Whittler

Alexandra Nurseries in Penge http://www.alexandranurseries.co.uk/ or Shannons in Forest Hill http://www.shannonsgardencentre.co.uk/ - both good.

The London Fire Brigade have already attended over a 1,000 grass fires around the city this year. I'm not suggesting that all were started by careless bbq activity, but it doesn't take a lot of intelligence to put two and two together and figure out that with a heatwave such as this creating large areas of dry ground, it'd be very easy for fires to take hold quickly due to a bit of carelessness. I happen to live near a small park and in the last spell of hot weather a few years ago my neighbours and i had to call the fire brigade out on three separate occasions to fires started by discarded bbq's left by people in the park. These fires very nearly reached some beautiful large trees that form part of a very old hedge and they happened way too close to houses on the park perimeter for comfort. Why should i be left worrying that someones afternoon bbq fun might actually cause serious damage to not only our (well-used) kids play park but also our homes??!! Yes it's great to cook outdoors in the sun, but please, city parks (unless they have designated areas) are not really the place to bbq in a heatwave no matter how careful you consider yourself to be.

Yep, that's bindweed alright.... it'll take over very, very quickly, but fairly easy to eradicate (compared to JKW) with a glyphosate product (eg. Roundup). Best thing to do if it's going along the ground is pop some canes in and let the plant grow up them then you can spray the leaves with the glyphosate - best to do it on a clear day like today. Should do the trick. Easy to dig out as the roots are white and pretty visible in the ground.

That's really good advice, Jeremy.... Best to use the glyphosate in late summer, and if you do dig any live rhizomes out, you need to dry them and burn them, not dispose of them in general waste. More info here: http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/wildlife/130079.aspx#How_to_control_Japanese_knotweed It'll take about 3 yrs to clear any one site, but a combination of removal by digging and herbicide should do it.

Crystal Palace Sports injury clinic is very good. Sorted out my husbands bad knee strain with a combination of therapies (and exercises) http://www.cpsic.co.uk/

The Butchery is fantastic and i should know, i'm a butchers daughter. Best meat i've bought in the area by far.

Shannons Garden Centre in Forest Hill (just off the Sth Circular http://www.shannonsgardencentre.co.uk/) is great. A family run business, well stocked with a good range of plants, bulbs, compost, pots etc etc and they are always able to give advice on plants should you need it.

I second the recommendation for Shannons in Forest Hill (http://www.shannonsgardencentre.co.uk/1112.html) i've been using them for years and they are great, and also Alexandra Nurseries (http://www.alexandranurseries.co.uk/) which is in Penge so a bit further away for you, but run by professional gardeners and well worth a visit!

Not sure if this is relevant, but the Waldron Health Centre in New Cross is open today and is a walk-in....http://amershamvale.co.uk/practice-times.html

The 'Cashmends' are a brilliant idea - got to get some! Unfortunately i'd say that ?40-50 per hole is about right for proper invisible mending, which is a highly skilled job, and this place http://www.invisiblemending.co.uk/ is very, very good. They repaired a hole in a very fine knit cashmere sweater of my husbands, and genuinely, i couldn't see where the repair was at all, but it did cost ?50. Best idea is to stop 'em in their tracks before the damage is done. Pack all winter clothes away clean, and use cedar or lavender repellants as well as the pheromone moth traps (Zero Demi-diamond are good). Moths are most active in April/May when they are looking to mate and lay their eggs in some 'moth caviar' (better known as cashmere) ready for the pupae to hatch later and eat it all.

Stag and Bow in Forest Hill stock embroidery thread (and other haberdashery/knitting/craft materials) http://stagandbow.com/

Accuweather is pretty good for a very detailed, localised hour by hour forecast/report http://www.accuweather.com/en/gb/east-dulwich/se22-9/current-weather/714712 Light snow currently (11.40) and i think the peak is supposed to be at about midday then light snow for rest of the day. Roads look ok but i would say that (ungritted) pavements will be slippery if not now, then soon. I'd be surprised if there are problems later today (road or rail) as there is not a huge build-up or any drifting, but as previous poster said, tomorrow could be a different story!

