Post box topper in Long Elms, Harrow, north west London
Photo by Angela Lansbury.
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Saturday, June 27, 2026
Friday, June 26, 2026
Pool Fences And Alarms - Install, Campaign, Donate to Fences, No Funerals
Australia has laws requiring fences around home swimming pools. America does not. Although there was a giant fence around the pool in an apartment complex when I lived in Rockville, Maryland.
I agree with many others who say that the USA should demand fences around pools. It should be illegal to 1 install a pool without a fence in an inhabited building,
2 to move into a building before the fence has been installed,
3 to rent out a house or flat with access to an unfenced pool,
4 and to sell a house with a pool which has no fence.
Useful Warning Websites
https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15926191/jamal-morton-daughter-rose-drowns-georgia-pool.html?dicbo=v2-MpdD1rb
Packing List for business and holiday trips
Here is a generic packing list you can adapt
Shopping list
Checks in advance
Passport checks
Check for the expiry date, and the expiry date allowed by destinations. Some countries require 6 months, in case you overstay.
Check your passport has no rips or tears or the airline might deny you boarding
Check enough blank pages are left for visas.
Visas - check requirements for all family and colleagues including spouse, children, nanny, granny, driver, guide, family members who are different nationality.
Allow time for visa issue, or you have to pay extra for fast delivery or courier if you don't have time to go to the embassy, even if sending it remotely is allowed
If you need a new passport you may need to reapply for visas in the new passport. You might have to send back your old passport. In that case copy it so you have a permanent record of your travels for your diary and family history. Records of travels can prove you meet residency requirements, and remind you to not exceed them. In addition, evidence of travel might prove you could not have committed a parking offence or serious crime because you were overseas.
Car
Car tax
MOT (car road worthiness)
Tyre pressure
Petrol (gas) - fill up, note or dated photograph amount in car, in case of petrol theft
Car numberplate noted
car insurance, check expiry date
Car insurance number
car insurance helpline
Compare car hire costs and book car hire
Note location of car hire office
Note location of meet and greet at airport, or parking or valet parking, which side of building, which side of road
Suitcase
Check suitcase is regulation size and weight,
fits in boot (trunk) of car,
is not too heavy to carry
leave space for souvenirs, gifts from family, hotels, restaurants, conference bags and literature, guidebooks bought at destination, maps and brochures
Check suitcase wheels work and are clean
pack luggage trolley, strap, string, labels, scissors with blades less than the regulation, which could be a maximum of six inches from a certain point on the scissors or knife blade
Photograph luggage and note colour and brand in case you need to report loss, or speak to those whose language is not English
add identifying colour or sticker to black suitcases and all suitcases and bags, umbrellas, walking sticks
Note hiking sticks with points might not be allowed, as carry on, also sports equipment such as cricket bats, surf boards, tennis rackets, so these must be packed in checked in luggage or sent separately as oversize luggage
Clingfilm or luggage protector might be useful to protect luggage from scratches and dirt
LANGUAGE
Print vital words of foreign language of destination (from Wikitravel phrasebook of the country or countries of your travel tip)
Learn the word for help
(I was able to shout AYUDA, Spanish for aid or help, when I fell downstairs in a Spanish parador hotel in La Palma, in the Canary Islands)
Print the word for allergy and the type of allergy for a restaurant or doctor or pharmacy
Travel insurance
patient number, eg UK NHS number
helpline number
Destination
Destination and contact details and names for family, neighbours or colleagues
Hotel
Book room upgrades
Airline
Book airline upgrades such as leg room, exit seat,
check in online at correct time, being sure not to pay extra on budget airline for printing boarding pass, ate or early check in
Holiday booking location and date confirmation
copy of passport left at home with passport number
First night hotel reservation
Location of destination hospital or doctor
Before leaving home
Inform work or club of duties others must do whilst you are away
Inform work or club of dates you are not available. For security do not tell media nor allow others to broadcast the fact that you are out of the office, your home, or your country. Simply say you are unavailable, or away from desk, or unable to take calls.
Cancel gardeners or window cleaners, or leave their payment with others, or book them for your return.
Leave a set of door keys and credit cards at home in case they are lost or stolen from you whilst away
Turn off gas, electricity, water, heating, air con, or leave it on low, according to length of stay and weather forecast and safety requirements
Check for items left in dishwasher or microwave or fridge which might go rancid
PETS
Arrange pet sitter.
Get pet acquainted with pet sitter or pet holiday location.
