Sue

dbboy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > you could try white spirit (turps)on a very snall > area perhaps in a corner to see if that removes it xxxxxx Thanks, that was the first thing I tried - it didn't work. ETA: I also tried a dish scourer - that didn't work either.

Cruelty to any sentient creature is obviously unacceptable, but my point was, if you think the fish is being kept in poor inappropriate conditions, why don't you speak to the EDT about it? What difference does it make if people on here agree with you or not? I haven't noticed the goldfish myself.

maxxi Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > You need to heat it and it will scrape off without > scratching or scorching etc. - a hot air paint > stripper would do it and shouldn't damage your > tiles. xxxxxx Ah! That's a good idea! I've got one somewhere :) Yes, it's a very thin layer Loz (but still very noticeable). I don't have a water butt - no space for one, or at least, it would take up space that I'd rather have for plants .... but thanks for the suggestion anyway.

The Mag has one on Sunday evenings. Hoopers also has one.

Razors, if you're sufficiently worried about the welfare of a goldfish to start a thread on here, why don't you speak to the EDT about it?

Thanks for your suggestions, all. The person who did the tiling did not leave me any leftover tiles, unfortunately. I might possibly be able to get hold of some from somewhere to practice on - good idea. Loz, even apart from the hosepipe ban, do you think a pressure washer would be strong enough to get off dried-on paint?

My neighbour had the misfortune to employ somebody who painted her front door step with gloss weatherproof paint without informing her when he was coming, and who then omitted to put up a "wet paint" sign. Consequently, said paint has been trodden over my newish Victorian-style tiled path by people going to her house and then mine. It had dried on before I noticed it the following day. Can anybody recommend a way of removing it without damaging the tiles? I'm afraid that either scraping or paint stripper could damage the surface. They are those little black and white tiles. The painter has disclaimed responsibility on the grounds that he left a small brown foodwaste bin on the path in front of the step. He did - sadly, as it was the day the bins were emptied, this was hardly sufficient to warn people of wet paint, since much of the road probably had bins left on their paths. (6) Just to be clear - I am not in any way blaming my neighbour for what happened.

I've signed up and I'd like to be involved in whatever's going on, so please feel free to PM me. I'd also be keen to have an allotment here in due course! ETA: At least, I thought I'd signed up, but it's not showing my name as a supporter. Possibly I've signed up to something else from the same page? :-$:-$:-$ ETA: Oh - I had to activate it via an email link. Duh. :-$:-$:-$

Yes, sounds like you've made up your mind - Good luck with it all!

I still don't understand how laser correction can last all your life, given that your eyes/prescription are likely to change as you get older? Won't you need reading glasses at some point, for example?

Sanne Panne Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > Sue, I was always told (by opticians) that nobody > is really supposed to wear lenses from 7am to 10pm > to begin with (not an option for me, I can't swap > between lenses and glasses - glasses still make me > feel dizzy after 2 full days of wearing them), and > that our eyes may get increasingly less tolerant > of the drying/irritating invasion that lenses are > as we age, forcing us to take the lenses out after > a number of hours and swapping to glasses with > which I don't dare to drive or do anything not > highly predictable. And you're not really what I > would call old! I'm more thinking along the lines > of my dad who is 80. But yes it's great to know > that there is no particular reason why I should > not be able to keep wearing lenses for another > good while. > xxxxxxxxx I have soft lenses with high moisture content. There's no way I could wear hard lenses anymore, but soft lenses are not in the least drying or irritating - and there's no problems with agonising dust particles getting behind the lens, either, nor do they suddenly pop out of your eye if you're reversing the car :)) I go to the Institute of Optometry (a teaching institute) which is near the Elephant. They also have a "dry eyes" clinic if you feel that is a problem. They've never told me I can only wear my lenses for a certain number of hours a day. I put them in when I get up and take them out when I go to bed! I use a solution to clean them. I've never had a problem when camping etc..

henryb Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Are you sure it wasn't a Swift? They are more > common in London or maybe a House Martin. They all > arrive about now. xxxxxxx Yes, might have been, but tail seemed very long. Will be lovely to see the swifts swooping about again. PGC, I was about to post the same thing about the coot/moorhen thing, it is the only way I can remember which is which!

