Monday, June 1, 2015

Furniture Shop in Hatch End Closing but re-opening

I read with alarm a notice in the local paper that a furniture shop in Hatch End was closing. 'Not another shop closing!' I thought. (We lost the chocolate shop. Oxfam closed, though it has been taken over by St Luke's.)

I often look in the furniture clearance shop window as I pass. They put something in eye-catching red in the window or near the front. Such as a bar stool, or bean bag chair.

I look at the bar stools and side tables under £100. If only I could persuade my family that we have space for them. I should have been a buyer for a living. I then at the glass tables and matching modern chairs, sets of four or six.

I dashed in to look around, for what might be a last look. I also wanted to see what information I could glean about why and when the shop would be closing.

Furniture Clearance Centre in Hatch End will be closing, probably mid-July, apparently due to a takeover - and makeover. But a similar shop will be re-opening, keeping on the current sales person Saj, because of goodwill and to create continuity for customers.

(I just had to change the world salesman, not to be politically correct, but because the spell checker on the site changed it to salmon!)

So the ownership is changing, but what's the difference for customers? According to Saj, the new management will introduce mid to high end furniture, with a warranty. That which means high prices but more peace of mind for customers.

You can see the big banner across the top of the shop as you walk or drive past. Inside are dining tables and chairs in wood or glass with chairs in wood or black or red or white, nests of side tables, bar stools, swivel chairs, sofas and beds.

Footfall
Hatch End is busy because of numerous restaurants in the evening and weekends, with a lower footfall in the middle of the day and midweek. Sam says customers often pass going to work in the day or returning in the evening and see the sign and come back at the weekend.

Saj hopes and believes the phone number will stay the same.
Tel 020 8452 8045.

The Address is 369 Uxbridge Road, Hatch End, Pinner, Middx. 

Friday, January 9, 2015

Animal biscuits and sandwiches - with or without help from cutters

I have always wanted to make themed biscuits and sandwiches for breakfast at weekend, birthdays, anniversaries, festivals and special occasions. Here's a link for easy 'I love you' or 'sorry' breakfast.
Write a message; make them laugh. For breakfast, the I is a vertical (lying flat on the plate) sausage.

The love is a heart shape fried egg, made in a hart shape mould - but you could cut out the white into a heart shape. Or put the egg on a piece of toast made into a heart shape drawn freehand.

Finally the You is cheese on toast, the cheese cut into a thick U shape. You can make a sandwich and use the You on top and the cut out part as the filling so as not to waste it.

Some ideas for shapes and colours:
Shapes for scenery, faces, animals
Circles for faces, bodies, eyes, cheeks:
In sizes from large to small, halves or slices: grapefruit halves, oranges, lemons, apples, pears, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives.
Ring shapes - sliced peppers, red, orange, yellow, green, strawberry.
Lines: carrot, cucumber, celery.
Dots for eyes: currants, sultanas, cherries, chocolate buttons, Smarties.
Trees, fur or curly tails: parsley, coriander, curved strips of vegetables or fruit.
Whiskers: chives, outside of cucumber
Cubes; white sugar, brown sugar, feta cheese cubes, cheddar cheese cubes
Hair spagetti
Envelope - ravioli
Sand - sugar, muesli

Colours:
Transparent: water, vodka, gelatine, lychee
White - almonds, milk, yogurt, bread, cake, chocolate, icing sugar, cream cheese, onion, beans, meringue, rice, barley, spagetti, whipped cream, clotted cream, lychee, feta cheese
Red: apple, cherry, raspberry, strawberry, tomato, pepper, jam, redcurrants, cranberries, jelly
Orange: oranges, mandarins, apricots, marmalade, mango, cheese
Yellow/cream: cake, honey, cheese, yellow pepper, peaches, banana, cashew nuts, pear.
Brown: biscuit, brown bread, coffee, hot chocolate, crust of bread, chocolate alb, nob or grated, roasted almonds, walnuts, chutney, soup.
Brown Logs - chocolate flakes
Green grass or trees: lettuce, gooseberries, greengages, watercress, avocado, soup, kiwi fruit, grape
Purple - aubergine, beetroot, grape
Lavendar - sugared almonds
Blue sky or sea, yogurt or blancmange dyed with blueberries
Black Pepper, peppercorns, marmite, treacle, licorice, soy sauce


Many others, especially animals such as pandas and bears and rabbits with the help of moulds.

http://www.allthingsforsale.com/bento/fast-and-easy-breakfast-idea-to-say-i-love-you/

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Searching for real leather

1 I have more than six pages of items similar to the leather boots I'm searching for. This search would take too long. I want to to sort results, starting with lowest price. However, that search box is not showing so I have given up. I need

a) Search by low price first
b) Indication of how many pages in total

c) I would like to eliminate faux leather and leather look and leather style as I want real leather. The other results are a waste of time and disappointment when searching. Most people make one wrong purchase before learning to watch out for misleading descriptions.

It would be nice to have a quick way to categorize
a) All leather (boots/bags) - for durability and not getting athletes foot from water retaining fabric but - List these as leather quality quality A) RL or 100%
b) Part leather might suit some people quality B) or 50%+ 50%-
c) Leather-look might be better for those seeking cheaper goods or vegetarians - possibly you could introduce a new category of quality C) 0%