Put chip and tags on pet. Leave pet toys and food and instructions. Check pet insurance and where pet sitter should take pet, and instruct pet sitter on insurance, pet hospital or vet location and whether pet should be saved at all costs if injured or ill.
Check if pet is allowed in cabin of aircraft and what leash or bedding or pet food must be provided.
AIRLINE
Book special seat, window for photos, aisle for claustrophobic, near toilet, away from noisy galley and babies, quietest part of plane, upgrade, seats of family together, near exit if in transit,
Available airmiles
HOTEL OR CONFERENCE CENTRE
Find out if there is a group or delegate or longstay discount
Join hotel loyalty scheme to get upgrades, freebies, better toiletries.
Book junior suite or sea view.
Note which side of hotel is on busy road.
Book ground floor if afraid of heights. Book higher floor if afraid of intruders through doors and windows.
Book room near fire escape, or away from left noise, or near lift or conference room or restaurant or swimming pool if likely to be in a rush.
Book rooms near other members of family or group.
Book rooms near lift if you have mobility problems.
Check hotel has a lift or porter for luggage if you cannot carry luggage or have many bags.
Ensure suitcases are locked, and keep valuables and laptops with you because the luggage trolley may go in another lift.
Keep swimsuit handy in travel bag, wheel on gab or top of suitcase, in case pool closes at 5 pm or just after your arrival. You could even travel in a swimsuit to be sure of using the pool if you are only staying one night.
Check pool closing times (5 pm at some SPANISH parador hotels in the Canary islands of La Palma and Tenerife).
Tell restaurant in advance it is your birthday, allergies.
Arrive early and check room before accepting it.
Compare with rooms of others in your group.
Swapping Bedrooms For A Bidet Story June 2026
My bedroom in the Parador Teide on Tenerife had a bidet but the next Parador on La Palma gave me a room with no bidet. I thought it was just a lower grade or older hotel. I asked to see a friend's ground floor room and discovered they had a bidet.
I went back to reception and asked if they had a room with a bidet at the same price. They did. I requested a swap.
My husband was already asleep on the bed. However, I wheeled out the suitcases and left him a note of the new room number.
After installing everything in the other room, I went back and found he was awake and astonished that all the suitcases and bags had been moved in the dark without disturbing him.
Travel ITEMS
Clothes
Travel Documents
Travel Bag
Before Returning Home
Before Leaving Hotel
Before Leaving Hotel Bedroom
During and after accident
Photo of location for insurance
FORWARD A COPY TO another family member
Photo of injury for doctor/insurance claim
Details of vehicle or condition of place of injusry (eg broken step, wet floor)
Hospital x-ray and report and translation for continuing care at home on return
Make report to insurance within the required time frame
MEDICATION
Daily pills
Painkillers eg aspirin or if allergic to aspirin, panadol/paracetamol - know the local generic name to buy cheaper than branded products eg in the Philippines
Travel pills
sea sickness
sleeping pills
Insect repellent
Insect spray )if travelling by car, not a pressurised can if on aircraft_
Stingose or other bite cream.
Medication for mouth ulcers, athletes foot, dandruff.
Special Trips
Equipment
Clothes
Sports
Swimming = swimming costume, hat, beach shoes, beach bag or towel, sunhat, sun cream, wqterproof keyholder, waterproof watch, cover for phone. Buckets and spades for children. Information on tsunamis, beach flag warnings/
City and hotel Precautions
Earthquake shelters, fire escape.
Check in
Check out
Day before departure
Pack all except travel clothes and food. have address inside suitcase.
ALARMS
set alarms on hotel clock, mobile phone or watch
Order early picnic breakfast if needed, vegetarian if needed, request compact packing if travelling on airline with luggage restrictions. remember to ask for vegetarian or fish alternative such as salmon if you don't like beef, pork, processed meat, cheese, egg, tuna (our three star parador de las Canadas del Teide on Tenerife gave us salmon and egg instead of ham and cheese, but the grander five star Taoro hotel said they only did regular and vegetarian, gave us thick white bread, and when we changed one item to vegetarian and said one vegetarian, for me, we got one breakfast instead of two, so the other made in a hurry had to be rushed up the car park to us after we had checked out.
Skiing
Ski boots, poles if practical and preferred rather than hiring, trousers (pants) thermal underclothes, gloves, hat, goggles, padded jacket with interior and exterior pockets, lift pass lanyard and identity photos.
