Zedd

Another pleased customer of Fernando's here. Fernando came today to tidy up my front and back gardens including the moving of some very heavy paving slabs and a huge amount of gravel. He was personable, easy to contact and extremely hard-working in today's hot weather. He was also absolutely lovely to my 21 month old daughter who was very quickly very comfortable around him and babbled happily away to him about the plants and flowers! I've booked him for a return visit later this month as I am so happy with his work and reasonable rates. Thanks, Fernando!

I'm interested in getting this for our garden but have so far been put off by the expense! Would you recommend a particular company as reasonable but good quality?

We went to Puerto Pollensa last year when our daughter was 9 months old and we loved it. We are not big resort lovers either and found that Puerto Pollensa was very family-friendly without being cheesy and over-developed. We stayed in a self-catering apartment opposite the beach which meant that our daughter was able to sleep in the bedroom and we slept in the "living room". This was perfect as it meant that we could cook dinner and enjoy a bottle of wine on the balcony while watching the world go by. Definitely a different type of holiday to the type we are used to but very enjoyable all the same. We even overlapped my brother-in-law's family stay so we were able to get a night's baby-sitting and enjoy one of the smarter restaurants at the harbour end of the resort.

3 brothers called Sir Ricky, sir Ryan and sir Reece.

Queen Ann

Boy called OJ (orange juice) and his brother called AJ (Apple juice). They apparently had a sister called cinnamon but I never met her.

The delights of teaching in sarf London init doh...

Resurrecting this thread as three double deckers have just passed by my living room window (Marmora)! Does anyone have any info about why?

This thread is golden...

I want to know what a "yummy mummy" looks like to make them so easily identifiable...

I work in a secondary school in Lambeth that for the last 5 years has been in the top 1% of schools for CVA scores (yes - I do know these are no longer used as a measure of a school's success (cheers Gove) but the data is still there). In the same time frame we have been as high as the 3rd most improved school nationally (our lowest place is for last year's results which put us 108th nationally in the rank ordering of "most improved" - it is generally accepted that the "drop" in placing is due to the fact that we have made such rapid progress over the preceding years so the more recent %increases in results are not as dramatic).

We are a "bog standard" comprehensive. No selection. We are not an Academy. We take the students we are given and we work bloody hard to get them the best possible outcomes. We are rarely, if ever, mentioned in the press - local or national.

Academies do play the system to their advantage (and it seems at times that if LA schools were playing the same games we would be landed on from a great height very quickly) and have funding structures that the mind boggles at. Private enterprise has no place in the state education system. Why do we insist on further devaluing the education system we have by suggesting that people who are not experts in education can improve education?

The comprehensive system can work - the school I work at is proof of this. What we need is a full commitment from the powers that be to this system. Stop flushing millions of pounds down the drain setting up new schools and make the existing ones better.

I apologise for the rambling nature of this post. I promise it is no reflection on the quality of teaching my school offers;-) It's just a bit late.

I have a micralite fast fold which I use as a "sports car" alternative to a Bugaboo Chameleon which I love but is just so cumbersome.

I really like it but there are a few things to consider:

- I don't find the wide front wheels a problem - for me the problem is the narrow rear wheels as I often find that I kick them especially when walking downhill. This could be because I am reasonably tall (5'8") or perhaps I just walk funnily!

- when folded it is significantly longer than a mclaren - only really important if you need to fit it in the boot of your car though

- like most lightweight buggies it does tip up if you take the baby out and leave a bag on the handle

- I do wonder how long it will last my on-the-large-side 16 month old as I can see it getting quite cramped in the seat

- the hood seems to be more a way of supporting the rain cover as it is not really big enough to do anything else!

Good points:

- you can pull it along on the large rear wheels when it is folded rather than having to carry it

- lightweight and easily manoeuvrable even on uneven terrain

- easy one-handed steering (also a reason why i love the bugaboo)

On a slightly more superficial point, I also really like what it look like!

I bought mine 2nd hand from Preloved - it cost ?90 with a rain cover and seat liner and is in pretty good nick so it's worth keeping an eye out for a 2nd hand one.

Maybe you were unlucky and got a dud? That's the cup my daughter uses the most and she regularly manages to pour it all over herself/ the floor/ her high chair so it doesn't appear to need sucking!

She also uses a doidy cup (? spelling) - just ordered a new one from Mothercare for ?3.50 - it's slanted so she can see what she is drinking and it has handles.

signed.

posting to bump this thread back up.

