Protecting Public From Wild Animals In City Venues

It would be helpful if Florida's legislation could protect tourists and residents and therefore Florida's tourist industry.

As a travel writer I've previously had problems with writing an article and then tourists are attacked.

What might happen if I write any article recommending Florida?

First, I must decide whether I want to go. We arrived for the first trip to Florida and were at a hotel with our son who was then a child. He left us with a sandwich in his hand and went through the hotel's exit doors towards a lake. After a few moments I wanted to be sure where he was and dashed after him. I was horrified to see a sign by the nearby water warning of crocodiles - didn't even know that Florida had any - none in New York on my previous trip. Worse still was a sign warming against throwing food which was what my child was about to do.

The lady who got killed was not even feeding animals, just walking along.

I should not recommend a place I myself would hesitate to visit. I haven't got the enthusiasm and don't want to have arguments with people.

It's a question of morality.

Also it's a waste of my time as I probably won't be able to sell or even publish an article if there is a major news story.

I or the newspaper might get sued. Therefore many newspapers will refuse to take articles.

The advertisers don't want to be alongside this kind of news story.

Then advertisers pull out because the tour operators pull out.

That's because the travel insurers pull out .

Businesses forbid employees to travel without insurance so the airlines can't fill seats.

What do you think?

Low wash could leave 'germs' in wash

Today's article in Daily Mail and probably numerous other sources.

I read all two pages of comments which took me ages.

Here's a summary of what I learned from the articles and readers' comments and answers:

Objections to hot washes:

1 Heat - Hot wash destroys clothes. Some countries (USA and Asia) have machines which only operate limited cycles or on cold.

2 Time - Hot wash takes too long.

3 Survival - Rubbish - we've survived thousands of years.

4 Cold - cold water is OK - Yes, people wash clothes in cold rivers.

5 I'm OK - Rubbish - despite this I'm healthy.

6 We're OK - Where R the sick!

7 Blame - blame the manufacturers, overpaid scientists, media.

Supporters of hot washes say:

1 To not destroy lycra and elastic or synthetic gym clothes and sportwear and stop gym clothes smelling use one third Milton tablet on sportswear.

Cold rivers are flowing water and my flat's not riverside.

2 Time - run the hot wash with white sheets in it. Buy white sheets. For quickly separating cloths have separate laundry baskets.

3 People did not survive. Millions died of plague; complications of 1918 flu.

4 Clothes might look clean but still smell.

5 You may be OK but you are one family. Others have illness - as doctors and hospitals and cemeteries show. You might be survivors - always somebody who survived WWII or ran across a road and was OK. We must speak for the ones who didn't survive and prevent those who are vulnerable and in poor health getting worse and help them stay in work and healthy and happy

6. Cemeteries show cause of death. My family history shows once child in ten dying and men dying aged 50. Students may survive but babies, people in third world countries and the over 50s die. MRSA doesn't kill you but kills over 50s in hospitals.

7 Thanks - scientists are paid less than bankers and sports personalities and can save our lives. I had a problem with black mould in washing machine. Now I have the suggested answers:

Pull out powder/liquid tray to check gunk; leave door open after use to air machine; see and clean black mould from rubber ring around machine door closing area, run a hot wash (with or without clothes).

Grease melts at 40 degrees.

Bleach removes limescale clogging machine/pipes.

Spirit vinegar/citric acid products likewise.

Soda crystals.

Keep undies and baby clothes separate from tea-towels,

White sheets and white tee-towels can be boil-washed.

Separate synthetic clothes.

Separate clothes which might shrink or fade.

Olden days we had cotton clothes, a big copper pot and washerwoman (or male dhoby in Singapore - Angela) or wash day when boiled water was used in butler's pantry sink.

These 'facts' are only derived from the manufacturers' claims readers' comments. Please check for yourself manufacturers' claims, cross-referenced with scientific articles.

Ebay problem selling armchair

I've had great success buying clothes and shoes on ebay. But so far no success selling.

I wanted to sell an armchair.

The site had emailed me offering free listing over the weekend.

They should have warned me that a first time seller should try to list the item early in the day because their online support ends at 6 pm.

I could not get the armchair listed as collect only.

My Wishlist Visit. Songwriters' Museum to 'Amazing Grace' Newton and Cowper who wrote Variety is the Spice of Life

Had you heard of Cowper (pronounced Cooper) and Newton - I hadn't, but I had heard of Amazing Grace, by Newton, and God Moves In A Mysterious Way by William Cowper.

