Kafe Ador - Top Marks For Decor - My Favourite Dishes - Owner Revealed

 

I had my eye on Kafe Ador for some time, wondering when it would open and who were the owners. Now I know. Read on and all will be revealed.

Delightful Decor

Let's start with what I loved. The delightful decor. Jungle green. Flamingoes and parrots in pink on green. 

That's on the left, the side with a large plate glass window and lots of light. The tropical jungle theme is all over the walls.

A different decor feature is on the right. 

We chose a larger oblong table further in, conveniently nearer the food display. 

Croissants Or Spinach Pastry?

At the front on the counter top was a display croissant, the size of two or three loaves of bread. Also a semi circular concentric spinach pie roll in puff pastry. That was my choice. My husband wanted a croissant. I did not tell my husband, Don't.  I can get croissant from Tesco, cheaper, hot first thing in the morning. And yummy almond tart from Costa, which is fattening, in a more cramped place, or try Pastoluccio which is Italian which others like - for ice cream, which you also get in Minori next door. No, for me it is the unique and healthier spinach tart.

I was rewarded. It was superb. Moreish.

Coffee and Cake

My husband drank all his coffee in record time, without leaving me any, so he must have liked it.

Cakes

Angela with the tiramisu. Photo by Trevor Sharot.

We were given a little piece of chocolate cake and tiramisu 'on the house' which I shared with my calorie-counting husband. We agreed that the chocolate cake was not very chocolatey. The outright winner in the cake contest was tamisu, moist and moreish. Yummy. 

My husband is a tiramisu fan. I follow chocolate desserts from place to place the way that some people follow football teams. Nope, not here. I have switched allegiance. I would order tiramisu next time.

Tropical Theme Toilet

The parrots and flamingoes are even making it a joy to visit the ladies toilet. Just one large ground floor wheelchair friendly area with which is huge, specious. 

Everything is naturally brand new But also well-thought out, welcoming with co-ordinated pink Catherine Kidston hand wash. Gold easy to operate lever door handle. 

Swift Service From Staff

The staff were friendly and helpful. You only had to look up and sombody came over straight away. They helped us log onto their wifi. And answered all our questions. They are open from 8.30 am for early breakfasts until five. Seven days a week.

The little menu was on the table. But not the big menu. I was able to photograph the big menu. And the kids menu. Which I am sharing with you, and for my own reference as I plan to go back again, and the website hasn't yet caught up. The website seems to show coffee with a biscuit. Puzzling. We were not given a biscuit and I didn't see any to buy.

Who are they? The owner also runs Izgara along the street. Turkish. A big busy and succcessful restaurant with lots of lights and bright decor. Figures. No wonder. Ador means a perfume.

To sum up. Spinach in puff pastry is excellent. So is the tiramisu. 

The toast platter looks lovely.

My apple drink was insipid, not worth the price. I would not order that again. There is lots more to try.  

Merry Music

Background music of jolly Christmas songs was playing. Just loud enough to lift your spirits and keep your conversation private. But not too loud. Perfect.

Prices

The drinks are pricey. The fifty percent off the food offer lasts a month from the Monday when they opened. And they are open seven days a week. So now is a great time to go.

If you already love Izgara, here's a smaller place, a cosy cafe with a bright colourful decor. (More photos from Angela are being added shortly.)

Please follow my blog and share with friends and family the links to your favourite posts.

Do You Know Ten English Family Name Meanings? - Ten Popular Jobs - And Statues To See

 It is easier to remember people's names if you recall the jobs which the names mean, probably a job held by their ancestor, or even their ancestor's boss. I have at least one book about family names, and several about first names.

Names associated with jobs

1 Archer (like author Jeffrey Archer), 

2 baker

3 barber

4 bishop

5 carpenter - made wooden items, spoons, furniture, housing

6 carter (who drove carts or maybe made carts)

7 clark  (clarkson was the son of a clerk, writer come secretary, or maybe a religious cleric)

8 Cook or cokson meaning son of a cook

9 cooper - maker of barrels

You can see a stue of comedian Tommy Cooper in Wales near Caerphilly Castle. More details in Wikipedia.

Statue of comedian Cooper near Caerphilly castle, seen in the background, in Wales. More details in Wikipedia.

