prdarling

Thankfully the neighbours who have a key managed to track down the owners to get the alarm code so have been able to switch it off. Still reeling from days of being woken at 2am and again at 6am while on my holiday but still thankful the damn thing has stopped

Is anyone else being driven mad by this??? It has been going off about 3 times a day for the last week, including 6am Christmas morning and the last few mornings plus a nice midnight toll to end the day, just in case the tinnitus wasn't quite taking hold. I have knocked on the door but quite literally the lights are on but no-one is home. I realise it's not the most grave of issues but it's really bringing about the demise of my mental heatlth Can anything be done or is it just ludicrous to expect A solution?

Wwe had ours at The White Swan near Hatton Garden. As they are in the City, they only open at weekends for weddings and as such have a wedding/events co-ordinator Nadia who is amazing. Everything about it was brilliant, food, wine, venue, atmosphere and it was really reasonable in terms of budget. www.thewhiteswanlondon.com

Do bear in mind though that chicken pox is usually much worse in adults than children. It's a nasty business for a grown up but it usually doesn't affect children for more than a few days and in many cases can be really mild....

We have a small sofa and 2 chairs, 1950's Danish type things and the leather straps which form the seats (onto which the cushions go) are so old and dried out they have virtually all snapped, making the furniture totally unusable. I have no idea where to go to ask about repairs. Can anybody help please? Best wishes

I did an awards event at work a few years back and Justtin Lee Collins was the compere. Unusually for a 'celebrity' he was happy to hang around for about 2 hours after the awards were over and give the guests photo opps. It was fairly obvious that he was kissing/trying to kiss every single girl and I mean properly kissing. He was the biggest sleaze I have ever worked with, totally made my flesh crawl. He thought he was God's gift. Repulsive

We would like to change our GP practice after much poor service from Forest Hill Group Practice. They used to be excellent and of course the Oakwood Midwives are superb, but we can take no more of not being able to get through on the phone, the impossibility of getting an appointment and the latest affrontery of my husband having to wait two weeks for his appointment, leaving work in WC2 early to get there for 4.50pm and then being told that the doctor was off sick, so err, sorry. It's just not an acceptable way to run a modern practice. Can anyone please offer some advice what to do please? All we want is someone who will answer the phone (preferably not on a number that costs us ?5 a second) and see us within a few days if necessary... We are on Wood Vale so SE22/23 borders Thanks for the advice

We had 13 spellings a week in Yesr 1. The first ever list contained the word frightened, which I thought was a bit much! Now in Year 2 my son has 10 spellings a week usually based around a topic, such as different plural rules, so this week we have recipes, loaves, knives, fairies etc. Spellings are streamed into 3 levels so not all of the kids have the same ones, they are done according to ability. We are at Fairlawn

We recently got married in the Council Chamber of Hackney Town Hall. It's a beautiful room with oak pannelled walls and seats in a tiered horseshoe shape so everyone can see you. Th town hall itself on Mare Street is a gorgeous Art Deco building with stone steps at the front which are perfect for a photo opportunity. The registrars are very helpful - the whole thing was lovely It's set back from the road as well, so no traffic streaming by. We had so many positive comments from our guests, I would definitely recommend it.

Hello Other than Goose Green and St Faith's, please could you let me know of any halls to hire in ED/WD/ND/HOP etc for a birthday party Thanks

Interesting feedback. Thanks for the insights... shan't be bothering moving if everywhere else is as bad if not worse!! I do need a meds review which is why I can't get a repeat prescription and I can't buy it OTC it's prescription only. Didn't think of the nurse practitioner, nor was she offered by the receptionist which is annoying as you are right Siduhe, there are probably appointments more readily available. Now I'm even more annoyed that they didn't propose this to me in the first place!!! It still seems a long time to me!

I have been with them 7 years and I think it's got progressively worse. You always used to be able to get a same day appointment, nowadays you can barely even get through on the phone to make one, the costly electronic check-in machine never works, the premium rate phone number is a scandal, leaving you to sit through minutes of recorded messages before you can speak to anyone, the rapid turnover of doctors is nuts and now a week to wait to see a doctor :( Such a shame as it did used to be such a good practice.

I have phoned this morning and the first appointment I can get is 8.30 next Monday morning. I am genuinely shocked. I wasn't expecting the luxury of a same day appointment or to see a specific doctor, just a harmless appointment about my hayfever prescription. Six days??? Really?? Am I being silly or is that just ridiculous?

The Barn... the building in the garden at The Herne is ideal x

It's a total headache. We end up with a very complex spreadsheet detailing where they both are each day. We manage with a combination of both sets of grandparents, taking a fortnight off ourselves, putting them in Scamps (summer school at Dulwich Prep), taking ad hoc days off separately and using our old childminder but it's a very costly business as well as a logistical PITA. You just need to be mega organised x