Newton

John Newton was a sailor and slave trader who got caught in a storm and converted to Christianity. (That's lucky. Be careful what you wish for. He might have promised to convert to bestiality, incest or folk dancing.) Joking apart, he was a good soul who campaigned against slave trading and advised and encouraged the even better known anti slave trade campaigner Wilberforce.

Cowper

Cowper, (1731-1800) a leading poet, fore-runner of the Romantics, and probably an influence on Wordsworth's Prelude, also wrote the comic ballad John Gilpin. He kept three hares 'which on winter evenings would play on the parlour carpet,' says the leaflet. He wrote, "I am monarch of all I survey" and "variety is the spice of life".

If you are looking for some variety, visit the museum and its shop.

Open Tues-Sat 10.30 am-4.30 from March 1-Dec 23. Open Bank hol Mondays and shrove Tues (pancake day). Closed good Friday.

Admission prices (from leaflet in Oct 2011) £4 adult, concessions £3.25. Children 5-16 £1. Under fives free. Garden only £1.50. School and group bookings. See website or phone museum for the latest prices.

Having driven around Milton Keynes looking in vain for sculptures of concrete cows, it's good to know that nearby one can find a museum of such wide interest: lace, songwriting, motivation, abolition of slavery, Christianity, history, humour and a garden with plant sales.

The Cowper and Newton Museum, 

Orchard Side, 

Market Place, 

Olney, 

Milton Keynes MK46 4AJ, 

Bucks. 

Tel/fax: 01234 711516.

More memorials to Cowper

Death and memorials[edit]

Stained-glass window in St Nicholas's Church, East Dereham

Cowper was seized with dropsy in the spring of 1800 and died. He is buried in the chapel of St Thomas of Canterbury, St Nicholas's Church in East Dereham, and a stained-glass window there commemorates his life.^[2]

In St Peter's Church in Berkhamsted there are two windows in memory of Cowper: the east window by Clayton & Bell (1872) depicts Cowper at his writing desk accompanied by his pet hares, and bears the inscription "Salvation to the dying man, And to the rising God" (a line from Cowper's poem "The Saviour, what a noble flame"); and in the north aisle, an etched glass window is inscribed with lines from "Oh! for a closer walk with God" and "The Task". In the same church there is also a memorial tablet to the poet's mother, Ann Cowper.^[15][16] Cowper is also commemorated (along with George Herbert) by another Clayton & Bell stained-glass window in St George's Chapel, Westminster Abbey.^[17][18]

In 1823, Cowper's correspondence was published posthumously from the original letters in the possession of his kinsman John Johnson.^[19][20]

Near the village of Weston Underwood, where Cowper once resided, is a folly named Cowper's Alcove. The folly was built by the Lord of the Manor of Weston House, a member of the Throckmorton family in 1753.^[21] Cowper is known to visit here frequently for inspiration for his poetry. The alcove is mentioned in Cowper's "The Task".^[22] The folly was dedicated to Cowper by the Buckinghamshire county council green belt estate, and a plaque with the verse from "The Task" referencing the alcove was installed.

Useful Websites: 

www.cowpernewtonmuseumorg.uk

The Heritage Lottery Fund contributes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cowper

Toby Carvery, Denham

Spacious - easy to find a table.

The starter of melon was not available so I had to go for the chicken liver pate which cost more and had more calories.

Carvery. I had turkey and roast potatoes with vegetables. Other options were beef and pork/gammon?

Desserts include:

Crumble.

Eton mess with real fruit, meringue and cream at reasonable prices.

If you are on a budget, haven't booked, want a quiet corner, this is the place.

It's on the motorway and not in Uxbridge.

They serve acceptable wines by the glass including a medium sweet rose.

Toby Carvery Denham

Oxford Road

Denham

Uxbridge

UB9 4LJ

tel:01895 832623

The Roald Dahl Museum And Story Centre

The museum is in a pretty village with historic inns and colourful artsy little boutique shops selling books, toys, clothes, gifts, furniture, bric a brac and even colourful spectacle frames.

The shop has a big collection of toys and books. I found a kit for turning balloons into animal shapes (always wondered how they did that - my new party trick), as well as a great selection of books such as The Gruffalo.

Everybody around here seems very well-spoken and well-behaved. The schoolchildren visiting the museum are kept busy drawing and cutting out and schoolchildren are given a little ideas book in which each child can write their story ideas and stick a photo of the face of a character - both of which Roald Dahl did. The booklet even has yellow lined writing paper like Dahl's.