My LO is 1y old and walking. Is she too old? I was thinking of coming next Tuesday but reading "suitable for young babies" makes me think that perhaps she is too old, too mobile and automatically too mischievous!

I went to the Osteopathic centre for children which is in Wandsworth. It's a charity so you basically donate what you can afford so although it's not local it's definitely worth a look if you can get there.

To be honest I was fairly sceptical initially but a friend took her son who could only turn his head in one direction after a forceps delivery. This was causing its own issues with feeding which were immediately resolved after a trip to the osteopath. With this in mind, and the attitude of "at worst it does nothing" I took my daughter along. She was having reflux-type issues with feeding, and was really struggling to pass very soft breastmilk stools. The change in her demeanour and head shape (after a few visits) was remarkable so although my issues were different to yours I would definitely say it is worth a try. Even my TOTAL sceptic of a partner was impressed when her head changed shape and now asks me when her next appt is!

No car was parked "strategically".

If you look at the picture that has already been posted you can see that the bus has hit the rear corner of the silver Fiat 500. What you can't see in the picture is that behind the car the pavement "sticks out" (sorry I can't think of a different way of describing it). I imagine that this "design" of pavement is to stop people parking right on the junction corner so that vehicles making the turn can always see oncoming traffic. It acts in the same way as the double yellow lines on the corners of Scutari/ Marmora. In this case it has resulted in an unsuitable vehicle not having the space to make the turn around the corner. The pavement on the other side of the road is similar and the cars parked on both sides of the road were parked close to the curb. There are no road markings to direct drivers not to park their cars here and both cars were parked responsibly.

Other buses had already successfully negotiated the corner yesterday before the incident occurred suggesting that driver error was probably the main cause of the collision. Having said that, the turn in such a large vehicle is a very tight one and it is startling how close the buses have to get to the cars parked on the "passenger" side of the bus when approaching the end of Therapia in order to make it around the corner. Therefore perhaps it is TFL's error as much as the individual driver's. I do actually feel *some* sympathy for the bus drivers - I'm sure they wouldn't have chosen this route.

On a side note, I find comments such as this:

unlurked wrote:

> If it's true about people purposely parking to

> stop the buses using that particular route then I

> wonder how they would feel if there was to be a

> fatal accident on the forced route?

inflammatory, unnecessary and slightly twisted.

I look forward to receiving details of the planned meeting and I fully intend to attend.

I have been waiting for the first accusations of "nimbyism" to fly so I would just like to clarify. No one is suggesting that the road safety works should not take place. These will benefit the whole community. What a number of people have said, and what I also believe, is that the proposals to send the buses along Therapia/Scutari/ Marmora are not the best option for a number of valid reasons. Alternatives have been suggested so this is also not pointless ranting or moaning.

I'm pleased to hear that the contractors have reduced the expected length of time that the alternative route will be used.

I would also be keen to attend a meeting to discuss the matter with Renata Hamvas despite the works already starting.

This is not nimbyism. It is a community of people getting together to try to improve a poxy situation. This is why I love living in ED :-)

Mrs Nicklin - we have received several letters outlining the works to be completed, so I imagine that all householders along Marmora Road will have been similarly informed so you might be able to find out from your vendor (incidentally none of these letters mentioned the planned bus diversion). I can't actually find the letters though so from memory the works include resurfacing the bus lane, adding in a crossing (next to the cemetary entrance?) and changing the traffic island layout where the buses turn. I am happy to be corrected if I have misremembered any of this, however.

SkyofFire - I am also concerned about the historical damage caused by vibrations but also the prospective damage to parked cars as the roads carry vehicles that are simply too big! Contrary to the opinions of others 3 months actually seems like a LONG time to me when you factor in how often these buses will be running along Marmora/ Therapia day AND night.

If you are similarly concerned I urge you to contact Harriet Harman using the details I posted further up the thread - it is not too late to change the bus route.

Yes this is the case. I'm not sure it is nothing to worry about though. I was unaware of this until a flyer was posted through my door over the weekend. Most of the information I'm about to provide is taken from this flyer (apart from the stupid flippant comments - they're all mine ;-).

The 63 is a double decker day and night bus and will be incredibly disruptive to residents of Marmora Road and Therapia Road as well people who use the Colyton/ Scutari/ Marmora route from Nunhead. Imagine the scenario that you are driving down Marmora/ Therapia and a 63 bus approaches you from the opposite direction. Considering the high density of parked vehicles on both roads, and especially the narrowness of Therapia Road, there will be no where to go for either vehicle and this will happen as often as there is a 63 bus - every 10-12 minutes?!

