Growlybear

I was in Kristals in Nunhead earlier today. They had loads of hand sanitiser and were charging ?4.99 for one of the little bottles that usually sell for 99p or less. They were also selling individual face masks at extortionate prices. The thin paper surgical masks were ?1.49 each (and I think they were only 1 ply) and the fold up masks which can be re-used a very limited number of times were ?5.99 each. Boxes 50 of the surgical masks were selling on eBay last month for around ?12. I realise that wholesale prices have probably gone up, and there is a huge shortage, but I don't believe the cost has increased by 500%. I've used Kristal for ages and really expected better from them.

Your experience doesn?t surprise me at all. I have had consistently wonderful service from the practice for the last 40 years and they have always gone above and beyond expectations when my husband or I have had a serious problem. I?ve also never had a problem getting an appointment quickly when it?s been necessary and don?t have a problem in waiting for a routine appointment for non emergencies. I?ve always felt very fortunate to be registered with such an excellent surgery.

I would seriously consider Forest Hill or Sydenham. Both areas are much cheaper, much nicer, and far less pretentious than East Dulwich.

I've been with Forest Hill Road Group Practice for over 40 years, and can't recommend the practice highly enough. The support I've had through a number of health issues in recent years has been amazing; I've always been treated with the utmost respect, courtesy, and professionalism by all staff, and have always been able to get an urgent appointment when I've needed one.

Guava Kitchen in Forest Hill is a vegan and vegetarian caf?. It gets really good reviews.

I heard the fireworks on Saturday night, and from what I could see of them from an upstairs window, they were lovely. I can't understand why anyone would think that a ten minute firework display at 10.30 p.m. is unreasonable? It's not exactly late, and if anyone's children are woken up for ten minutes, they don't have to get up for school the next morning. Like many people, I've got animals, but because I choose to keep pets, I really don't expect that to stop other people from enjoying a very short firework display. The world's gone mad!

I'm so sorry to hear about your experience JL, and very surprised by a couple of the responses. I hope that your mum is OK now - that her eye has healed and she is over the shock. There really are some truly awful parents around, and it's very unfortunate that you and your mum ran into one. I can't imagine the circumstances where I would ever have let my daughter run round on a train platform, and can't imagine what the woman was thinking. I'm sure the child didn't hurt you mum deliberately, but I would have been mortified if my daughter had ever hurt anyone like that whether accidentally or deliberately, and I would have made sure that she was sanctioned and made to apologise properly for what she had done. It must have been obvious to the mother that your mum was in pain, and to just dismiss what the child had done, and blame it on him being excited at attending the climate change protests, is appalling. Nina Melania's suggestions do seem rather bizarre to me. Whether or not the child was autistic is irrelevant - at the very least the mother should have apologised properly even if she couldn't get the child to do so. I also suspect that it's unlikely that any parent would take a child with a brain tumour or who was terminally ill to a protest, or that they would go to an event like that if a parent was dying. Unfortunately you just got unlucky and came across a selfish, self absorbed woman with a spoilt brat. If attending the protests caused the child to become so over excited, perhaps the mother should consider whether he is old and responsible enough to attend events like that. But at least it's some small comfort that the child's absence from school that day was highly unlikely to have been authorised, and his attendance record will now show that he was absent from school without permission.

It's only a ten or fifteen minute walk from the multi storey car park in Catford and there is never any difficulty in parking there.

Whatever the person concerned may or may not have done, surely you can't publish their address on a public forum!

I've been with the Forest Hill Road practice for over 40 years and couldn't have been happier with the service and care we've received. I've seen posts on here complaining about the wait for appointments but if you NEED to be seen urgently, they will always fit you in. My husband and I both have chronic conditions, and are always able to get appointments when we need them either booking ahead for routine consultations, or on the day if it's urgent. About a month ago, I rang the surgery for advice in the middle of the afternoon; a GP rang me back within 20 minutes, and gave me an appointment 20 minutes later, so I was seen in less than an hour from my first phone call. There has been quite a change in staff over the last couple of years, but the new doctors, as well as those who have been there for a while, all seem to be excellent.

I've had one of the little food waste caddies for several years sitting next to my recycling boxes, which I've never used and never will. Another one arrived today, which I didn't order. What a waste of money!