January is usually the peak of the fox mating season and peak of the cub dispersal (with last years reaching adulthood and becoming a threat to the parents food supply), so they have a lot to 'shout' about at this time of year!

Open till 7pm tues to friday..... and the meat is EXCEPTIONALLY good! http://www.thebutcheryltd.com/forest-hill-pop-up.html

It's a bit further afield (Bromley) but this guy is fantastic http://www.tailorarif.com/ He's brought (expensive, bespoke, Savile Row) suits of my husbands back to life as well as re-lining a jacket, repairing/replacing pockets in trousers and taking in/letting out clothes that were too good to get rid of. It's worth the journey over to Chatterton, and he is quick and (we think) reasonably priced for the quality of workmanship.

Another recommendation for Andy (07983688451)..... it's a brave plumber who'll go near a macerator (!) but Andy came to my rescue today and quickly fixed the problem. He's a gem.

http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?5,809984,823361#msg-823361 See the post from LWT. You might want to let them know about this, and tell them exactly what you experienced, as if they still have no intention of moving the guy on (if it's the same person) they should be aware that his behaviour is threatening to other people using the woods....

A friend told me that their allotments were broken into recently and rather than tools being the target for thieves, it appears that the produce is the focus.....whole rows of potatoes were dug up. Desperate times, and i think it's not out of the bounds of possibility to say that some people are struggling to find the cash to buy food.

See them most evenings in the late summer where i live (Sydenham Rise/Sydenham Hill area).... Lots in the railway tunnel in Dulwich/Sydenham woods http://www.wildlondon.org.uk/bats-nature-notes

Don't despair Wanhope, i live in SE23 (and have done for 12 years) and love it - i have a (still less that ED prices) house on Dulwich Estate with access to private communal woodland, lovely neighbours, great transport links (ELL service is brilliant from FH and Honor Oak) and we have some good things happening in the area in terms of shops/restaurants/bars/new swimming pool and a new and successful little food fair organised by the Forest Hill Society. Also, don't rule out the SE26 postcode - Kirkdale, Upper Sydenham and also areas towards Penge (shock horror) which are still good value; there are, believe it or not, plenty of great places to live with a good neighbourhood feel just outside ED if you scout around and adopt a bit more of a 'pioneer' spirit. Blimey, even Beyonce and Jay-Z give Forest Hill a thumbs up, if you believe what you read in The Sun! http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/4387678/Jay-Z-and-Beyonce-visit-Forest-Hill-cafe.html

Pickle Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > We got a surprise last night to have a bat > delivered to us in the sitting room by our cat > :-S > > It was very small (body about 4 or 5cm long, with > a wingspan of 20cm or so), and as it was curled up > we couldn't work out what it was. Admittedly it > caused a grown man and woman to scream when it > then stretched its wings out and flapped! > > It seems unharmed and was released into a tree at > the back of our garden. A lesson for me, I didn't > realise there were bats in the UK! http://www.bats.org.uk/pages/uk_bats.html Check out the link above - there are a lot of bats in the UK and i can vouch for the fact that there are quite a few in this area! There's a big roost in the disused railway tunnel in Sydenham Woods and early dusk at this time of year we usually get to see them in some numbers flying round the houses up here near the Horniman...

Potted plants at the front of properties (that can be easily lifted) often seem to get stolen at this time of year.....if you go to any boot fair a short distance out of town there are always blokes selling the sort of plant related stuff that looks suspiciously like it's come straight out of a garden (or several gardens). I suppose you either have to resign yourself to the risk if you want to put pots at the front of your house or move anything that you really value or would be seriously annoyed to lose to a more secure location for the summer months... or chain the pots down.... Always report it though. Theft is theft.

link below http://www.frankscafe.org.uk/

Errrmm, the Overground trains started going straight through to Highbury & Islington today.... Takes about 35mins from Honor Oak Park and a very pleasant journey it is too. Trains a bit busy up until Canada Water, but lots of people disemabark there so it's fine after that and rather more civilised than your regular tube journey. http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/user/XSLT_TRIP_REQUEST2 Oh, and don't even think about driving up to and parking around honor oak/forest hill to partake of this service - residents will soon be brandishing pitchforks and blunderbusses to guard their parking spaces...