I just saw what looked remarkably like a swallow (only one) fly overhead. Is this possible? When do they arrive? ETA: Just looked up swallows, and it didn't seem to have such a forked tail as a swallow, but two very long "streamers" (and no, it wasn't a green parrakeet!)

Kes Wrote: - > Does annoy me a bit that they don't just have a > nurse taking blood at the GP surgery, everywhere > I've lived previously did that xxxxxxx Dulwich Medical Centre in Crystal Palace Road has a nurse who will take blood, however the one time I went there she could not get any out of either arm :-S Admittedly it was just after the Christmas period and I might have been - let's say - dehydrated. Or at least, she told me I should drink a lot of water before giving blood. Is that true? I've never had a problem giving blood at Dulwich Hospital, I have found the nurses there to be very gentle and professional.

I'm with Orange, who fairly recently combined their coverage with T-Mobile, and I rarely have any problems. Interested in this thread as I'm due an upgrade shortly so want to make sure I stay with/change to a good provider.

Sanne Panne Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > as I age I will probably not be able to wear > lenses all the time as I can now (at the tender > age of 38). > xxxxxx Why do you think that? I'm nearly 63 and I and wear soft varifocal lenses (monthly) all day/evening with no problems at all. It never occurred to me that I would get too old to do that. The only reason I don't wear them every day is I'm too lazy to put them in unless I'm going out :))

You didn't fool anybody, I don't know why you bother with these pathetic posts all over the forum. ETA: You seem to be the only one who finds them funny.

Ah - I used to have Sum and Substance, it's lovely. Where is it now? Who knows. I've only ever grown hostas in pots (rather than in the ground), and I appear to have none at all at the moment :)) I know they're often slow to come through after the Winter, but there's no sign of anything - serves me right for not labelling things properly (or not replacing the labels) so I don't actually remember which pots they were in :))

Red Devil, did you already know what the Snow Poppy was? Because I tried several plant identification sites, going through all the flower colour, perennial, leaf shape blah blah and couldn't find it at all - or maybe I just wasn't patient enough :)) Yep, Snails 'r 'Us chez Sue. Surely it couldn't have been snails which ate all my frogspawn???? I have never heard of a snail-proof hosta. I find if you put sharp grit around them it helps, also in a pot they are slightly less likely to be attacked .....

I just looked it up, and found "An extract from the rhizome (or root-stalk) has been investigated as an economic source of a molluscicide by Chinese scientists." I wish I'd know this before I discovered that ******* snails have eaten all the shoots from a Clematis I only planted last year (6) :))

red devil Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Snow Poppy... xxxxxx You are a genius. That's it. Thanks! Never even heard of it before. I knew it wasn't a Japanese anemone - wrong flower, wrong leaves, wrong season :) Razors, haven't you got anything better to do?

It's in my garden, just started flowering. Situated in partial shade, seems to be a runner as it's started spreading everywhere (I don't mind as I like it!). I got it from a stall at a fete in Dorset a couple of years back. It was wrongly labelled and I've never been able to identify it. This is the first year it's flowered, possibly because I took it out of its pot in shade and planted it in the garden where it gets a bit of sun. It's got quite distinctive leaves which are almost heart-shaped, and I can't understand why I can't find out what it is as I'm sure it must be quite common :-$ ETA: Sorry for the out-of-focus pic of the flower - you can see it better in the second pic, which also shows the leaf better (I'm obviously not referring to the ivy .....)

Garden centres, especially small ones, tend to have stuff on sale only when it's flowering. My climbing hydrangea is in bud (Hydrangea petiolaris) but I guess you mean the common pink and blue ones?

It's possible the document is "read only" - in which case, can you "save as" (rather than "save") and then type in your answers in the new document? You can normally "save as" by going into the file menu. Alternatively, print out the document, hand-write in your answers, then scan it and save/send it as a pdf.

I have been there twice in the last few months, and each time I was seen more or less straight away. If I hadn't had a book with me, sod's law says I would have had a hundred people in front of me :))