Pugwash

No water Barry Road/LL. According to BBC news is that Thames Water will be distributing bottled water to all affected customers!!!. Tomorrow I will check that our water butt is not frozen up and get bucket of water to chuck down the loo.

I usually carry a purse with around ?10 in loose change in it. Also a ?5 or ?10 note in my bus pass. I had to go on a course one day and forgot to take my wallet and purse with my cards in. I remembered that I had money with the pass and was able to pay for coffee and a small lunch that day otherwise I would have been stuck in an unfamiliar environment where I did not know the other attendees.

Ballet/Dance beginners or returners 10.30 - 11.30 4th and 6th April ?10 per class Bespoke Body Conditioning Pilates type exercises. maximum class size 5. 11.45-12.45 pm 4th and 6th April ?12 per class. Please email [email protected] for further details. Classes will be held at East Dulwich Community Centre.

We put sand on pavement outside our house - we cannot expect the council to do everything!. Council tax is going up this year due to continual cuts in Government grants. Social Services and Housing should take priority over gritting side streets etc. Daughter from Bromley arrived today - only access for majority of her neighbours is down a steep hill - no pavements or roads gritted in that area. Residents have no nearby shops - and it is a good 15 minutes walk in normal conditions to get to nearest shop.

Trying to judge the need for a class on Ballet/dance for beginners or returners and also for Bespoke Body conditioning with pilates type exercises. I will post full details in the Whats on section.

Managed to get to Lewisham by 185 today without problems - was very surprised how quickly I got to my destination. Have to do same tomorrow but need to get there by 10.30 am instead of 1pm so I imagine this journey will be slower.

You can get excellent hearing aids on the NHS - no point in paying hundreds of pounds and all the costs of new ear mould, tubes, batteries. You are advised to have an audiology test every 3 years.

They may be elderly and not aware that volume is up loud. I have a hearing problem and use teletext all the time much to the annoyance of the family. they rather have that than the TV blaring away. Maybe a tongue in cheek approach ' I heard you were watching xxx last night, what did you think of the programme? Years ago our neighbours (in their early 30s) used to have a 'love in session' at the weekend- they were in an upper flat and we had the house next door - we could still hear them when we were downstairs - worse in the good weather as they always had the bedroom window open!

I did the probate for my Great Aunt and only had a solicitor when it came to the house she jointly owned with me. Since that time, I have also dealt with my mother's affairs - since there was no property involved was fairly simple. I had lasting Power of Attorney for my father who was partially sighted who later developed dementia. When I presented all the necessary paperwork to his bank Nat West - they did not know what to do. I had to explain that they needed to take a copy of the LPA and that my address was to be used for all correspondence. I was issued with a cheque book with my name on it as attorney for DJC (my father) and also a Cheque card. Some time later - I discovered that my Dad had a few thousands in a Barclay account. I made an appointment with Barclays in Lordship Lane as my Dad lived in Sussex, and they were a bit confused by the LPA. They took all photocopies and sent them up to Head Office who lost them so I had to go through the whole thing again. Usually the bank will allow funeral expenses to be paid out of the account before going to probate. With one relative, a copy of the death certificate and the Funeral Director's invoice was sufficient and the bank paid directly to the Funeral Director. When my father went into a care home, I encouraged him to take out a Funeral Plan which saved us a lot of aggro when he died. My mother also had a funeral plan and now both my husband and I have funeral plans which will save our kids some worries. I would complain to the Banking Ombudsman re mix up re accounts.

Drove up to FH this morning, massive traffic jam going south to ED as the cars could not go up Dartmouth Road, tail back to Catford. Was aware of this as a client turned up 25 minutes late for her appointment due to traffic.

I had both of my daughters at Kings as I refused to go to Dulwich. My best friend had both of her boys there - first son was recalled as it was found one of the staff had TB and all babies born around that time had to be monitored. The next baby a few years later was rushed into intensive care at a week old and discovered to have meningitis thought to have caught it whilst in Dulwich. Both boys are fine now and have children of their own. I worked in Dulwich Hospital around 1996 onwards and hated the wards so dingy and ancient, toilets and bathrooms were not nice and clean as too old to keep spotless.

My relative was plunged into depression - loss of confidence, it also caused a relationship breakdown as he could not contribute to household expenses. Also advised as 'sacked' not eligible for benefits.

Kings have a very good team of Dementia Nurse Specialists and are based in the Betty Alexander Unit. GP can refer. Mental Capacity Assessments can be carried out by GPs/Nurses/Social Workers/OTs as to whether person is able to understand, recall, weigh up and communicate decisions. If GP feels after seeing the older person, that they do not have the capacity to make decisions, then in the person's best interest - they can be referred to a specialist clinic. I recommend that anyone who wants to find out more about care and nursing homes, the costs, whether they are eligible for social services funding, what happens if you are owner occupiers, deferred payments, 12 weeks disregards etc to seek out Age UK fact sheets. You can down load them or request copies. Also recommend Independent Age publications. Telecare is more that just a pendant alarm, you can get various door alarms, movement sensors, etc - GPS tracking systems etc. Personal Budgets - If want to provide own carers - ask for assessment by social services for this, they will calculate how much care your relative needs i.e 4 hours per day and calculate this into a weekly budget which means you can employ carers of your own choice. Obviously I am simplifying this information but there is a lot of information out there (especially on line) which goes into greater details.