10 draper made drapes or curtains

11 gardener or gardiner - worked in gardens

That is more than ten, but there are many more.

glazer - person who makes windows

knight - roade around on a horse

Lee means shelter in English, and in Chinese Lee or Li means plum tree

Statue of Bruce Lee in Hong Kong. Photo in Wikipedia.

miller - ground corn at a mill

Priestley - priest's woodland clearing, owned by the church. A common name in Yorkshire in England, and Scotland in the UK, also the USA and Canada. See the statues of Priestley the scientist in Yorkshire. See the statue of author-playwright J B Priestley whose time-slip play An Inspector Calls is used by many schools for English O level exams.

Statue of J B Priestley in Bradford, Yorkshire.

shepherd - looked after or herded sheep

smith - usually blacksmith, since a silversmith would be called silver, or silverman, and a goldsmith or person working wiht or selling gold bards or gold jewelery and items might be called gold or goldman

tailor/taylor- sewed by hand, later by machine (as in Elizabeth Taylor the film star)

Bust of Taylor in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Another Believer - Own work

Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico (2021)

thatcher - who created thatch or thatched roofs, made of bundles or dried straw, before clay was dried and made into tiles (as in Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher). A statue of Margaret Thatcher is in Grangham, Lincolnshire, England. A bust of her is outdoors in the Falkland Islands, in the capital, Stanley.

Statue of Margaret Thatcher in England.

weaver - wove textiles

wheeler - made and repaired wheels for wagons

woodman - worked with wood, or in the woods

You an buy books about statues, such as London statues (I have that one) and on surnames (I have one of those, ) and on baby names (I started collecting books on baby names when my son was born  more than 40 years ago and I now have more than ten books on baby names. Magazines on Parents and babies often give away books on baby names with their springtime editions. Some first names are derived from names of parents. 

Useful Website

ancestry.com (I tried loading up the link but it wiped out the entire post, so I have just given you the generic name. Add name meaning.)

https://www.oxfordreference.com

wikipedia.com

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

Please follow this blog. Share your favourite entertaining, educational posts for travellers with friends and family.

Sleeping Instantly, Anywhere - For Pilots, the Military and Travellers -And Travel Writer Angela's Solutions

 

Sleeping girl, painting.

What is the cure for insomnia? How do you sleep in crowded or noisy places?

Noise & Sleep

I remember staying in a hotel in Lisbon on a travel press trip. The bedroom was overlooking a busy noisy main road. I could not sleep.

The manager told me that he could not move my room becuase the hotel was full. But, he assured me, everybody who had that room said they got used to it and slept well the next night.

He was right. After my exhaustion from the first sleepless night, I fell asleep instantly the second night.

Travellers Needing Sleep

However, that might not be ideal when you want to be awake to drive or operate machinery. Drivers and pilots need to be alert. So does anybody who is going to negotiate a dangerous river or other tricky situation. You want to feel alert if you simply want to enjoy sightseeing the next day.

Sleep Disturbance

What can disturb you abroad. Noise such as city centre cathedral bells in France. 

In Italy, we were kept awake by the tooting of cars and lambrettas.

In China we had hoped to sleep late on a weekend morning. But the traffic outside started early. Vehicles braked, screeched to a halt, tooted, at the traffic lights outside.

On my honeymoon in Morocco I was woken at 5 a.m. by the local mosque's calll to prayer. I leanred this when I phoned down to recetions and asked, "Is there a fire alarm?"

In Singapre a droning noise outside my window disturbed my nap. Mist was wrising. Was it a fire? I called the management office. No, the were 'fogging', which was done every Friday, to kill mosquitos.. 

Sleeping Pills

Some people take melatonin. Sleeping pills can leave you drowsy next day.

Coffee And Caffeine

What if you have had too much coffee? You might keep waking to go to the toilet. My doctor in London told me to drink no more than three coffees. The third should be no later than after lunch and should be deaffeinated, which is not completely caffeine free but has low caffeine.

Military And Night Watch Staying Awake

The military reputedly often rely on drugs to keep awake, when driving at night, or keeping watch, when it is dark, quiet, no movement. 

Then what sends them to sleep later, in daylight, when the world around them is noisy?

Pilots' Problem With Sleep Solved

I've previously read about clearing your mind by counting sheep, counting to 100, relaxing your body head to toe, and focussing on your favourite summer or winter or cosy indoor scene. 

You can also clear your room, turn off all lihts, listen to music.

