midivydale

There was a lovely thread a few years back about a forumite who suffered insomnia. She so eloquently and bravely put her story out there. She had a blog too. I cant for the life of me remember her forumname and we never met. Still, i think about her from time time, wonder how she got on. Does anyone remember the thread? Or link to her blog?

Hi all, I was wondering if anyone could provide me with any feedback on Hollydale or Turnham primary schools? I am looking for honest feedback from current parents or carers please. I have plenty of feedback from Ivydale which is by far our closest school but I am keen to broaden my knowlede about other schools in the area. Any thoughts would be most welcome

Just a reminder that the council are hosting a leaseholder/freeholder meeting on the 28th by London Bridge and I would URGE each and everyone of you having problems with service charges/major works to go. We are alot stronger united so the more of us that come together and question/dispute these cowboy bills the better.

Chattertime is lovely, I would really recommend them. I took my son when he was 3 as he still has some pronounication issues and they are really lovely.

Lenster, have you tried cooking with coconut milk?

Am with you Ellie, and similar problems obviously with the citric acid and dairy issues so any tomato based stuff or sauces that people have suggested above are out for us and can iamgine would be for you too? I rely on pesto alot and often cook a big bowl of ww pasta which will cover us for a couple of days and mix in pesto as a rule. I would then mix that up depending on what else he has eaten in the day but often ham/chicken/tuna/salmon/meatballs and then veg broccoli/spinach/sweetcorn/carrots/cucumber whatever. It takes no time at all and I have been known to cook the pasta in the morning (as you know have an early riser) mix the pesto and when we get home in the evening mix with the protein/veg. I do similar with rice (cook it with cocunut milk for flavour and kidney beans) then add protein and veg. Takes very little time. How sensitive is he to the citric acid? I loves baked beans but have issues tolerating it so I rinse them in water (to get rid of tomato sauce before warming them and sometimes mix with pesto. Sounds gross but he likes it. We have had alot of really late evenings lately and for super quick meals I sometimes go for porridge and add berries (have big packs of frozen berries in freezer). I mix the porridge with neocate for the protein. Quinoa also takes very little time to cook (can also be bought in microwave cooking bags for added speed when times are desperate). Again mix it with veg and any protein that is around. I can not cook for the life of me, am really terrible so I do rely on alot of veg/fruit/sallads which I am very lucky that I eats. The citric acid and food allergies makes convencience food very tricky. A gap in the market...

It is terrible, Makes my blood boil everytime. At times, the price difference to my home country between ryainair and say ba is several hundred pounds for an hour long flight so i have grinned and tried to bear it. Luckily Norwegian has started to fly to where I need to go and its from gatwick. Much more pleasant and still good price. Ryanair and I finally parted ways forever after they upset my non english speaking father with severe heartproblems to the point wherrle he was close to tears. I will jever forgive them for that. Bullies, cant stand them

Settled for peter pan:)thanks to a well stocked sainsburys

Thanks for posting, just came on edf to look for events.

Hellosailor, Just sending a virtual hug of support and solidarity.will send you a pm

0300 123 1231

Arguably rather suitable for Halloween :)

How old are they oimissus? One o clock club is a good place for that number I think. Not everyones cup of tea but we have been to some lovely parties there although perhaps better for younger children?

Etta166, thats a very impressive selection. I salute you!

Aww, Thanks all, he wants to go as "pirate jake" so lets go with that. Fingers crossed he wont change his mind. Have an unpleasant memory of me being laughed at as a child at a fancy dress thing but we were much older. Note to self to stop projecting own neurotic behavious on to child... Precious first born syndrome anyone?

Thanks! So is it likely he will turn up as the only pirate/superhero whatever and most/all other kids will be vampires frankenstein scary type things? Dont want him to feel left out or get laughed at, but maybe at 3 1/2 he would be too young to notice? Hm...

Help a foreigner please:). If a child has been invited to a halloween party will any fancy dress costume do or does it "have" to be halloween specific?

Hi all, I am preparing for a hectic few weeks and would like some help from a cleaner over the next couple of months. Happy to be flexible with hours/days and most things really but relibility and high standard of work are musts. I have been badly let down in the past (also had awesome help as well ) so am abit wary. If you have a cleaner working with you at the moment and you are happy with their services, could you kindly point them in the direction of this ad? Due to having been so badly let down, I will be taking references so any recommendations from regular fourmites would be very much appreciated.

My ds goes to a lovely lady at the gardens dental practice, dr islam I think her name is.

Phone one of the loft companies who are likely to know if there is a precedent for your street/type of house. We had a lovely guy around who spend ages talking us through our options (complicated due to freehold/leasehold as well as planning situation). He was great and didnt charge us for the consultation. Perhaps you would need to lower your celing if height is an issue (it was one option for us). I can pm his name and number if you like? Not salsey in the slightest.

No, I would not be happy with that either. Definately not. There are so many factors and it is all so subjective but if you have a hunch, an instinct then listen to it.

I have sent you a pm

Thanks Carbonara, very informative. No, we seem very lucky that we do not live in a black hole (going by previous years admissions). My only question was if it was worth chancing ranking my preffered choice above my closest school, on the chance that we might get in. It would be a long shot but not unheard of and from the replies above it seems like we are not jeopordising our chances at our closest by ranking it second or even third if it comes to it. I have a couple of months, and a few more visits to figure it all out but wondered on principle what our position would be.

Thanks again everyone really appreciate your replies.

Thanks all for helping a first timer (add a forergin national to that) and it is bound to be confusing. I was told a horror story where a lady put 3 preffered choices and then missed out on a place of her closest school. This has made me abit nervous in case I would jeopardise our closest simply by not ranking it first. Does it matter if my first choice is in another borough (but still a chance to get in, however slight?). Thanks again everyone,really kind of you to share your experiences on what is an often fraught topic.