If you are a writer or interested in writers, whether or not you are a Roald Dahl fan, you will probably enjoy the videos of various writers describing how they work.

My Memory Aid For Spelling Roald Dahl

If you've had trouble remembering the spelling of either the first name or surname or both, remember that the names Ronald and Roald are Norse for ruler's wise adviser. Drop the N from Ronald and you have Ro-ald.

The second vowel, a, is in the second name or surname. D-A-HL.

What about the last two letters of the surname? Although the first name, roald, has the 'l' first, the 'l' is second in the second name or surname. Alternatively think of it as a shortened form of the words hall, hell and hill. Da H L.

Last tip: the first name ends with D. The second name starts with D. So the website name has a double D. Roal-D D-ahl. roalddahlmuseum.org

Your Roald Dahl trail:

Roald Dahl Museum. Roald Dalh grave in The parish Church of St Peter & St Paul. Flat on the ground gravestone (which you can see in the Wikipedia article on the author).

The Nag's Head Country Inn & Restaurant

Dahl's local pub was the 15th century Nag's Head where I enjoyed a tasty meal and was intrigued by drawings illustrating Dahl's books. The pub also features in the film about The Fantastic Mr Fox. The price range includes a lot of pricey items as you might expect from a restaurant with several accolades and being in an upmarket area, so if you are on a budget keep an eye on what you are ordering. The bedrooms are lovely. Check it out in Michelin, AA guides, trustedplaces/yell.com

Before going to the Dahl museum on your way to check into a hotel, check whether the Nag's Head or another hotel or another is including a free visit or two for one offer on a visit to the museum. You might find the offer on the hotel's website or a brochure. That could save you anything from £4/£5 to a lot more.

If you don't have time to see everything, and are likely to make more than two visits, or two visits plus some purchases from the shop or teashop, consider buying a friend's ticket, which gives you unlimited visits for a year plus 10% off your shop purchases and teashop purchases.

Writing Tips I Learned

1 Keep an ideas book.

2 Use a photo or face picture cut from a newspaper or magazine for your heroes, heroines - or villains.

3 Exaggerate the qualities of your heroes and villains.

4 Write about unusual animals, insects, people or monsters.

Diary Dates

September 13th is Roald Dahl Day, celbrating his bithday nationwide, with events and activities at the museum.

www.roalddahlday.info

Cream teas at the Church of St Peter & St Paul, Gt Missenden. Easter Sunday and every Sunday from May to September.

www.missendenchurch.org.uk

Museum Shop and Cafe Twit open to all

The Roald Dahl Museum & Story Centre

81-83 High Street, Great Missenden

HP16 OAL

Tel:01494 892192

www.roalddahlmuseum.org

www.roalddahlstore.com

****

What else to do in the area?

Amersham - was in Midsomer Murders and Four Wedding and a Funeral.

Amersham Museum has a Tudor house hall and medicinal herb garden. Amersham Museum, 49 High Street, Amersham, HP7 ODP, museum tel:01494 723700

www.amershammuseum.org curator@amershammuseum.org

What's FREE!

1.) Free parking outside Milton's Cottage when visiting it.

2.) Free entry to Wycombe Museum: Priory Avenue, High Wycombe, Bucks HP13 PX, tel 01494 421895.

website: wycombe.gov.uk/museum e-mail: museum@wycombe.gov.uk

3.) Bucks County Museum Church St, Aylesbury HP20 2QP, tel:01296 331441,wwwbuckscc.gov.uk/museum

free exhibitions on local history about the county. But a charge is made for the Dahl kids gallery which in midweek is only for schools. (Crawl along Fantastic Mr Fox's tunnel'). Gift shop and garden cafe

Spanley Spencer Museum: stanleyspencer.org.uk (about £5 each entry).

More Hotels

Hotels with pools and / or family rooms were:

Crowne Plaza, Marlow, was cheapest

Holiday Inn, High Wycombe M40 Junction 4, Crest Road, Handycross, High Wycombe, Bucks HP11 1TL, tel +44 (0) 871 942 9042 www.holidayinn.co.uk . central reservations +44 (0)800 40 50 60

Holiday Inn, Aylesbury

Bellhouse, Beaconsfield

Novotel Milton Keynes.

Roald Dahl Day Sept 13 - see later post.