Angela's Sleep System

One method is to get rid of stress. Stop watching the news or TV late at night. Watch a comedy or ready a humorous book.

Stresses Solved

If you have a stressful situation to deal with, think of three things. Worst case scenario, your lost item is gone and you report it missing and buy another one. 

Neutral situation, while waiting for it to be returned, you go out shopping. 

Best case scenario, your lost item appears under a towel in the bathroom. Meanwhile somebody else has bought you a better replacement, or you treated yourself to a better replacement.

I imagine phoning a friend or family member. They listen and offer sympthy or solutions. I end on a happy note not to strees them.I thank them for listening.

Than I switch places. I pretend they have the problem. I suggest solutions. If they say they've tried everything, I say soothing things.

I fast forward to the future. This time tomorrow, next week, next month, or next year, this problem will be solved.  

Activity

What else do I do? I learn languages on Duolingo. This drives out all other thoughts. Gradually I get tired and start nodding off. 

In bed, I do exercises, leg lifts. Then when I am tired, I take a few deep breaths, yawn and relax.

Fantasies

I indulge in my favourite fantasy. I think of swimming in Singapore. I imagine a romance.

Finally, I imagine that I have ignored a wake up alrm clock, which turns off. Then somebody is calling me to get up, but I am reluctant to do so. Instead I am hiding under the covers, keeping still, breathing very quietly, ignoring them. Sometimes, I discover this is true. I fell asleep last night and it is now morning.

In the unlikely event that none of that works, I plan my day or week ahead. I try counting to ten in French and other languages. Each time I make a mistake, or come to a blank, I start again at one.

Article Analysis

The method in the article below is, to sum it up, start physically. Relax from head to toe, think of feeling warm and cosy in each part of your body as you relax it. Then relax mentally. Visualise a calm and cosy, still setting. For example, outdoors, on land, sleeping in a hammock. At sea, floating gently, waves flowing slowly backwards and forwards. Indoors, on velvet bedspreads or cushions or pillows in a dark, black room.

Useful Websites

://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-14200749/military-sleep-method-nod-hack-expert.html

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

Hawksmoor Steak Restaurants For Perfect Steaks and BYO Mondays

 The name of this steakhouse group conjures up visions of hawks and moors and wildlife in rural England. The resstaurants serve steak. Not just any steak, but a whole vairety of steaks. Cooked to perfection. 

Britain is known for its beef. Sunday lunch is traditionally roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. Horrisons, a popularly priced supermarket chain started out specilising in formed food in England.  Yuu can find roast beef and Yorkdhisre pudding for Sunday lunch, often only Sunday lunch, all gone by Sunday evening, in the budget chain popular priced pubs.

Here at Hawksmoor, the meals are more expensive, for special occasions. The steak is done to perfection. Perfect steak, even when cooked rare, not tough, the outside well cooked but not overdone.

They have several restaurants in prime locations in London, England. Covent Garden, Borough Market.

If you are a gourmet, and also a wine buff, the day of the week to go is Mondays, which is alwo their bYO day.

The corkage charge is about five pounds per bottle, any size bottle including a magnum which is the size of two bottles, enough for four people drinking carefully, more if anybody doesn't drik red wine or doesn't drik any one.

I signed up for their newsletter, where you give your birthdate, day and month, not the year, in the hope of getting a birthday offer. They ask your favourite location. Mine would be the art deco branch overlooking Regent Street.

Travel Tips

1 Monday is BYO day.

2 If you or one of your group is bringing a magnum, check out the bus and train routes so you don't have to walk far, nor drive far.

Useful Websites

Hawksmoor Locations

https://thehawksmoor.com/locations/london/

TFL

How Long Does It REALLY Take To Learn a Language?

The easiest languages for English speakers include Esperanto, Swedish, and Dutch, Italian, French.

Other languages with the same alphabet are also easier. 

Easy in the sense of fewer rules, but also the number of hours required to study. The number of hours is not a guesstimate. The American dipolmats and miltary have to train staff on language courses for postings to foreign countries. Interpreters are trained in schools designed for this purpose. A very interesting video on You Tube shows what is required and done. 

The military interpreters who volunteer and have an aprtitue and the dedication commit to several hours a day for most days of the week as well as evening homework. Far longer than I would ever commit.

They are expected to be fluent in a year or maximum a year and a half.

