Restaurant Activity Books - and DIY Dinner Table Activity

Without a pen and paper, you might 

1Make a hand puppet.

2 Turn a paper napkin into origami fortune teller. 

Use Pen and Paper (Napkin) To Entertain

Draw two horizontal lines and two vertical lines across them to make a grid for noughts and crosses.  If you have an Ipad with a pen, draw a grid and play noughts and crosses, draw in the noughts and crosses. 

Play dots and boxes.

Instead of snakes and ladders, play spaghetti and tomatoes. 

Finger Puppets

Failing that, draw on your finger tips, a smiley face. If you have a water colour pencil with non toxic paint.

Here's the Church/Barn. Photo by Angela Lansbury

Or draw the people at dinner, eg father with moustache or glasses, or hat, or tie, mother with dress or saree, child with dress from Disney, baby large head, high chair, with big eyes, vertical oblong drink and straw. Stick figures. 

Play - Here's the Church / barn

When I was a child, at school I learned to play with fingers - 

Here's the church, here's the steeple, 

Open the gates and here are the people. 

Here's the church/barn. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Other version say doors instead of gates. 

Another version ends with another rhyming couplet, 

Here is the parson going upstairs, 

Here is the parson saying his prayers. 

If parson is an unfamiliar word, try person.

For those who are another religion or not religious, use the barn version.

Here Is The Barn

Here i is old the barn, let's open it wide,

Let’s all look inside where animals hide. 

Left are the horses, and right are the cows, 

They’re eating dinner and drinking right now. 

They’ll sleep here till night turns into day light. 

When we open doors, they’ll all trot away. 

Out in the pasture, they’ll eat grass and hay. 

Cows will moo loudly, glad horses will neigh.

Try reciting favourite nursery rhymes. Old ones. Or recent favourite songs.  the mouse ran up the clock. 

Mary had a little lamb. 

Incey wincey spider. 

The wheels on the bus. 

I changed the words to, 

The cup on the saucer went round and round, 

The cup on the saucer went up and down

It made a dreadful swueaky sound

Much too  long.

The spoon in the cup went round and round ...

The jug on the table went round and round

It got lost and was never found

Somebody must have put it down

On another table or on the ground.

The cake on the table (salt, pepper, bread, olives, pizza, ice cream, coffee, juice, milk, sweets)

Make up tea or dinner related words.

I've just invented this for a doll

Our child's daughter had a dolly

And First Dolly's friend was Molly

When our child went out to tea

She took photos so dollies could see.

If you are American you have a First Lady. If you are Chinese you have a number one son. Easy to create rhymes with first and second, or number one and so on.

Teach the child how to link both hands with fingers pointing downwards, raise the little fingers, then rotate wrists towards you so the fingers stick up to be people.

If you can't get a drawing and activity pad, here are some games to play.

1MAKE A KIDDIE FAVOURITS MENU

Create a menu of a list of your favourite food.

(In advance copy the children's menu from the restaurant you are visiting or any other one visited previously. Crop to get pictures in the left hand column and print the list or pictures. If necessary, draw lines in pencil, and/or copy the words for the child / children to copy.

Or ask the child their favourite food. 

Eg Fish fingers, with chips. Ice cream.

With or without tomato ketchup?

Which colours? Save photos from one meal to make pictures for your menu on the next visit.

Save pictures to show the waiters and waitresses in restaurants overseas!

If you are creating your own menu from scratch, you can make a border of your child's favourite characters, Princess, Unicorn, teddy bear's picnic, doll, dolls house. 

How about a dolly at the restaurant. Of your child's name and the restaurant. 

Suggested food

Nibbles

Olives

Crisps

Nuts

Starter

Soup - tomato

Soup - vegetable

Soup - chicken

Main Course

Child's Menu

Vegetables

Peas

Sweetcorn

Corn on the cob

Salad - green

Salad - green and tomato

Lentils

Dessert

Fruit -

apple

oranges

grapes

banana 

Pear

Peach

Plum

Fruit salad

Ice cream - vanilla

strawberry

chocolate

mixed

nut

Sorbet

Raspberry

lemon

Cake

chocolate

cream

Drinks

Water

Sparkling water

Fruit juice 

Strawberry

Mango

Mixed juice

Chocolate drink

Ice cream sundae

String & Cat's Cradle

At one family reunion in a pub with children of all ages, we gave each child a book, whose title they had given us in advance. However, on the day, before lunch, instead of reading the books, the children all played games with the string we had been in a hurry to wrap the gifts, because we were in a hurry and couldn't find ribbon. The oldest girl, around 11 years old, showed the younger ones what to do with the string.

You can buy paint kit books, paint with water, which include paints, a brush and a workbook with outlines to fill in. (Purists suggest instead encouraging children to create their own pictures. But some of the sets include blank sheets as well.

You can also buy stencil sets with large cut outs so children cur practise drawing straight lines and circles and even wavy lines. Google water colouring books on amazon, ebay and in general. You will find items just over five or six pounds and under ten pounds.

Useful Websites

https://www.wikihow.com/Fold-a-Fortune-Teller

https://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Church-With-Your-Fingers (Includes barn words in comments.)

 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kids-Restaurant-Activity-Book-Screen-Free/dp/B0DZNTHYVY/ref

https://www.farmhouseinns.co.uk/kids-menu

https://www.brewersfayre.co.uk/en-gb/kids-menu/brewers_fayre_kids_menu_priceless.pdf

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1870682905/kids-restaurant-menu-template-activity

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/145656020026?_skw=paint+with+water+book *(Brush needed. if lacking a brush, pop into a cheap pharmacy and look for a cosmetics brush or set of cosmetics brushes for several children.)

Has a list of food and grid for noughts and crosses.

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Reviews and Crayons of Wolfox Savoy Restaurant and Wetherspoons

|How To Remember The Restaurant name, Wolfox

How do you remember the name of the Wolfox Savoy restaurant? The name Wolfox is a combination of wolf and fox. But which comes first? Is it wolf fox, or fox wolf which has the initials alphabetically? Shorten the name to one word by using the letter f only once and you get Wolfox. 

