Mrs TP

Ah, I thought the air smelt like it had been a warm summer's day. Much as it had not been roasting I associated the smell with hot summer days in the countryside. Not just me going bonkers then.

We has a subsidence claim 10yrs ago. Only superficial repair work needed and no underpinning. Now we have contents insurance which does not cover subsidence damage. Policy with Zurich. I have never tried to change the buildings insurance (NatWest) and am sure we pay an extortionate amount because of the subsidence and two other claims we have made (burst pipe and legal claim).

Exactly people can choose to read or not to read. I don't read Harry Potter but I understand loads of people do. Don't like the graphic bits of One Born Every Minute coz don't like the blood but still watch it and cry every time a new baby pops out.

It's defo close on 26 July. Go to this web address: http://www.london2012.com/torch-relay/route/ Then click on search the map and enter your postcode. The final routes for the last two dates have not been released but there is a rough overlay of approx where it will be.

Oh I hope it's not a random line. We have our kids taking it in turns to man our deck chair in Maxted Rd to reserve our viewing space.

Floella is major league and one of our cats is named after her!

This one time us SE15ers are ahead of the game. July 26 flame is in Bellenden area.

Depends on time of day and exact mood but any of the following: Watching clips of locally based comedian Micky Flanagan on Youtube; Huge over-stuffed shop bought sandwich and danish pastry; Healthy food; Trashy magazines; Alcohol; 80's music vids on Youtube; Looking at photos / film clips of brood; Most bizarrely tidying my wardrobe and trying loads of clothes on not worn for ages? I don't know why that one works. I think the whole thing is doing something for yourself and not everyone else in the house - just getting the time for that is a major achievement.

It was that health practice on Grove Vale (in a terraced house) and with another tiny branch at Push Studios - just can't remember their name.

Well done you for acting so quickly and intervening. There is so much of this going on everyone needs to be vigilant and aware for themselves and for vulnerable neighbours. Thanks for the reminder.

Yes we know quite a few who got them when they were 6yrs old. Check out eBay and Amazon and see what suits you.

Some waiting list movement in our yr 6: one into Kingsdale, one into Forrest Hill Boys and twins placed in separate schools immediately transferred to the preferred of the two schools when school alerted to what going on. I have been pleasantly surprised by how it all works. However still know of some stuck unhappily with their last choice. Having gone through it this year I would say to all visit every school you put on your form; guessing sammi30 would now agree. Sammi30 you are not alone though, I know others that put random schools down too and then got them. I would also suggest to those applying for next year you are better off with an unwanted school on your doorstep whilst waiting for a place to come up elsewhere than traveling any great distance to an unwanted school.

My daughter had her 8th b'day party on Saturday and amongst the many lovely traditional gifts she received from her friends one inspired mum bought her some gardening tools, flower seeds, plant pots and a bag of compost! She was thrilled with this novel idea and I would echo this - fantastic!

I just got today from Hope and Greenwood on Northcross Road some Space Dust or Fizz Whiz as it is called now for 30p a packet and some 'Tongue Painter' lollipops (20p each) which do exactly what they say and leave the child's tongue whatever colour the lolly is. Both great top ups for party bags.

Many thanks everybody. Sort of not really wanting to get her one for start of secondary school as yes we have all coped in our teenage years / first leaving home without them. She isn't asking for one so maybe I should be brave and see how long we can go without it.

Our daughter starts secondary in Sept and will be taking public transport. If we don't get her a phone this summer will she be the only one at secondary without one? Hoping there will be a wide variety of opinions on this one ...

Ban cold calling door to door and on the phone.

Sandy Balls has diff types of accomodation, wooden cabins (nicely fitted out with reasonable kitchen facilities), caravans and tents - I think they have them to hire and you can bring your own. There is an on site Harvester type pub and out door cafe doing burger and chips etc. Some evening entertainment and few kids club type activities. Also indoor and outdoor swimming pools, which soon become over-crowded and they restrict entry. It is more of a base to go out and about to surrounding places as opposed to Centre Parcs that has more facilities to encourage you to stay within their grounds. They are both UK based cabin type holidays but very different facilities and so diff hols both great and the 'Sandy Balls' name gets a laugh every time in our house and has also been joked about on Have I Got News for You!

Christmas Tree farm in Kent not a million miles away from Bromley. Can feed farm animals but sadly no pony rides.

It is great news and very well done. But I just don't really get how Ofsted works - I thought the new head had only been there for a small part of the current academic year. How have Ofsted been able to measure 'standards rising substantially at both key stages' when Sats haven't even been conducted under the new leadership?

Never mind the royals, pretty sure I saw Jeremy Paxman suited and chatting to a bunch of other suits in, bizarrely, the car park of Gallery Road tennis courts yesterday evening (Mon 16 Aug). No clues on Newsnight last night at to what he was up to but then I did fall asleep before the end of it.

In support of Brewski you just don't act like you think you would when you are the victim of crime. You might think you would scream and shout but people rarely do and are often too shocked / surprised to take in what has actually happened. I once had a jacket taken from the top of a pile of coats in a bar. I spotted a girl at the bar wearing it and, giving her the benefit of the doubt despite it being a v. distinctive jacket, I said to her I think you have put my jacket on by mistake. She quickly took it off, threw it at me and ran out of the bar. I was too stunned to shout to the security guard she ran past and couldn't quite believe someone had been so blatant.

Took my brood to Gambados the other day and we queued up to try the newish climbing wall. We were second in the queue and watched as the Gambados chap attempted to tie the harness security knot on the child whose turn it was. It soon became obvious he couldn't tie it securely. He kept trying to tie it then changing his mind and pulling it apart and starting again. He continued to try for several moments, undoing and retrying and you could see he was reciting the instructions to himself as to how to do it but just getting it wrong each time. I told my kids I wasn't happy that he knew what he was doing and we left the queue. In fairness to him, he eventually decided to give up and didn't let the first child go on it and closed the wall. If you go, be extremely cautious and watch to see how competent the staff are before letting your child near this.

Oh dear we told child no2 that the Gruffalo came around looking for children who hadn't cleaned their teeth and that he could smell them out. Every night I used to say he is downstairs having a cup of tea with Daddy so hurry up and get on with it. Worked a treat but now I wonder at nearly 8yrs old why does she still have night terrors? On a more realistic theme mine didn't actually like mint toothpaste and so used to get them strawberry stuff, which gov't recommendations say doesn't contain enough fluoride but the dentist said was fine for introducing the regular brushing action. All else fails - pin down and just do it!

Try goggling these adjustments. People put all kinds of demos up on YouTube - we learnt how to collapse our pop up tent there and also how to adjust the straps on our toddler car seat.