Sue

As I had a moan on here about the truly abysmal Christmas meal we had at The Cherry Tree last year, I am redressing the balance by saying we had a really excellent Christmas meal at Franklins last night. Every course was absolutely delicious and really well cooked. The staff were lovely despite being exhausted and run off their feet. In particular, my sea bass was a large portion and cooked to perfection, in stark contrast to the small dried up portion The Cherry Tree provided, from which I was barely able to scrape a teaspoonful of flesh (that is not an exaggeration). And our Franklins meal cost less than half what we paid at The Cherry Tree (to be fair, that was on Christmas Day so the Cherry Tree costs would have been higher, but that doesn't excuse the appalling quality meal). Thank you again to Franklins for restoring our faith in eating out at Christmas!

Possibly not the same people though!

Well they seem to have got fed up with transporting this one, as it appears to have been dumped right outside the patio doors. Apart from the fact that it's not in an aesthetically pleasing position in the garden, it must be quite hard to get past it, especially if you are carrying something outside!

Well, I was interested to find that out. Another reason not to shop there.

I can't offer to do it, but wisteria has to be pruned twice a year. So you need a gardener who knows what they are doing rather than someone who will just come and hack it back regardless (though it might need that). https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/wisteria/pruning-guide Good luck! PS Has it flowered in previous years? Apparently they don't flower when they are young.

Well, it's always easy to find something to criticise others for. I don't think Earl has ever been banned?

Thank you, I haven't noticed those before.

What post are you replying to?

I think it's absolutely hideous 🤣 "Mystical space" ? How are they defining "mystical" exactly?

Do you have a link? I'm interested to see the wording.

Yes, I did mention the train, which I now get from East Dulwich to Guys instead of the 40. Depends where in East Dulwich you are starting from which route is easiest! I think it is probably lack of staff rather than lack of hospitals which is the problem?

I believe there is a minor injuries department at Guys, though I may have misremembered. Not very convenient for SE22 now the 40 no longer goes near. You have to get 2 buses or a train. Charging people (not sure if you mean financially or legally) would waste a lot more time, I would have thought? And a bad bruise could be serious, depending on the cause and possibly other symptoms.

Good news - parliamentary debate scheduled for 19 January! Dear Parliament is going to debate the petition you signed – “Limit the sale of fireworks to those running local council approved events only”. https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/732559 The debate is scheduled for 19 January 2026. Once the debate has happened, we’ll email you a video and transcript. Thanks, The Petitions Team House of Commons

I'm sure it wasn't meant with any genuine concern, but that's rather different from questioning someone's mental health. Isn't it? I have never understood this "passive aggressive" thing. I was once accused of being passive aggressive, but when I asked exactly how I was being passive aggressive, I got no response. Why do you think it was passive aggressive, and why do you think it was so bad as to warrant these "more stringent rules" being introduced? Have they been publicised somewhere on here, because I genuinely don't recall seeing them?