Good and Bad Reviews of Wolfox

Reviews from other people about the Wolfox Savoy restaurant were mixed. We ignored the negatives, and the positives. We liked the look and location and wanted to try the food for ourselves. Remembering that we might be ordering different food, at a different day or time, in less or more of a hurry, with diners who were more or less fussy.

Good and Bad Review of Restaurants

Speed of Service

Wolfox - No Crayons, Pencils, Paper

For us the main drawback was no free paper and crayon for kids. Our fault that we forgot to remind each other to always carry something to entertain our grand0daughter, aged four. The only nearby shop had only a plain lined paper book. She was happy enough drawing letters of the alphabet.

You might think that's a good thing. An oasis away from tiny children, who might be making noise and running around.

On the other hand, providing crayons and paper keeps children sittimg at the table, stops them running around.

Wetherspoons

Our family had visited Wetherspoons pub earlier in the day which provided drawing paper and crayons. If only the parents had saved a crayon or two. (But would that be theft? Are the crayons re-used? Do you want your small children sharing germs on crayons used by others? They ought to put their names on the crayons so even if you take them, you are carrying their advertising, so  that taking the items is expected?  The paper has the Wetherspoons logo and if you have written on it they cannot give it to anybody else, so it is ok to take it.

Parents Props

Souvenir Shops

The souvenir shops had lots of pictures and dolls with heads of royalty and UK and London symbols, but no games or notebooks and pens or card games for children. You could buy items aimed at smokers of cigarettes - or anything else, somebody explained to me. (I am not a drug taker. My expertise is only food and drink.

Where To Buy Kiddie Entertainment

The mother and daughter left the Wolfox restaurant before ordering, looking for some kiddie entertainment to buy. Luckily the mother had already told us what they wanted to order.

Kiddie Food Options at Wolfox

Kiddie food options were the tea time circular spiral pastry. Chips. Olives - mind the stones!

For kiddie entertainment look in the big bookshops. Or toyshops such as Hamleys in Regent Street, walking down south from Piccadilly Circus station. On our last visit we did not see nor buy any small gifts. Our grand-daughter spied a Pepper Pig Dolls House, at vast expense, a two figure sum, more suitable for her upcoming birthday than a souvenir of the day, or entertainment over tea or dinner in a restaurant.

Useful Websites

Wolfox

https://www.wolfox.coffee/buyonline

Wetherspoons

https://wetherspoonmenuprices.co.uk/children/

https://globetotting.com/best-bookshops-in-london-for-kids/

Hamleys Paddington tea set in mini suitcase from Amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rainbow-Designs-Paddingtons-Toy-Tea/

https://www.hamleys.com/

https://www.foyles.co.uk/category/childrens

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Talking-Tables-Questions-Travelling-

Wolfox Savoy Restaurant In the Strand, London

Prosecco with strawberry slice. Great start. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

I loved the decor.

Outside of Wolfox with outdoor table. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Ground floor of Wolfox Restaurant with indoor tree. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

You have a choice of seating. in the busy downstairs café, watching the world go by, near an attractive artificial tree. 

Upstairs Dining

Or on the mezzanine balcony floor overhead for more relaxed dining.

Indoor mural at Wolfox restaurant. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

The meal included three food items I absolutely loved which made up for those which were so-so. And two great drinks.

Delightful Drinks

Starting with the drinks. The tap water was served in an elegant modern silver coloured jug. The glassware was a delight. The water glasses were wide at the base, unusual, special. 

My Prosecco was good. Best of all it was served with a slice of strawberry on the room which made the drink look special and the drinker feel special. I must have had Prosecco a dozen times at a dozen restaurants. Every time I was disappointed that no effort was made to decorate the glass, although everybody ordering cocktails got something special. Excellent. Full marks. Applause. We all, four of us, were impressed.

Fabulous Food

We went without starters and instead made do with nibbles. We were not keen on the large tough green olives with stones. However - 

1 Nibbles - We loved the fried strings of vegetables.

2 Beef cheek with mashed potato was soft, tasty, wonderful.

 (Other main courses were: a steak, fine for the price. Stuffed Chicken, spirals wrapped in bacon, with a good green salad with a few small red tomatoes, okay. Polenta fingers, so so. Chips, ok. 

3 The cheesecake was excellent, creamy.

4 The sorbet, raspberry, also met with everybody's approval.

After our meal we went downstairs to look around.

The Café Downstairs

The set tea looked gorgeous. So did the pastries sold individually.

Unisex Toilets

The unisex toilets on the ground floor are disconcerting. Ladies and gents through the same door. Inside washbasins, and cubicles and one wider cubicle with a basin for wheelchairs and other disabilities. 

Down the curved staircase at the back of the ground floor is the basement's open plan relaxing private dining area with an oval table, and another area of small tables also used for general restaurant eating in winter.

Who are the owners of Wolfox Savoy?

I was told that a couple of people started a coffee business in Brighton. But only one person is on the information under people which popped up from a page on the website of Companies House. Do I care. Not really. They are not there. If you want the boss to make compliments or complaints, look for the agreeable lady who is managing the restaurant.

Wolfox Coffee

Regarding the coffee, online you can buy capsules and other coffees on line from their website. I could not see how many coffee capsules are in the box.

The London restaurant is your sole opportunity currently, 2026, to find food. Wolfox has an amusing fox face upright hybrid cartoon character on their website. 

The relaxing almost Italic murals are the legacy from them having taken over a restaurant which was previously Japanese.

The word Savoy in the name reflects their surroundings. They are near the Savoy hotel, but management of the two companies is entirely separate. not related at all.

One might think it is wrong to call the place Savoy. But the word savoy means fir tree.

Where Is Wolfox Savoy Restaurant?

Beside the Savoy Hotel, not related, and Simpson's in the Strand,  in good company.