They are fluent before they set foot in the country.

However, amateur polyglots often go to a coutnry speaking not a word and learn by immersion as well as intensive study.

O the oriental languages, Indonesian and Malay are easiest.

Of the African languages, Swahili looks easiest. 

Mail box topper in London

 Snowy scene on top of a mail box.This one has three little snow white characters with hats and neckties, and a green tree.The colours are red, white, green, black and yellow.

In Cortenay Avenue, on the H14 bus to Northwick Park Hospital from or to Hatch End.

Useful Websites

Wiki post box toppers (American mail box toppers)

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

TFL (Transport for London) H14 bus route

https://tfl.gov.uk/plan-a-journey/

https://tfl.gov.uk/bus/route/h14/

TravelwithAngelaLansbury.blogspot.com

Posts with pictures showing mail box toppers.

Kafe Ador open In Hatch End

 

Christmas tree in Kafe Ador, which opened Monday December 16th.2024.Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Balloons in Kafe Ador. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Pastries, sandwiches and snacks, they say.

Opening offer if you have the leaflet for dine in.

414 Uxbridge Road, Pinner, Middlesex HA5 4 HP.

Useful Website

https://www.kafeador.co.uk/

I visited and reviewed on December 18th 2024. See the lateer post.

Please follow this blog and share links to your favourite posts with family and friends.

Knife arches have been installed in h\Harrow Town Centre - at what cost

 

I looked online for the cost of knife arches. cost 1,200 pounds upwards. Plus the cost of somebody manning the arches. Or a video link.

You can by portable arches to move them around, or take to event.

After shootings in schools, instead of sending prayers, send money to a fund for knife arches, set up a go fund me.

The FAQ on sites selling knife arches say that the arches can detect guns and metal objects as well as knives. 

Useful websites

https://harrowonline.org/2024/12/16/knife-arches-installed-at-st-georges-in-harrow-town-centre/#google_vignette

https://knife-arch.co.uk/portable-walkthrough-metal-detector-uk-security/?gad_

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/mar/20/civil-liberties-stop-and-search

https://www.gofundme.com/en-gb/c/start?

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/12/16/school-shooting-madison-wisconsin/77026398007/

https://www.interconnective.co.uk/search-equipment/walkthrough-metal-detectors/

Deutsch: Kontrolle am Flughafen Berlin-Schönefeld, Gate easyJet; Genehmigung der Sicherheitsbehörden lag vor English: Airport security
Date	2005
Source	Own work
Author	© Ralf Roletschek

What Wetherspoons Pub in London Offers for Christmas

 

Wetherspoons pubs offer food, drink, festive decorations and pictures or newscuttings or other items related to the history and famous events or people of the local area.

In December 2024 the Moon and Sixpence in Hatch End has booklets about real ale.

The Moon And Sixpence in Hatch End has seating at the front with a Christmas tree.

Inside, more jollity.

Please share links to your favourite posts.

Hanukiah in J P Morgan at Canary Wharf

 

A hanukiah in J P Morgan at Canary Wharf, London, England, UK. 2024. Photo from Sharot family.

A hanukiah is a 9 branch candlestick for the 8 days of Hanukah. The first candle is lit on the first day of Hanukah. This year, 2024, it is Dec 25th.

Canary Wharf place name sign illuminated. Photo fom the Sharot family. Edited by Angela Lansbury.

J P Morgan is named after the foundation of the company by American financier J P Morgan.This office is on Bank Street.

Useful Websites For Travellers to Read

https://canarywharf.com/whats-on/faith-events/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._P._Morgan

Please share links to your favourite posts.

Start Esperanto with a few easy words A-Z and some grammar rules

Dr Zamenhof created the language Esperanto (which means I hope). An easy language. 

I started this list from words I learned on Duolingo.

 I filled in the missing letters by checkling online and a paperback Teach yourself Esperanto Dictionary.

