Pickle

A bit of black eye makeup and any costume can be given a ghoulish edge :)

The dogs are quite scary if you're not expecting them. Many a time I've run past the stables and almost jumped out onto the South Circular when the big Alsatian barks and jumps up against the fence. There's one or two little ones too, also very noisy.

We have electric underfloor heating in our hallway and kitchen/dining area, mainly under tiles but a small section is under wood. Makes a huge difference in winter, and our heating bills reduced quite a lot in the 12 months after we had it fitted. It's been in for about 5 years now with no problems.

uncleglen Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Cheapskates- musicians union says ?31.50 per hour! Indeed, we pay ?20 for 30 minutes (and ?22.50 for 30 minutes for our other child's recorder lessons), so ?40 and ?45 per hour respectively. I taught flute for years and charged the equivalent of around ?40 an hour (it was in NZ). Not sure anyone on this thread is being a cheapskate?

My daughter started uke at 6, she loves it, and her teacher is brilliant at working with her on music she likes. She's played everything from Katy Perry to Simon and Garfunkle, and is now doing a piece of classical music that she heard her brother playing on recorder. We pay ?20 a lesson (30 mins), but he comes to us, and as a musician myself I know that's a good deal! His name is Ben Dean.

Random - this thread was started 5 years ago!

I never officially turn ours off - thermostat set to 20 degrees mornings (6 till 9) and evenings (5 till 10), so if it needs to come on it will. Generally it doesn't ever come on until the end of September, but the last week or so it's kicked in as the temperature has dropped. If you've got small children I think it's pretty necessary. We pay ?205 per month, gas & electricity combined. Family of five and I work from home. We don't have a tumble dryer, but over winter I often put the heating on in the middle of the day if I'm working.

Luck for us too. First house in ED came about after we were gazumped on a much smaller flat. Property market went crazy about the time we were looking to upsize, and the house we ended up buying was a "must sell today". That particular day there was a really important England football match on, and lots of the people booked to look though cancelled their viewings.

I think so. My 3 (4 in Jan) year old plays with her siblings maxi scooters, with the handles right down I think she would be fine to ride them properly (she's on a mini micro). More than happy for you to try one too if you like? We are near Goodrich school. The maxis are great - we've had 3 years use out of them now, and they're still going strong, my older children are 7 and nearly 9.

Yes, it will be fine. My daughter moved to a maxi at about that age (she had worn out the micro), and she's pretty average height. You're welcome to come and try one of ours for size if you like?

I drive along Sydenham Hill a few times a week, it's a real problem. On my two trips along it last night I had people pull crazy overtaking manoeuvres, one causing traffic coming the other way to swerve. There is a lot of aggression from drivers who either don't realise, or don't care, about the speed restriction. I try to stay over to the left, and to be honest am probably at about 25 most of the time myself, but it's not nice to have people tailgating, flashing lights and tooting horns. Also, Brenchley Gardens, another tricky one. Crossing the road has become dangerous, as aggressive passing means cars fly along focused on passing other cars, not pedestrians. Not sure what the solution is. The speed cameras cause people to slow down, but just for a few metres.

Funny, I was thinking about this thread the other day. It's all about Bear Grylls in our house these days (and my now 8.75 year old son is partial to the odd episode of Sophia the First) :)

???? we have one too, similarly out of date (great photo though). My son reckons the next iconic building in London will look like a dalek.

Might be Neil Williams? He used to sell his work at the Northcross Rd market on Saturdays. http://neilwilliams.co.uk

Ha, troll has reported their own message, with the reason "Person is send rude threads I want them blocked from my file" (puts moderator invisibility cloak back on)

We had cotbed bedding for our first child, but went straight to single size for the other two, as they don't really stay in a toddler bed for long - buying the smaller duvet covers etc can be expensive. For our youngest we got a basic single duvet/pillow/mattress protector set from John Lewis, it's good for the price. You may find your daughter doesn't want/need to use a pillow to start with, I found it was only as the kids got older that they started using their pillows.

Bizarrely the troll seems to want to be my friend, despite my sarcastic response. I feel a bit honoured, if I'm honest. Lesson 3. When pretending to be a teacher in the UK, don't refer to yourself as teaching a "grade". Schoolboy error.

I really hope you are not a teacher! Have you let your daughter down... yes, in that she's had three years mixing with kids that aren't her neighbours. State schools help build strong communities. I love that my kids could knock on any door between our house and school, and know/be known by the people inside. Anyway, don't feed the troll folks...

A number of the school nurseries now offer a "full" day - so you can do 2.5 full days, or 5 half days using your 15 free hours. Goodrich (where my youngest attends nursery) offer a top up, where you pay to add extra hours for the week. A full day is a school day, so (will very slightly from school to school) from 9 till 3/3:30ish.

Put a pumpkin outside your house and get lots of sweets in - kids round here tend to only knock on the doors of decorated houses, and you'll get loads of little dressed up visitors. It's a fun way to feel part of it if you are not going out trick or treating.

Agree with Bellenden Belle - I managed to establish routines without leaving babies to cry. With my first, a dummy helped settle him to sleep at scheduled times, 2nd spent a lot of time in a sling at sleep times (and gradually moved to cot once sleep patterns were established), and 3rd was a perfect example of a 3rd child and just did it with minimal effort. Consistency is key, and finding a "method" that suits your family.

Could you make her a list of things that need extra attention? Maybe by pointing out the things that aren't being done properly she will realise she needs to spend more time to "do the house"! Personally, having had cleaners like that in the past, I would think it's time for a change, but I know how tricky it can be.

Yes, they all have a very similar "I've been down on my luck, this is my way to get back into work, I've got 5 year old twins" spiel. Call me cold hearted, but I don't believe a word of it. Their blokey banter turns into aggression very quickly when they realise you're not buying. It was unusual to have them turn up in the middle of the day, they do usually come late at night.