Stamps to return

For some time now, only the new style barcoded stamps can be used. Old ones can be returned, using a form and envelope from the post office, and will be exchanged for new stamps. I was surprised to discover how many I had when I looked for them. There were lots of low value ones which I bought to use alongside stamps for first or second class postage in periods after prices rose (in the years before stamps were simply labelled as first or second class and therefore remained valid even when the purchase prices increased). There were also a shameful number of stamps destined for greetings cards to send to the rest of Europe, clear indication of all the times I didn't get round to sending Christmas cards to friends abroad. 

It rained a lot, and I again didn't go out. I browsed garden furniture online; the footings for the patio have now been concreted, and lots of blocks and paving stones are now stacked outside the window. I realised I had not ordered cream to make ganache for tomorrow's cake, so made a batch of white chocolate butter icing. It's rather sickly sweet, as butter icing always is for my taste, but I'll add raspberries tomorrow, which will add sharpness and brightness as well as colour. Less enjoyably, I skim-read the consultation document about the government's green paper proposing changes to disability benefits, and my heart sank. I was already aware, as others in the UK probably are, of the headline proposals, which are clearly about trying to reduce government expenditure, though other narratives are woven in too. I didn't need to read the document to know that its proposals will make life considerably harder for families like mine. I don't have the time or the courage now to explain how and why, but the format of the consultation was dispiriting too. There are a huge number of open-ended questions requiring responses in sentences and paragraphs and asking for evidence for one's statements or opinions. If I respond, it will take me many hours - at the expense of other things I need or want to do - to complete the form. I feel I should register my objections, but I also know that the last DWP consultation I spent hours completing was later revealed only to have been machine read for key words and collation of tick box responses and that the individual, carefully written responses of many disabled people or their family members were never read or considered. There's also a good chance these proposals will not get anywhere before the expected election; but as yet, I don't know what view the Labour party will take of them. So far as I know, we have only been told they will be "more compassionate", so it's possible some of the key ideas could survive the election. I have till July: perhaps I could set myself a weekly target number of questions to answer. (Sigh)