What To Do With Cars To Keep Children Safe

I'd heard about children being accidentally left behind in cars for a long time. But here's a new caution. Preventing children from climbing into unlocked cars.

Why would anybody leave a car unlocked?

1 In a hurry. 

2 No crime in your area.

3 Prefer to leave the car open because otherwise thieves will smash the windows to get in.

Empty the car completely, at home and in public car parks. Not one item, not a pen, hat. Nothing.

Your car should look empty.  Just an empty car as if you hired it for an hour or emptied it. The message is, don't waste your time and risk getting caught. Move on to something more interesting.

4 Hands full of shopping.

5 Forgot.

6 Don't have children.

7 My children are indoors.

8 No children in the car.

Sad news from Georgia in the USA about a child leaving the house and climbing into a car, then unable to get out. Hot summer day. In any case, cars can get hotter than the ouside with a person inside breathing and the windows trapping heat, and all that metal getting hot. 

The story does not make it clear whether the car is theirs, the child's family or somebody else's. A neighbour or a stranger who parked nearby. A tiny a child is more likely to go to a nearby car, and the car it already knows and gets into regularly, children like climbing into vehicles and exploring.

Either way, the same thing can happen. 

A focused organisation deals specifically with cars and child safety. Kids and Car Safety. Read their advice.

Useful Websites

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14859103/Kameron-Jamel-Williams-dead-hot-car-Georgia.html

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Writing poems while waiting at airports, stations and bus stops - Honey Bees comical poem by Angela Lansbury

 

When you are sitting waiting for a train or bus, you can write a poem or a song.

I don't like to show my phone in public places. So I write in pencil in a notebook or diary. I copy onto my phone or blog later. 

I also write on planes, whilst listeming to country music.

I wrote this today.

I heard a little buzzing bee

And that reminded me of me

When you are buzzing at my door

And then I thought and thought some more

I was waiting at the bus stop

The bus would take me to my train

I thought of the bus number

Then a poem floats again

I saw a little honey bee

And that's like you, calling on me

I'm your honey and you're my bee

And that's the way it's meant to be

You might be asking, are you late

You might be say, don't make us wait

And then a saw a flying fly

Annoying me as it flew by

I thought of us and wondered why

I think of you and doubt and sigh

I wonder if you'll fly away

And leave me all alone one day

I've thoughts which I don't like to say

I want to have a happy day

I heard you buzzing at my door

I thought my happy thoughts once more

As all who know us, say they see

We look just like two honey bees

I think you're wise, You think I'm funny

I like your eyes, I am your honey

We are just like two honey bees

The perfect pair, just you and me.

-ends-

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My books are on lulu.com and amazon.com

Check Angela Lansbury poet quote best man 

Who is guarding your house while you are away? Lights, cameras, action!

 Nobody should hit anybody in the face or head. Even if they dare or invite a fight. You risk disloding teeth, breaking a nose, damaging eyes or brain, the victim falling and hitting their head, long term idisabilities are said to be caused by blows to the head. 

When I held a 21st birthday at my parents house, my parents said they would be home at midnight. Even so, whilst dancing, somebody accidentally kicked the glass pain at the bottom of the sliding doors into the living room.

Remembering that, I thought there might be accidental damage to our house with large numbers at a party held by our son, without adult supervision by sober adults.

When our son wanted to hold a party at our house, we told him to hire a venue .

We flew half way around the world, from Singapore to the UK, to stop damage to our property, our son and guests.

We now have lights which come on  when something moves. plus a doorbell camera. We can be the other side of the world and see who is on the doorstep. If necessary we can phone the neighbours or the police or our family.

Many people also install alarms, and indoor cameras.

What you want will depend on the area you need to cover. 

Close up Doorbell Cameras

Close up on the doorstep. To note delivieries. Post arrival. Attempted break-ins. Unwanted visitors. Hooligans. Vandals.  

Wide Angle Cameras

Or your whole driveway covering your car, or cars, fence, wall, gate.

We had our gate post knocked down. We thought it was a large vehicle. Maybe from a nearby building site, building a new house. We could not prove it. 

You might want a camera up high, so nobody can touch it, but you can reach it to adjuct the direction.

If you are ordering a new system before you travel overseas on business or holiday, or emigrate, or leave the children alone for a party, allow time . You need to await delivery. See if you have a suitable wall for installation. Drill holes in the wall. Adjust it. Connect it to your phone. Read the instruction booklet. Try out recording yourselves wallking up to the front door.

Useful Websites

Just one example from Amazon.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aqara-Doorbell-Included-Recognition-Automation

An overview

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

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Starting Spanish

Italian flag

 I switched from learning Spanish on Duolingo to learning Italian for a year for a trip to Italy which was cancelled. Now I have just finished learning the Italian from the Duolingo course and I have gone back to Spanish.

This time I am more methodical. A few days ago I wanted to say goodnight to my husband in Italian and could not rmember the Italian for good night. He was astonished and said, "After a year of Italian, you still can't say good night!" 

I wrote down the Italian for good night on a piece of paper and put it by his bed on the bedside talbe (which Americans call a night stand). I wrote it again for myself, to go on my bedside table. 

When I switched to Spanish, I wrote the Italian for good night, and good morning.

Italian - English

ciao - hello/goodbye

buon giorno - good morning (literally good day)

buona notte - good night

Spanish - English

hola (silent h)  - hello/goodbye

buenas noches - good night

buenos dias - good day/morning

I think of Spain, Espana, with  the letter s. Add s for plurals, like Los Angeles, the city, which means the angels. 

