,

most of the produce £1 for a bowl,

and then Diana spotted them,

some bags of chestnuts, they looked really good, so we bought 2 bags, 

so many Asian products here, 

like these durians,

all of this walking had given Diana a appetite, so a Costa in the High Street it was, a chocolate covered espresso for myself, 

for Diana a cheese toasted sandwich,

with a orange sponge cake,

and latte coffee, 

I started on my chocolate covering,

a 'Cheers!', from Diana,

snack finished we walked to the tram stop,

but stopped at this fish mongers, 

Diana had seen her favourite fish, sea bream, 4 for £11.00,

and I spied some huge Cromer crabs,

so we waited while the fish were filleted, 

any moment now, whilst waiting I had a look at some of the other fish on offer,

and was surprised to see not only tilapia, but also pla duk,

our fish were ready, the sea bream 4 for £11.00, the huge Cromer £10.00,

we walked to the tram stop, passing this colourful building on the way,

and were soon homeward bound,

off of the tram and through the park, arriving home, where it was feet up for a coffee and a few ZZZZ's for Diana, she has been working so hard, with so many early shifts, plus the huge strain of preparing all of the paperwork for today, the thought of getting it wrong and reapplying with the same fees does not bear thinking about, and then it happened, as I opened a message Diana had sent me she burst into the room all smiles, she had the result already! just about 5 hours after she put her paperwork, SUCCESS! Diana was told she will in the next 7 - 10 days be issued with a biometric card stating that she has the right to stay in the UK indefinitely, what a relief, as it happens we had booked a table at the Toby Carvery in Eden Park, 

so shortly after it was very glad rags on and we were out, to the restaurant,

we were shown to our table,

where I ordered a bottle of bubbly, 

so carefully does it, 

'Cheers!', to Diana's success,

what a great feeling for both of us to have her now accepted by the UK government forever, 

next up to the counter, 

a choice of turkey, beef, pork, and gammon ham, 

I chose like Diana a slice of everything, 

I also paid a extra £1.99 for a big plate, which meant extra meat and the inclusion of sausages, 

lots of vegetables to choose from,

another very happy 'Cheers!',

and one from Diana,

Diana's meal with gravy added,

my meal sans gravy, after which we were both full to bursting, but after a suitable time, 

Diana ordered one of these, 

a honeycomb dream sundae, dairy ice cream and crunchy honeycomb pieces, drizzled with toffee and Belgian chocolate sauces, topped with a Cadbury® flake and a wafer,

with 2 spoons, all I had to do was grab a spoon!

the dessert was lovely, the bill including service charge came to £44.00,

arriving home it was out with the special rum Steve had bought for me for Christmas, a Jack Rat Lugger rum,

easy does it, we settled down to an Endeavour, all of the time I was singing,

 the Banana Boat song, something I sing when extremely happy, I have already apologised to one neighbour! hopefully I will not be banned from singing the song, after which Diana was off to bed, I watched a Have I Got More News For You, all of the time reflecting on the events of the day, with a nice feel good factor, the 5 year process of getting permission for Diana to stay with me in the UK is finally over, and with that happy thought I too was off to bed.