Hiking
Wine events
Pack bottle stoppers, Champagne stoppers, Platypus flat screw top drink containers, water bottles filled with water, wafers or savoury biscuits, tee shirts with wine logos, ear-rings with wine symbols, names of delegates, good year charts, colour identity charts, books on wines, business address cards, passport or identity card to prove you are over 18, hard shell suitcase to support wine, protective plastic bottle covers, gift tags and bottle bags for gifts to VIP speakers, or helpers
Conference
Learn the names of the VIP speakers, your colleagues overseas, the organizers. Look up their photos on Facebook or LinkedIn in order to recognize them.
Check if any of your group of old or new friends or colleagues are travelling back the same way. You might car share, sit together, swap advice, share alternative car hire if the airline cancels the flight.
Before boarding plane home
Pack computer or laptop if on airline with luggage restriction, pack
Leave room for computer, umbrella, folding walking sticks if travelling on airline with luggage restrictions.
Thank organizers.
Note hotel names in your diary and write reviews whilst you have time at the airport and it is fresh in your memory.
For some repeat events you might wish to book the hotel again for next year, especially for annual events such as the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland in August.
SIMPLE PACKING LIST
Dress / Suit for travel, underwear (bra, vest, underpants) socks, sandals, bag for documents, spare clothes, night dress / pyjamas Optional swimsuit. Scarf, belt, jewellery for evening. Sunhat. Jacket, Raincoat.
Toothbrush and paste, comb, lipstick.
Notebook and pen.
Diary.
Travel documents - passport, visa, airline ticket on phone, car park ticket, driving license, hotel reservation letter, mobile phone and charger, and sockets, laptop and powerpoint, mouse and cover. Additional camera for conference calls.
Packing Clothes
Day dresses and suits (numbers of days of stay, maximum 7, wash and wear repeat for second week.
Sandals, spare pair, waterproof or beach shoes, evening shoes, hiking boots or walking shoes.
Socks.
Evening blouses and skirt,
best dress or suit,
jewellery to match,
necklace, bracelet, rings, brooch, scarf slip, safety pins and sewing kit with needles threaded with black and white cotton or self threading needle, or needle threader. Optional spare spools of black and white thread for shortening hems and dresses or repairing tears.
Packing Medication / cosmetics
Toothebrush or elecgric toothebrush and charger
Toothepaste
Tweezers and nail file or manicure set
Hair conditioner and shampoo
insect spray for car and bedroom
insect repellent for body in day, evening and night
warm evening jacket for air conditioning
Shorts and sleeveless top for sunny spells
Warm jumper, sweatshirt and jacket for cold mountains, sea breezes, mountain hikes, evenings, bike and boat rides.
Paxkable umbrella, kept handy for travelling.
(Some gym bags have a waterproof zip compartment underneath for wet swimsuits, sweaty gym outfits, laundry, or wet umbrellas).
For travelling I have bought a bag with a horizontal strap to fix the bag on top of a wheelie bag. You can also buy computer cases with a strap.
Soap and or shaving cream and razor
Packing List - take it with you to check you have brought back everything you set out with, nothing left behind.
Hotel Bedroom Check
Two or more people should do the bedroom check.
Check every room and every cupboard, behind every door (hook on the back of the bathroom door for your own bathrobe or night dress or swimsuit or underwear_
Check in cupboards (even if not used by you - our toddler put a toy in a hotel cupboard)
Check under beds for pens and slippers.
Check under pillows for night clothes and contraceptives.
Check wastebins for items which have fallen off tables.
Check the minibar for your pills as well as food and drink, alcohol, birthday cake, chocolates and cheese and milk.
Photograph the minibar when you arrive and leave to prove to yourself and the hotel whether you took any goods.
Check bathroom for toothbrush left for you to clean teeth after breakfast.
Check balcony for shoes and swimsuits and underwear and night clothes left to dry.
Check pockets of all discarded items. To get onto a Ryanair flight without paying fifty pounds for excess baggage, after we had already paid for three bags, my husband put my laptop in a suitcase and threw away the case. I check the padded pockets and found my power brick and mouse.
Car check
Check car boot, glove box, door pockets, pockets on the back of the front seats, under the front seats.
On the end of your packing list write reminders for next trip.
My reminders are
1 Keep a coin handy for a luggage trolley at Stansted airport in the Uk.
2 The collection point for cars is by the valet direction upstairs, not back down at meet and greet where you left your car.
3 Pack Nespresso or Lidl coffee capsules if going to the Canary islands. We did not like the coffee capsules given free with the coffee making machines in four different hotels.