Dia is day and dias is days. Day has the letter A second in Spanish.

Now, as soon as I think of good night or good morning in English, either the Italian or Spanish for good night or good day will pop into my head. How do I remember the difference is spelling of the word good for night and day, and which is Spanish and which is Italian.

I thought I'd check out the Portugese. Very close to Spanish. In spelling and pronounciation.

Handy in both Europe, in Portugal, and in South America in Brazil

Portuguese - English

olá - hello

Your next steps

Useful Websites Languages For Travellers

Duolingo.com

wikitravel phrasebook Italian 

wikitravel phrasebook Spanish 

wikitravel phrasebook Portuguese

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The Importance of Spelling and Pronunciation For Travellers

 Some languages are phonetic, meaning the words are written the way they sound. That's fine, good if everybody in the coutnry pronounces the word the same way. It makes life easy for the tourist, when reading a sign or saying a word.

Italian Pronunciation

The Italians often pronounce the last syllable but one. Especially with ia. Maria. Trattoria.

However, to make yourself understood, often you need to pronounce the word like the locals. Even the name of their city. 

French Pronunciation

For example, in England we call the French capital Paris, as it is written. The French drop the last letter and say the vowel i like ee, Pa-ree. The French emphasize the last syllable.

I call London, London. If you asked me for Londra, I would have trouble understanding. I would be thinking launder, laundry?

 Once I had a pupil who came to me for English lessons, O level. I pointed out that Shakespeare ended with the letter e. She got very angry. She exclaimed, 'What does it matter!" 

The Importance of English Spelling

It matters a lot. Firstly, if I have to grade papers in an exam. Some exams pass you if you reach a certain standard. Other exams are competitions, selection exams, giving more marks to the best of a group of applicants for a job, In that case, if two candidates are otherwise equal, I will give extra marks to the careful worker who gets the spelling right. 

Names In Hospitals

Secondly, what happens when you are in a responsible job?  If you are treating patients at a hospital, sending an unconscious person for an oeration, or giving mothers the right baby, you must be sure to spell the name right.  

Correct Names In Restaurants, Hotels and Plane Ticket Bookings

Sometimes the hotel does not have your booking. I print off my reservation confirmation as a precaution. Once I was at the wrong Holiday Inn in Phoenix. I had not realised how llarge the city was. I saw a sign to holiday Inn and we drove in. Only after looking at the reservation form, did the receptionist realise that we were at the wrong branch of the hotel chain.

Another common misunderatnding comes from first names and family names. In Asia the family name comes first. My husband's first name is Trevor. I am often addressed as Mrs Trevor. 

At the time it is very stressful. Especially if the restaurant or hotel turns you away. But in retrospect you may find it funny and laugh.

Rude Pronunciation

In London I live near a road called Grimsdyke. An Indian friend pronounced it Grim's dick. I had to point out that a dyke is like a dam, a ridge with a ditch, a boundary, whilst a dick is an English slang term for a part of male anatomy.

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Last Lessons In Italian On Duolingo - what have I learned?

 The flag of Italy, the tricolore or three colour flag.

I have spent a year learning Italian on Duolingo. I am now near the end of the course and am going back to learning Spanish, which is similar to Italian.

What have I learned about Italian? First, the plurals. I have learned that spaghetti is plural, masculine plural. That's easy to remember.

Many words are the same as English. For example, 

Italian - English

idea - idea

radio - radio 

In Italian the adjective often comes after the noun.

The letters J and K and w x y are not in Italian words and only exist in Italian publications in foreign place names and words.

Italian is similar to Latin. I remember learning amo, amas amat in school, which means I love, you love, he, she or it loves. So, I love is the verb with o on the end. The technical term for an added ending is a suffix, Anything fixxed on the front of a word is a prefix.

Learning other languages helps you to understand your own language.

When learning French at school I used to get confused by the techical term pluperfect. I now realise that is is short for plus perfect. or more than perfect. The Italians have a good word for it.

It is the long ago tense. In English for example, thik of the teacher asking if you did your homework. You reply with the simple past, 'Yes I did it.' The past tense of do is did. 

The teacher asks, 'Did you do it yesterday?'

You reply, 'No, I had already done it last week."

That's the distant past or previous past. Had done.

I did it yesterday. But I had done the rest of the tasks the day before yesterday.

Do. Did. Had done.

Sometimes people get confused. They hear the words did and done which they associate with the past action. So they say, I done it. I have heard a gardener and a builder say I done it. People who work with their hands rather than studying do not have detailed and analytical knowledge or language.

I wonder how to tell them politely. Would they be angry or grateful.

At meetings of Toastmasters International.

Useful Websites

1 duolingo.com

2 wikivoyage phrasebook Italian

3 Translate google 

I shall add more thoughts on Italian in my next post tomorrow. You can also read several other posts I have written about Italian during the past year.

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Ciao. Arrivederci. Buona notte.

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Greek Words on your maps - from Atlanta to Georgia

Greek flag

 It's amazing how much Greek English speaking people know and recognize without even ever having learned Greek. Let's look at some familiar placenames, including those in the USA.

Atlanta - the USA city in Georgia, the capital, 

Georgia - from the Ancient greek word Georgeos meaning farmer

Cyprus = Greek word from which we get copper which came from there

Marathon - Greek place from which we get the word Marathon (a Greek man ran to give news of a vicgtory)

Olympics - from a place in Greece, Olympia - still a tourist attraction, with traces of original running tracks

Useful Websites

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

https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/i2w2j9/15_common_words_which_originate_from_placenames/

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Latin Words On Your Maps and in newspapers - from Argentina and Australia to Peninsula

Flag of Italy

In Italy and all over Europe and the Middle East you will find place names connected with the romans. But the Latin language has inclusenced names in many other places as well, including American and Australia.

