Sue

Salsaboy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Heard something on the BBC today (so it must be > true) that this year will be a bad year for flying > ants. Lots of them appearing due to mild > winter/spring. xxxxxxxx AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Lynne Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- As Whittler said, > they're easy to spot. The first few, I just > thought "oh , what pretty beetles". xxxxxxxx They are very pretty and easy to spot, but in my experience as soon as you try to remove them they often drop off and not always easy to find again to kill them :( And yeh the grubs are disgusting :(

Nicest (sliced) gluten-free bread I have found is either Tesco's own brand seeded gluten-free, or Warburton's ditto (possibly the same bread but I haven't been able to find the Warburton's locally since Sainsbury's stopped stocking it).

Thanks Adonirum, much appreciated. Ooops, sorry, mis-spelled your name at first attempt.

Can anybody on here help? I am the other side of the party wall from a new loft extension. I stupidly agreed to use a surveyor who was acting for both parties, mainly because it was very short notice and I was very busy. He did a survey of my house prior to the work commencing but hasn't been back since.The survey didn't fill me with much confidence as it contained a number of basic errors just in the description of my house. Over the course of the building work, which was from January to May, a few minor cosmetic cracks appeared in plaster, and also there was a problem due to water coming in and staining my wall, both of which the builders sorted. Also during this time my back door started sticking badly, which it never had done before (in over twenty years) but because there had been heavy rain I assumed at the time that it was due to damp. However to my horror I recently saw diagonal cracks across the corner of my living room ceiling (just the other side of the back door). These problems are along the same line through the house as the cracking was in the plaster. The surveyor said he would contact me to arrange to come and look at this, but despite several chase-ups hasn't. The builder says that there is no way that anything wrong downstairs can be due to vibration from the building work, and has more or less accused me of trying to use him to get repairs done in my house for free :( I have googled this and found a website "oldhouseweb" which says ".... house settling can occur, particularly on clay soils, when there is a nearby source of vibration" Since at times my whole house was shaking during the building of the extension next door. I think it's pushing credibility to think that the timing of these cracks and door sticking can be coincidence, since there has been no other movement of my house for over thirteen years. I really need to get this sorted quickly. Can anybody on here tell me whether strong vibration from the building of a loft extension upstairs could potentially cause these problems downstairs, or whether as the builder says that is impossible? Thanks.

adonirum Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Unfortunately, a lot of comments on > forums/chatrooms etc can get misinterpreted as we > are unable to hear the tone of voice, see the body > language etc. xxxxxxxxx Yes. That's why I put a smiley after the comment you objected to....

Thanks civilservant, it isn't a hedge as such but I guess the principle is the same. Looks like my plants beneath will have to stay in deep shade till the Autumn then :( I may cut a few of the very outer bits off ...... carefully .....

Does anybody know whether nesting is likely to have finished? I have a large tangle of climbers including a lot of ivy and dead wood at the end of my garden, which I would like to thin out a bit, but I don't want to risk affecting any baby birds, either by trashing their nest or by making predator access easier. I would leave it as it is, but I have a very tiny garden and it is causing too much shade :( I haven't actually heard any baby bird like tweeting from it lately. Also, to save another post, does anybody know if birds eat Libertia seeds (from the plant, not dried)? Thanks.

StraferJack Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Honestly, I believe no one should be paying a > million quid just to let the house out > > Multiply that by all the others doing same and the > house wouldn't be best part of a million quid in > first place xxxxxxxx But the house hasn't been sold yet at a million quid. If it's currently up both for letting and for selling, maybe the current owners are seeing whether they get a buyer or a tenant first? ETA: Or is the situation that it is being advertised as a buy-to-let with a potential income of ?x? In which case I completely missed the point and I apologise for any confusion in my posts!

adonirum Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Quote "Sue"......"I can't be arsed to walk down > the road" How damned rude, and especially as > you gave a side swipe at me earlier in this thread > about being selfish. That comment is hardly loaded > with altruism. Further quote "though maths isn't > my strong point" Seems like good manners isn't, > either. xxxxxxxx Eh?? Pots and kettles, I think, adonirum. Seems your ideas of rudeness and good manners differ from mine, however. ETA: And when did I "give a side swipe" at you about being selfish? To the best of my knowledge, you said that the rise in house prices in my road were a good thing for me, and I said that I was looking at the wider picture. If I said I wasn't selfish, and I can't remember my exact wording, I certainly wasn't having a go at you. I'm not quite sure why you have suddenly chosen to publicly attack me in this way? ETA: And I hardly think being too tired to put my shoes on and walk down the road to look at a house number to satisfy somebody else's curiosity on a forum equates with preferring a lower rise in house prices for the sake of all the people who can't afford to buy one, even if that means I make a rather less massive profit if I sell. Plus I know the person I addressed the "can't be arsed" remark to and would have been gobsmacked if he had been in any way offended by it. And what on earth is in any way rude about saying that maths isn't my strong point?? That's putting myself down, not anybody else. I think you owe me an apology, actually.

