Coline was so right. Doing it out in the garden, and not the bedroom, has worked a treat.
It seems absolutely miraculous after my first three attempts, all of them a failure and all of them a keen disappointment. But now it's fourth time lucky, and I'm a very happy woman!
Obviously I'm waiting eagerly for further news, with the longed-for arrival in the New Year.
I'm speaking - of course - about my online passport renewal. It all came together today, which happens to be the very day my old passport expires. I'd just come back from the caravan dealer at Ashington, after enquiring about a new front window for my caravan (that'll be another saga), and the weather had turned cool and overcast, threatening rain. Standing in front of my garage door (which, I agree, needs repainting), and still in my coat, I decided to see what kind of picture I could take using my phone Tigerlily at arm's length.
I remembered to take my glasses off, and wipe away my lipstick. It was really just to see whether the result justified setting the Leica up on a tripod in my back garden - I wasn't expecting a handheld selfie to be much cop.
But not so. Tigerlily did all right. Although it was mainly down to the quality of the outdoor light.
Well, I said to myself, let's see what the phone can do, if I drape that cream-coloured fleece blanket over the rear hedge and stand in front. With glasses off, lipstick wiped away, hair swept back behind my ears, and the fringe hoicked away from my eyebrows.
Clearly I'd need to sit down, rather than stand up. So I trotted back to the house, fetched a chair from the conservatory, and sat on it for my next arm's-length selfie. By this time it was spitting with rain, but I didn't flinch. This was the best shot:
I didn't like it - it was so unflattering! But it was evenly-lit, and faithfully showed all my facial features. The shoulders were twisted a bit - a result of holding the phone in my right hand, and extending my right arm. But maybe that wouldn't show once they cropped the shot to just my face. It was worth submitting.
So once more I fired up the laptop (now tethered to Tigerlily and getting the Internet via 4G - who needs home broadband?) and tackled the Passport Office's online application form at gov.uk. I was very familiar by now with the first few sections!
Then it was the photo-submission bit. Here we go...
Oh! They loved it! It got a GOOD. Whacko! Super Biggles!
Without further ado, I went through the rest of the application. Really, there wasn't all that much to it. A few more questions and answers only, then payment. £75.50. I inserted my credit card details, and got acceptance. Done.
Just one more step before they proceed - I must post them my old passport in a suitable envelope, by signed-for delivery, quoting my application reference. One of tomorrow's tasks then.
Phew! This had become Mission Impossible. But I've conquered and won through. It's almost done. And I really am looking forward to an arrival in the New Year! Even if there is no immediate travel use for it, a passport is important to have. It's the best current form of personal ID in this country. I'll feel safer with it, to show to officialdom. Although - sadly - gone are the days when I had to show ID to claim an age concession at museums and galleries. I look my age nowadays!