Australia = southern, from the Latin terra australis meaning southern land

agriculture - from the Latin word for field, ager

Aquarium = from the Latin word aqua meaning water

 Argentina = the country, from the Latin word, argent, for silver

Horticultural centre = garden centre, from hortus, Latin for garden

island - from the Latin word for island isla

peninsula - almost an island, a finger-shape piece of land sticking out into the sea, from the Latin words paena meaning almost and the Latin word for island

Victoria was the Roman goddess of victory. From Queen Victoria we get numerous placenames, such as Victoria state in Austrlia, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England. The Victoria Falls in Africa are in several countries, and will be in travel histories and old guidebooks when renamed on maps in later years.

Useful Websites

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

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Why And How To Learn A Romance Language

Lovely Latin

What us is Latin? I was disappointed at being in a Lati class at my girls' grammar school. I wanted to learn Spanish, a living language. However Latin has proved useful. In addiion to reading Roman inscriptions in museums ad Roman ruins around the world. Latin is the basis of te romance languages. Romance, from Rome. 

Latin is a simple language. Like Italian. Amo, amas, amat. I love, you love, he, she or it loves. You don't need to add the Italian for I, just add the letter o on the end of the verb.

I learned Latin at school. Ager means field and hortus means garden. So agriculture is to do with farmers and farming and fields, whislt hortidculture is to do with gardening. What use are the romance languages. 

Plant names are mostly Latin. When I discovered that prunus meant plum, 

How long will it take you? 

Let's suppose you are going on holiday to Italy next year, and want to devote an hour a day to learning Italian. An hour a day for 365 days brings you to the elementary level. What is you need five years to become fluent! that's discouraging. 

However, look at it another way. Fistly, it took you five years before you started school and could talke basic English or your first language.

Look at it yet another way. Do you plan to live to 70 or more years old. If you are under fifty years old, you could devote five years to each of three languages. By the time you retire, you can tell everyone you know, including your grandchildren, that you speak four languages.\\

The Italian Flag

Italian

The Italian flag is known as the tricolore, meaning three colours. In a restaurant (ristorante) your starter might consist of red tomatoes, white feta cheese and an item of grren salad (insalta) .

Useful Websites

I have several posts on learning the Italian language.

Duolingo

wikivoyage phrasebook Italian

Google translate

https://languatalk.com/blog/italian/how-long-does-it-take-to-learn-italian-fluently/

Turner Gallery at Sandy Sutheast Margate & Turner in London

The Turner Gallery

 The Turner Gallery in Margate is the  attraction credited with being the key to launching Margate as a revived attraction on Englan'd south east coast. Why put a Turner Gallery in Margate. Because that's where Turner grw up and went to school, lived on the sea front and went back throughout his life.

I associate Turner with water and skies and swirling lines and misty views of London. 

The Turner Gallery is a big, bold building. It holds rotating exhibitions so you should see something new on a first or returning visit.

It's easy to get to, being near the railway station.

Margate's Attractions

What else is in Margate? A former police station is now a museum. Margate was famous for its funfair. But with summer sun in June 2025, the sandy beach is the top attraction for families. So, indoors or outdoors, something for veryone to see at Margate. You can borrow wheelchairs onsite. 

The Turner Gallery's Best Features

I looked at the design of the gallery and wondered, why all straight lines? Why not restful soothing curves, like the Guggenheim in New York, the sails of Sydney opera house, Gaudi's cathedral, and houses? Then I thought, to hang pictures you need flat walls. At least it has a sloping roof to cope with England's rain. You would not want a flat roof gallery liable to leaks onto the artwork underneath.

All those steps! Maybe there's a lift for wheelchairs in that tower next to the steps on the right.

The gallery offers visitors a cafe, restaurant, free entry and free exhibitions. 90 minutes by train from London. 

The restaurant has a sea view. You can see their menu online.

You can check their prices, the Indian dishes, drinks including coffees and Prosecco.  

The food is not particuarly cheap, 6 to 10 pounds on the breakast and lunch menus, but the gallery is free, so heigh ho.

What if you don't care for Turner? The weird thing is that they don't have ermanent Turner Paintings on display. 

Instead the Turner Gallery in Margate regularly show works inspired by Turner. And they run free workshop events for children in some afternoons. 

Turner Contemporary Gallery, Margate.

Their webstite says step free access. The nearest car park is 5 minutes away and makes a charge. It is near the lifeboat station. You can borrow wheelchairs onsite.

Turner Art in London

If you want to see Turner pictures, the gallery with the largest collection is the Tate Modern in London. So you might go there first, and follow up with the Margate landscape and seascape which surrounded Turner when he grew up. Turner bequeathed (left in his will) his paintings to the nation, and you can see them in the Tate Modern aas well as in the National Gallery which is on Trafalgar Square in central London.

Useful Websites

https://turnercontemporary.org/visit-us/accessibility#wheelchair-and-physical-access

The Tuerne Gallery's Louise Food

https://www.louieonsea.com/about/

https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/joseph-mallord-william-turner#:~:text=Turner%20bequeathed%20much%20of%20his,are%20now%20at%20Tate%20Britain.

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https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2025/06/turner-gallery-at-sandy-sutheast-margate.html

Preparing For delays - address cards, books, card games, puzzles

 Do you have plans for delays? You might be delayed at a train or bus station or an airport. The time passes quicker, and you have less stress if you are prepared. For example with a book. 

