Bumpkin

I know this one's been done before, but my son's just been offered a full music scholarship to Kingsdale (yes I know that doesn't guarantee a place, but he at least stands a fighting chance of getting in if I put it as first choice). He really likes Kingsdale and wants to go there, but he's 10, he's not got a full view of things and his reasons are not necessarily the most robust. We're in the very fortunate position of also living close enough to guarantee a place at Charter ED and I'm totally torn over which would be better for him. I love the fact that at Kingsdale he would have a large number of other music students to hang out with and maybe be in bands with later on, but I'm very concerned about the looming budget cuts which seem to be greater per student at Kingsdale, the massive recent increase in intake and how it will impact the school as my son's quite quiet and could easily get a bit lost. I've seen loads of previous responses from Charter ED parents being positive about the school, but not many Kingsdale parents (maybe not so many Kingsdale kids from ED?). Are there any parents happy to give a view here or via pm?! Thanks

As an occasional cystitis sufferer, I can really recommend Waterfall D-Mannose by Sweet Cures. Works far, far better than the sachets from the chemist / cranberry juice and has staved off having to get antibiotics from the Drs and stopped me having to neck nurofen if an attack feels imminent.

I was relying on DKH playground, but apparently they are shut that week. I'm away this week & next, does and one know of any East Dulwich clubs open that week, I know most don't run..

No - echo comment above

I'm also gutted by this, I'm so sorry James, I've always voted for you whilst not supporting lib dems nationally. It's a sad day for East Dulwich. Thank you for all your work in giving this ward a voice.

Hi, thanks so much for offers of advice, I contacted Marsden Road wildlife centre and bumblebee conservation society and they both advised feeding with sugar water and putting outside in a safe place which we duly did. Fingers crossed for lots of bumblebees in a few months time!!

I've just opened a drawer full of old stuff and woken a queen bumble bee! She's huge and no longer asleep. I've gently trapped her under a large glass but not sure if it's ok to turf her outside in this weather, will she die? Any advice appreciated.

Also found it to be great as a landlord. Didn't need to pay fees as flat shifted so quickly and their credit referencing and inventory services were competitively priced and worked fine. Would use again.

My view is that the volunteers probably don't have the time or systems in place to properly track exactly what you've donated and then tell you how much that was. Personally I'd rather they didn't waste money investing in IT systems that could better track this. If some of your stuff was sold and benefits the charity but you are not told about it, does it really matter? The Mind shop are getting more diligent about asking for names / postcodes etc. when I donate stuff there, but I'm not sure how well they match the names to the bags, probably as they are trying to serve customers at the same time.

As above, Mind will take clothes to recycle

Unfortunately I bought my annual season ticket at L Bridge so it's Southeastern, anyone know if I'd stand a chance of getting a refund from Southern given I live in ED and mainly use the Southern trains?...

Ok ????, but what do you suggest people do? It's a serious question as I'm very concerned about the direction that Trump and the impact of Brexit is taking us and would like to do something positive to offset these events rather than just moan to my friends and carry on with my nice little life. Signing petitions and going on marches can be sneered at as a 'look at me' or disregarded as of no ultimate impact, but is it better to just carry on with your day job feeling frustrated about the events unfolding around us? I don't honestly know. I'm not able to give up my job and start doing anything amazing but don't want to just be a miserable spectator. Advice welcome..

My 8 year old has been going to the music school on Saturday mornings for 2 years now and loves it despite being generally reluctant to do any organised activity. He's come on in leaps and bounds with playing the trombone and loves performing at the showcases. The teachers are great, really enthusiastic and supportive and there's a wide range of instruments available to learn.

As I've posted previously, Virgin always quotes fixes 3 months hence therefore they will currently be stating Jan for their fix. Come Jan they will be stating April... On the plus side, their engineers are very good at coming round to sort slow speeds every few months if you can be bothered getting through the automated phone maze.

To add to the recommendations, Atanas recently re-fitted a bathroom for me and his team did a fantastic job at a very reasonable price. Atanas was very professional, easy to contact, his men worked hard and got the job done on time and the labour quote was as originally agreed. I messed up with a couple of orders, but everything was 'no problem', with Atanas offering suggestions and sourcing things cheaper than I could buy where I asked him to. I was wary of using a bathroom fitter purely on Forum recommendations as have yet to find a decent handyman on here despite glowing references for some, but would heartily recommend Atanas and his team and will definitely use him for building / plumnbing work in the future. Feel free to pm me if you want a more detailed reference.

I've used Nina Christie on Lordship Lane several times for repairs and she was very reasonable (possibly partly as I have several things from her shop already as she sells lovely stuff).

My son's front milk tooth went grey, presumably from a bash and our dentist at the time noticed it and said it had been damaged. It went back to white again so I didn't think any more about it, however his adult tooth then came through with a significant patch of white on it due to enamel not forming properly and a different dentist said it would have been due to damage to a milk tooth and was rather shifty when I asked whether this could have been prevented by taking the original milk tooth out. I'd definitely get it checked out.

Much sympathy to you, I had a very similar situation and it can really drag you down. Echo the comments re exercise, caffeine, screen time but also I got a prescription of sleeping pills which got my body used to actually sleeping again and I found it easier to sleep afterwards. Can't remember the make, but it was a good one, I didn't take everyday, but knowing I had some helped as well on a psycological basis. Found the herbal sleeping pills useless.

We've had ongoing issues with Virgin as above and they have continually stated a date 3 months hence for the capacity issue being fixed (we're opp G Green). Take no notice, come 30th March they will be promising the upgrade from 30th June..

I recently had some threading done by Sema on the basis of these recommendations and am really happy. Would definitely recommend.

Another thought is to read Sali Hughes book 'pretty honest'. She's the beauty editor for the Guardian and as a not v clued up 40 something I found it v helpful and inspiring if you want a makeup / skin care refresh.

we've got underfloor heating in our large open plan kitchen / living area and it's fine. It's been down around 10 years I think (we didn't put it in) and the only issue we have is that it takes a while to get going at the beginning of the winter, not as quick to warm up as radiators. That (tiny) issue aside, it's no problem at all, would recomend. Great not to have to have radiators on the walls, sometimes I wish I could have a rug to make the room feel warmer but clearly would actually make it colder! I'd go for it.