Nigello

I welcome them all and also welcome more diversity - not within a type of vendor (food, drink) but in general. I do think saturation point is really near and too many posher (dearer) comestible shops detract from the high street, making it seem more and more the place for a certain type of shopper (eater?) to go. I know this is not a reality but it is fair to suggest that the look and feel of place can put off some shoppers and, by extension, some would-be business owners.

I just got some stuff at the LL branch and there was no problem.

The lane and its environs is obviously suffering, which is why tenants (and estate agents that represent them) must do more to keep the place looking attractive. There ought to be a zero tolerance to vandalism (eg. spraying, etc.) on the part of business owners who often do nothing to make their frontages look nice when the shutters are down. The upper, more commercial bit of Melbourne Grove and that corner of EDG are tatty and some LL shops likewise are messy. The council does clean up shutters free of charge generally - all a business needs to do is sign a waiver. Please ask Cllr McAsh and/or the businesses themselves if you agree. Thanks

The G is guilty of speculation. Surely it would be a better idea to ask the question "is this the book of the year" at the end of 2021? Sounds like a press release story, which is not to denigrate the effort needed to achieve this or the novel itself.

There is tagging and litter at that end of Melbourne Grove on shop shutters and commercial bins, as well as on the shops that are on that corner. If anyone wants to encourage more business and footfall I suggest tackling these problems and keeping on top of them. (And, yes, I have pointed this out to James McAsh, so please, those who say they are invested in the area, please do the same and do something to keep the area as attractive to business as you wish it to be.)

To be fair, it is unknown whether it will stop you passing it on or just reduce the severity of any illness should you catch the virus. I agree, though, that anyone who has had it ought not to abandon the regulations. https://www.wsj.com/articles/does-getting-the-covid-19-vaccine-stop-you-spreading-it-scientists-dont-know-yet-11610989882

I hope you reported it! That sounds almost unbelievable, but one never knows....

https://www.hsj.co.uk/coronavirus/hospital-offered-covid-jabs-on-demand-for-several-weeks/7029346.article

https://www.hsj.co.uk/coronavirus/hospital-offered-covid-jabs-on-demand-for-several-weeks/7029346.article

Hello, Does anyone make/sell postcards, either local scenes or arty, or know of such small businesses, locally? I don't want masses of them - a dozen or so, all in all, every few weeks until shops reopeon. Most of the greetings cards shops are shut, as are local museums, etc. and I am running out. RSVP here or via PM. Ta

I saw about four or so redwings in D Park last week. Maybe there were more but I only clocked a small number.

Ok - it was 70% Lindt that, though usually great, was this time dry, brittle, dusty, musty and wouldn't melt in the mouth. I will not tell you which shop it was but will say that the proprietor was high handed and unpleasant. S/he told me s/he never eats it, to which I suggested s/he ought to start so that s/he could realise what crap s/he was selling. I refused a replacement because I thought I could well get another naff one - the batch or subsequent storage could have been off, etc. which I thought was a rational approach. I've written to Lindt and got an acknowledgement that my complaint is being handled. NB - the expiry date was end of May this year. Watch this space!

One chunk (not eaten, but spat out, though I did not return that bit). Faulty - wrong choice of word but when I wrote it I couldn;t think of another.

Is a vendor (indy owned, not chain) at liberty to refuse a refund and only offer a like-for-like exchange on faulty confectionary, such as chocolate, if it is returned shortly after purchase and almost intact? If it is the law that they can do so, is it mostly likely that they would choose to allow refund of such a low-cost item for good will reasons? (Ie. is that the prevailing convention.)

It's overused and cliched, so I don't use it.

He sometimes tries to "collar" me with some phrase like "mate, nice hat, where is it from?" or "do I do your windows?". Best just to nod and reply with one word, if anything, and move one. He is ill and deserves to be treated as someone with an illness, even if it does coincide with feeling uncomfortable in his presence. I agree it is good to be vigilant but I don't think a digital tar-and-feathering is called for.

I think you should all stop mind reading because, well, it doesn't work! All I can see here is people using what the OP said as a wagon for their own virtues and prejudices. We have no idea why he said they were Polish - perhaps it was because he is a total xenophobe, or maybe it is because he thought that their experiences abroad somehow formed their style of child raising. (We are always told that we mustrecognise and celebrate the diverse nature of people so it follows there must be diverse ways of raising children.) PS Chris could also be a woman, so all those folk who are thinking I am demonstrating anti-female and/or anti-gay bias, don't.

I have a mouse or two in teh garden but cannot make out whether it is a house or wild variety. It eats suet balls from the bird feeder which is ok with me. A cat often sits near the bushes so perhaps there is a nest there, suggesting it is indeed a non-domestic variety. Does anyone else have mice outside but not inside?

Understood, but they'd be better off makign sure all staff, yes, staff, wear masks and that there is more ventilation. (Staff in reception upstairs behind plastic screens but just the normal ones wore no masks. Perhaps they have been vaccinated or tested daily but still, it is still a need and was a poor show. (I rang but no reply to make a comment.)

The idea that Biden and Harris will be radical is laughable. There are too many vested and powerful interests in the US for there to be anything really radical, like, for example, a nationwide network of high-speed trains, universal income, etc. America is conservative and elites - left and right - rule. The Twitterati are en vogue right now but both the P and VP are long-time politicians who know they have to compromise and water down their attractive, vote-grabby "promises". Right now, just turning back the clock on Trump's decisions is just that - a 180 turn of the dial. The right-wing will continue to have influence and any number of millennial-friendly concerts won't change that. Also, millennials get older and have to pay bills and deal with life and will lose their zeal, at least a fair share of them. Now, had it been the other very old man with white hair, maybe it would have been different...

I am getting mostly pigeon (normal and wood) and the occasional robin, some sparrows (think they are house) and a very occasional jay and blue tit. Surprisingly, a crow has been taking food from the top of the brick wall - I have not seen a crow do this in 20 odd years here, though there are plenty of them around generally. I have been chopping up apple cores and mixing with oats and any meat/fat scraps and bird peanuts rather than just putting out seed and suet feed.

We really do not NEED any more bloody cafes here, but we do NEED more places for people to live. Ideally, it would be shared-ownership, etc. but we don't live in an ideal world and people of all shapes, sizes and wallets need places to live. Melbourne Grove is not a high street - it is very mainly residential so please don't speciously use the "save our special shopping streets" argument - it is a valid argument when used in the right place.

Why do you point out their skin colour? Doing so suggests that you think yourself, or others on here, will expect white people to be always more compliant than non-white people. Just say people. You know, like we all are! (You seem hung up on colour of skin - in my post about people refusing a Covid vaccine I mentioned poorer people and other groups who may be more susceptible being stupid for not taking it. You took it as a reference to their ethnicity, when there was no way of knowing what I meant because I used a catch-all term, groups, because there are many sets of people - old, disabled, poor, mentally challenged, carers, some black or brown people, who are more susceptible, and I attributed South Asians to a BBC report, not my view. Good on you for challenging, though.)

Sue - maybe you and others in a similar position were on a list (shielders, carers, etc.) whereas most others who were not high-category as per the first lockdown (ie. shielders) so they are just in with the normal 80+, 70+, etc.

I think a walk-in would work better. It is worth a, ahem, shot.