Notebook and Diary

You can spend your time creating a diary in a notebook. Write numbers on the pages. List the numbers don the first page, the reverse, if necessary onto a second page. Or use the black inside cover, if it's blank. Note the journey  and sites to see in pencil on the way out. On the way back, tick the ones visited or write in pen. 

Caption your photos. Add names, dates, locations. Write on the edges of photos you have been given. Read leaflets, and entry tickets, and receipts from restaurants and hotels, to find dates and addresses, correct spellings

Learn Languages

Copy signs around the station or aiport. Copy words from brochures in your pockets, or free leaflets from tourism stands. Check maps on the internet.

Whilst delayed, you might make friends with others seating or standing nearby. After several hours together you may wish to exchange details of your phone number, business name or address. Have business cards in a handy pocket, always the same one. A place for everything and everything in its place. If you are running out of cards, ask them to photo graph your card and put your phone in their contacts list. Before leaving home, find your cards and check the address, phone number and email are up to date. You can delate neatly using Tippex, or cut off the bottom of the card, or score neatly with a ruler, or add lots of black hosontl oines so the crossing ou looks like part of a pattern.

If you have no cards, Cut your name off envelopes, letters addressed to you. 

Or print out your name and address multiple times on a cheet of A4 or A5 paper. You don't need to type it many times. Type it once and copy it once. then you have two. Copy that and from copyint twice you have four. Copy that a third time and you have 8, Copy that a fourth time and you have 16. 

To Cut A Neat Ege

Be sure to cut up neatly. You might like to make a faint pencil line. Cut with  guillotine or large scissors. If necessary, use a soft putty type eraser, or a rubber band, to rub away the pencil mark. Make sure you do not smudge any ink. 

Puzzles

You can buy books of puzzles.

 Or save your own.

 Or download optical illusions from Wikipedia. 

Or try to drawsomething similar. What's the secret? I would suggest 

1 Outline mountains and a river, or a tree, or a house with curtains. 

2 Then add faces. Or animals. 

3 Then link up with straight and cuvy darker lines to confuse the viewer.

 Keep a separate printout with the answers.

You can drwa other members of your family. Failing all else, draw yourself, using your obile to take a picture of yourself and copy it. You could try smiing, frowning, looking surprised, different expresssions.

Travel Tip

Pack notebooks, lined for keeping a diary, and unlined for drawing. Pack pencils and pens. Have a brightly coloured container in your larger tote bag so you can quickly get out and put back your diary or drawing materials.

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Wallace & Gromet Statue and Souvenirs

Go north in England and you can see a Wallace and Gromet seulpture at Preston Markets, Preston, Lancashire, England. 

 In London,, England you can buy Wallace and Gromet souvenirs at the souvenir shop by Embankment station.

Wallace and Gromit bronze sculpture in front of the Preston Markets, October 2021

Summary

[edit]

Description	Deutsch: Bronzestatuen von Nick Parks Knetfiguren Wallace und Gromit vor dem Eingang der Market Hall in Preston. Motiv nach dem Animationsfilm Die Techno-Hose English: Wallace & Gromit bronze sculpture in front of the Preston Markets, October 2021
Date	15 October 2021, 17:32:35
Source	Own work
Author	Bruce Lamberton

Souvenir Socks, Key-rings and Small and Lagre Souvenirs From London And England

 

Wallace and Gromit souvenirs. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Wallace and Gromit - who are they?

In case you don't know Wallace and Gromit, Wikipedia explains all. It's a British comedy series, about an inventor and his silent dog who makes expressions.

Socks were £12 for three pairs. Better value than similar prices for teeny Paddington Bear. 

Souvenir Socks

You can buy souvenir socks showing red phone boxes, red mail boxes (in the UK known as post boxes) guardsmen wearing the red top uniforms and big black hats and black trousers.

Statement socks, souvenir socks, and amusing socks, stand out against a plain colour outfit head to toe, if you dress all in black, black jeans and a black tee-shirt and black jacket, or blue denim jeans with a white tee shirt and denim jacket.

A choice of small sizes of Paddington Bear.

More, larger bears are in a large shop by the entrance to Paddington station.

Lots more souvenirs are in shops near the statue of Sherlock Holmes in front of Baker Street Station.

And others at kiosks near exits from Green Park Station.

Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace_%26_Gromit

https://www.lulu.com/shop/angela-lansbury/quick-quotations/paperback/product-1rejp7p8.html?srsltid=AfmBOorxnm2efyOoBqhxtQ7Z6O5RabS1n56T0z3bolKeWGRZUhlRecy0&page=1&pageSize=4

Please share links to your favourite poems and posts from this and my other blogs on blogspot. 

I have several books on poetry, quotations, wedding speeches, writing, and other subjects, in Lulu, Amazon, print on demand, in bookshops, ebooks or printed books which you can buy online or from me at meetings of Toastmasters International or the bookshop at Writers Summer School at Swanwick in the UK.

Travelling With Pills

 I take Thyroxine pills daily. When I travel I have several challenges. 

1 Remembering to pack them.  

2 Where to keep them handy. 

3 Knowing if I have taken the day's pill. 

4 Not getting arrested for taking in mystery pills, or forbidden pills, pills which might be for sale rather than personal use.  