 Esperanto - English

al - to

avo - grandfather

bela - beautiful

blanka - white (adjectives end in a

blua - blue

bruna - brown

capo - cap

Dankon - thank you

estas - is/are 

estis was/were

flago - flag

griza - gray

havas - have

helpi - help

infano - child

januaro - January

kara - expensive kastelo - castle kisas - kisses

libro - book

Londono - London (all nouns end in the letter o)

Mi - I

Ni - we

oktobr - October

parko - park

q - NO WORDS quality - kvalito

restoracio - restaurant

Saluton - hello!

tago - day

unu - on ne urbo - city

Vi - you varma - warm

w NOT USED

x NOT USED Xmas - Kristnasko

y No y, use the letter j, pronounced y

zebro (nouns end in o) - zebra zipo - zip 

mi estas instruisto - I am a teacher (instructor)

Mi havas uno filon. - I have a son (add n for the object of a sentence)

Tips

1 See my other posts on Esperanto for inspiration and encouragement.

2 You see how easy it is to recognize vocabulary, which you can do on Esperanto websites. 

3 You can convert Wikipedia into an esperanto version. 

4 Or turn a short article into Esperanto after reading the English.

Please follow my blog and share links to your favourite posts.

Learn Esperanto, Join Clubs, and Enjoy Free Homestays

 

Chateau in France, a cultural centre owned by an Esperanto association, holds summer courses for learning and speaking Esperanto.

At other times of year you can stay a night or more for free, or a small contribution towards food if they provide breakfast, with esperanto speakers who want to converse with you in Esperanto.

Learning Esperanto

It takes about two hours to go ghrough the pronunciation of the letters and the 16 easy grammar rules. 

Esperanto means I hope. 

Learn the language online free from Lernu, which is run by an Esperanto association, or on Duolingo.

People who have learned Esperanto reckon it might take you 100 hours to learn the language, far less than most languages. That would be an hour a day on Duolingo for 100 days, or half an hour a day for less than a year if you plan on taking a holiday or a series of hoestays next year.

Please share links to your favourite posts with your friends

My books are on Amazon and Lulu..

Xmas tree, snowman and Santa socks: knitted topping decorating Post Box in London

Snow Scene Decorating Mail Box, Roston Grove, off The Avenue, Hatch End, Pinner, North West London. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Notice rhe amount of detail in the knitting or crochet work. Numerous little colourful hanging socks. The trees. The snowman. The two big red boots with white tops.

When we passed about 7 pm the lights on the Xmas tree were lit. I took this picture on our return journey after 11 pm when the lights were off.

So if you enjoy seeing it in daylight, or late at night, go back to see it again when the little lights are glowing. 

How do they get it to light up? I wonder if it is batter operated, or using sunlight in daytime to generste power.

Photographic Records

I have taken photos and written posts about the ones I have seen previously. The terms for these items include yarn bombers, yarm fairies, yarn toppers, according to the Wikipedia article. Wikipedia has pictures of the previous seasonal events commemorated, regional ones with the words Covent Garden, and Oxford. 

Sometimes there are no toppers between national and seasonal events. Just when you feel disappointed that there's nothing to see, along comes another delightful photo opportunity. Maybe it's time for the museum of London and other venues to devote a room to them, at least to pictures of lights and decorations around London for major events.

Useful Websites

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

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Post_box_toppers_in_England

Please share links to your favourite posts.

Sunday 15 Dec Zamenhof Day, honouring the creator of easy made up international language Esperanto

 Esperanto flag.

Zamenhof lived in a city in what is now Poland, where four different language groups resided, creating communication problems. They did not have a common intermediary language (such as Greek, Hebrew, German, French, English with added words from local languages) and all the languages had different structures. So he created a simple language with no exceptions. Past, present, future, singular, plural, sixteen straightforward rules. 

The language is in use today, mainly by countries which have a language which few or no other coutnries speak.  In Hunagary you can take Esperanto as a school course and do the school leaving exam.

If you learn it, you can meet other speakers at clubs such as the one in Reading, England, or their annual conference. Throughout the year if you are a speaker, or plan to be, you can link with others who speak esperanto as a second language, or the few entusiasts who speak it as a first language, They have a homestay system. You can offer your home to another speaker to stay for three days and practise speaking Esperanto, and take up offers from others to do the same. 

I bought an Esperanto dictonary and did an Esperanto course, but never took it further. Esperanto is the most widely spoken of two or three made up languages, one developed to update Esperanto. Another, which is my favourite, instead of making up words following the standard unchangeable rules, takes the most widely used international words and phrases.  To give you an example, if the word computer with the plural computers was deemed to be most widely known, this would be used in Interlingo. However, the Esperanto plural oj would be used in Esperanto. 