Getting To Wolf Fox Restaurant

From Mill Hill Broadway (not Mill Hill East) we took the overground train, much more comfortable than the underground, from Mill Hill Broadway (flight of 7 steps and 9 steps both sides of the car bus garage parking which you have to cross, towards Blackfriars, but got off at City Thameslink for reduced walking. Then the 126 bus outside the station. After you get off the bus, keep walking in the same direction, passing the Savoy hotel, and Simpson's. A uniformed lady politely explained that the restaurant was nearby beyond. Just after the Paddington Bear musical entrance, so a convenient place to eat before or afterwards. 

Big Magnifiers With Lights - advantages and disadvantages, compared to small pocket magnifiers for travel

My previous post dealt with smaller magnifiers, less powerful, for travelling, restaurants.

However, if you want more mafnification, go for a ten times the size magnification. For example, in a heavier circular item with a large black handle, costing £12.99 from meepro limited.

 This was not what I needed, because I already have one.

Heavier circular magnifier with small circular higher magnification section. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

My previous post was about small and light magnifiers for travel, pocket size, or page size, but only three times magnification. 

What about working? Big circular magnifiers are easy to find on your desk when working from home. However, I find the circular magnifiers a nuisance as they don't reach the corners of a page and you have to keep moving them. Also they are bulky on a shelf. And if the greater magnification is a smaller coin size circle that distorts and has to be moved from word to word. But if you don't already have one, this might suit you. 

Magnifiers With Lights

Some of the circular and oblong magnifiers come with lights. Remember to order three batteries at the same time if the batteries are needed but not supplied. Then you can get to use it straight away.

From Mee Pro Ltd, on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Magnifying-Illuminated-Handheld-Lighted-Magnifier

See my previous post for the smaller, cheaper, travel magnifiers.

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A lightweight magnifier for menus and maps

A page magnifier. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

When do you need a magnifier?

Restaurant Menus

You need a magnifier on holiday or business to read a restaurant menu, small print in dim light, sometimes candle light. Checking the ingredients if you are allergic to shellfish or nuts. You could use the light in your phone. Or ask for another candle. But it would be handy to have a small magnifier.

You need to read small print in a supermarket. What are the ingredients? 

Reading your camera instructions.

In the hotel reading the laundry bag list. Essential information, prices, items they won't accept, time they will return items - will it be in time for your farewell dinner, or before you check out next day!

When travelling to your destination, you might need to read the printed train route maps. 

Before you leave, you might want to read the page of small print regarding the travel contract, terms of business. Or a contract you are signing.

Full Page Magnifiers

 I just ordered a full size page reader. It magnifies only three times.  Light, thin plastic.

A real magnifying glass, of thick heavy glass, should give you five or ten times magnification.

Buying Spare Reading Glasses

You can buy off the rack reading glasses at  sizes 1 and 2 and sometimes three sixes and half sizes, from many pharmacies and supermarkets. Online you can buy several pairs cheaply.  All identical, in case you lose them, or keep one on the desk and one in a rucksack and one in the car.

Borrowing A Friend's Spectacles In A Restaurant

On one occasion, I offered to read the menu to somebody else with my glasses. I did not have a spare pair of glasses. Then we realised he could use my glasses to read the menu, after I had used them. 

As a long term prospect this is not very practical. Firstly, my eyes are different. So I cannot buy off the peg glasses. One eye would be struggling. It would be an effort with lots of head turning and leaning in and out and maybe getting a headache. Bur for two minutes to read a menu to order a drink or main course, or sandwich, borrowing someone else's reading glasses for five minutes saves the day.

So you could borrow somebody else's glasses. (You might not risk lending them, or have the cheek to ask a stranger, unless they were seated, and knew you, e g a business contact. You want to be sure there is no risk of them running off with your fancy frames.)

Since I have varifocals, the other person has to wiggle their head to get from distance to reading. But good to know this option.

Meanwhile, I have ordered the large page magnifier. 

If the times three magnification is useful, I will invest in the teeny pocket size, credit card size ones, less bulky, I can keep one in my jacket pocket for reading the train mags.

Alternatively Reprint Maps Showing Larger Text & Number

The other things we have done with train maps. 

Conference stand maps are also often so small it is hard to see the stand numbers. No room to write the name of the country exhobiting. We photograph the map, to make it bigger. We photograph the tiny map using the plus three magnification in edit mode which zooms in. Then print the map off in a larger size. 

You want to do this a night or two before a conference. A large matt paper map is one on which you can write the names of people you want to visit, or have visited. If you are on good terms with the conference organizers, and their office is near reception, they might repirnt the map on the back of the A5 or smaller catalogue into a large A4 size.

Pocket Size Magnifier Features

Are all the pocket size products the same?

Some have an edge in black, which is useful, otherwise the see through item disappears on your desk. If you have a variety of coloured edging that is fun. But do they send you random colours, three of one colour but you don't know whether you will get black or red. Or one of each colour so you get three colours, one red, one black, one another colour. Some sellers say that a sleeve is included. Others show what looks like a centimetre measure along the edge, another plus.

Amazon And Ebay Prices For Pocket Magnifiers

I expect to get the large size magnifiers shortly. I ordered from Amazon, because they were cheaper than on Ebay. Only about three pounds including postage. But the tiny size cost more. Odd that. I don't know whether it is economies of scale, that they sell more of the bigger ones. Or they reduce the price of the bigger ones because they sell fewer. 

Some of them offer one, with a reduction per item if you offer two, or three for the price of two. 

Some seem to cost more but delivery is free. The cheaper ones charge you for delivery, so the one which looks dearer is better value.

Some offer only once piece. Others offer three. But I have already lost the one I had years ago, probably still in a jacket pocket, or the pocket of a handbag. So to have three, one in my coat, one in the bag I use most often, a third on my desk or to give to my husband or y grand-daughter. Or as a Xmas table gift, or a gift when I turn up at a party and unexpectedly find it is a birthday party.