5 Keeping pills cool in a hotel room in a tropical country when the hotel bedroom has no fridge.

6 Explaining what pills I want to a chemist shop assistant who speaks no English, eg Vietnamese. 

7 Finding pills in pockets or suitcases years later and not knowing if they are out of date. 

8 Having an extra pill to take first thing on an overnight flight home.

9 Having a pill at home when I get off the plane on a weekend or bank holiday.

10 Losing pills in delayed or lost luggage.

11 Finding foreign chemists cannot supply pills unless I have a doctor's prescription.

Now you are aware of the challenges, you can find suitable solutions.

Here's what I have done in the past. This is my reminder to myself. You must do what suits you and what your pill instructions and doctor advise.

Angela's System - Self Reminder

1 Place empty pill boxes in suitcases. When you pack, this reminds you to take the pills. If you forget to pack the pills, you can show the box to the pharmacist at the destination, or airport.

Write pills on the top of our packing list.

2 Keep pills handy in your jacket pocket, bag, or hand luggage.

3 Travel with a pill organizer. 

Options:

Write in your diary each day when you have taken the pill. Place inside each box the person who takes the pill, the type and/or brand of pill, vital reminder (eg not with grapefruit, one hour before eating). In case you leave the pill box in the suitcase and find it later and don't know how old the pills are, add the expiry date, which you can tear off the packet, and place inside one of the pill compartments, or sticky tape to the pill box.

4 Have a bottle of water on your hotel bedside table with the pill box beside it. Take the pill on rising, if the instructions tell you to take the pill half an hour or an hour before taking food. (That's so the pill is absorbed into your bloodstream, not carried out with the first churning of food out of your stomach.)

5 Take a copy of your prescription, showing that the pills are for you, and that a doctor has prescribed them. The cardboard pill box from your drug store might show your name and address, even if you have decanted the pills into a plastic pill box.

6 If there's no fridge in the hotel or conference bedroom, you could ask the reception or catering manager if you can store your pills in a food fridge or wine fridge. Label the box with your name, the date, and your room number and phone number.

Happy travelling.

You will find pill containers in the drug stores all over London.

Calcium & Vitamin D Chewable Tablets!

In a branch of Boots by the exit on the Baker Street side of Baker Street Station, I found chewable vitamin D tablets. Not my usual brand which are disc shaped.

These were vanilla flavoured. I still have my tubes from the other brand, and the tubes are a better shape for my bag, although longer, they are long and thin and less bulky.

Trafalgar Square and Charing Cross Station

 

Union Jack flying above Charing Cross station near Trafalgar Square. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Nelson's column, seen from the pavement near the exit from Charing Cross station. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Baker Street Station Sherlock Holmes Murals

 

Baker street underground station where a mural of tiles shows Sherlock Holmes wearing a deerstalker hat, with a pipe. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Baker Street underground station, London, England. Behind the bench is a mural of a story from Sherlock Holmes. On the left of the mural is a silhouette of Sherlock Holmes wearing a deerstalker hat, and with his pipe. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

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London souvenirs at Embankment station

 

Angela Lansbury beside a renovated mini painted red. Behind Angela is a mock up of a guard in his huge black hat and red and black uniform. Photo by Trevor Sharot. Copyright.

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Tfl promotion, of TFL and priority seating - please offer me a seat badge and card

 

Very clever ad.

Yes, priority seating was introduced in 2008. I checked on the internet on that date and facts.

I do like their promotion of priority seating.

This is the reminder sign of priority seating.

TFL is the abbreviation for Transport For London.

Priority Seat Badges

In London you can phone or fill in a form to be posted a badge. No questions asked. 

I am in my late seventies and nearly always get offered a seat. Whatever the family tell me about how young I look, when I smile at them which lifts my face, I know the truth. I have a line between my eyebrows. Another giveaway sign, when I don't uplift my face and mouth and brows by smiling, is a downwards line from both sides of my mouth. So the kind people on the train immediately see that I need a seat, especially if I lurch on.

Searching For A Seat On A Train 

When I get on I look anxious. I glance at the nearest seat on my left and right. And then down the line of seats. If the people in the priority seats look older than me, or asleep, often an alert person next them smiles and offers a seat. I always beam and eclaim, "Thank you! How kind of you!"

Useful Websites

https://tfl.gov.uk/transport-accessibility/please-offer-me-a-seat

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Keeping Children Safe - babysitters, cars, visits

 The news this week, this month, this year (2025) includes several stories of fatalities to minors.

1 A child left in a hot car for several hours in the USA. 

2 Three girls whose mother tried and failed to get an amber alert in the USA. 

3 An ex pupil who entered a school in Austria with weapons. 

Let's look at each event in turn. Consider what precautions are already in place and which changes might be made.

Babysitting Safety Photos

As a grandparents, when babysitting, I send a photo or a three-second video of the child eating, playing, sleeping, watching TV, every half hour to assure the parents that their child is safe and happy.  No need to worry or rush back. All is well.

Car Safety

Kindergardens' Videos For Security

A kindergarden set up a system so that parents could log in at a specified time and watch, and see a recording, of their own child playing alone (with other children whose faces are not seen) or with a teacher.

Schools & Secure Entrances

I went to talk about animals featured in my book of poems on animals to a priary school in Harrow. The school has a giant wall like a prison, and a double entry gate. 

You need an appointment, authorization from a teacher, and a code number to get in. You have to be met and escorted around the building to the empty classroom during break time to await the arrival of the teacher. 

Another teacher observes you and the lesson. If you leave to go to the toilet the observing teacher takes you there to show you the way and bring you back.

At the end you are escorted out. No parents, strangers, ex-pupils, are allowed to wander in.

Parents' Custody, Visitation Rights, We're Delayed Messages, Amber Alerts

It could be a rule, and condition of Visitation rights, that the other parent sends photos of activities during the visit. 