Also Esperanto is a Romance language base language. Asians have their own sets of attempts to create common languages. 

Meanwhile, I am running an online languages group two Sundays a month, in my time, currently winter in UK, turn on zoom at 2.30 for a 3 pm start. The second and fourth Sundays each month. I give a talk on lanugages. Start with everybody introdcuing themselves with hello and/or welcome in their language and ending the meeting with goodbye in their language.

wiki explains

Esperanto (/ˌɛspəˈrɑːntoʊ/, /-æntoʊ/)^[7][8] is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it is intended to be a universal second language for international communication, or "the international language" (la Lingvo Internacia). Zamenhof first described the language in Dr. Esperanto's International Language (Esperanto: Unua Libro), which he published under the pseudonym Doktoro Esperanto. Early adopters of the language liked the name Esperanto and soon used it to describe his language. The word esperanto translates into English as "one who hopes".^[9] 

Esperanto Travel

Esperanto Speakers meeting in Norfolk, England

For the traveller, you can visit a museum about Zamenhof and Esperanto in Poland. In Vienna, Austria, you can visit a museum with a section devoted to articifical languages including Esperanto.

Useful Websites

Sherlock Holmes statue, Baker Street

 

Sherlock Holmes Statue, Baker Street. Photo by Angela Lansbury

Please follow me, bookmark, and share links to your favourite posts.

Easy Italian words for your holiday, restaurant, opera, or entertainment

Italian flag.

I am enjoyig learning Italian. I am also proud of my progress. 

I am encouraged to learn new words every day on Duolingo. All this work is in preparation for a holiday to Italy in 2025. 

I am keeping lists of words which are almost the same or similar spelling and the same meaning. The technical term for thsee is cognates.

I also note on a second page those words which are completely different. On a third page I list, those which have similar spelling but confusingly have a totally different meaning.

Here are some of the easy ones, starting with the Italian on the left alphabetically, followed by the English on the left alphabetically. Note that the letter i is used for the masculine plural. A word ending in e is feminine, like the word feminine. A word ending in o is masucline singular, like Romeo.  

Italian - English

ambulanza - ambulance

amore - love (amorous)

banca - bank balcone - balcony

cattivo - evil (like catty)

differente - different

emozioni - emotions

errore - error / mistake

facile - easy

funghi - mushrooms

Germania - Germany

hotel - hotel (they also use albergo)

importante - important 

inizio - the start (like initiation and inital letter)

jk - these two letters are not used in Italian

livello - level

mappa - map melone - melon

naturale - natural

odio - I hate (like odious)

progetto - project

questione - question 

radio - radio

Spagna - Spain

telefono - telephone

universita - university (notice Italian has an accent on the a)

veloci - fast (like velocity) veranda - veranda villa - villa

vulcano - volcano Many words are used in music. Virtuoso.

wxy - these three letters are not used in Italian. But appear in borrowed words.

xilofono - xylophone. xenofobia -

zoo - zoo

Useful Websites

https://www.parlaitaliano.co.uk/50-italian-cognates-to-supercharge-your-learning/

https://www.quora.com/How-many-Italian-words-begin-with-Q

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

Please follow me, bookmark, and share links to your favourite posts.

Post boxes in London have festive knitted or crochet hats

 

Snow scene decorating a post box. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

This seasonal scene features the colours of snow white, Santa or pillar box red, and pine tree green - actually a brighter nearer emerald green. You can see snowmen, a conical green tree, a red hat, and a black and white hat.

This little scene is in Long Elmes, where the H14 bus stops outside the shops, just after turning the corner from the school and the storage warehouse. The H14 runs from Hatch End to Harrow bus station along this road.

More little scenes are on other boxes in the area. One is just off the Avenue, Hatch End. Another is in the Abercorn Road, the street from my former Stanburn Priary School leading to Stanmore.  These amusing and uplifting little scenes decorate the post boxes all over London, England, the UK.

In my previous posts I have shown other seasonal scenes. 

I am always on the lookout for something amazing and amusing.

Please follow me, bookmark, and share links to your favourite posts.

Opening soon, Kafe Ador In Hatch End with a Discount Offer

 New to Hatch End. On the same side as Hatch End Station but the other end of the Broadway.  Opening on Monday December 16th.

Upade in December 2024 - now open. See later post.

South African wines Kleine Zalze what does it mean?

