Christmas Tree lit in Harch End

 

Mayfield Villages Update

I wrote about Mayfield Villages in a previous post. It is a retirement block with a large downstairs communal area, with an indoor swimming poo. Here, for my own benefit as much as yours, is a reminder of what I have learned. Mayfield village, in Watford, north west London, is a retirement home for the active retired.  Not a nursing home, nor a home for those who cannot look after themselves. Although you can have a carer to live with you. One and two bedroom flats.

Advantages

1 The flats all have balconies.

2 Helpline in the flat. 

3 Call-in system, so if you don't call in they investigate to check if you are ill.

4 The swimming pool

The slender swimming pool has only room for three people to do laps up and down. So you have to book your slot. But most people prefer the sociable water aerobics activities, exercises with dumbells in water. 

Residents can set up their own activities. Once a month on a Saturday night the residents organize an activity or entertainment.

Any Disadvantages?

Not enough storage space for a hoarder. I have a three bedroom dwelling, with a large living room, a conservatory, a shed, a garage.  

The lease is only 250 years. If you are over 55 it won't lose value in your lifetime. Four generations of people could live there. I suspect that in the last hundred years, the lease will be extended at a cost to the then current owner.

But lots of people not quite ready to buy have stayed on the mailing list. 

How do you book an appointment? To see a flat and be on the mailing list for activities open to visitors who are potential buyers. 

The Brent Cross development will be one block, not two. One block sounds more convenient to me. No need to go out in the cold to get to the swimming pool, sauna and whatnot. Although some people like to have a two centre day. Sit and read in one block. Then go back home to yours.

My contact is Gordon Osborne, gordon.osborne@mayfieldvillages.co.uk

Hach End festive lights and jollity

 

Reindeer outside Sea Pebbles fish restaurant.

Commemorating Harrow becoming a London borough.

Izgara Restaurant has red, white and green, greenery, baubles and red and white candy canes, an idea making sticks of rock look like a shepherd's crook.

Sea Pebbles fish restaurant entertains with reindeer, blue white and gold baubles and greenery and hanging stars.

Tanna's pharmacy has a white Christmas tree on the door, and a white reindeer of the left window.

The Steak restaurant has lights on the trees by the board proclaiming the lunch offer.

Kiyoto Japanese restaurant has white snowflakes scattered across the windows.

Practising Polish Pronunciation - on holiday or here at home

 

Poland has a lot to offer those on business and holiday. I have already seen Chopin's monument in Warsaw. The grave of the inventor of Esperanto language in Warsaw - on my wishlist is his museum in another city. The pretty southern former capital and trips to salt mines - and Auschwitz. The amusing ankle height dwarfs in Wroclaw are on my wishlist. Amber and Polish milk caramel sweets, I loved. I have written about these in my other posts. 

Over here in London we have Polish supermarkets catering to a lot of Polish people.

We have a Polish plumber. We have trouble saying his surname. 

I looked at the written explanations of the Polish language. It seemed that the z sound is like an h so that sz is sh and cz is ch. Easy-peasy.

So, a name ending czyk is more or less chick.

Then I looked at some videos. Type in speak or pronounce Polish and Youtube will show you a choice of half a dozen.

You have to add two more sounds which are not like English. The w is pronounced v like in German. 

The j is pronounced y like in many other languages. 

And three letters?There are a few more. Add a diacritic or a little tail and you change a c to a ch. Or is there a ts? And - Enough for one day. I shall come back to this tomorrow. At least I get a rough idea. 

Try it yourself.

Today's the Day - Dec 2 National Pollution Control Day

A leaflet came though my door.

Prevention is better than cure.

 I am already sorting everything in my house. 

What more can I do?

1 Choose less packaging. 

2 More recycling.

3 Join or start a whatsapp group for your street or area, offering things you don't want to throw away so other people can get them for free.

Recycle goods at your clubs and meetings. Used paper, for stapling into small notepads. Or made into papier mache. Or for school art and craft Saturdays.

Campaign for a shop in every high street that runs repairs to umbrellas and pots and pans and clothes, and teaches teenagers and the unemployed. In another area teach cooking from leftovers, growing from leftover seeds and fruit stones.

Persuade your local council to run two days a year when like other cities and countries, everybody leaves furniture and good on the street outside their house or business and passers-by take what they want. At the end of the day, charities and local councils collect items which are left over.

Start a city improvement group. Collect ideas from around the world and add at least one a year.

Get the immigrants 99 per cent in work, keeping up skills, contributing, not being a burden on space and taxes. Get them into a new city on wasteland not prone to floods.

Start a senior's skills club. Adopted a skilled granny. Grannies can teach crochet and knitting and using sewing machines and cooking and bike riding and swimming.

Get all immigrants paired with others to teach English and their native languages and translate government documents online, to save paying for translations and printing documents in 12 languages.

Celebration Day

Why have a day celebrating anything? One advantage is that if nothing else, it just gets bloggers like me talking about it. You can discuss it on the phone with friends or in a restaurant or pub in the evening.

National days? Which nation?

Have a ten year limit on empty buildings, after which a charity renovates and rents out and can sell off to the original owner or another or the new tenants.

International days are set by the United Nations.

Every packet should include recyling instructions. Every equipment should have a repair or buyback number from the manufacturer.

I recycle jam jars. I use the sticky label to clean the carpet.

I re-label the jar.

Jam Jar Storing Paperclips. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

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Irish Whiskey Way for Whiskey - and Irish whiskey Chistmas Pudding

 Irish Whiskey Way

Oops. I have to keep correcting my typing. It's whisky or whiskey. Scotland whisky, Ireland whiskey, the USA Tennessee Whiskey. Check the place name and the bottle. How do I remember? There is no e in the word Scotland. There is an e in the word irEland. Tennesee also has the letter e. So there you have it. Remember the E in Ireland and the E in Irish whiskey.

Areas covered include Dublin, the Atlantic Way, and Northern Ireland.

And if you are not a whisky or whiskey drinker, but your friend or neighbour is, more good and interesting news is that Dublin airport has raised its cap on liquids. So you can take some drink back to your family or friend or house sitter or pet sitter.

Who needs a guide? A guide to matching wine and food. Isn't there alcohol everywhere in Ireland? And good food? And Irish favourites.

I remember years ago, when my husband first visited Ireland, on business, he was amazed that even the tailor's shops and other non food and drink shops had bottles of alcohol and advertisements for alcohol in the window. 

Distilleries

I saw 27 distilleries on the website of the Irish Whiskey Way. Including the Titanic Distillery in Belfast. Whiskey, craics  - singsongs in pubs, have a laugh. Or the Titanic museum which is about the wonderful, majestic, but unsafe ship, a magnificent Titanic scale museum which is fascinating, impressive, but ultimately sobering. 

At least two distilleries to visit in Dublin. At least One in Cork. Many more scattered about. You could do two a day for a week. From North to south and in the middle you can find distilleries.

But what if you don't want whiskey||||||||||||?

Teetotallers In Ireland

You can buy alcohol free Guinness and other drinks for drivers and teetotallers. Any drink free areas? It has been tried. A pub called the Virgin Mary.

With Christmas coming, thoughts turn to Christmas pudding with Irish whiskey. Not in Ireland? No plans to visit? You could make your own Christmas pudding with Irish whiskly.

Useful websites

https://irishwhiskeyway.ie/

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g186600-d26280971-Reviews-Irish_Whiskey_Experiences-Cork_County_Cork.html

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/features/people-will-get-tipsy-atmosphere-meet-man-opening-dublins-first/

https://www.irishfoodguide.ie/2011/12/my-easy-to-make-christmas-pudding.

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

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My latest book is Embarrassing Moments.

Mailbox topper in Hatch End, London, England, UK

 

So cute with the dear little hedgehog perched on top.

The traditional red pillar box, shaped like a pillar. Americans would say mail box. I always think of boxes being square, but I suppose you get round ones, like hat boxes and cheese boxes.

The red colour makes it British. Also the toppers.

Once you have seen one, you want to see more.

Websites on post box toppers

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

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

Brixton Station and colourful, crowded, noisy, lively streets

 

Brixton station has delightful artwork. As do an increasing number of London stations.

Come out of the crowded underground station from Euston and look right. A seething mass of people, musicians with music blaring from portable loudspeaker. Happy couples, families, groups, laughing loners, people sleeping on the ground, beggars, and major international chain stores and supermarkets. All life, all the world, from all round the world, is here.  Above them on the right you'll see the bridge with murals carrying the overground. Walk towards it and take the first road right.  Now you are amongst the small shops and pushcarts selling ethnic food, clothes, and what looks like parties.

It's not all cheap. Lots of it is bling and pricey.

Take the tunnel adorened with more murals on your left. You pass the entrance/exit to the overground rain line going south. 

Now the murals are so gigantic there's no room for more graffiti.

More shops are every few steps. you come out into another street with more shops. All along under the overhead railway are arches filled with shops and eating places. One giant disco complex blrares music. Depending on the time of day, in the evening you see the market shutting up with a few leftover stall. You might see wheeled kiosks selling clothes, and open sided vans serving fast food.  

Beyond, towards the houses, are trees lit not just around the crown as in London's supposedly wealthier northern suburbs, but lights, bright blue, neon green, electric pink, down the drunk to the ground. Each tree transformed into a city artwork.

See more pictures in my other blog posts on Brixton.

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Costa 24/7 Watford

 

How to roll or trill your rs

Rolling or trilling your r not only makes you sound like a native, it turns one word into another.

The letter ro is rolled dramatically in Spanish and Indonesian. I am learning Spanish, one of the world's easiest languages, to read, but slightly challenging to speak. 

 - perro is Spanish for dog with a trilled r, but pero, for the word but.

Perfect Your Pronunciation

I am still struggling to roll my rs. I shall get there eventually. I keep googling and trying new videos. The last I found was a lady with a pencil horizontally between her teeth. I have worked out that your tongue is behind your top teeth. But the trick is to relax and  blow and keep repeating it. But I can only get it every third blow by accident. I need to be able to do it deliberately every time, perfectly controlled, and strongly.

Here are the links to the man using it dramatically

and the lady demonstrating - she is one of many on video showing you.

Useful websites on Rolling or trilling R

I love the quiz from the man teaching you 25 words - but two at a time makes that nearer 50, which dramatically rolling the letter r, and a handy reminder from him of how vocabulary varies in Spain, Mexico, Latin America

Spanish words

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozOol9_pczk

Trill rs lessons -

The lady with the pencil

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozOol9_pczk

While I watched videos up came an advertisement for free trial of a paid for system

Learn Spanish from Spanish TV and click on subtitles

.https:/ /lingopie.com/w/learn-spanish

Place your tongue tip further back and use just under the tip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joVgJUO74Mg

Please share links to your favourite posts from me such as this one. My books on English language, writing poetry, comical poems, quotations for speeches and speakers and writers, and etiquette, and my latest book of amusing anecdotes, Embarrassing Moments, are on Lulu.com and Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk

Indoor Swimming Pool At Mayfield Club flats to Buy in Watford and Brent Cross

 I have been on the mailing list for Mayfield Club for some time. They invited me to see their property. I had been avoiding it, thinking it was a hard sell for a care home. We are not yet old enough for care homes. But its a good idea to know them before you are too gaga to make the effort to visit and to express an opinion.

No, Mayfield is not a care home, it is a retirement complex, which is for people over 55, but it is an American style or Singapore style complex with a building containing a small mini supermarket for food and toiletries and a swimming pool, and activities such as aqua lessons.

Indoor swimming pool at Mayfield.

 As we drove into the what seemed to us remote and isolated area we were initially disappointed by the building sites surrounding the area, and the complex itself, of dull straight line looming tower blocks, and the full parking area. 

We eventually found a parking spot when somebody left. The complex was holding a Christmas Fair. The stalls had hats, shoes and jewellery and Xmas themed decorations. We had arrived too early for the event of mince pies, though there was a cafeteria where we could have bought food, but we had a dinner to attend the other side of London,, so we had a quick look around before leaving.

I managed to see the little supermarket or minimarket, which had the basics you might need, as well as the swimming pool, the long thin type. Not to deep, to my relif. In Singapore many apartment complexes and hotels and public pools had scary deep ends. I am not a strong swimmer and want to be in a pool where any passer by who does not swim could step in and pull me out in a hurry if necessary. Equally, if somebody else got into trouble, I would like to be able to reach them. )(In Singapore I had to call the guard to throw in a heavy lifebelt, and get another child to swim to it and push it to a drowning boy in the deep end.)