Happy holidays!
Useful Websites
Visas
See embassy websites.
Suitcases
A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING
Have a standard place for everything. For example, business cards on the left, toothbrush and cosmetics on the right. Swimsuit top left. Swimsuit and underwear top right. Day clothes on top. Evening clothes at the bottom. Or day clothes on one side. Evening clothes on the other side. Always lay the suitcase down the same way. For example, pull up handle on the right.
If two of you have a suitcase each and both need an x shape folding suitcase support. One hotel reception told me they have a room full of them to supply to guests on request.
Check ebay and amazon and other specialist luggage shops and brands. You might look for hard shell cases to protect fragile items and bottles. I like expanding suitcases, which have double zips.
Suitcases with double dividers allow you to open one half without the contents of the other half spilling everywhere. Another solution is packing cubes. Or pack flat and secure with inner straps.
As for scissors, no blades longer than 6 cm measured from the fulcrum.
Useful Websites
What you cannot take on Ryanair
https://help.ryanair.com/hc/en-gb
Veganorte for wine, food and tee-shirts on a wine theme, in La Palma, The Canary Islands
Perfect. Perfetto.
Angela Lansbury wearing her wine glasses tee-shirt.
I tried on the other tee shirts, but a square pattern of thick paint did not fit well over a curvy chest. This tee shirt with the wine glasses looked and felt the best. So it was the one I bought. Just the thing for wine tastings, wine events, fine wine lunches, fine wine dinners.
These tee shirts cost about 13.5 euros at the winery which offers wine tastings or lunches of pate and toast.
Unfortunately they don't ship the tee-shirts, so you have to visit them, or ask a friend to buy one for you and tell your friend if you want medium or large tee shirts or aren't fussy.
On the internet you will find lots more similar tee shirts with wine themes from various suppliers. Or you can take a photo of yourself with your favourite glass of wine and bottle and get it printed on a tee
shirt and cap. Or a couples shirt, a matching pair of shirts. For an engagement, wedding or anniversary.
A short sleeved tee-shirt is a bit casual for an evening dinner, unless it is very hot and you dress it up with black high heels, a fancy skirt in red or black, smart jewellery, and a glamorous hair style and bag. Maybe a black hairband or hat.
All I need now is ear rings.
Useful Websites
For wine
Prices and mark ups on wine vary considerable. At the airport leaving Tenerife we checked the UK prices of Canary wines on winesearcher.com. Several wines offered were cheaper to buy in the UK than from the airport shop, but we found one bargain bottle.
You can bring back a surprisingly large number of bottles, especially if you are a family of adults. We bought an extra suitcase for bringing back wine, one with sturdy sides, at vast expense.
We also paid for an extra checked in suitcase on Ryanair.
You need to do your tastings at the wineries in advance so that when you get to the airport to leave you are sure which winery, grape, style, and year of production is of interest to you and worth the money.
From Etsy, red or green for pierced ears.
Other websites for Canary Islands food, drink, books and games
Please share links to your favourite posts.
Thursday, June 25, 2026
My Padders Sandals' Soles melted in the heat
My shoe soles melted in the heat. Black sticky mess on the floor. June in London 2026 HAS A HEATWAVE.
This is not unique to Padders good value shoes but general. I have had the same from Marks & Spencer shoes.
Once, when my shoes disintegrated, and I tried to return them, or at least register a complain about the composition of the sole, the staff asked me how long ago I had bought the footwear.
Buying New Shoes
I also had a pair of shoes disintegrate although I had never worn them. I didn't wear them because they were a size too small, my feed are different sixes so one shoe was too small, and my weight and ankles had increased. I kept them lovingly because they were very pretty, bought on impulse in an end of season sale.
If your shoes disintegrate you might need to provide a receipt. The shoe or shoe box may have a number telling the manufacturer the date the shoe was made, as well as the date of your purchase.
From now on I shall be keeping my shoes in the shoe box with the receipt attached, and keeping a photographic record of the footwear alongside the receipt.
I have now stopped saving shoes for a special occasion. I am well past fifty and my dancing days are limited.
Second Hand & Sale Shoes
Shoes which have been hanging around in the shop, or worn by a previous owner, might be nearing the end of their useful life. Another reason to wear them soon, whilst you can, and get your money's worth.
Please share links to your favourite posts.
Welcome aboard Ryanair planes - without my laptop case
We had an upset on checking into Ryanair at Tenerife's southern airport (Sur means southern, in Spanish although it means on in French, but at least you recognize the word. You just need to attach a different English translation.)