It is not just youngsters they are using for cheap labour. A family member in his 40s signed on with Reed Agency and was given a job with the Post Office in Bromley in the sorting office. He did 3 days work starting at 7.30 am and on the 3rd day, the sorting office refused to keep him on as they wanted someone with sorting office experience. He had told Reed that he did not have the experience and was told that the PO would train him. He asked for 3 days wages and was refused on the grounds that he had not completed a full week. As he was effectively 'sacked' by PO he was not entitled to any money.

Where I worked in Love Walk Camberwell, our offices were built around a large garden and for several years we had a white squirrel living there. we named him Albie and colleagues regularly put out nuts etc for him as the other squirrels used to bully him. We hoped he/she would find a partner and were delighted when we saw him/her running and playing with another squirrel. He disappeared for some time, and we looked in the gardens of D' Crespigney Road in case he had moved 'house'.

I changed careers at 40. Took redundancy 1n 1990 ( I was middle management but having had financial oversight of the office - I guessed that new employer would get rid of the some of the managers within 2 years - so took redundancy) Took 5 years out - degree and post graduate professional qualification. Spent the next 20 plus years in a profession that I loved. I found out that colleagues who stayed with new employer - were laid off within a year.

if anyone knocks on my door collecting for a well known charity I always say that I have a direct debit to that charity and send them on their way. It is true - I do have direct debits to a number of charities and have done for years.

Following an accident, I contacted Brad (who I had used last year) to see if he could get large blood stains out of a carpet. I am please to say that following Brad's cleaning, the carpet has come up well. Brad lives up to his reputation as a stain remover. I was dreading having to get a new bedroom carpet not so much the cost but moving all the furniture out etc. So pleased that Brad could help. really nice genuine guy.

The east Dulwich Action group grew out of the local shop keepers and traders and initially had its roots in the East Dulwich Society. It became a separate entity to the EDS and as far as I am aware, became defunct many years ago.

I grew up in the 50s and 60s in Spurling Road. Most of the road was private landlords and the conditions of each house were different. Twice whilst I lived there, the street was scheduled for slum clearance. The flat roof of the houses accumulated water as poor drainage and all our rooms were covered in green and black mould. My Mum and I lived in the top part of the house, we had a kitchen with only a cold water tap (kettles had to be boiled up) no heating, my Mum's room was very cold, I had the attic bedroom. We were not wired for electricity other than light but some how we could have a TV. No sockets/power for electric fires - our heating came from one coal fire in the lounge which no matter how my Mum tried to make the place look homely, the damp and peeling wallpaper could not be rectified. We had no bathroom or wc. An elderly woman and her daughter lived down stairs - they did not have the damp but equally had cold water. The toilet was in the back yard and to access it, we had to go through downstairs dining room. One time our loo was out of order, we had to use the next door's wc. We left there in 1968 as although my mother had been on the council housing list since 1948, she was never offered a place. It turned out when we delved more deeply into that Mum and Dad had turned down moving to Harlow. My dad was a bus driver, but at that point there were no transport links in Harlow, he did not have a car, and the nearest bus depot was several miles away and without his own transport he could not get a job. They turned down Harlow and consequently were placed at the bottom of the housing list. Crawford Road in 50s and 60s was a little 'tatty', Worlingham Road was 'classy' CP Rd was a mixture depending which end you were.

if your son is a child try contacting Sunshine House as they may be able to advise.

This is the District Nurses base for the area - they collect details of patients and equipment before they do home visits. Medical permits are issued to enable them limited parking to enable them to do their job. Can park on yellow lines.

Those long leads are a pain - especially to motorists. times I have edged out of my drive and jammed on brakes as dog on lead crossing in front of me where the owners are 2 houses down the road. What about visually impaired folk who may be able to see outlines of objects but not thin leads. Is there not some legal blurb about having control of an animal/dog? In many places there are notices that dogs must be kept on short leads.

Put a written proposal to the Management Committee at the East Dulwich Community Centre. They have a Development Officer who assists new groups and may be able to offer free/discounted rates for the first few sessions to see if the group is viable. Evenings may be better as there are other activities at the centre on Saturdays i.e dance sessions. The next meeting of the Committee is on 15th January and they can put any written proposal to the Development Officer later that week. Applicants are then invited to meet with the Development Officer and her team in person to discuss possible times/days etc. Please put an email address, as well as correspondence address/phone number on your proposal. The centre's letter box is on the Darrell Road side.

All fur coat and no knickers was another of old aunt's sayings. Also was informed when young, that respectable girls/women did not wear patent shoes as their underwear could be reflected in the shine of the shoe!!! As far as I am aware, none of the family were from 'the north' and going back to my great grandparents - they lived in ED all their lives (Pellatt/Landells Road)