The Minkey

Monsanto say Roundup's safe but then again they would, wouldn't they.. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=weed-whacking-herbicide-p

I have been very savage with the forsythia in my garden. It was very leggy when I inherited it and I didn't much appreciate it, but now it's under control, it's much more floriferous and a lovely presence in the garden. The flowers grow on old wood, at least a year old apparently. I use shears and shape it up as soon as the green shoots start going wild, and again as needed through the year, same as the privet hedges.

Here's an interesting article covering the pros and cons of pollarding in a city environment: http://ihbc.org.uk/context_archive/112/dingwall/CTX112j_lores.html

"I could - Swansea was very very soft water and on moving to London I hated it." Funnily enough, when I go back to see the family in Porthcawl, the smell of the tap water is very noticeable. "London tap water is totally rank when you've lived in other places." Depends which places you've lived. Years ago, I lived in Barcelona and you could smell water running out the tap from across the room.

Wow, that was cheeky. Glad he got it back.

I've never been plucked or waxed or creamed or painted or zapped by anyone else. I haven't lived!

I had to use that dentist when I had complications that set in from a dental abscess. My GP said I needed emergency treatment and it was the only place open on a Saturday. I was apprehensive because it looked so scruffy outside but the dentist was very good. Don't judge their competence by what the building looks like.

The house next door with which I share the party wall has some sort of faux-stone floor tiling throughout. It is so noise-conductive, I can hear coins dropping. I've worn earplugs every night since my current neighbours moved in a few years ago, being a very 'lively' family who keep odd hours, have a shouty parenting style, and occasionally stab each other up.

I do most of my shopping along Rye Lane, I also welcome the opening up of the station area.

Is this an approximation of what's planned? http://www.peckhamvision.org/wiki/Peckham_Rye_Station#Old_Billiard_Hall_comes_back_to_life.21_April_2009 The station building looks quite attractive with an open space out front which is how it was designed to be viewed.

Millwall fans to resume fierce rivalry against Millwall fans against Watford http://newsthump.com/2013/04/16/millwall-fans-to-resume-fierce-rivalry-with-millwall-fans-against-watford/?fb_action_ids=10152112509222788&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%2210152112509222788%22%3A549041505148680%7D&action_type_map=%7B%2210152112509222788%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D

Completely depends on the cat. My old cat experienced his first ever move at the age of 15. He was too freaked out to come out of the carrier for the first hour or so, then when he did come out, he went to the first room and had that as his base for a few days more, only coming out to eat, and use the litter tray. Let him out when he seemed thoroughly comfortable with his new environment which was after about 10 days. New cat came waltzing out of her carrier when I brought her home for the first time and did a thorough explore of the house. She'd always been an indoor cat and at the age of 22 months had had two owners already. I thought she seemed remarkably confident but in hindsight she didn't really have a thing for sleeping under the bed, it just took her a couple of weeks to feel secure enough to sleep somewhere more exposed. She didn't get to go out for a month or so until after she'd been spayed, and as it was her first time out ever, slightly different to your situation.

It's all freeview provided through a TV aerial.

That's exactly what I thought, H, not exactly a cheap rate either. With less than one day's notice and only one filter per household provided free should there be issues which fails to take into account households with multiple TVs running off indoor aerials.

Did anyone else get the postcard from a company called at800 yesterday notifying that there will be a pilot rollout of 4G services this coming Monday. As they operate at 800MHz which is similar to Freeview, this may cause problems such as loss of sound, blocky images and loss of TV channels. Am I reading it wrong or are they saying that when you call at800's Contact Centre to notify them of any issues, depending on your call package, you may be charged up to 10p a minute from landlines or up to 40p a minute from mobiles? More info here: https://at800.tv/find-out-more/pilot/

"..and how long you can hold your breath?" Try breathing through your nose. It works every time.

"Presumably there are a number of people on benefits who manage it." No - this amount is a direct result of the welfare changes that came about this month. It's yet to be discovered whether we/they can or not. The ?53 pw represents the impact the changes will have on the ?71pw the claimant in question was receiving. There's a few other caps and reductions which are about to come into force at the same time. The ?53 pw is the amount left to pay for stuff like food, gas, electric, water, clothes. With this type of benefit now capped to rise by no more than 1% per annum, the pinch will be felt harder the more the benefit falls behind the rise in the cost of living.

Poor boy, are those slash marks across his eyes? Last year, the feral tom my young neutered male used to hero worship turned up with a tooth hanging out of his face which must have been enormously painful. I called Celia Hammonds to see if they could help and they were really good and dropped off a trap Once I'd caught him, they came to pick him up so they could deal with his injury, give him a general health check and get him neutered at the same time. The agreement was he'd be dropped back and released back into my garden. He'd been sort of adopted by a few people in the street so was getting fed but he was too wild to bring indoors had anyone wanted to. They were very helpful. If you think he's a stray/feral, you could perhaps have a word with them to see if they would be prepared to neuter him.

Louisa :-)

Yes, I thought so too, Sue, but I got the link from Southwark's website and that's the service they are advertising.

Or squeezing their partners zits.

I'd rather sit near someone applying makeup than someone excavating their nostrils.

Aaaaand, they never turned up. What a bunch of cowboys.

Having experienced the pain of the accidental mascara brush poke to the eye, I wouldn't risk applying stuff to my eyes in a moving vehicle.

2 hours on hold trying to speak to someone to find out if they're still coming or not has robbed me of the will to keep breathing. Aaargh, the muzak!!