Has the original survey link you clicked on now been removed from the EDF site?

OMG it's not flying ant season is it? I HATE flying ants ever since some got caught in my hair when I was a child :(

I have a Nook, had the same problem. Basically I had to charge it for absolutely ages before there was any sign of life, a lot longer than 30 minutes, but it's fine. ETA: I would let it charge overnight before going through all the pain of a reset etc..

rodneybewes Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Plusnet were bought by BT and their ratings have > slipped ever since. > > Here's a decent comparison guide - > http://www.thinkbroadband.com/isp/compare.html?isp > _7=1&isp_77=1&isp_21=1&isp_22=1&isp_84=1&isp_6=1&c > ommit=Compare. xxxxxxx Plusnet have been owned by BT ever since I was with them, and I have nothing but good things to say about them, hence my post above. ETA: What do you mean, "their ratings have slipped ever since"? What evidence is there for that?

Maybe the window just got broken?

Loz Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Mustard Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > It's also on the market to rent for ?2700 pcm. > > That is a gross yield of 3.5% on a value of ?975K. > Who'd enter the BTL market at the moment? xxxxxxx But the present owners didn't pay ?975k for it? Though maths isn't my strong point :)

LD929 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > My guess is that renovations on that house were a > lot less than ?90k. Here is the state of it > before, and frankly, it doesn't look like in that > bad shape... maybe looks are deceiving though: > > http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatc > hing.html?prop=28463325&sale=999139&country=englan > d xxxxxxxx Yeh sorry, when I said in need of improvement I was referring to what an estate agent had told me about the previous apparently weird configuration of bedrooms.

LD929 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > My guess is that renovations on that house were a > lot less than ?90k. Here is the state of it > before, and frankly, it doesn't look like in that > bad shape... maybe looks are deceiving though: > > http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatc > hing.html?prop=28463325&sale=999139&country=englan > d xxxxxxxxx I don't think that is the same house. ETA: Oh sorry, it does seem to have the massive telly. I was looking at the house on the left of the picture, it is the one on the right which used to have a blue door.

Jeremy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Sue Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > House in Ulverscroft Road: > > > > Sold for ?630,000 on 24th Feb 2014 > > > > Was in need of "improvement". Improved. > > > > Now on the market for ?975,000 (sic). > > > > > http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/33255606 > > Loft conversion + cheap and cheerful refurb... > 90K? 345K gross profit... woah. > > Do developers have to pay stamp duty AND income > tax? xxxxxx To the best of my knowledge (as told by an estate agent) it had previously been divided up in a strange way to have five (I think) bedrooms. It now apparently has four. I don't think there's been a loft conversion but I may be completely wrong as there has certainly been scaffolding up. Somebody's certainly made a quick and massive profit - assuming of course they get ?975k for it, which seems absolutely ridiculous to me - loft extension or not, these are small terraced houses with tiny back gardens and virtually no front gardens at all.

Otta Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > What number is that house on Ulverscroft? Jusat > wondering where abouts it is. xxxxxxx Sorry, can't be arsed to walk down the road and look at the moment :)) It's at the North Cross Road end on the left hand side as you come from North Cross Road, a few houses down. It currently has a Winkworth "for sale" board outside and scaffolding. It used to have a TV in the living room which appeared to take up most of the room :)) You can now see the (apparently) astroturfed garden through the window. Not that I'm nosy at all :))

House in Ulverscroft Road: Sold for ?630,000 on 24th Feb 2014 Was in need of "improvement". Improved. Now on the market for ?975,000 (sic). http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/33255606 Would like to say someone is having a laugh, but sadly they probably aren't. Lovely astroturf in the back garden, by the looks of it. ETA: And the lock on the front door has been put on crooked :))

I use Plusnet, which apparently has been a Which Best Buy for years. Have always found it reliable, excellent customer service, good value for money, WiFi works all over the house and garden. On one rare occasion when it was down, I posted about it on here to see if anybody else had problems, and a Plusnet customer service rep actually posted on the thread to explain what the issue was.

damzel Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I agree too. I also walk out of shops if the > price tags aren't obvious xxxxx I agree as well. And it really annoys me if prices aren't marked on things in shops/market stalls. I assume the seller is going to ask the highest price they think they can get away with after looking the customer over (so, probably not very high in my case, but still :)) )

Using commas instead of semi-colons GRRRRR

------------------------------------------------------- > Sue Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > > > > Slugs and snails - sharp grit placed around the > plants most likely to be attacked. But I'm afraid > > I use slug pellets. xxxxxxx Loz Wrote: > Or use the more traditional method of 'chucking > them two doors down the road'. xxxxxxx :)) They have a homing instinct. They come back. Very very slowly :)