Linda Anne Anderson

Baked my way out of redundancy, now the very proud owner of The Kitchen Croxley. 198 Watford Rd. WD3 3DB. Cakes for all occasions.

[Linda Anne Anderson @lindaaanderson]

Check out thekitchencroxley's video! #TikTok https://t.co/aZRgxoWpuJ

[Linda Anne Anderson @lindaaanderson]

Check out thekitchencroxley's video! #TikTok https://t.co/4WVPFUJUfP

[Linda Anne Anderson @lindaaanderson]

@tombradby You’re welcome! Can’t wait to watch Secret Service on TV next and hoping the others are commissioned too. Wondering if Tess Winkleman is based on anyone in particular 🤔

[Linda Anne Anderson @lindaaanderson]

Wow @tombradby what a fabulous read Secret Service was! Had to dive straight into Double Agent which I couldn’t put down and about to start Triple Cross! Entertaining yes but learnt loads too. Great holiday reads thank you!

[Linda Anne Anderson @lindaaanderson]

@RoyalMail it’s impossible to speak to a human being! This is so frustrating as I can save you time and trouble today!

[Linda Anne Anderson @lindaaanderson]

@RoyalMail is it possible to speak to someone please? The options on your website aren’t working

[Linda Anne Anderson @lindaaanderson]

Check out thekitchencroxley's video! #TikTok https://t.co/StCRNyE7K4

[Linda Anne Anderson @lindaaanderson]

@UKHospKate Congratulations x

[Linda Anne Anderson @lindaaanderson]

Check out thekitchencroxley's video! #TikTok https://t.co/l7hJjSr3en

[Kate Nicholls OBE @UKHospKate]

Today is Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent and after the fun of pancakes and Shrove Tuesday it marks a period of reflection and kindness ahead of Easter. Wishing a blessed and peaceful 40 days to all friends and colleagues observing Lent

[Linda Anne Anderson @lindaaanderson]

@3HBhotels Good morning. We are already staying in Faro 20-27 Feb. But I am interested in finding a spa day somewhere. Is it possible to pay for a day using your spa please and perhaps a massage?

[Linda Anne Anderson @lindaaanderson]

@testosteroneHAV @CamillaTominey One you try this you won’t go back 😂

https://t.co/JCdoFCtEK4

[Linda Anne Anderson @lindaaanderson]

@Matt_Pinner Every single one of them 😂

[Linda Anne Anderson @lindaaanderson]

Very true and so important. Just feel it has taken the spotlight off of VAT and the cost to micro businesses of budget decisions on NLW and eNICS
#hospitality is #taxedout @thekitchencroxley

[Kate Nicholls OBE @UKHospKate]

The reality of business rate hikes and on hotels is acute - they are seeing the biggest tax increases and are also one of the largest employers impacted. Half of all business failures forecast as a result of business rate hikes is hotels

[Linda Anne Anderson @lindaaanderson]

Definitely not surprised by this “news”. Very sad though 🥲

[Kate Nicholls OBE @UKHospKate]

Summer and Christmas jobs, Saturday jobs all fallen dramatically this year as the cost of employment has soared. Hospitality stands ready to help but we need to cut the cost of doing business

[Linda Anne Anderson @lindaaanderson]

https://t.co/PYbJHegoQN

[Linda Anne Anderson @lindaaanderson]

I’ve actually cried reading this 🥲

[Mr PitBull Stories @MrPitbull07]

"My name's Raymond. I'm 73. I work the parking lot at St. Joseph's Hospital. Minimum wage, orange vest, a whistle I barely use. Most people don't even look at me. I'm just the old man waving cars into spaces.
But I see everything.

Like the black sedan that circled the lot every morning at 6 a.m. for three weeks. Young man driving, grandmother in the passenger seat. Chemotherapy, I figured. He'd drop her at the entrance, then spend 20 minutes hunting for parking, missing her appointments.

One morning, I stopped him. "What time tomorrow?"
"6:15," he said, confused.
"Space A-7 will be empty. I'll save it."
He blinked. "You... you can do that?"
"I can now," I said.

Next morning, I stood in A-7, holding my ground as cars circled angrily. When his sedan pulled up, I moved. He rolled down his window, speechless. "Why?"
"Because she needs you in there with her," I said. "Not out here stressing."
He cried. Right there in the parking lot.

Word spread quietly. A father with a sick baby asked if I could help. A woman visiting her dying husband. I started arriving at 5 a.m., notebook in hand, tracking who needed what. Saved spots became sacred. People stopped honking. They waited. Because they knew someone else was fighting something bigger than traffic.
But here's what changed everything, A businessman in a Mercedes screamed at me one morning. "I'm not sick! I need that spot for a meeting!"

