vanthorne

Hi all- the lady we arranged to do an exit clean on our house on sat 27th has let us down. Now need to find a reliable cleaner at short notice who can do a thorough job and I can trust to show up tomorrow. The house is clear of furniture and belongings so it would be straight forward. Upstairs vacuum, bathrooms, mop floors, wipe out kitchen cupboards. 3-4 hours max ideally starting early on sat 27th. Pleaer do pm if you can do this job. Thank you ! ( property is gipsy hill - SE19 1JT and you can take any cleaning gear with you at the end of the job ( save the vacuum cleaner ). Also giving away a sofa bed for free- same time same place. Thanks !

Wow that is gorgeous...my daughter would love that. Thanks ! Will check today. Van

We used a strap on back flotation thing for ours which worked well..leaves the arms and legs completely free and in the correct position. The float as layers that you can take away little by little as they gain confidence and skill. We found it quite effective. I haven't seen them so much over here..but was introduced to them in Australia where we got ours.

Does anyone know a great cake maker who would be able to make some sort of Elsa bday cake from Frozen..? Or has anyone seen them for sale at supermarkets?.. Thanks in advance. Van 07799582892

Another vote for Traid here too- they have done about 4 pickups for me and I have another one scheduled tonight. They come to our area on Tuesdays but you need to book ahead. They take books, VHS, clothes, blankets, shoes and bric brac, crockery, glasses. Anything really except for furniture and duvets and pillows. Van

It was our first time this year...my girls age 5 and 7 loved it and for me and hubby it was our first circus too. I have to say we all had a great time...I think my jaw dropped a few times in the first half with the acrobatic stunts they were doing- twists and turns in the air. Even the budgies were fabulous. I'm just wondering why I waited so long to go...will defo be back next year. The only party pooper comment I have is the poor comedian guy who was trying to get male volunteers in the second half had to work very hard as so many men turned him down and refused to go into the ring......I felt sorry for him so volunteered my other half who happily joined in on the act. Fun stuff :)

Would anyone have a copy of the book that is mentioned in this thread - 'siblings without rivalry' that I could buy or borrow? ...I think the long holiday cabin fever gave my two a serious case of sibling rivalry! Thanks ! Van on 07799582892.

it's good to hear that it's just not us on flights...my husband said he had to really restrain himself from telling the folk in front to F**k off when they told us to smack our child. As for the feet in seats...yep a 5 year old feet will reach the seat in front if they are having a good wriggle when upset. When we all got up to leave at the end of the flight and just after the old couple had left I had two mums come up to me and say 'I think you dealt with that really well...' I was on your side...that kind of thing...which was nice...I suppose they just didn't want to get involved before hand...especially being in cramped conditions all the way to Dubai from Sydney which is a fair stretch. I don't think we could have dealt with it any better or differently...I think there will always be cantankerous folk that think they know better than you- such is life.

I had the experience on a long haul flight from Australia...which was awful as the tutting old folks in front of us were doing just that until thankfully they changed at refuelling. Our 5 year old was over tired...it was a delayed flight meant to live at 9pm and didn't leave until 10.30 ..of course we had fed her already so she wasn't hungry but she was so dreadfully over tired after all the excitement of boarding the plane and seeing everyone off. The old fogies turned around after my little one was crying as we were trying to get her off to sleep and they said 'she needs a bl**dy good smack'...we felt like smacking the folk in front I can tell you. I said you can move if the noise is bothering you and they said we paid a lot of money for these seats (they had extra leg room special seat in front of us) and they were not moving...and grumbled and turned around and hissed under their breath the whole time she was crying...which was probably for about 30 mins perhaps. Unbelievably 16 hours (or whatever it was to stop off) later when they got off they had the hide to tell us as they got up from their seats that they brought up 3 kids and lots of grandchildren and said 'good luck' with our child and told us she was spoilt. Absolutely disgusting...we didn't get angry with our daughter and were consoling her in the way we thought she needed and that is our way and I won't be told to smack my child by another parent ever... I don't normally write on these threads but it just reminded me your story about the bus that it can happen anywhere in any public situation with just about any age children when people poke their nose in and think they know better...just awful. All the best- hang in there.

just spotted a thread for identical subject on xmas fairs so am wiping this (don't know how to delete)...