No, just one! Rosetta Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Growlybear Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > No, I live in a house. Both stickers have the > > same number and I've definitely only been > charged > > Do you have two brown buns?

No, I live in a house. Both stickers have the same number and I've definitely only been charged once!

I can never understand how the noise from aircraft can have such an impact on people in this area. I have lived in East Dulwich/Forest Hill for over 40 years, and whilst I agree there seems to be an increase in the volume of flights, I can't remember ever having been really disturbed by the noise. I used to love sitting in the garden watching Concorde fly overhead, but even the noise from that wasn't intrusive. The planes often fly low enough to be able to make out the airline, and regularly fly directly over my house. I'm also a light sleeper but have never been disturbed by plane noise. I find the traffic far more bothersome during the day than any plane, and the worst noise of all has to be the foxes when they start shrieking in the middle of the night.

I've received two stickers, both identical, and in the same post delivery. I have always been under the impression that you had to leave your bins with the handles facing the road ready for collection each week. And most of my neighbours do the same.

We have a hedgehog who turns up from time to time in Wood Vale.

You could park in the Sainsburys car park in Forest Hill. There is a charity shop by the side of the supermarket.

Like everyone else, I would always prefer to park anywhere free of charge, but if you can afford to maintain, tax, and insure a car, then surely it's not impossible to find the money to pay for parking when you use one of the parks?

The regulations came into force from November 2018. If you look at the Oakley hotel's website, they make it very clear that the chattery has been refurbished and the cats can no longer mix. I don't know how long ago the refurbishment was carried out, but There was a change of management in 2013, which is probably when I last took my cats there.

I never found having a communal area was a problem, and I assume that Bromley Council don't either. At the Oakley hotel, the cats weren't forced to leave their individual pens if they didn't want to, and they were large enough that they still had plenty of room; however, if they go into the communal area, this gives them access to a lot more additional space. They only take cats that are fully vaccinated and microchipped, and are very quick to consult a local vet if any cat shows any signs of being unwell. Having a communal area is not something that I've ever questioned, as the local vet where I used to board my previous cats, as well as my current ones, going back over a period of about 35 years, used to allow them out into a communal area each day. I've seen the cages where the boarders are kept several times in the past, and they are tiny in comparison with the Oakley hotel, Moggie Minders etc.

I used the Oakley Hotel for several years, and they were always brilliant. The individual pens are spacious and two storey with duvets and heating, and the cats are housed in several blocks with about ten pens in each. The cats are let out into a much larger communal area, and my understanding is that because they are not in their own territory, the cats don't fight. The staff were always really caring, and were happy to cope with my cats, one of whom is extremely difficult. I've also used Moggie Minders, the cattery in Croxted Road, Lordship Lane Vets, and the vet in Peckham near Lyndhurst Way; they have all been fine, but in my opinion, nowhere near as good as the Oakley Hotel. The facilities at both vets were far more cramped and basic than the other catteries, and in the past, I was told that the cats were let out into a communal area together. One of my cats is very timid, and each time she stayed at the Oakley Hotel, she stayed in her own pen for most of the time and wasn't pressured to come out into the communal area. It's by far the best cattery I've used, and I would recommend it without hesitation. They also used to provide a pick up and drop off service, although I'm not sure if they still do this.

Double post!

I wonder what the chances are of the woman concerned reading this? If you were so concerned by her behaviour, perhaps it might have been more effective to speak to her at the time!

I woke up early in the morning on Wednesday to find water coming through the bathroom ceiling from a leaking water tank, mopped up, and got a bowl to catch the leak. I rang Aria at about 10 am and he sent Dan round within half an hour. He did an excellent job again, and arranged for a handyman to come round to cut out a new, larger loft hatch so that a new water tank could be fitted. Dan came back a while later and connected everything up; he called again this morning to check that all was well, and sorted out an airlock which had formed overnight. Aria has since phoned to make sure that everything is working properly. The job was carried out at a reasonable cost, and I am so grateful for the very prompt and friendly service. It's very reassuring to know that there is always a reliable plumber available who will come out quickly when needed and who doesn't overcharge.

I had a very pushy salesman call several months ago, who was quite off-putting, but nowhere near as off-putting as their prices. I couldn't believe how expensive their flowers are.