The parent returning the children should tell the other parent half an hour before the return time that they are on their way. Any delay should be reported, with a reason.

Sponsored Phones

Who would pay for everyone to have a phone, and payment to the network company? Seek sponsors. Police. Government. Lawyers. Go Fund Me. Local McDonalds. The cost is probably less than the cost of mountain a hunt for missing children and parents or carers.

Useful Websites

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14800217/Travis-Decker-search-Colchuk-Lake-Washington-tip.html

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Visit One Lake in 3 Countries, Lake Constance, in Switzerland, Germany & Austria

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Meersberg lower town on the side of Lake Constance. Photo from Wikipedia.

The landmark bear fountain on the hilltop upper town of Meersberg in Germany. Photo from Angela Lansbury.

From Meersburg in Germany you can take a ferry to Konstanz which is on the border with Switzerland.

Meersburg, Obersee. Ober as in over or upper. See as in sea or water. 

You will find lots to admire and learn in this area.

Meersburg

The bear is holding the town coat of arms.

Meersburg. 

Meer means lake or pool. Alternatively, castle o the sea. Burg is castle or manor. 

Meersburg is a medieval town attracting many tourists. The statue of the bear holds the town's coat of arms, which appears on stationery and official documents.

Meersburg has an upper and lower town with a steep pedestrian street and two sets of stairs. From the top there is a view from the castle. You must pay to go into the castle, but it's free to go to the cafe and you glimpse a bit of the castle en route.

Actually there are two castles. 

The Old Castle, Meersburg

The old castle reaches to the sky, overlooking the lake. The old castle has a statue outside of Writer Annette von Droste-Hülshoff. She wrote poetry and composed music. She is best known for her novella, The Jew's Beech, based on the true story of how a Jewish man was murdered and years later the murderer returned and hanged himself in the woods. 

Statue of Annette outside the castle.

Annette's book, The Jew's Beech.

The New Castle Meersburg

The second one is a grand pink block, with a wide oblong frontage. New in its day, the 1700s. Contains a hall of mirrors.

Look for the area's multi-site ticket..

Mesmer

A small oddity is the grave of Mesmer, from who we get the verb to mesmerise, meaning to hypnotise, as well as the term animal magnetism. And his experiments and the tests on his veracity, led to the discovery of the placebo effect.

Statues of Mesmer. Photos from Wikipedia.Polkadot tablecloth 

Baden

Baden is bath. Baden-Wuerttemberg. 

The origin of the name Wuerttemberg is possibly a man's hill. 

Lake Constance

Constance is also spelled Konstanz. From the city of Konstanz.

Lake Constance is Europe's third largest lake. Big with borders. One lake divided between three countries. Switzerland (eastern). Germany. Austria. A short drive from France.

The name of the lake comes from the city of Konstanz, named after the meeting which took place here. The city was named after a Roman emperor. We are famiiar with the name Constantine, associated with the first Christian Roman emperor. But his father has a similar name, Constantius.

BODEN SEE

Boden see, lake with a lake bed. 

Bodensee is not a place on Lake Constance, It's the German name for Lake Constance. See, think of sea.  

Also in the region, the grave of Mesmer, who inspired the word to mesmerise.

Where next?

Ferry ride.

Waterside grand building with museum about poet Annette.

Useful Websites

https://www.bodensee.eu/en/where-to-travel/lake-constance-cities/konstanz

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Meersburg

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

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

https://ashesfromburntroses.blogspot.com/2014/06/poetry-pentecost-by-annette-von-droste.html

Birthplace of Annette with museum about her

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annette_von_Droste-H%C3%BClshoff#/media/File:Burg_H%C3%BClshoff.jpg

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How to Identify Places In Old and New Travel Photos

 You may recall the title of the American comedy, If it's Tuesday, this must be Belgium.

Date Photos

That's your first clue to how to date photos. The magic word is date. 

A second important word is diary. You can write the names of places you visited in a small diary. It might be worthwhile to buy the smallest diary you can find just to keep your travel record. Then you don't need to write the date, just the name of the country, city, monument, or people met.

You can stick a Post it note on the page, or a paperclip. Or carry a small roll of sticky tape, and stick down place names cut or torn from brochures. 

Date Maps and Leaflets

Another system is to write the date on the top of brochures and maps you are given. Later you might wish to throw out last year's city map, and keep this year's. 

If you are a librarian or historian, you might file successive years of maps in date order, with the most recent on top in a box file. Then you can find the name of the hotel on the central square of a city you visited ten years ago, which has now changed its name or been replaced or converted.

Family Photos Of Travels

My first thought on trying to clear clutter is that I can throw out old, out of focus pictures. I can also discard pictures of my family silhouetted against windows.

In theory, you can take out of focus physical photos, copy them, bring them into focus, make them lighter, and colour them.

Add Colour To Photos

My husband has used a website, one of several similar sites, to colour old photos of groups of people around railways, stations, trains, for his historical account of wine and railways.

How accurate is the colour? Does this matter? 

The colours of trains and uniforms of soldiers are often known.  In modern times we have numbers specifying exact colours so you can order paint, or print company stationery and signs.  Big companies such as McDonalds specify the exact shade of yellow or red.

Take Self-captioning Photos

I take self-captioning photos deliberately at the start of a trip. Failing that, in the middle. I take photos saying welcome to, signposts, history boards, hotel and museum names over doorways.

Check Old Photos For Name Signs

Sometimes old photos show the placename by chance. The hotel name is on the doorway. The sign post or street name is small in the background.

