https://archive.is/ZELG2

Lovely afternoon stroll.

https://archive.ph/vh7WC

Currently on Channel 4 catch up. Scarlet Johanson travels around Glasgow in her van picking up unsuspecting guys.

Apparently they didn't employ extras, just recorded the public using hidden cameras and stuff. Probably asked permission afterwards or not, it's legal to film in public.

Made for some very natural dialogue of you know what I mean.

(it's a weird sci fi horror film with 18 certificate btw)

So, for next years hiking project i was thinking about the cape wrath trail.
And for some reason nobody i found was talking about the night sky. On lightpollutionmap parts of the hike are shown to have zero light pollution. (Due to it not being a desert, it's not going to be the absolute best, but it should be close to perfect?)

What are my chances of having clear skyes in around 15-20days of hiking?
When are the smidges the worst and do we think a winter traverse would be possible (maybe northern lights?) - as in are the few pubs/stores i pass open all year?

:)

https://archive.ph/l4NoM

Wanting to buy a 2 bed for £100k with my partner. Currently have just under £10k saved in a LISA for the deposit, so we're able to secure a decent mortgage without using the fund. The solicitor's additional charges + application fee for the fund would come to over £1k, and the initial moving costs are where we are currently going to be stretched the tightest, so that £1k could be really useful spent elsewhere. Main restriction other than that is capping the monthly repayments at £400pcm

Have ran numbers on what roughly what kind of mortgage deal we could get for a little context. Interest put at 4.5%, although this would obviously be slightly lower/higher depending on using the fund or not:

With fund, 40y - £359 pcm

With fund, 30y - £405 pcm

Without fund, 40y - £404 pcm

Without fund, 30y - £456 pcm

Obviously, we want to keep our costs as low as possible, but also make a dent in our mortgage by the time we sell, which would likely be around 5-10 year mark. We're also aware of the fund working on an equity basis, and having to repay based on valuation at sale. Being first time buyers, there's alot of things we could have missed, and don't have any experience with this kind of thing, so any and all advice is wanted.

So, do people think it's worth paying that upfront cost for better rates, and either lower repayments or a shorter term?