legalbeagle

Your lease requirement that the common parts are kept clear is your best bet here, though it does mean that you can't keep your buggy there either. Tell them it's a legal requirement that they move it and if they don't you'll have to take action to enforce the covenant in the lease. You could, as you say, keep your buggy in the boot of your car. That's what I used to do. And it is also worth bearing in mind that they are obstructing the main exit in the event of a fire, which, when you are trying to evacuate a heavily pregnant woman and a toddler and the rest of the household, is extremely dangerous.

Well not "all" clearly. *more flouncing plus a hair toss*

Comedy = tragedy + time.

I'm a bitch.

For what it's worth, from a "woof woof I'd give him one" point of view, I just don't get it. At all. He is attractive in no way. But I do think he does some good football academy, help the kids, get the olympics, ambassador type stuff.

*flounce*

Brum and I can't do Wednesdays, Brum can't do Thursdays. So combined with Hibbs being unavailbale on Tuesdays, it looks like Mondays or Fridays! Or you could just leave us out......Sniff.........

Silverfox - again you misunderstand me. It's not snobbery, and the inference you took from my sentence was entirely your own invention. It was a statement of fact. We don't sell the same wine as Waitrose or M&S, or Sainsburys or Co-op. We have a supermarket a few doors down selling wine, and an independent wine retailer almost opposite, and a wine chain not far away, and people still buy wine from us as well. I don't claim "superiority" I claim that we are different, and that, despite the existence of that competition, people stil buy from us. And I believe that if Waitrose and M&S come along, they will still buy from us. Like I said, this is a personal and not a professional opinion.

silverfox Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > Of course Legalbeagle will object. If Waitrose > comes in expect at least ?2 off a bottle of Green > & Blue's overpriced (in the absence of > competition) wine. My objection is personal and not to do with G&B, I actually don't think it would make that much difference to the shop. We don't sell the same wine as a supermarket and we already have plenty of competition on the Lane. Whether or not you consider us overpriced is, I guess, a matter of personal opinion but the fact is that our margins are much smaller than many, if not most, wine retailers. So thanks for the thoughts silverfox, but we'll agree to disagree on that one.

Blimey huncamunca, someone smacked you with a grumpy stick today?!

I have similar issues and got a renault magan scenic from Cargiant. Not too expensive, does the biz and was surprisingly easy to drive in the snow.

BeccaL Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > A friend of mine who lives on dunstans rd > mentioned to me on 18 dec, so i'm fairly sure it's > not related to the rumours when sains opened. > However, I didn't get a chance to talk to her for > long and find out her source, hence said I had > heard rather than I knew. Legalbeagle - do you > know any more? BeccaL - I don't know more. I didn't ever say that Val's was closing because I don't know if it's true or not. Nisha did tell me that she had had to lay off some staff after Sainsbury's opened, but that was a little while ago now and she did not say that she was closing, just that there had been a definite drop in her trade. So I don't know where that has come from.

Well you might like to pop in to Val's store, and ask Nisha how it's going since Sainsbury's local arrived. Not sure she finds it that funny. The argument that these stores bring more shoppers in certainly hasn't worked for her, it hasn't worked for other parts of the country and it won't work for Lordship Lane. James - have M&S or Waitrose actually asked the council for a site on the Lane? And if they have, have they offered to build other projects for the community at the same time? I know it can be tempting for cash strapped councils to allow a big supermarket in if they are also going to build a school/police station/leisure facilities? Oh and "jokes" about mental illness are actually quite offensive. Better to have a grown up debate and list your reasons for disagreeing rather than chuck insults at those who hold a different view.

No, James, please please please no. We have Co-op. We have Iceland. We have Sainsburys local. And that's enough chains. They provide choice, and competition and they have their place but we already have enough of them. Lordship Lane is regularly commented on as one of the best high streets in London precisely because we have a balance of chains and independent shops. If you introduce any more chains, whose huge buying power allows them to drive down prices to unrealistically low levels, then you put at risk all of those smaller local business who contribute to that character. And in my view that would be a huge shame. And to be clear, yes I do part own a small local business so I may be considered partial. But this is still my opinion.

Oh good lordy, not this again! What can I say. Some of you like us, and some of you don't. DaveR, I guess since you don't shop with us, and you now never will, there's not much point in me trying to persuade you otherwise. I'm always sad when I have to say that, but I guess you can't please everyone all of the time. (Though I will happily engage with you via PM if you want to tell me if there are ways we could improve to persuade you otherwise). We don't waim to patronise or to be self righteous, but I do have to accept that we aren't everyone's cup of tea. To others who've shown continuous support, thank you. It's always good to read that we get it right for some of you. But just one last word if I might. The truth is that the no bag policy is not for the purposes of marketing to green-lite or liberal customers, whatever that might mean. It is not to be self-righteous or to patronise. The policy exists because one of the owners of G&B, the writer of the blog, genuinely feels very passionately about this subject, and always has. It is of course possible to pick holes in this passion. Yes she also drives a car, and yes she has travelled by plane. The truth, which we all know really, is that we can't do anything about everything. But rightly or wrongly, some of us have particular causes that we DO do something about, because we think that something is better than nothing, or because it touches us for whatever reason, or just because we want to and we can. Some people campaign for animal rights. Some raise money for local lifeboats. Some give regularly to cancer research charities. And some feel certain environmental issues very keenly and take steps to reduce the environmental impact that they or their business might otherwise have. And there is it. And I simply won't apologise for the person who holds that view. It's genuinely held and seriously meant and she has every right to stick by it. The good thing though is that the OP was privately very thoughtful and gracious in agreeing to move on from this and held no hard feelings. And we are the same. Perhaps some of you haven't read the blog on this happy ending.

My kids got a gineau pig each. They are happily housed in a rather large cage in the green house out of the rain and snow, and have settled very well. They are just too cute! I wanted another dog but was overruled. :(

Oh, behave all of you!

*dignified silence*

Humph. She gets all the fun. I have had not one bit of genitalia on my car, of any shape or form.

Well it looks to me as though the prediction has already come true. Two people fell in love from the forum, and two people got married from the forum. Who said that both parts of the prediction had to refer to the same couple? :))

Oh do keep up dear. Have been since the summer!

Ah right. *grin*

Oh - was Allycat and Floating Onion last year then?

Something bothering you, my love?

M&S, Starbucks and MacDonalds will open up on the Lane. Four clowns will be arrested for running the country's biggest child abduction ring, though one will be released later when his pleas that he was just advertising the above-mentioned Maccy D's turn out to be true. Ladymuck will finally gain control of her bladder.