"Then walk," I said calmly. "That space is for someone whose hands are shaking too hard to grip a steering wheel."

He sped off, furious. But a woman behind him got out of her car and hugged me. "My son has leukemia," she sobbed. "Thank you for seeing us."

The hospital tried to stop me. "Liability issues," they said. But then families started writing letters. Dozens. "Raymond made the worst days bearable." "He gave us one less thing to break over."

Last month, they made it official. "Reserved Parking for Families in Crisis." Ten spots, marked with blue signs. And they asked me to manage it.

But the best part? A man I'd helped two years ago, his mother survived, came back. He's a carpenter. Built a small wooden box, mounted it by the reserved spaces. Inside? Prayer cards, tissues, breath mints, and a note,

"Take what you need. You're not alone. -Raymond & Friends"
People leave things now. Granola bars. Phone chargers. Yesterday, someone left a hand-knitted blanket.
I'm 73. I direct traffic in a hospital parking lot. But I've learned this: Healing doesn't just happen in operating rooms. Sometimes it starts in a parking space. When someone says, "I see your crisis. Let me carry this one small piece."

So pay attention. At the grocery checkout, the coffee line, wherever you are. Someone's drowning in the little things while fighting the big ones.

Hold a door. Save a spot. Carry the weight no one else sees.
It's not glamorous. But it's everything."

Let this story reach more hearts....

Credit: Mary Nelson

[Cian McCarthy @arealmofwonder]

Rest in peace, Patricia Routledge 🙏🏻

In memory of her, I encourage everyone to read these words of hers from February last year.

Whether young or old, you're bound to get something out of it.

*****

"I’ll be turning 95 this coming Monday. In my younger years, I was often filled with worry — worry that I wasn’t quite good enough, that no one would cast me again, that I wouldn’t live up to my mother’s hopes. But these days begin in peace, and end in gratitude.

My life didn’t quite take shape until my forties. I had worked steadily — on provincial stages, in radio plays, in West End productions — but I often felt adrift, as though I was searching for a home within myself that I hadn’t quite found.

At 50, I accepted a television role that many would later associate me with — Hyacinth Bucket, of Keeping Up Appearances. I thought it would be a small part in a little series. I never imagined that it would take me into people’s living rooms and hearts around the world. And truthfully, that role taught me to accept my own quirks. It healed something in me.

At 60, I began learning Italian — not for work, but so I could sing opera in its native language. I also learned how to live alone without feeling lonely. I read poetry aloud each evening, not to perfect my diction, but to quiet my soul.

At 70, I returned to the Shakespearean stage — something I once believed I had aged out of. But this time, I had nothing to prove. I stood on those boards with stillness, and audiences felt that. I was no longer performing. I was simply being.

At 80, I took up watercolour painting. I painted flowers from my garden, old hats from my youth, and faces I remembered from the London Underground. Each painting was a quiet memory made visible.

Now, at 95, I write letters by hand. I’m learning to bake rye bread. I still breathe deeply every morning. I still adore laughter — though I no longer try to make anyone laugh. I love the quiet more than ever.

I’m writing this to tell you something simple:

Growing older is not the closing act. It can be the most exquisite chapter — if you let yourself bloom again.

Let these years ahead be your TREASURE YEARS.

You don’t need to be famous. You don’t need to be flawless.

You only need to show up — fully — for the life that is still yours.

With love and gentleness,

Patricia Routledge

*****

Once more, rest in peace. 🤍

[Linda Anne Anderson @lindaaanderson]

Absolutely loved this. A real page turner that keeps you guessing. Commit & concentrate & you’ll get the very most out of all the twists & turns ! Five stars definitely!

[Lorie Kleiner Eckert @LorieKEckert]

Don't Let Him In by Lisa Jewell: This is the story of a new widow named Nina Swann who meets a very handsome and charismatic man, Nick Radcliffe, who proves to be a con man. https://t.co/sIJq4r1R9I

#TuesdayBookBlog #LisaJewell #ConMan

[Linda Anne Anderson @lindaaanderson]

@adeleparks I read Playing Away when it was first published! I need to reread every one of these now.
(I used to love the books lined up on a shelf. Kindles are great but SO much harder to remember the characters & details in every book)
Honestly love everything you’ve written. Thank you!

[Linda Anne Anderson @lindaaanderson]

Just finished and cannot recommend highly enough! Life on hold while I read this!
One question though. Where do I remember Connie & John from? 🤔