 I went to London Cru, a London Wine venue, which you could hire for Christmas parties, weddings and other events.

Angela in London Cru.

London Cru Mural in the alley. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

AWE

AWE, the Association of Wine Educators,  was introducing Kleine Zalze wines. 

Zalze Wine

Zalze means little salt. The German for salt is salz. Their website explains.

We saw the wine maker from South Africa on an overhead screen, telling us about wines, which we tasted.

Klein - meaning

 I recalled that Klein means small in German.

And presumably the same in Dutch and Africaans which is based on Dutch which arrived with the Dutch East India Company.

Q & A

After the presentation by the winemaker, live on Zoom, they had a question and answer session. I write about wine and food, restaurants and factory and windery visits.

Wine and Food Matching - South African

 I asked about wine pairing with food. "Which South African food would go well with South African wines?"

Cellar master R J Botha said,  "The white wines would go with yellowtail fish, and sachimi. The red wines would go well with brai."

I queried, "What's brai?"

"Barbecue,"

Tips For Those Attending Events - Note To Self (and Note to Whom It May Concern!)

1 No need to take water. Copious carafes of water are provided.

2 Tasting sheets were given. But no pens. So take yyour own. Maybe a spare one for your colleagues, or

 just to be thoughtful and helpful and gain kudos with others who knew you had to bring a pen but forgot.

3 The main room is a wwindery and wineries are cold. Wear warm clothes.

4  (Or take a hot drink,a hot toddy ask them to start with a hot punch. Or have coffee nearby first.) This may afect you on arrival. You will also be drinking chilled wines. When you move next door for a reception with a large number of people the temperature will go up.

5 The wine tastings I have attended usually have no feed before or during the wine tasting. Wine tastings sometimes take place with no food before during or after. Sometimes there is no food at the start even if food appears later. Some people take a biscuit or sandwich which they eat surreptitiously shile waiting for the event to start. For energy, for healthy, to avoid getting drunk. and to stay sober.

6 When I present slides on Zoom I am often told to use larger font and less text. On watching this presentation, I had trouble reading the paler coloured fonts. I suggest black bold and larger fonts. What you can read clearly on a laptop, may be hard to read when the picture alongside on the large screen appears paler.

Join the London Cru mailing list to get 10% off your first purchase.

Directions to London Cru

The nearest station is West Brompton. On exiting from the station, turn left across the bridge. Then first left. London Cru is in an L shape alley opposite a pub. The wwall of the alley has a mural with the words London Cru. Cru stands for brew or batch of ie in a particular style, eg in Cru Bourgeois.  Cru classe second class wine, not wwinteries, wwines, by a wine, then 3rd, fourth fifth, and lower class wines are Cru Bourgois in Brdeau.Three secion of cru, so 8 levels of classification on the banks. (the 5 growth are left bank.)

Useful Websites

https://londoncru.co.uk/

https://www.kleinezalze.co.za/

https://wineeducators.com/

Coffee At Paul's - Small tables, large portions

Paul

Photos by Angela Lansbury.

 We stopped for a quick coffee and a bit, a bite, to eat, a snack lunch, at Paul's near Farringdon station in London.

Nostalgic and Ethnic Decor

Paul's was established way back in 1889. Depuis 1889, the paper napkin told me. Wow, that's a long time ago. The decor is reminiscent of old France, a bit like the old historic Cafe Rouge decor.

The floor tiles are black and white. The wall tiles are white.

Prices and Portions

The prices are slightly larger than at the other big chains of coffee shops in the UK (we often go to US style Starbucks and Italian style Cafe Nero). However, here the portions are large. Also healthy looking options were available, not just biscuits, cakes, and sandwiches with meat or cheese and no vegetables. Here, we had a baguette which contained lots of healthy greenery. The size was big enough for two dieters to have one portion each for lunch and two portions, one for each of us, to take away.

French

I looked at the word depuis. Since. The language also told me it was a French chain. It was and still is. My husband ate in Paul's in France at a station in Paris. Gare du Nord. The Northern station.

Useful Website

https://www.paul-uk.com/patisseries

Please share links to your favourite posts. Also bookmark and follow me. I have other busy blogs here on blogspot.com on dressoftheday and comic poetry, and wineanddine. You will also find me on Facebook and linkedIn and can see and buy my books on Lulu.com and Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk