More fun for dogs at Christmas

I was looking at a copy of the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph. I read an article about Secret Santas for different dog breeds, in dog sites on the internet.

I went looking on line for gifts for dogs.
On the present finder I found a board game which includes dogs; plus a mug showing breeds of dogs.

http://www.thepresentfinder.co.uk/buy/great-british-dogs-mug_1763.htm

In the Lakeland catalogue you can see dog doorstops at £22.99 or £24.99 and a Schnauzer dog draught excluders, at £26.00. Seems pricey to me, but if you must have it, you must have it.
tel:015394 88100
lakeland.co.uk
They have a shop in Intu shopping mall in Watford, near Watford station on the Euston line, and several more shops.

Here's a dog Christmas stocking from Tesco:

See my previous post on dogs Xmas stockings and dog hotels.
Angela Lansbury, travel writer.

Costa Northwood - Bigger and Better

Costa Coffee shop in Northwood seems to have grown, literally bigger, and much better, since I last visited, perhaps as long as six months ago. Better choice of food. Bigger seating area. More spacious.

Inside it now has attractive murals of Italy giving it a jolly Mediterranean atmosphere. The mural remind me of holidays when you relax and have unlimited time.

No longer a small corner shop, it has expanded, lots of seating and choice of outlooks. I chose the bright, open outlook of the front looking onto the road and across the high street. At a busier time, or for a change, I might choose the side facing onto the quieter side/road alley.

Alternatively, choose the privacy of the windowless side without the distractions of movement or noise from outside traffic. The background music adds jollity and extra privacy for your own conversation, as well as protecting you from the distraction of other people's chatter.

Parking
I was afraid to take my car. A relative assured me that it's possible to park so we went in his car. The parking area opposite the library behind Ask Italian restaurant allows 30 minutes free parking but you must take a ticket and display it to show when you arrived.

I frowned and said, 'We've only ten minutes to walk there and ten minutes back means only ten minutes to have coffee.'

The retort was, 'But it's only two minutes to Costa, so you have nearer twenty minutes.'

Food and Drink
We had time for a warmed melted cheese toasted sandwich, a slice of chocolate cake, an almond slice and a cup of coffee with a decoration on the topping.

My reason for preferring Costa is the almond slice. As you see in the picture, it has real almonds on top. Also chunks of real almond in the filling. Admittedly it is rather sweet, and despite looking small, it breaks my calorie allowance. I usually try to share it with somebody.

I chose to sit next to the newspapers. They had the Metro and Evening Standard and The Times. It was near 5/6pm so we were able to have high tea/early supper and still find a newspaper to read.

A quick race back, pausing carefully and looking both ways on the Zebra Crossing.

No parking charge.

Cards
The Costa card requires you to log online to register it. You can also buy gift cards which are displayed immediately above the Costa Cards. In a hurry, I grabbed one of the gift cards thinking it was a Costa Card, realised my mistake and swapped it for the Costa Card.

Angela Lansbury, BA Honours, travel writer, author, speaker.

Food & Drinks magazines to read on the train or plane

You could read one of these magazines and newspapers about food and drink on your train or plane. If you think you know as much as or more than their staff and freelance writers, you could read through a copy, note down your own suggested article and email a query letter to the editor.

Magazines and Newspapers About Food and Drink
(Some of these titles have an ampersand instead of the word 'and' but my computer turns an ampersand symbol into HTLM code instructions so to be sure you can read something which looks and sounds sensible I have written out the word and.)

50 Best Restaurants
Artisan
BBC good food magazine
Beer and Brewer
Big Hospitality
Caterer and Hotelkeeper
Caterer and Licensee
Chef Magazine
CLASS
Drink me
Eatsleepdrink magazine
Fine Food Digest
Food and Drink
Food and Wine
Harpers Wine and Spirit
Imbibe
Occasions
Olive magazine
Restaurant Magazine
Speciality Food
Staff Canteen
Stockpot
Tandoori
The Publican's Morning Advertiser
University Caterer
Waitrose Weekend

Websites
appetitemag.co.uk
beveragetradernetwork.com
buysubscriptions.com
decanter.com
deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipe
drinksint.com
drinksmag.com
drinkmemag.com
fine-winesmagazine.com
imbibe.com
jamieolivermagazine.com
justdrinks.com
magazinesdirect.com
northeastflavour.com (New England, USA)
sainsburysmagazine.co.uk
tastebudsmagazine
tastetheseasons.co.uk
thedrinksbusiness.com
wineandspiritsmagazine.com
wineconomist.com
winemag.com
winemerchant.com
winesandvines.com
winespectator.com
world-newspapers.com/food
wsta.co.uk wine spirits events (NB Some events are for consumers, others trade only.)

You might also be interested in:

Taste
regional magazines which carry restaurant ads, articles on farmers and food factories, and recipes.
For example, for Kent, the garden of England: kent-life.co.uk or visitkent.co.uk; similarly surrey-life.co.u,

Suggested words for google searching: allergy, beer, cater, chef, cider, cook, coffee, cookery, diet, drink, eat, food, gluten-free, health, magazine, newspaper, recipe, restaurant, sugar, spirits, taste, tea, vegan, vegetable, wine. Also see names of supermarkets such as Waitrose, and wine sellers such as Majestic.