My husband said, you don't know if they will work, so just choose the cheapest. I had so many on my screen that I was muddled. So I added what looked like the cheapest to my onscreen shopping basket. Then I could see the total including the postage in the right hand column. I could also click on remove, or pay only this seller. A feature which I get in Ebay. Temu has great prices, but often wants me to make a minimum order of fifteen pounds, so when I am in a hurry I go back to ebay.

I have Amazon prime, which gives quick delivery. It is an expense, but convenient if you order a lot. Eg ski clothes or sunglasses for a holiday. You might run off the cost against tax as a business expense if you occasionally or frequently urgently need to order items in a hurry such as stocks for a shop, or fire extinguishers for a new tenant in a property, or plumbing parts for builders or light bulbs.

I shall add more details tomorrow updating this post and starting another over the weekend - when maybe the item will arrive.

Useful Websites

Here are some ebay links for three times magnification at under five pounds..

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/166487533040?

 Once you log onto that one, other offers are likely to pop up so you can check the postage to the country where you are currently.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=magnifiers%20pocket%20siz

A page size magnifier at five times magnification. On Amazon I could read the reviews, which were mixed. One person said you needed two hands to hold it. Another said it enlarges only minimally.

at a penny off ten pounds

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Magnifying-Lightweight-Magnifier

A ten times the size magnification, in a heavier circular item with a large black handle, costing £12.99 from meepro limited.

 This was not what I needed, because I already have one.

Heavier circular magnifier with small circular higher magnification section. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Update Sat April 18.

Set of 6 A5 page size magnifiers arrived.

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Some easy useful Spanish words for breakfast

 Words which are handy for breakfast.

desayuno - breakfast (I think of break fast, destroy, say, you, know, say uno)

Fruitas - fruit(s)

Agua - watet

Apel - apple

Cafe - coffee

Confitura - conserve / jam / preserve

De - of

Dos - Two

Gracias - thank you

Limones - lemons

Miel - honey

Naranja - orange

Peras - pears

Pizza - pizza

Platanos - bananas

Platos - plates

Por favor - please

Te (with an accent) - tea

Tostado - toast

Uno - one

Vino - wine

Y - and

Chutney Mary Restaurant - what you get for your money - keep Restaurant Receipts!

Advantages of
Keeping Restaurant Receipts

 I just found the receipt from our wedding anniversary dinner at Chutney Mary. I am very glad I kept the receipt. I always do. 

1 Verify The Address & Directions

Firstly the receipt confirms the address. Useful for my blog. Useful if I want to recommend the restaurant to somebody else. Useful for getting train or transport directions on a later visit.

2 Check Dates Of Visits

Secondly, it would enable me to add the date in either my physical diary, or to an online spreadsheet for several years of all the countries, hotels and restaurants I have visited. To settle questions of which year did we go there. Where was that nice place? Did I go there with you? 

Again, to give recommendations and suggestions to friends, family and others. Or for repeat visits, to find phone numbers fast. And get directions.

3 Find Menu Favourites

Another advantage of having the receipt is finding out what you actually ate. I like to be able to label photos in detail. Savour your favourite flavour!

4 Costs - Low or High?

Was it as expensive as I thought? Or as good value as my husband thought?

On the night it was hard to read the menu. I would have photographed it and expanded the picture, but no need. For our golden wedding anniversary, fifty years of marriage, my husband had splurged on the Chef's gourmet menu at £95. Great advantage, no need to waste time reading the menu, struggling in the dark. We could give all our attention to each other.

Sometimes the bill reiterates the menu's pleasant or interesting surprises. The receipt from Chutney Mary says that the service charge is 15%c. However, 6% is obligatory. The rest is discretionary.

An added bonus. The website. And other linked restaurants. Chutney Mary is linked to Veeraswamy, not a rival, except in the way that brothers and sisters can be temporary rivals. Amara I didn't know. Yet another benefit of keeping the receipt.

I have another blog post on Chutney Mary with photos of food and decor.

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Safety Rules and Suggestions For Zoos and Hiking, Pets, Farms, and In the Wild

London's Soft Play and zoos for all ages include Belmont Farm.

Belmont Farm, Mill Hill, N W London. England. UK. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

If you are taking children out, there are many opportunities. We visited this London location where you have the opportunity to visit either a soft play centre with two areas, one for the under threes and another for older children, plus an animal watching and petting area. 

You can see the animals on the slopes beside the car park. You have to pay to get up close and alow your children to feed them with the animal feed which you buy.

You can buy a combined ticket for both the farm and the soft play but must visit the animals area second not first, for health reasons. Indoors, beyond the pay desk, between the soft play areas for different ages is a cafe seating area where the parents sit and chat or look at their phones. 

Maybe you should think about that when visiting both kinds of attraction in the same day, at different venues.

That is a regulated situation. 

Hiking and Backpacking Worldwide

With summer coming, many families, with and without children, go hiking. I go with a hiking group to a different country every year. I was astonished to see a child from the age of three happily running up and down slopes which were challenging for the elderly, middle aged and less fit adults.

Warnings I have seen about behaviour hiking in the wild include not to go hiking when menstruating. Nor if you have diarrhea.

Not to leave open sandwiches and litter. To cover bleeding wounds.

I read that bears can smell humans, food and blood from six miles away, some say as far as twenty miles, depending on wind and other conditions. Animals with young will react to anybody getting too near, or moving suddenly.

Bears can be attracted by sandwiches in cars, or food left behind at camp sites.

Planned Pooping In The Woods

Some areas allow you to dig a 'cat hole' with a trowel and bury toilet paper or wipes. Other national USA park and other places require you do gather both animal and human waste in a poop bag, which you would double wrap on a longer journey than a four minute walk away from home, and take it home or back to base in a city to dispose of it appropriately where permitted.

Pets and Precautions

Worldwide customs and regulations and reactions vary. For example, dogs on leads, or off leads, and breeds allowed. In vehicles, different cities, countries, ski slopes, avalanche regions.