 What does all this cost? With a search you can find the prices online, for a one bed flat or a two bed flat. The one beds have all sold out in Watford. I don't know whether they are more popular or whether there are fewer of those. We would like a bigger property with room for a study for each of us for laptops and shelving for books.

At the Christmas Fair I got talking to Christine who makes lovely handbags. She enthused about the complex and said she and her husband had never previously had such a busy social life. There are activities every day. Such as a bridge club which presumably meets once a week or once a month. There is a residents room which suggests that other rooms are open to family and friend who are visiting, or peopel who are staying in the hotel style accommodation for visitng family to rent for a night or a week, I'm not sure the terms.

They have a daily bus or twice a day, which takes you to a local supermarket. 

The club includes more than just a swimming pool. You also get a gym and other facilities.

I have family nearer into central London, so I am more interested in the complex being built in the Brent Cross area, which is nearer to central London.

Of course all this programme of activities and shuttle buses is not free. Like membership of a country or town club, there is a monthly fee, a commitment. But you would not need to join a gym outside your own complex. The other residents would be in your age group. It is for the healthy over fifties, not a care home for people in wheelchairs, who are likely to develop Alzheimers, and keep talking, singing, shouting or sit staring into space, which was the situation when we visited some of my extended family by marriage. My parents never ended up like that, so I hope I will remain able to talk coherently right through my life.

This organization seems to have only one functioning property and one being built. However, I hope it will inspire many more.

I shall want to go back to see a show flat, its size, and get a better grip on the terms of the financial commitment. In a normal block you would probably be paying a maintenance charge for porterage, upkeep of grounds, repairs and upgrading to the buildings, and common parts such as the electrics, plumbing, gardening, insurance, and so on. Is that part of the club or is the monthly club fee for the acitivies and is the mainteance of the building a separate charge? Other expenses might be your garaging, for one or two cars? What about cleaning and laundry? Eating out? Some blocks in London have a restaurant in the building, a fine dining restaurant. Singapore builds complexes with a row of shops and services, so there is a children's playground , for grandchildren visiting, to keep them away, but could be noisy for nearby flats. 

Singapore complexes are mini cities around a central green. But the private complexes hae swimming pools. The public blocks, you are expected to take out membership of the nearby public pool, which might be huge. A swimming pool in your complex is usually open all day every day, except when shut for holidays, events, such as Chinese New Year dinners around the pool, and maintenance., and fogging  which is anti mosquito spraying.

UK properties are at risk of rats and foxes and squirrels and in your attics birds or squirrels. If you want to know the risks to your property, check advertisements for local pest control firms. 

The Singapore complexes will have a doctor or dentist or clinic as well on the ground floor. In the good old days, in private blocks, the porter would note the identity of all visitors, and take in parcels and deliveries if you were out when the delivery came. Later that was stopped. 

Singapore had laws about putting bars on balconies to stop people falling, and to stop animals jumping or falling on people below. In the early days, people moving in from the village kampongs, would bring their rabbits and chickens and keep them on the open to the air indoor and exterior corridors. I imagine this is gradually being phased out. Some blocks ban cats and dogs. However, the latest legislation coming in 2006, will protect the tenants right to keep pets unless there is a good reason not to. I understand that good reasons could be that the leaseholder is already banned from allowing renters from owning pets, or that the flat owner has allergies. I wonder whether you could ban cats and birds if the building had a pond with goldfish. In Singapore we had fish in outdoor ponds on the complexes where we lived at Cashew Heights. People with birds and dogs kept them on leads when walking. The modern idea is to put cats on leads. 

In Singapore we experienced invasion of cockroaches, monkeys, and otters at the swimming pool.

What about the building itself. Is it liable to flooding from the nearby river? Is the flat roof likely to end up a source of leaks, and ripping down the outside walls from gutters causing mould, and a horrendous cost of scaffolding to replace or repair gutters. Window cleaning for the block? Part of maintenance? Fire escapes? 

Pets. I prefer not to be annoyed by barking dogs left home alone, or barking at visitors, and wandering cats which urinate and scratch furniture not rarely but on a daily basis to sharpen their claws .

Main Advantages Of Mayfield

Main Disadvantages of Mayfield