The Bear Fountain - A Vital Clue

In one of my old family photos, lacking a caption, the photo shows my mother is standing beside a fountain. 

Angela Lansbury's mother on holiday. Where?

On second glance, I notice another vital detail. The fountain has a bear on top of a statue in the middle of the fountain.

Swiss Bear Fountain

I start by searching for statues with bears. I discover a city in Switzerland, Bern, known as the city of bears (and clocks). I find a photo of a bear statue on a fountain. Eureka.

German Fountain

On second thoughts, are we sure? No. The fountain below is a different shape. 

Eventually, after more searching, we find an exact match.  The fountain is on a plinth. The buildings on the other side of the street are timber-framed. The road slopes downwards.

The photo was of Bodensee, Lake Constance, Germany. 

The Psychological Value Of Old Holiday Photos

I now know my mother visited Germany. She had a happy holiday there. So long ago. Is this important? Yes, psychologically. Instead of my most recent memory of my mother being the day she died, or the funeral, I have a more recent memory of her standing happily beside a fountain on a sunny day on holiday.

 I also broadened my general knowledge of places to visit. I know about Switzerland and Germany. I have places to add to my bucket list, must visit places.

I also have a concversation opener for two countries. When I next meet somebody from Switcerland or German, whether they were born there, live there, work there, or are planning a holiday, I can ask, have you been to those places, or were you near them?

Family Photo Detective

You might know that your widowed grandmother always wore black. If you know the date her husband died, you could date a photo of her, at least to after a certain date.

Home Country Photos

I look at my family photos. Some are where we lived in the UK, others in the USA, Spain, and Singapore. 

I have photos of the family in the back garden of our house. I notice the conservatory on the back of the house. If I know the date the conservatory was built, I can date the decade of the photo.

 I can see how tall our son is. If he is taller than his parents or grandparents, he must be at least ten years old. If he was born in one decade, that photo must be from the next decade or later.

If he is wearing a school uniform, he will remember the name of the school. On the wall of his old bedroom or the display shelving in the lounge, I have one or two of his old school photos. They show the school uniforms.

Add Anecdotes

A one line comment brings your story to life. I have a photo of Switzerland. My mother wanted to live there. 

You may have photos showing a package holidays starting in the Sixties. Package holidays were new and popular and cheap. What is obvious to the elderly who lived in that era might not be obvious to the next generations.

Print A Book Of Your Travels

I could now compile a book of my own or my family's travels. 

For an 80th birthday, or wedding anniverary, I could compile a book. Print on demand. 

In addition to museums and libraries, some pubs and restaurants displa hsitoric photos of the area. You might frame your photos for sale, on loan, as a gift. For a centenary celebration, annual fair, new year's eve party.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_It%27s_Tuesday,

More about Bodensee in the next post.

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Identify Old Family Photos - How and Why To Add Captions

 Add Dates

Add dates to your photos. Don't write across the back of faces. Write on the backing of the white edging strip, or stick on a label on the back. or label a paper cover.

Add Names

You know who you are. You know the names of your parents. But twenty or thirty, or forty years later, after the bride and groom no longer have living parents, it becomes increasingly difficult to remember names. How was the name spelled? Did they have a middle name? Was their nicknme their real name? In England names sometimes do not convey relationships. Junior and senior can lead to confusion. The Chinese give their children names which identify their order of birth. Maternal uncles are called by a different name to paternal uncles. Clarify whatever you can, whilst the older members of the family are still alive and remember clearly.

Add Personal Details

Personal Story One - Clothes Dating Wedding Photos

An elderly relative by marriage came to talk to me at a relative's 80th birthday party. He showed me about a hundred photos of people I didn't know. Many were old wedding photos.

Finally, a photo of a couple he couldn't identify. "I don't suppose you want to see these," he said, 

I smiled politely, and looked down.

I gasped. "That's my parents!

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. I know my parents."

"I wonder what it's doing with all these wedding photos."

"It's their wedding photo."

"It can't be. She's not wearing white."

"Firstly, it's wartime, and white was in short supply. Secondly, it's her second marriage. Her first husband was killed in the war. So she's not wearing white."

"Oh. Would you like the photo?"

"Oh, please. YES. Thank you!"

So I could tell a lot from that unlabelled photo.The people. The date. The reason for the style of dress. Why my father is wearing a top hat and a buttonhole. Why the bride is not in white."

Netta and Albert Lansbury at their wedding in 1943. 

Finding Family Photos For A Funeral

When my mother died, I wanted a photo to display at the funeral and on the dining table afterwards. The night before, I sat with my father, going through photo albums. A few of the photos had dates. A few had placenames. Most had neither.

Who were the people photogrpahed with my parents? Were they important family, and good friends or merely bystanders? 

That was a long time ago.

I remembered being with my father after my mother died. I wanted one great photo for the funeral. We went through a shoe box of photo folders.

I was able to fill in several features of groups of photos. Sometimes my father could remember the year, or the season. If I filled in the details for one picture, that helped me identify others. If my mother was wearing a pink dress one year and one location, the adjacent photo of her in the same dress was prbobly the same year and the same place. Unless they were on a tour or a cruise or driving holiday. But hostly they stayed in the same place.

I decided to do some house clearance. I am in my late seventies. Even if I manage to stay in my house for the rest of my life, I need to throw away a lot of things and keep only those which are essential to my family history. 

Photos of people nobody knows will be thrown away. One day my grand-daughter might think, I wish I had a photo of my great garndparents.