The reactions from dog owners and forensics seem to be that even good-natured dogs can turn bite or jump when alarmed, especially if they are sick or are protecting their newborns. After an attacking dog is put down sometimes it is discovered that they have brain tumours. Evidently strong dogs can kill adults. Precautions suggested are that is safer for both the humans and the dogs, not to allow dogs alone with babies, and children, nor in beds? And to keep your human heads and necks away from the animals' teeth?

Useful Websites on Animals, and Safety

Belmont Farm

https://www.belmontfarm.co.uk/

Zoo Safety

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/04/06/zooamerica-pennsylvania-wolf-enclosure-toddler-parents-charged/89491970007/

Hiking and Backpacking

The classic book which has been reprinted and updated many times is available from Amaxon and many camping gear shops.

https://www.amazon.com/How-Shit-Woods-4th-Environmentally/dp/1984857134

There are numerous videos entitled how to poop in the woods

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

Pets & Precautions

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15728483/Pictured-dog-mauled-teenage-owner-death-father.html

Hiking & Bears Smelling You

https://scienceinsights.org/how-far-can-a-black-bear-smell/

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Pillar box topper, yarn bombing and spinning a yarn

 

Pillar box topper. Long Elmes, Harrow. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Seasonal events celebrated through the year include 

Valentine's Day (hearts), 

Easter (rabbits), 

Armistice Day (toy soldiers and members of the armed forces and crosses), 

Halloween (spiders and pumpkins) and 

Christmas (Santas).

For more see my previous posts, and the Facebook group page.

In the UK we refer to post boxes. Pillar boxes are the free standing cylindrical ones.

USA

In the USA the term used is mail box. You can buy or make covers for home mail boxes.

Yarn bombing of trees and city architecture has been popular in the USA, in Houston and other cities.

UK

You could join a Women's Institute group to make these seasonal items. Buy a pattern online. 

Home Decor

Or make a tiny one for outside a dolls' house. You could use a Champagne bottle cork, painted with red paint. 

Or a tiny one of painted pastry for the top of a birthday cake,. Or a Christmas cake or other seasonal cake.

From a photo taken from a bus of a pillar box topper in Long Elmes, I went on a journey around the internet, seeing yarn decorating trees and covering entire buildings, in Spain and other countries around the world. Yes, covering entire buildings.

I am not 'spinning a yarn'. The phrase spinning a yarn is thought to come from spinning ropes at sea, and telling tales, long stories, often far-fetched, fictional, to while away the time.

Useful Websites on Pillar Box Toppers.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/876920579707070/

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

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

https://weavesandknits.com/a-gallery-of-famous-examples-of-yarn-bombing-from-around-the-world/

https://grammarist.com/idiom/spin-a-yarn/

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Green Park Station

Lovely tiled murals of leaves. Not green? They look black on red. Photos by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

The red colour is echoed in the seating.

 Green Park station. A long underground walk to the distant line. Allow extra time.

The station, as the name suggests, is next to Green Park. 

Byron poem by the lift.

Green Park station has three lines, Jubilee, Piccadilly, and Victoria.

Useful Websites

https://tfl.gov.uk/tube/stop/940GZZLUGPK/green-park-underground-station?lineId=jubilee

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

I have other posts with pictures on the stations Charing X, Embankment, London Bridge, Baker Street, Brixton and Hatch End.

Chutney Mary Celebration Dinner

 Chutney Mary

A doorman greeted us in the doorway, quite chatty, greeted us and wished us a pleasant evening.

Doorman at Chutney Mary, Photo by Angela Lansbury.

On our way out, he asked us if we had enjoyed our meal. We stopped for a chat with him about our restaurant and other restaurants nearby.

Our table was one of four tables for two at the back. I though it was a small table, but easy to talk across. For a photo I set up a giant Hallmark birthday card, which I had adapted for a golden wedding anniversary but adding a hand written Gold wedding anniversary to the front, using blue tack and a staple. This was a success, balloons get in the way, intrude and leave litter.  The big card attracted the attention o all the other three tables, who all applauded, and wished us well, and I had a lovely chat with the lady at the nearest table. 

My husband had booked the restaurant as a surprise, Indian because our first date had been to an Indian restaurant. He had the set menu, and matching wines, I had the vegetarian menu because I am allergic to shellfish, and for the other dishes we got to try different main dishes. The desserts were the same on both menus. 

Service

Always somebody passing nearby who could be asked to help. For example, they escorted me to the ground floor toilet which was down a dark corridor to the fire exit passing fire extinguishers, which I thought was a good thing to note. The ground floor toilet had a keycode, operated by the waiter who escorted me. Inside was big and quite dark.

After dinner I tried the downstairs toilets, much better decorated, with lovely hand lotion. Not much further and stairs not too steep.

The lighting came from an oil container with a flame, which went out a couple of times. Being in such dim light made it hard to read the menu. I copied it on my phone. But I didn't need the menu, no choices to be made because we were having the set menu. 

Unique Champagne glasses at Chutney Mary restaurant. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

We ordered a sparkling wine to start. The wonderful Champagne glasses were perfect. Wide enough not to hit your nose, unlike the narrowest flutes. We recently changed our very narrow flutes, which in theory hold in bubbles, for wider ones. I would have liked to buy the wonderful unique glasses and wondered if they were some special brand such as Riedel. But the sommelier told us that the glasses had been specially ordered for the restaurant. 

Starter

I had avocado.

Main Dishes

Came with delectable rice.

Desserts

A small souffle containing coconut and halva, which they spelled halwa.

My husband had informed them that it was our anniversary. After our dessert they brought out a plate with a small chocolate concoction and happy anniversary written in chocolate.

Happy Anniversary written in chocolate at Chutney Mary restaurant. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Good for a souvenir photo. Just what I wanted.

Nearest stations

Piccadilly

Green Park

Going there we started through the park, passing on our right a lovely curvy food kiosk, shut Saturday evening, then took a tunnel left, hardly wide enough for two people side by side, went in single file, standing back to let others coming the other way.

Returning to Green Park station late at night, we took the main road, slightly longer.

At Green Park station there is a long underground walk within the station to the Jubilee line going north west.

We plan to go back, at lunchtime when the lower prices of the lunch time deals are attractive.

Useful Websites

https://www.chutneymary.com/

https://tfl.gov.uk/tube/stop/940GZZLUGPK/green-park-underground-station

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Noted from the news - lost people found from heartbeats

I read in the online Independent newspaper about the rescue of an American from Iran being helped by using technology to locate a heartbeat.

This is astonishing. But I read earlier about heat detection being used to locate an avalanche victim. An avalanche victim down one side of a mountain is sometimes in a much smaller area.

A rescue story is a happy, positive story. 

Tracking Endangered People & Pets

What I just read suggested to me hopeful thoughts about many more lifesaving opportunities. If this is true, it means great advances in finding avalanche victims, people lost when hiking, kidnapped children,  wandering toddlers and autistic people. Also, the confused elderly, lost pets, and many other helpful life saving opportunities for people worldwide.

Tracking Goods & Vehicles 

We already have tracking devices for lost keys, and luggage lost at airports or in flight transfers. Apple AirTag is well-known, and there are others.

Trackers show you your mail order delivery vehicles. And businesses track their vehicles. 

Singapore

In Singapore, we could track when a bus would arrive.

When we ordered a taxi, we could see where it was on the roads on the route. Was it taking the main road or a short cut? What was the delay? Was it waiting at the traffic lights?

London, England

In London I can track when my bus will arrive.

Tracking Lost People

But what about tracking people? You could also use it to track people who don't know they are lost, to warn them. Track a spouse who has taken a wrong turn off a motorway, or is heading for a traffic jam. Track people heading into a flood or fire or avalanche.

Motorway police could alert an elderly person driving the wrong way on the motorway. Tell them to stop until the traffic has been stopped and they can be escorted back to safety.

Hikers. Lost toddlers. People with autism. People with Alzheimer's. A person with a pacemaker. An Apple watch recording your heartbeat.

We already have one success story. A woman died.

After she died, her Apple watch revealed at which time.

Lost Pilots

You could track lost pilots and passengers. Flights landing in jungles and storm. Passengers who left the vehicle seeking help. People straying across borders. Soldiers trapped behind enemy lines.

Natural disasters such as flooded rivers. Tsunamis.

People in wartime in bombed buildings. 

Earthquakes. Subsidence. I am sure that is just the start. There will be more.

Useful Websites

https://umatechnology.org/apple-health-data-helped-convict-a-man-for-wifes-death/

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/iran-airman-rescue-cia-technology-b2953698.html

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

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Saying Goodbye hello, goodbye in Spanish

Spanish - Englsih ¿

Dónde vives? Where do you live?

¿Dónde trabajas? where do you work?

¿Viniste en coche? Did you come here by car?

¿Viniste en transporte público? Did you come here by public transport?

¿Podemos ir juntos a la estación? Can we walk together to the station?

¿Puedes esperar cinco minutos? Can you wait five minutes?

Tengo prisa. I am in a hurry

¿Te llevo? Can I give you a ride (UK a lift)

¿Me llevas? Can uou give me a lift (US ride)

Vivo en I live in 

¿Tienes sitio en tu coche? Do you have space in your car?

Para una persona. for one person

Me voy ahora.

Este es mi autobús. This is my bus

Adiós. Goodbye

Encantado/a de conocerte Lovely to have met you.

Spanish Words for a meeting

Learning Useful Spanish Words

I have spent a lot of time on Duolingo, at the start diligently learning to fill in missing words in sentences like a witch's hat is green, and the rabbits are in the car, which is good for reading confusing nonsense to a grandchild. 

I can recognize 'the elephant is big', which is useful on a visit to a zoo. However, what I really need is a simple conversation. I meet a Venezuelan man and a Spanish woman in London at a meeting of the Toastmasters International Speakers' club. I want to say, 'The meeting was good,' and, 'Let's walk to the station together'.

 So I went into translate google and wrote out the phrases I really need. However, I must admit that all those weeks of learning Spanish on Duolingo have paid off. Because I can now see at a glance which words are singular or plural. With a bit of effort I can identify past or future. I can even spot the challenges of the order of I give to you and you give to me. 

Here's my first list of useful words for a meeting.  I hope other people who travel or meet travellers will also find it useful.

 Español Spanish Simple Conversation At A Social Or Business Meeting

España Spain

Inglaterra England

Inglés English

Británico British

Soy inglés I am English

Hablo inglés I speak English

¿Hablas inglés? Do you speak English?

Hablo español I speak Spanish

Hablo un poco de español  I speak a little Spanish

No hablo español I don't speak Spanish

Solo un poco only a little

Hablo un poco I speak a little

Reuniones meeting

¿Lo pasaste bien? Did you have a good time

Fue una buena reunión it was a good meeting

Siempre buena always good

Interesante interesting

Aprendí mucho I leanred a lot

Aprendí cosas nuevas I learned new things

Discursos geniales good speeches

Todas las reuniones son buenas All the meetings are good

Las reuniones siempre son buenas The meetings are always good

¿Me das tu número de teléfono?  Can I have your phone number?

¿Te doy mi número de teléfono? Can you give me your phone number?

Aquí tienes mi número de teléfono Here is my phone number

Anótalo

La salida está ahí

La salida de emergencia está ahí

Los baños están afuera

A la derecha On the right

A la izquierda On the left

Deberíamos esperar

¿Cuándo empieza? When does it start?

¿Cuándo termina? When does it end?

Hasta la próxima See you next time (until next time)

¿Cuándo es la próxima reunión? When is the next meeting

Añádela a tu teléfono

Por favor, llámame Please call me

Cuando quieras

Ahora now

es it is

¿Dónde está la invitación? Where is the invitation?