Brockwell park water play in good working order too today :)

oh no - that's bad ! I've had one too many hot sticky car journeys with crying children recently ... Hope there is still a good memory of the Beach experience tho. roll on holidays proper next to a Dorset beach :) meanwhile back in Cansas - I'm going to get thru to Lambeth tomorrow and get an update of the pools in the area - I seem to have acquired their direct personal email addresses and phone numbers recently after my nudging enquiries to them - so will try and post a local update tomorrow as the sun is here to stay all week.

Yes joss bay ( next to broadstairs ) is our nearest beach of choice but the said 'heinous journey' daunted us this wknd - think the only way to do it is leave by 7.30 get there for 10am and come back before the rush - beautiful once you are down there .

Um - here - the forum - I have bought and sold lots of books on this forum - just post a list and we may be interested. Do you have any girls chapter books suitable for a bookworm 6-8 year old for example ? Magic tree house, rainbow fairy, cs Lewis stuff ? Thanks

Yes this looks fun - see pic ( ladywell fields river dipping) - I must try it! Another undiscovered spot ... Could ( almost ) get by not living next to a beach in this weather :)

Yup streatham open -but rammed - prob would be quite nice mid week when quieter. But clean and full of water - has potential. Liked the stream in the rookery too - quite magical - new discovery for us :)

Thanks Fuschia for streatham directions / has to be an improvement on Norwood !

Ok - definitely don't go to Norwood park. Pumps not working. There is a roped off muddy area with rubbish and old knickers , have taken pictures. Very disappointing will be giving Lambeth and the guy who contacted me from Norwood park a full update on Monday. Off to try streatham now!

Where is the streatham paddling pool Fuschia ? Is it near 'the rookery' by any chance over in streatham common ? Think we are going to go exploring this afternoon after the heat of day has passed - we are hibernating from the sun at present as ' too hot'- crazy but true.

Just posting this info regarding how to contact Lambeth parks as they were very helpful last week when I rang then- I spoke to a helpful lady who gave me updates on all the parks in Lambeth remit and even the manager of Brockwell park called me at 7pm to further update and also someone from Norwood parks contacted me personally ( they have a water play area there too which I'm yet to check out) - so it's a good way to get into that's up to date ( maybe not on a Sunday tho - not sure..) I haven't tried Southwark but Worth contacting them on Monday for up to date news. I passed on the message of our forum and threads to the Brockwell park manager who was going to look into making a posting .. Planted the seed of an idea there but he needs to get authorisation etc... They inferred that Brockwell should be fine now and myatts has a more serious problem unfortunately, no reported issues at Ruskin as far I was told last week. Lambeth parks services ( parks@lambeth.gov.uk or tel: 0207 926 9000, option 4 and then option 3).

No it's not apparently. I spoke to Lambeth this am- see my other post on the Brockwell water play area thread.

Ok just got thru to a very nice lady at Lambeth parks services ( parks@lambeth.gov.uk or tel: 0207 926 9000, option 4 and then option 3). She advised that Brockwell burst water pipe is fixed - yeah! It's not at full capacity yet ( her words) as the water pressure is still lower - the jets are more like a slow shower than a power shower jet) but each day will see the capacity increase to full by the end of the week. Myatts has a serious issue and may be out of order for some time and she is seeking an update on this. I asked that she update the forum directly and she is going to discuss this with her manager to seek authorisation as it would be a good centralised area to gain an update. No reported issues with Ruskin park. Hope this helps everyone ! Enjoy the sun :) Vanessa

anyone anyone? Maybe its on and no one is there and its peaceful and clean and flowing with fresh water as we all think its off? I'm going to try and track down a phone number for a park attendee tomorrow and see if I can find out...as don't want to make the journey on a hot day and be disappointed.

I don't suppose if anyone knows which water play areas were open today - would be interested in either hilly fields, brockwell park or sydenham wells...but don't want to get all the way there tomorrow and be disappointed. Thanks so much!

Hi, does anyone have a back copy of the good schools guide (2012, 2011..) that they have finished with and would like to pass on - happy to pay or exchange for bottle of vino. Many thanks, please pm to get in touch.