House Clearance Of Photos

I am now carefully labelling all my photos. That one photo of my parents' wedding is very important to me. My grand-daughter has a wedding photo of her great- grandmother in 1943. 

But this week I got out a photo album. I had inherited it from my father after he died, or took it from him after my mother died.

Who were the small figures in the photos? One small female in pink kept appearing. Were teeny solitary figures my mother?

Some people might think that old photos of important buildings should be kept. But the\ose of your granny are of no interest. I take the opposite view.

So what do I do? Throw away all the photos?

No, not yet. Even if I were to load them up online before binning or losing, at least I would have a record of names and dates and places.

Colouring Photos

You can brighten old photos with colour.

Useful Websites

https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Colorizing-Black-White-Photos?language=en_US

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How to remember people's names when travelling and meeting travellers

You can have embarrassing moments when greeting people who travelled from far away. Even when you are taking great trouble to help and introduce londers to somebody new.

Wedding Introduction Mistake

At my wedding in London, England, I met two guests on opposite sides of the room, both from Manchester, England. (Not London in Canada nor any of the others of the 29 places in the world called London, nor the 30 places called Manchester outside England.) I proudly rushed the second guest across the hall to meet the first Mancunian I had met. They both looked astonished. 

Were they long-lost friends? I asked, "Do you know each other?"

"Yes. We live in the same house. We're brothers!" 

A never forgotten incident. The moral is, learn and remember the first and last names of guests and at least one fact about each one, if only where they live.

How do you remember people's names when travelling? 

1 Remember By Repetition - Verbal

You can repeat the person's name when talking to them. Ask the spelling if you don't catch the pronunciation, and to help you to remember.

For example, if an American met me, they might say

"What's your name? Angela Lansbury. Are you related to the actress Angela Lansbury> Do you spell Lansbury the way she does. Angela with one L? Landbury or Lansbury? I get it L A N S. Maybe once it was Land and they dropped the D over time."

Follow this system. Then you can use their name to repeat it to other people.

2 Remember By Repetition Mental

You can keep muttering the name to yourself.

Remember it long enough to tell somebody else. I must remember Angela.

3 Add a Hook or Related word.

I often say, I am Angela, Like an Angel. 

At HOD Toastmasters club I was discussing with incoming President Martin how to remember three similar sounding names. Amar, Amir, Anil, 

We devised a hook for each name. Amazing Amar is often taking a role such as Toastmaster of the evening. 

Anil gave a speech about how he was 'ill' - not ill but needing to wear glasses. 

Amir is the incoming treasurer for next year and we can think of an Emir who handles a lot of money.

I only needed to have that conversation once, to know all three names without bothering to recall our memory aids. 

4 Remember Names by Repeating Related Names.

People sometimes say to me, your name is Angela - like Angelica in other languages. The male in Italian would be Angelo, as in Michelangelo, 

At Harrovians Toastmasters, a longstanding member is Sushil. Pronounced like Sue. You may know the song A boy named Sue, sung by Johnny Cash. (The songwriter, Silverstein, knew two men who had women's names, one called Sue, another called Jean).

5 Teacher's Desk Plan For Remembering Names

Teachers might have to remember many names, and several times a week, ranging from one as a tutor, to 30 in a large class. 

One way of remembering names is to read the attendance list in advance. Notice if there are two people with the same or similar names. Do any of them have the same name as a member of your family, another pupil, a member of staff, a famous personality from sports or entertainment?

6 Dinner Table Plan For Remembering Names

At a wedding, you can often look at the table plan display and note the names of the people on your table. If the table has name cards, go and look at them in advance. Plan what you will say to the person about their name or title.

7 Use Sign In Sheets For Remembering Names

When I look down the sign in sheet for my name, I note down the other names.  

8 Need To Know Names - Organizing and Attending Meetings

As organizer you need to know who is attending. You can greet VIPs. Inroduce people to enhance their experience. Use name badges so you can address everybody by name. Colour code badges to find speakers, or newcomers needing help. You can also re-direct people who enter by mistake.

9 Make Name Badges For Meetings & Conferences

You can print out name badges. Or ask people to tell you their names as they arrive. Or to write their names on the badges. Failing all else, ask people to bring their own badges. If you are attending lots of events, you can wear your own name badge.

10 Name Sign Up Needed For Safety

You might require the first name and family name of guests at a meeting or event, live or online. This helps to identify, contact, or exclude victims of crime, suspects and witnesses. 

You might want to return lost property, inform people of future meetings. Collect money. Identify those attending after a case of theft, aggression, violence or indecent exposure. Or to give certificates and prizes. You may have a duty of care to guests, adults, children, the disabled, to know who is attending. 

In the event of a fire, the fire brigade will ask you if everybody is out. You may need to do a roll call. We had a false fire alarm at a Toastmasters meeting. We gathered under a tree. One person was missing. Bothe President and the Fire Officer went back to look for the visitor. The visitor lived nearby and went home without bothering to tell us. He jjust thought no point hanging around, the meeting is over. 

11 Names Needed For Seating, Help & Rewards

You may want to change the seating so family members can be together, so staff and helpers can assist, to leave seats near the door for latecomers, to sit speakers near the stage. You may also want to list names of speakers for voting. And to thank volunteers by name. You might refund money, or present gifts volunteers, or record recipients to ensure you distributed gifts to all, including leaving gifts for those who left early to catch trains home.

Name badges are helpful for numerous reasons. A child or adult presenting a bouquet to a VIP guest needs to find the recipient fast, without hesitation!

Photo of Angela Lansbury, given a bunch of flowers in Singapore for the opening speech at the start of running the school's weekend English Enrichment.

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