Empezaremos en breve. We are starting shortly

Empezamos a las 7:30. We start at 7.30

Normalmente terminamos a las 9:00. We normally/usually end at 9 o' clock

¿Dónde es? ¿Dónde es la reunión? Where is where is the meeting?

¿Dónde estás? Where is it?

¿Dónde están los baños? Where are the toilets?

¿Dónde están los baños de mujeres? Where is the Ladies?

¿Dónde están los baños de hombres? Where is the Gents?

¿Cómo estás? How

Ven aquí. Come here

Ven conmigo. Come with me

Un momento. Just a moment

Espera un momento. Wait a minute

Espera aquí. Wait here

¿Cómo estás? How are you?

Muy bien, gracias. Very well, thanks

¿Y tú? And you?

Siéntate aquí. Sit here

Siéntate. Sit down

Fiesta.a party

Festival. a festival

Call To Action

I suggest you make your own list of words you really need.

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Spanish Words - Fifty Handy Words For Welcoming, Chatting And Saying Goodbye

Spanish - English (memory aids in brackets) 

Español - Spanish

Inglaterra - England

Inglés - English

Británico - British

Accents simply tell you which syllable to emphasize.

1 ahora - now

2 bar - bar

3 clase - class

4 /5/6 cómo le va / 7/8 qué tal - how's it going 

9 ¿Cómo estás? how are you (upside down question mark starts sentences as well as ending them in Spanish)

19 dedo - finger

20 documentos - documents

21 /22/23 en la escuela - in school (add e before S like the word 

24 España for Spain and

Español  for Spanish 

25 26 27 en un momento - in a moment

28 29 espera aqui - wait here

espera un momento - wait a moment

30 la fiesta - the party

31 32 los insectos - insects

33 (la) invitación - (the) invitation

34 juguete - toy (juggling your toys)

35 36 ese libro - that book (like library)

37 28 39 mediodia - noon (media - middle, dia - day)

40 el oso - bear (Not el orso)

41 momento - moment

42 perdido - lost (perdition)

43 Siéntate - sit down

44 Siéntate aquí - sit here 

45 ven - come (as in the English words venture and adventure)

ven aqui - come here

46 47 48 ven conmigo - come with me (con - with, like Latin cum, mi - me)

You have learned, or already know, 48 words. Add

49 es - is / it is 

50 51 ¿Dónde está? Where is it?

52 Dónde están?- Where are they? (add n, like the m on the English word them for the plural)

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More On Mould Prevention - One Solution trickle vents on windows and patio doors

Mould on patio door and frame.

Mist on window.

I asked AI the cost of installing trickle vents. Copilot told me

What is the difference in cost between a patio window without trickle vents and one with trickle vents?

The short version:

Adding trickle vents to a patio door usually increases the cost by about £5–£20 per vent, depending on the type and supplier. That means the overall price difference between a patio door with and without trickle vents is typically £10–£40 for a standard two‑vent setup.

💷 What drives the cost difference

The price gap comes from the vents themselves, not the door. Based on current UK retail pricing:

• Basic uPVC trickle vents cost £5–£7 each.

• Mid‑range adjustable vents run £6–£15 each.

• Acoustic or premium vents can be £10–£20+ each.

Most patio doors need one or two vents, depending on width and building‑reg requirements.

🧩 What installers typically charge

Installers often:

• Include the vent cost plus a small labour charge

• Add £10–£30 to the door price

• Or simply bundle vents into the quote for new-build‑compliant installations (since vents are now required in many cases)

So the real‑world difference you’d see on a quote is usually £20–£50, unless you choose acoustic vents, which can push it higher.

🪟 Should you include them?

A few practical considerations:

• Required in many new installations under UK ventilation rules.

• Help reduce condensation, especially on patio doors.

• Some people dislike the look or occasional wind noise, but they do improve air quality.

AI says - If you want, I can help you estimate the cost for your specific door size or compare vent types so you know whether the upgrade is worth it for your home.

The short answer

You can add trickle vents to most existing uPVC, aluminium, and timber patio doors, but it requires cutting into the frame, so it’s usually a job for a window installer rather than DIY.

🔧 What determines whether it’s possible

1. uPVC patio doors

• Usually possible.

• The installer cuts a slot in the head of the frame and fits the vent internally and externally.

• The main limitation is whether the steel reinforcement inside the frame is in the way.

2. Aluminium patio doors

• Often possible but more specialist.

• Aluminium frames are harder to cut and may have thermal breaks that need careful handling.

3. Timber patio doors

• Easiest to modify.

Can I fix vents to an exiting patio door?

 AI told me - see start above.

Useful Websites

https://www.nea.org.uk/get-help/resources/dealing-with-damp-and-condensation-national-energy-action-leaflet/

Moving Away From Nould and Moving Mould Away

 Mould, as it is spelled in the UK, mold in the USA.

I shall look at the three ways to find causes of mold. then the three way of preventing it. 

CAUSES OF MOLD

Put simply, mold comes from water, either from outside, or inside.

Mold From Outside

 If from outside, down from gutters and flat rooftops, sideways from  rain or plants, or upwards from wet or flooded ground. This is known as rising damp.

Rising Damp - prevention Damp Course

To prevent water from rising, about a food above ground in the wall is a horizontal dark line of what looks like slate or tar, called the damp proof course, shortened to the damp course.

 

Damp course in wall. Phot from Wikipedia.

That is an issue to be fixed by the owner of the property. That is you the house owner. Or the letting person, the landlord or the council, or the management team.

Mould from below the floor, in a concrete floor, can be treated by a waterproof  layer. 

Outside Moisture Prevention - Cavity Walls

Mould from the outside is usually prevented by cavity walls. Two layers of brickwork with an air gap between. Look at your window. If the sill is wide and your window from is set back from the wall that width shows you that you you have two layers of bricks with a gap, a cavity wall.

Measure with a damp meter, obtainable from builder's merchants or online. 