"But where will the buses go?" I hear you cry. "The work needs to be done, and the buses need to run, isn't this just nimbyism...?!?" Well, no.

There are 2 alternatives:

1. The 63 bus service will terminate near the top of Forest Hill Road as it currently does. The 63 bus will then turn along Brenchley Gardens (which is already a bus route) and use the entrance to the cemetery to turn around. This has allegedly already been suggested and declined by the council as it poses too great a risk to pedestrians using the cemetery entrance. I'm not sure where this leaves the safety of the residents of Marmora/ Scutari/ Therapia.

2. The 63 bus service terminates where it usually does but then continues over the hill to Brockley Rise and use the one-way system there to turn around and come back over the hill. This is clearly less likely as it will require alterations to the bus timetable and have an impact on the number of buses circulating Brockley Rise. However, it would offer a not to missed opportunity for permanent changes to the 63 route to extend down to HOP station... wishful thinking? Probably.

If this proposal is something that concerns you, the person to contact is your MP Rt Hon Ms Harriet Harman on [email protected] or via her website www.harrietharman.org/contact_me or by phone on 0207 2194218.

Sorry about the long post.

Brilliant film! Don't love all of the art but I do love that it is in East Dulwich.

What I would do differently is "give in" sooner. I was asked soon after I arrived at Kings what I wanted to do about pain relief and naively said "gas and air and the pool". Both were lovely but 20+ hours later - 1st time mum, back to back baby :-( - I remembered (!) that there were other options and declared "I need some help!". I just wish I had said this earlier and perhaps spared myself some of the post-birth issues I had.

Oh well, lesson learned ;-)

I have also remembered another memorable moment - after my daughter was born the obstetrician who delivered her by forceps said "Well, I won't need to go to the gym tomorrow..." Lovely.

FYI - she has been forgiven however as she did a neat job of "fixing" me!

After a LOOONNNGG labour (3 hours of pushing after who knows how long of 1st stage contractions) I was shipped to theatre for a forceps delivery. Once the spinal block kicked in I lay on the table revelling in the fact that I couldn't feel a thing. After a few minutes I looked up and said "Are those my legs?"

I honestly thought my legs were still stretched out in front of me not up in the air! Very odd experience indeed. Not sure whose legs I thought they might be...

I have an older brother (3 and 1/2 years older) and a younger sister (20 months younger). As adults I get on well with both but they don't get on with each other at all and never have done. This could be down to birth order, or the age gap but I think the biggest issue is actually that they are very similar in personality (I am very different!) and therefore they wind each other up.

Incidentally, as a child and teenager I had far worse arguments with my sister!

I think the fact that you are even worried about this shows that your children will not have the same experience that you did. All you can do is love them and encourage them to look after each other - set them the example that you want them to follow. Sometimes they will get on, sometimes they will argue.

Congratulations and good luck!

I have had a Tomy Digital Video Plus monitor for the last 8 months and for several reasons I like being able to see my daughter when she is sleeping (or not!).

BUT I am about to return the monitor to the shop as it has broken. This is the second time this has happened therefore I do not want a replacement.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a different video monitor that in their experience is good quality and has lasted?

Thanks oh wise family-roomers ;-)

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to comment :-)

We're flying to Italy at the end of May and I am wondering about the practicality of taking the Bugaboo with us. We do have another buggy that we could use but it does not recline therefore it would be preferable to take the Bugaboo.

My concern is that it may get damaged as we do not have a travel bag (and don't really want to fork out for one!) so I was wondering if anyone had any experience of travelling with it or any other buggy that might influence what I do! In particular, how tolerant are they (airline/ cabin crew/ baggage handlers) of the (awkward) 2-part folding of the cameleon? Is this going to make it more likely that it will be damaged as the baggage handlers fling it around?!

Thanks for any advice/ experiences you can share!

Thanks for the heads up Jeremy.

Please don't worry UncleBen, I have a substantial front garden: the car will fit on the driveway and on the driveway only.

Thanks for the helpful comments - they are very much appreciated.

Nope, not a parking space lost. In fact there will be a parking space GAINED. We are a selfish, petrol-loving 2 car household (go on, have a field day with that - you know you want to...;-) so by converting HALF of our garden into a drive we will free up a space on the road as we will then park our second car across the driveway.

Front garden also not destroyed as it is currently a wasteland occupied by wheelie bins and weeds.

Hope that reassures some of you :-)