Author of this blog and and other blogs:
Angela Lansbury, author of 20 books, travel writer and photographer, speaker. Please share posts.

Milton's Cottage - Paradise Lost Found

Photos by Angela Lansbury. Copyright Angela Lansbury 2011.

' They also serve who only stand and wait'

' To be blind is not miserable; not be be able to bear blindness, that is miserable.'

'The mind can make a heaven out of hell, or a hell out of heaven.'

John Milton ( December 9 1608- November 8 1674.)

John Milton's Cottage - Paradise Lost Found

Writer Raold Dahl's Museum & Story Centre in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire was our destination for an afternoon drive out of London, but, as we tootled along the highway a helpful sign told us that nearby was another writer's home, John Milton's Cottage.

The picturesque village of Chalfont St Giles is where the blind literary genius moved from London in 1665 to escape the Great Plague. He was already blind, but a well-known poet and Parliamentarian, and finished Paradise Lost and began Paradise Regained in this house. Although he was here only about 15 months, it is his only existing home.

Even if you don't have time for a tour, take a quick look in the tiny shop in the entrance hall. I bought a tee towel, then spotted a 250 piece wooden jigsaw showing Milton's Cottage in 1774, containing 'whimsy' pieces including a musical instrument. www.jigsaws.co.uk

Just inside the door you can read a plaque about how Queen Victoria supported and donated to the original plan to preserve Milton's cottage. A glass case shows the signatures of royal visitors. Prince Charles came here on a day out which included a visit to Bletchley Park. You can read about that royal visit on the web. More on Milton is in Wikipedia.

The museum is on the ground floor only, looked like about four rooms. The upstairs is occupied by the curator. The building is a grade 1 listed building. the gardens are also listed, grade 2.

You can stroll around the cottage garden at the back which contains flowers mentioned in Milton's poems, laurel, myrtle, iris, roses and more, in lines from Paradise Lost, quoted on the website. The latest news is that Warner Brothers are making a film of Paradise Lost in Canada, so, they say, visit the cottage before the rush.

Getting to Milton's Cottage

By car: A 413 London Road. the website shows a map but it's hard to find the postcode you need for your satnav.) 21 Deanway, Chalfont St Giles, Bucks, HP8 4 JH.

By train: London transport Baker Street to Amersham and bus 353 to Chalfont St Giles. Or Baker Street to Chalfont & Latimer and taxi to cottage. British Rail, Marylebone to Gerrards Cross then to Chalfont St Giles take bus 305 or 353 or a taxi.

Free car park behind the cottage.

Opening times:

Open daily except Monday March 1st-October 31st. Closed January, February, November and December. Open Spring and Summer Bank Holidays.

Hours 10-1 and 2-6 with last entry at 5 pm.

What it costs you:

Your fare. (Free parking)

Entrance fee: 2011 admission prices. adults £5, children under 15, £3, . parties of 20 or more £4 each.

Souvenirs: Books, tee-towel about £3.50; jig-saw about £20.

www:miltonscottage.org

email: info@ miltonscottage.org

Food

Cheapest food I could see nearby: 24 hour supermarket, Tesco?

Heading back to London, Toby carvery serves breakfasts, lunches, and queue up carvery dinners. (Reduced daytime prices if you are seated before 7 pm.)

Upmarket and expensive restaurants and hotels are plentiful. Try laterooms.com

web: www.miltonscottage.org

ANGELA LANSBURY'S OTHER TRAVEL TRIPS & TALES

For more of my travel tales, look for my older websites (some restaurant details are out of date because the older sites block the creators from gaining access and making changes). The most up to date blogs are on this site, blogger.com which has several subject sections and more travel and restaurant reviews are on my Apple generated site, web.me.com.annalondon8

If you enjoyed this travel trip and travel tales blog, look on Lulu.com for Jewish Travel Tales & Guidebook, a graves and homes of famous biblical and recent characters, Jews, or those with jewish descent or connections worldwide A-Z (Albania - Muslim's message in melon saves Jew in WWII - see Angela Lansbury speaking on You Tube, to Zimbabwe, Queen of Sheba's graves in Africa) in London, UK and beyond, including: diarist Anne Frank (Amsterdam, Netherlands-Auschwitz, Poland, Belsen, Germany); Levi of jeans fame (Germany); Disraeli, Bevis Marks Synagogue, London's East End, home in Bucks.

lulu.com angela lansbury author Jewish travel