If you have a line of damp from above, a leaking gutter. If water all over, mor likely condensation. If above a radiator, from clothes drying on the radiator, or a leaking radiator. See the Wikipedia article. Some damp remedy companies say they can analyse your damp cause for free if you send them a photo. Nothing clever or magic about it, although you can get training and certification. You can check the cause and possible remedies for yourself.

FROM INSIDE - FROM HUMANS BREATHING, 

water vapor from cooking and showing, or water from washing and drying clothes indoors.

The tenant or landlord can provide a dehumidifier. If the landlord provides a dehumidifier and the tenant does not use it because they can't be bothered to empty it or don't want the noise, then the tenant should pay for any remedy for the moisture caused.

A good management company doing a three monthly check will check for mould, explain the cause of mould to the tenant, provide a dehumidifier and make it clear who is responsible for the problem.

A letting agent may also offer a management service. The agent's questionnaire for applicants may ask how many people will live in the property. The contract may specify that the landlord or letting agent must be informed if anybody not on the contract takes up residence. The landlord is legally obliged to check that extra people have the right to reside in the UK. If not the landlord can be fined a substantial amount.

In the 1960s to 1980s if a widow, a single elderly person. lives in a two bedroom flat and occupies the large bedroom, and entertains visitors on the patio, she does not create much moisture. Two or three decades later, a couple with four children, and the wife's visiting parents, all taking baths, washing bedding and clothes, making coffee, cooking in large saucepans, will create more humidity. If they move out the fifties style furniture, sofas and chairs with wooden legs, raised off the floor, and replace Louis IV style sideboards on wooden feet, and beds with space underneath, the new furniture does not have space for moisture to escape.

Pets Adding Moisture

Add four cats or two dogs, bowls of water for animals, washing the kitchen floor, dogs shaking off rain, and you have more moisture.

Some reasons for mold.

1 People don't realise what causes mold. If you have water, you will get mold. Black, prink whatever. It is pleasanter to remove water than to remove mold.

Mold problems have increased. We have double glazing instead of draughty windows. Heating. People from hot countries keep the heating on and turn their homes into a greenhouse. 

Overcrowding

Overcrowding means more moisture. A widow or couple produce less moisture than a family of two parents, four children, two grandparents, and three visitors, or a family meal or party every weekend, with friends staying over, and visitors from overseas. 

Pets

Also, I allowed tenants to have one cat. The female cat attracted a male from outside. The female had two kittens. With a month I had four cats, annoying their neighbours who were afraid of cats, and had vulnerable babies in prams or cost on the patio. Plus four more  living beings breathing.

Raincoats, rainhats, waterproof boots, umbrellas. all bring in rain, and cats and dogs with wet fur. Parties result in drinks spilled on the floor, cans of drink opened lying around. punch bowls, kettles blowing steam for coffee, coffee cups and glasses of water uncovered for hours. Fish tanks. Dog bowls with water. Leaking taps. Leaking pipes. Wet floors from overflowing baths and showers. Water under bath mats in the shower making mould. Shower curtains turning mouldy.

Dangers to Health

Asthma. Lung problems.

Why bother opening a window.. People from hot countries like to live in warmth and wear light clothes. Sit on the floor against walls.

A widow was advised by a friend, to save money, don't heat the whole building, the whole room, just heat the person. Remedies are warm clothes, movable fan heaters, electric blankets on beds, electric blankets designed for use on sofas.

Remedies. 

Identify moisture by observation. How many people breathing in a room with closed windows. Open the window, or trickle vent. Fix or report leaking taps and pipes. Wipe up spills. Don't leave items in water overnight, such as dishes, clothes. Dry clothes outdoors rather than indoors. If not allowed, create a visual barrier. Dry clothes in the room or area nearest a window or where the repainting would be least. Run the extractor in the bathroom or kitchen. Cover cooking. Keep the lid down on toilets. Remove mould from under the toilet seat rim.

Use covered bedside water jugs, and jugs on dining tables. 

Check the water in walls using a water meter, which I have seen sold intermittently in LIDL and other shops for under twenty pounds.

I have experienced three types of mould. What causes mould? Water. Dripping from outside. Condensation inside.

What causes condensation inside. You do. Every person, adults and child, and animal, breathes out moisture all day and all night. If you have a dehumidifier you will be shocked at the amount of water it collects. A dehumidifier can be small for a small room, or larger and more expensive for a larger room.

A cheaper alternative us t open windows. In German and Europe it is usual to open windows to let the house breather or burg for half an hour every morning.

If you see condensation on your windows, it means open the windows of your bedroom. If you see condensation on your kitchen window, it means cover the saucepan with a lid and open the window. If you see mist on the mirror in the bathroom, it means open the window before during or after having a shower or bath or all three.

I first experienced mould when living in rented property in Singapore. Mould from overhead. Then in the home I owned in London, England. Mould from outside and inside. Then in my late parents' flat rented out in England.  Mould from below, under the damp course.

Let's start in Singapore. You can usually see where mould is coming from. Overhead we had mould in Singapore from the leaking roof of a top floor flat. And from rain outside.

The landlady called in decorators to paint the wall. The mould came back. Eventually she had to spend more money on the insertion of a damp proof netting to protect the wall from driving rain. The building repaired the windows, to make them seal better. That prevented water dropping down from heights above where we could reach.

UK Walls

Back in England we had mould in our outside wall in our bungalow. We moved a bookcase and there was black mould. 

This is one of the causes you can prevent. Keep furniture away from walls, to allow air to circulate. 

Ask AI

If you ask AI, you will get a succinct summary or causes and ways of preventing mould.

What can you do? Firs find out the causes of possible condensation. Go round every room in your home, and the outside. In the house check if we clothes are left outside the door, or dried over radiators. Check the bedrooms. Are the beds and wardrobes and units against the wall? 

Maybe there is mold which you cannot see. All the more reason for opening the windows, even when you don't see condensation. In any case, by the time you see condensation, damage has already been done. 

Invisible mold could be affecting your health.