My husband had already paid extra money for priority boarding plus one overhead mini suitcase for each of us, two extra checked full size suitcases, and extra money for one extra suitcase for him bought at the destination to bring back souvenir wine because he is a wine educator, and extra legroom. About five, six or seven extra items.
The upset was that I thought that you could take a laptop separately and in addition to your wheel on bag. Apparently not. The airline wanted to charge fifty pounds for an extra bag.
My husband declined to pay for a third extra charge. He packed my laptop in his rucksack and threw away my lovely padded burgundy laptop case which had outer and three inner zips. and a shoulder strap with a padded shoulder oval.
If I had had time and a pair of scissors I would have cut off the shoulder strap, the zips and the large wide inside elastic band. I have been thinking about this day and night for two days, whilst looking for a replacement bag, in burgundy at prices varying from about e0 pounds to 300 pounds (Euros similar). But could I have carried a pair of scissors. Apparently,
Laptop Case
I loved my laptop case and a replacement would cost the best part of fifty pounds. I checked the abandoned case and found the zip pockets still contained my power brick and mouse, which I rescued. I then took a second look and rescued a pink tag.
We then had to rush, having lost the advantage for priority boarding, for which we had paid extra. We had also booked front seats with extra leg room.
I was under the impression that the airport staff were paid a bonus for enforcing the the luggage rules. Whilst the aircraft crew were in charge of the sales of duty free goods and sales of raffle tickets, so much more helpful with seating (we had been allocated a different plane} and helping me with my walking sticks up the steep stairs and stowing stuff in the overhead lockers to speed boarding.
The crew were all smiling and helpful, a happy bunch.
I asked one of the young lads, 'Does Ryanair recruit happy people or do the train you to smile and look happy?'
He replied, 'We are happy because we are going home.'
But there is also visual encouragement to be positive. One sign says that Ryanair is known for punctuality. In addition a display showed the words for welcome.
Wasted Breakfast Food
We had left our hotel before breakfast and been given instead a picnic breakfast which was packed in large card containers in a bag, one for each of us. I ate half a banana. I saved half a cheese sandwich. I had to throw away the containers and all the apples and oranges, bread, and drinks.
Welcome words on a Ryanair plane.
 |
| Plane cupboard door with the words for welcome in several languages. Photo by Angela Lansbury. |
Angela Lansbury with friendly staff on the Ryan Air plane.
The words for welcome, alphabetically
Bien venue - French
Welkommen - Danish
Wilkommen - German
By Country Alphabetically
French bien venue (literally good arrival)
Danish Velkommen (Starts with a v. Vowel like the German but with an e at the start.)
Dutch Welkom A short word. No couble letters. Starts with W like the English cut changed the w c to a k._
German Wilkommen
You may wish to create your own lists, in your travel diary, or a piece of paper attached to your diary.
Useful Websites
Translate google
Onmiglot
Overweight and large bags bonus for staff
I have several posts on languages in this blog, travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com (Type in dots, or full stops, Americans say periods, no obliques. Please share links to posts.)
Tuesday, June 23, 2026
Family Winery at Mount Etna in Italy
At the Island Wines Summit in Tenerife, the Canary Islands, I saw several dormant and active volcanoes.
I met a young man from, Italy, second generation of a vineyard family. He had the word ETNA tattooed on his wrist.
I asked him, 'is it an active volcano?'
''Yes.'
I gasped, 'Aren't you afraid of an active volcano?'
He shook his head and smiled. 'No, I am not afraid of an active volcano. I'm more afraid of people.'
His family winery is in my husband's book about island wines, Isle Drink, by Trevor Sharot. Which you can buy online from Amazon.
His name is Andrea Foti, and the winery is I Vigneri.
Website
He is one of the up and coming new generation of winemakers. He was a panellist who spoke at the conference.
He gave me a tee-shirt in lovely blue.
The message is minus arrogante, Italian for arrogance, meaning less arrogance.
And plus, carricante, more of the local grape called carricante. You can see a picture of the white carricante bunches of grapes on their website, and their black grapes.
Their website is in Italian or English. You can learn from the website about their soil, philosophy (no plastic), and where to buy the wines in Italy and how to book a tour to taste five or seven wines and tour the vineyard and old and new cellars, with containers of three types.
Websites
The Winery near Etna
Tracking volcanoes
https://volcanoes-earthquakes.appwesome.com/
Please share links to your favourite posts.
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