The Minkey

Oddly enough I was down at Kings A&E yesterday and had to have a tetanus. I reckon I waited somewhere between 2 and 2 1/2 hrs to be seen. You could try calling the drop in place down in Peckham (the Lister Health Centre, 101 Peckham Road) to see if they can do them there 0203 049 8430. Then there are those pay for treatment centres dotted around the place, can't remember what they're called Medi something, you could probably pay to have one done. There is (or was) one at Waterloo Station. If not, just bite the bullet and go to A&E.

typos

dementia

"..and a group of youths shouted at him/ challenging him." Hardly unprovoked. More a case of getting a little taste of their own medicine. A salutory lesson life lesson.

When I was little more of a toddler, my dad came home from work one day to see me in the garden nursing my dolly all wrapped up tight in a blanket. It was only some time later, when he came out to call me in for tea, that he discovered the object of all my kisses wasn't dolly at all but a dead rat.

> It has 5 snooker tables dart boards BAR dance > floor bingo some nights and cheap booz > Bob S

The reason for October might be that it's generally a good time for planting out shrubs and trees as they are not producing new growth so any energy would go into establishing the root system. It's also cooler and the ground would be expected to be wetter, so less problems with dehydration perhaps? Whether it applies to lavender plantlings or not..?

If you pulled them out, it might have damaged the stem/roots. If they are as small as mine, then you need to hold them gently by the leaves while trying to scoop up an amount of soil around the root so as to cause as little root disturbance as possible. Also, if the pots were too big for the size of the plant, it may be that when you watered them, they drowned as they don't have enough root to soak up the water. Lavender likes a well draining soil. Adding vermiculite to the compost, 50/50, would help with drainage.

Don't they occasionally use the club house for events such as late night parties?

claustrophobia

"My OH's flatmate bought a large plastic crow, stuck black feathers all over it, and put it on their balcony to deter pigeons from nesting there. All the crows in the neighbourhood flew down and pecked all the feathers off it, so basically it has had no deterrent effect at all." Oh, thanks for that, I needed a good laugh. Priceless. Small bird of prey in gardens is extremely likely to have been a sparrowhawk, not a kestrel.

Having the bus drivers announce they were on diversion, allowing passengers to get off before they shot past the last stop on the normal route, wouldn't have been too much to ask either, surely?

I got on the 484 heading for Goose Green yesterday. The bus driver didn't mention being on diversion and seemed extremely put out when I suggested he could have announced it to give us the opportunity to get off by Nunhead Lane instead of sailing on down towards Rye Lane. Apparantly, it isn't his job.

What I'd like from a good GP is someone with an enquiring mind, who's prepared to think outside the box that is NICE, with at least as keen an eye on the wellbeing of their patient as on their budget. A decent bedside manner is a bonus if the first two are in place. I've met plenty of socially proficient GP's who haven't been that good at their jobs.

Ah, I'm acquainted with someone involved with this. They have an FB page, but I didn't notice anything regarding filming in Peckham - lol.

So sad :-(

At a guess: The salting of roads etc the last few winters coupled with the freezing conditions, followed by drought and lots of wind?

I was on a 343 heading home when several fire engines came flying from Heaton Road round in front of us and up the Rye. The buses diverting up the right of the Rye. I could see a couple of fire engines by the hotel and a lot of people crowded round. A third fire engine appeared heading in the same direction. From the sheer quantity of people gathered, and a couple of people racing towards it, it didn't look good :-(

Hi Sue, I live on Kelvington Road, just down from One Tree Hill, which is a great spot for birdlife. There used to be a large apple tree down the bottom of our road which had a thriving congregation of long-tailed tits. Last year the house was sold and the new people cut the tree down :-( Now we just see them flying past. Apart from those sightings, I've also seen green woodpeckers hanging around on the bank behind the house, in Camberwell New Cemetery and on the Rye. I saw a black cap fairly recently near the footbridge by the Crematorium leading over to Crofton Park - pretty song. In the garden, I get sparrows, dunnocks, wrens, parakeets, greenfinches, goldfinches, blue tits, great tits, coal tits (rarely), sparrow-hawks, mistle thrushes, blackbirds, chaffinches, greater spotted woodpeckers, magpies, crows - plus, bizarrely, the occasional heron hanging out on the hedge with a view to next door's goldfish.

Lot of clay in my garden too. The soil gives way to a solid band of clay about 2ft down.

Coming round 3 x in one day sounds more like they looking for a quite different opportunity.

I love cornflowers too :-) Let us know if they do draw in the goldies once they've gone to seed. I have a patch of Flax/Linseed, which self-seeds every year - very pretty sky blue flower. Haven't noticed the seedheads being ravaged by the birds but I'll watch more carefully this year.

Planted some Centaurea Montana last year, just because I love its blue flowers, and by happy coincidence I find the goldfinches love their seedheads. I was amazed to see just one smallish plant playing host to several busily feeding birds. No idea what name it's commonly known by in the UK, but it seems to be related to the Knapweed and it doesn't mind clay soils. So folks, you know what to plant if you want to get the goldies dropping in on you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centaurea_montana

FFS - anyone who is so slack as to leave stuff outside a charity shop would be mad to take offence if someone else comes along and snaffles it. What on earth do they think is going to happen to the stuff? Human nature, plus ca change etc.. Taking stuff from bags stacked outside charity shops is base, imo. Moral of story: Don't leave donations outside charity shops when they're closed cause as we all know some f***er is going to come along and take the good stuff.

ponders