Robert Poste's Child

Zak makes me a bit twitchy.

Ruby's another one that's come back in the last ten years and now seems really popular. To my generation it was firmly linked to grandparents. A few more names that seemed to be in every class when I was at at school but which you don't hear people calling babies now: Susan, Jane, Mary, Anne, Nicola, Jacqueline, Joanna.

Not sure if those count as a revival - perhaps more a sign of how the ED demographic has changed over the last couple of decades? Classical names have long been a favourite of the upper middles / intelligentsia to overcome the apparent handicap of a normal surname like Smith or Green.

Suzisoo, what a touching story and how lovely to get a boost from a stranger just when it sounds like you really need it. Best of luck with the rest of your treatment and wishing you back to health very soon.

ETA: in reply to flocker spotter but crossed with above - Not sure I completely agree with you there, but it does sometimes seem as though the same personality clashes and obsessions spill over into other threads with little provocation. Gets a bit wearing sometimes.

This thread reminds me of Alan Bennett's piece on names dying out, trying to imagine modern names as old people: 'Psis doesn't trickle unheeded down a Nicky's leg...'

Seabag Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The football grounds of South London are awash > with Frankie's, Billy's and Alfie's > > Eltham specially, along with that stoopid Peaky > Blinder haircut You want to go to Birmingham: Peaky Blinders chic everywhere.

I know what you mean, pinkladybird; my own tiny garden is one big litter tray. In a past thread someone said the only way to stop them is to have a cat yourself, but that's not much help to you. I guess you've tried chucking water at them when you actually see them in the act? Maybe also worth trying as for foxes - early-morning (ideally male) pee in a bottle, add garlic, allow to ferment a few days, then spray around the garden. It also seems to help if you make sure all flower beds/pots have thickly covered surfaces to make it harder for them.

Saw Love in Idleness at the Apollo. Thought Anthony Head and Eve Best were great. Definitely recommend. Somehow managed to get a seat for ?20 in the middle of the stalls - amazing!

The small bit of the Horniman gardens that look out over F Hill or top bit of Crystal Palace Park.

Lynne Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Mine never get collected and I've seen people > going into gardens and taking the bags There's usually a number on the bag you can call if it's not collected. Or just wait for the next one to come through the door and repeat.

Board

Could be worse - if you bank with HSBC or one of its brands it's a choice of Brixton or Peckham.

The irony is that most of us get charity collection bags posted through the door every few weeks, so if you want to dump a load of stuff on the street and feel like you've donated to a cause you can actually do it without going to the effort of hauling it to a charity shop.

Costume

Did you see the Tories' press release on mental health? In the same breath denouncing cyberbullying and saying 'Jeremy Corbyn is weak and nonsensical'. Is no one idiot-checking?

Good for you, JenWren. Well done for turning an unpleasant incident into something positive that hopefully both sides of the debate can support.

The second image gave me a bit of a turn. Seems to have turned the smile up to 11 there. And what about the poor baby's ear?

Cycle

Maze

(The) bill

If you've ever asked for members of the EDF to provide content for your homework/research project/article/campaign - particularly if you've not actually credited them for their contribution in the final version.

I rather like his sense of humour and that he uses it to deal with what must be pretty tedious activities (not Sn, sorry, Borky: Prince Philip). He's spent his whole life getting on with what has to be done, apparently not worrying too much how sections of the media may spin it, and accepting the limitations his role has imposed on him, such as not being able to give his own children his surname, his family's exile from Greece and his mother's mental illness.

A great man in my opinion. I love the way he has stayed true to the values he grew up with - duty, loyalty, honesty, humour and never whining or complaining - reminds me of Lord whatsit in the Picture of Dorian Grey, who 'never said a right thing and never did a wrong one.' After his 70-ish years of service to this country it would be extraordinarily small-minded to nitpick. Modern men seem rather floppy and narcissistic by comparison.

Charming