The Minkey

Just wondering whether any forum members might be one of the SE22 residents who had a Warmfront survey booked for this morning? I was told I'd be their 3rd appointment of the day if I booked a survey for this morning, and I'm still waiting.

Feel for you. If they are renting from a social landlord, it's quite possible there's a noise clause in their tenancy agreement they are contravening and you can have a word with the landlord about it. Otherwise you could try going through the Council's noise team: http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/412/noise_problems/1245/reporting_noise_problems

During the last cold snap, my 96 year old friend's halogen fire died on her leaving her with only an electric radiator which really wasn't warm enough as she lives on the top floor of an Edwardian house with single glazing and no central heating. In desperation, I put a post on the forum to see if anyone had one we could buy because it was late in the day and I was worried about how she'd manage. A forum user got in touch to say she had one, arranged to drive it over although it was already quite late in the evening, and when I met her outside my friend's address, said she could have it for free. It was a really lovely act of kindness and I was immensely relieved to know my friend was set up with a decent source of warmth for the following morning which did indeed turn out to be a very cold one.

I signed up to the Which Energy Switch a couple of years ago. Do you know how successful or not it was?

There are plenty of studies pointing at the same foodstuff being good for you then bad for you then good for you, just take eggs for example, bad last year, good this. Everything in moderation indeed.

I used to work in Denman St back in the 90s and remember that caff well. It was the proper chips of caff society. "Palmerston - bought in bland frozen fries". Yes! Last time I ate there I ordered the chips expecting proper chips so I felt a little cheated when the fries turned up. They were good enough to swap them for the mash but I felt it let the menu down as I think of the Palmerston as a more of a quality food sort of place and fries don't fit with that, imo.

I noticed it yesterday in Kelvington Rd, and down in Peckham.

If I recall correctly, something reminiscent of Summer made a brief appearance in March last year.

I don't see any relation to caff-culture, CS, however, smoking and drinking seem to figure quite highly. With you Mr Ben on the proper chip thing. Don't think they exist in caffs any more.

Crossroads is one of my regular caff stops, as is the Cheltenham Cafe. Rock Steady Eddie's has a very interesting ambience for sure, the cheapest place around for a bacon and egg sarnie and a cuppa. My memories of Cafe on the Hill, Brixton Hill, back in the 90's are fond ones. Someone told me it's still going but whether it still does a dual full english/thai menu, I've no idea. They did a mean rhubarb crumble.

Sure it gets muddy, that's part and parcel of the off-track feeling imo. Part of the charm about that little stretch is that there is no pathway other than that which has been beaten by the feet of the people who walk it. I share your feeling about manicured walks MM.

There's a proposal to create a pathway along the entire length of Brenchley Gardens. I'm not wild about the idea because I enjoy the illusion of being off-track. Interested to hear what others think about it.

It wasn't a natural tree/flower perfume and was gone by the next day but thanks for offering to check.

Has anyone else noticed a sickly sweet smell - rather like laundry perfume or incense - in the area today? I caught a whiff of it in the park in Peckham rye earlier this afternoon. This evening, it seems really quite strong up by Brenchley Gardens. My partner said he could smell it over in Crofton Park too. Wondering what it could be.

Georgela advertised the coffee machine sometime ago for ?20 then when it didn't sell she posted again asking for reasonable offers. Although I can sympathise with how annoyed you must be to have offered more than she was originally asking, she can't really be blamed for taking an excellent offer. Are you sure it's broken? My coffee machine leaks if I don't position the filter paper carefully.

Where I go: Morrisons in Peckham for various basics, incl. wine. You can also strike lucky with their meat and fish which they often run promotional deals. You can occasionally get great reductions on items which have reached their sell by date which can often be stuck in the freezer. Peckham Asda do some lovely indian style yoghurts and lassis. Peckham Lidl is also really useful: I've paid a lot more for worse wine than their Bordeaux which is under ?4 a bottle. I use the Rye Lane ?1 a scoop places for fruit and veg if it still looks and feels reasonable, and I always buy my onions, spices, basmati rice etc in bulk from whichever of the shops on Rye Lane are doing the best deal. The something Saver shop roughly opposite Mothercare in Peckham is good for things like toilet rolls and batteries. Lewisham Market is better for fruit and veg and you can get some fantastic bargains but you do need to be mindful about why something is being sold in such quantity for so little, i.e. is there a glut on or is it rubbish - you win some, you lose some. There's a Sainsburys in the shopping arcade and a big Lidl on the road out toward Lee. You can also get large catering type rolls of kitchen towel for a couple of quid which lasts much longer than the branded stuff sold in supermarkets. Having come to live here from Brixton, I do my wholefood shopping - brown rice, sunflower seeds etc - in Brixton Wholefoods on Railton Rd which - as has been mentioned - does herbs and herbal teas by the scoop. Much cheaper than Holland & Barrett's and cheaper when I last checked than Lordship Lane. Lastly, when using supermarkets, do an online comparison first to see which ones are doing the best deals on the items you're looking for. If you have less money than time, shopping around pays off.

Ready Meals: Just say NO!

You asked about her fluff? How bold.

I go to ED Hospital for bloods as late as possible depending on their closing time - which seems to fluctuate a lot - and often get seen straight away.

You shoulda gone after her in your PJ's Sean - give her a real scare ;-)

We had a burst main in Kelvington Road up by the covered reservoir day before yesterday. Woke up to extremely low pressure downstairs and no pressure upstairs - no hot water and no flush. Phoned it in just before 8am and they estimatated an 8hr fix. It took a few hours for them to arrive and it took til nearly 8pm to get the water back on but those guys were absolute heroes in my eyes, working wet in freezing conditions. If you've got guys working for hours to fix your water mains in these freezing temps and you got enough water stashed before it was turned off, make them a hot drink, they'll be very glad of it.

"The kind of 'person' who does not take responsibility for their pooch's poo is beyond description- any chance of a description?" Harsh ask UncleGlen ;-)

I would be extremely upset if I were to come home to find the hedge seperating my garden from nextdoor's had been ripped up without consulting me, particularly if nothing had been put up to restore a boundary of some kind. Her behaviour may be due to her age - a lot of people go for more low-maintenance options as they get older and realise they can no longer manage to cut hedges etc or afford to pay for them to be done - then again perhaps she's always been an obnoxious kind of person. I don't know what your best course of action is. Certainly inform your landlord and see if they will pursue the issue with her, after all it may well affect the future rentability of their property given the garden is no longer private. Feel for you.

How repulsive of her. If there's a next time, go out and tell her to her face. It helps feel a bit better about it.

Also, the vehicle with your furniture will need one to offload so get hold of some visitors day passes at the same time. You can get these from the One Stop Shops - there is one on the Old Kent Road but surely must be one a bit closer. When I lived in a CPZ, I always had a book of them to hand.