Sue

Good luck, and at the end of the day what matters is that you love the kitchen you end up with :)

Katie, thanks so much for that piano thread, I haven't laughed so much for ages :)) :)-D

I was going to get an Ikea kitchen, but when I went to look at them again recently I was amazed at how the quality seemed to have deteriorated. I mentioned this to the guy who has just done my bathroom and he said yes, I always used to recommend them to clients, but in holding the price steady they have reduced the quality to compensate. He no longer recommends them. If you like John Lewis kitchens, apparently (judging by posts on various online forums about kitchens which I have been reading avidly) they buy them from another manufacturer rather than making them themselves, and you can get the identical kitchen very much more cheaply by buying directly from that manufacturer. Actually, I think there's two, depending on the range in question. I don't have the info handy, but if you do a few googles you should be able to find out. Also google eg "kitchen reviews". There's a lot of info out there. ETA: Sadly the kitchen I like is from Fired Earth. Anyone know of a (much) cheaper source?!?!?

It is being renovated by a Housing Association and turned into flats (I think!)

I rarely shop at Tesco, but I do have a Clubcard. Every so often I get sent vouchers, and I just assumed they were probably all long past their sell-by date, apart from one or two I've used in Oxford. I certainly don't have them any more. BUT via info from a site from the MoneySaving Expert newsletter I've just found out I've got ?14.50 worth of still useable vouchers, dating back to May 2009!!, and not only that but through some system I don't understand, you can double the worth of the vouchers up until 5 May for things you buy either online or instore, and you don't need to have hard copies of the vouchers!. I've got ?29 worth which is lucky as my microwave has just stopped heating or defrosting anything and I need to get a very cheap one very quickly :-D Some things aren't included but microwaves apparently are, hooray, and there's one for ?33! Though the amount you can use in vouchers varies from department to department, and in this particular department you have to use multiples of ?10, so I'll have to spend the other ?9 elsewhere ..... Here's a link to a page explaining it all, but I don't know whether you have to sign into the site first to get onto the page. http://www.tesco.com/clubcard/clubcard/bigexchange.asp#bottompane You have to go into "my Clubcard account" to find out what you're owed, ignore the bit at the top which may tell you you have ?0, you have to scroll down to the section headed "Vouchers you still have to spend".

Hope and Greenwood's Butterscotch, and Honey and Ginger, icecreams are both very yummy, and only a pound for a reasonable sized cone - the nice kind of cone, not the wafer kind.

The original post was talking about a planning committee for a street party in Lordship Lane. That isn't happening.

Hey well done! Count me in next time :))

Thanks lousmith, the tub is in shade as it's the only suitable place in the garden at the mo, I thought I might be able to get a fountain powered by a separate solar panel connected to it, but maybe they're not available. I will google now!

Great picture, Computed Shorty! Just had to look up Anuran (in case anybody else didn't get to do biology, I now know that Anura is an order of animals in the class Amphibia that includes frogs and toads!) Does anybody know whether I should top up my tub with water, as it hasn't rained? I'm worried that if the level falls too low the froglets (when they are older) won't be able to hop onto the pile of stones I have in it. Also, I've been told I should have a solar powered fountain in the tub to stop the water becoming stagnant - any advice?

Marmora Man Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Been doing this journey for years - M40 / A40 into > London - exit for Central London and pass > Paddington Station, Lancaster Gate, Marble Arch, > Hyde Park Corner, Victoria, Vauxhall Bridge, Oval, > Camberwell, Dog Kennel Hill, East Dulwich. xxxxxxx I've been doing the journey for years too, and I use the above route when I need to avoid the congestion charge. If it's a time outside the charge, I also often use the route via Euston, but you have to remember to keep in the right hand lane at Euston Station in order to turn right down to Aldwych, and then need to get into the correct lanes round the one way system onto Waterloo Bridge. Easy when you know the way, maybe less easy if you don't. Don't like the Cromwell Road route as whenever I've tried it the traffic has been terrible, but obviously if there's congestion or diversions elsewhere it might be preferable.

I have frog tadpoles in my tub! Hooray! Toad ones haven't hatched yet. I'm so excited :)

We will need reasonable notice in order to get musicians along :)

Sorry did my link wrong, have corrected it now :-$

CocoClover said: I am having a party in my garden :) But I wish someone would organise a street party xxxxxxxxx Too late now, the deadline has passed for applications to the council. There was no "someone" willing to do the organising, I guess.

Ah - the article I read (I think in Southwark News) didn't say where the money went. That's terrible.

:))

zeban Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Sue Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > I was amazed to read in a local paper that the > > Irish Festival cost something like ?52k (I > think) > > to run and that the council had been funding > half > > of this. > > > > What on earth were they spending all that > money > > on? > > Whoah Sue that's a ridiculous amount of money. Ok, > glad it's been cut! xxxxxxx Yes, sadly I feel the same now. The year I went, there didn't seem to be all that much going on apart from a bit of music, and not all that many people, but maybe it was just the day and time of day I was there. I certainly couldn't see what they could have spent around ?52k on :-S

Taper, thanks so much for posting that link, very interesting article.

Good post, RichTea

And hence the dilemma (as per the fox thread). Pros and cons, eh?

See the thread in this section about the programme today about the concrete house ..... Oh, and nice one PGC :))

He did the same with me, with some sandals, gave me the thread and showed me how to do it, didn't charge! It was just to sew on a buckle, I still haven't done it though :-$ :)) ETA: Prickle, I think refusing to mend your boots shows integrity, if he didn't think it was worth doing. Most people would have taken your money regardless.

I live in the North Cross Road area, and yes the foxes are noisy and have kept me awake/woken me up, but I love walking down the road at night or looking out of my living room window and seeing a fox - sorry people who want them to go away. And yes, they have dug holes in my garden and crapped on it and wrecked stuff too. But I'd still rather they were around. I think it's quite magic having wild(ish) animals around when you live in a city. I'd rather have fox noise than bloody plane noise :))

Thanks so much for posting this thread! Here's the link http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01092w5/Britains_Empty_Homes_Series_2_Lisa_and_Paul_Townend/ There was a bit about the history of the Concrete House in a Southwark Life mag a while back, too.