fl0wer

ED nature watchers might enjoy this photo gallery http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gallery/2013/aug/09/alys-fowler-urban-pollinators Part of a project: http://urbanpollinators.blogspot.co.uk/.

Yes, please plant a double, staggered row of shrub-sized native trees. 2m is the preferred height for boundary hedges, NB. The technique in the first few years, to create a good framework, is to weave plenty of the branches horizontally. The less thorny they are, the easier - but blackthorn, hawthorn, holly, rose, bramble and berberis are fierce enough to turn into a 'security' fence if that is what you would like. Don't prune off any winter berries as this type of planting sustains creatures like a bird table. Tapering the cut so the base is wider than the top will help the hedge shed snow. The most biodiverse hedge has plants growing in layers at several heights, plus if you can arrange it, some drystone walling and a few logs with gaps between, to allow for hibernators. ED has plenty of privet already, much of it obstructing the pavements. It keeps growing until the temperature falls below 9C so without clipping it soon becomes a bore. The RSPB says leave it between May and August for the sake of nesting birds.

Today: Guardian item on same topic, (thread open BTL) =>http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/07/doreen-lawrence-peerage-harm-stephen-lawrence-cause

Have the swifts just departed? Is this the usual date, more or less, that we suddenly notice the absence?

Londonboii, try posting this request in the 'wanted' section of the forum, as I see nobody's come forward yet.

Many thanks for this intro to your group, and to the photographers, for getting the series up on flikr too.

It also helps if you have a cloth, such as a towel or old curtain, to throw right around the fluttering bird before picking it up. Great idea to take it to water - there's a nearby lake in Peckham Park, and one in Dulwich Park as ironjawcannon says.

interesting BBC hour long film re bees - http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b037y0zf/Horizon_20122013_Whats_Killing_Our_Bees_A_Horizon_Special/

Wondering how you got on, Lou with the Moth Watch?

One more note of reassurance - lactation works in response to demand, but you won't notice right away. If you are sure the extra 'fussing' is your baby's instinct to nurse, go with it even if it means feeding every couple of hours, and the increased stimulation will increase your supplies in a few days. Bearing in mind the heatwave, which might have coincided with the baby being more thirsty as well, get plenty of water/juice/milk/yoghourt/smoothies/herb tea and yes, weak beer, (but not caffeine drinks, we were taught years ago). Plus this stage uses a surprising number of calories, so make sure your body has the extra supplies of high-energy foods - fresh fruit, dried fruit, also WW bread and WW cereals like brown rice and pasta....a bit more than you are used to, perhaps, as you averagely need about one-third again more than usual, depending on size of baby.

Sympathies to all with rat problems, the building sites as someone mentioned above, do create fresh outbreaks as the rats' old territories and passageways get usurped.... But following Nigello's remark about rubbish sacks: ED's general rubbish has been getting really smelly in the heatwave. This must attract vermin of all kinds? Bins evidently need more than just the Council emptying them, they need a clean with disinfectant. Some problems arise where houses are in multiple occupation, the responsibility for hygiene unclear and people not wanting to complain to neighbours or landlords. Others arise where shops sell foods that decompose very fast, & the collection service is several days away. The large bins outside the row of shops at the bottom of FHR, near where the bollards are being painted, receive waste from restaurants, chippies, grocery stores and they clearly aren't emptied often enough, they always reek.

The main problems I hear about are not on City View Court itself, but on Dawson Heights development almost next door. These are variously complained about as being crowded full of people who feel let down by the block management, discontented tenants who don't keep an Association together. They complain that it's a place where crime rules & too often used for fly-tipping, drug dealing, raucous parties, joy riders, etc. How true that is, your local police would have to reveal. Below Dawson Heights is green space which is nature reserve, footpath takes you to Goodrich School in a few minutes. Excellent services in ED for prospective parents, NCT & yoga groups to prepare for pregnancy and keep fit afterwards, toddler club, nurseries, play & picnic facilities in the parks, swap and low-cost baby equipment always changing hands in the EDF & other noticeboards, and charity shops full of hardly-used garments and toys.

Discussion recurs on the EDF, if this is where you'd like to send a pic there is a useful page here http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?12,1064432

Well is it OK then, to use the EDF and a question about a tandoori restaurant, for unleashing the 'online troublemaker' or 'jungle bully' persona? What's the motivation for constant return to it here? Why not keep it for a less multicultural forum, eg private writings, or own blog / facebook?

*Bob* Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > How that other thread going, fl0wer..? The one > where we all try to live together in peace and > harmony? > > QED No *Bob*, that was not what it was about. The topic I posted, if you would do me the favour of reading it, was about reducing unnecessary aggression by each person identifying honestly their own need. In the context of the forum it often looks as though the only requirement for some people is to bait others and create maximum spotlight on their 'naughtiness' = tactic of severely neglected children. Also it's a truism, but bullied children soon grow to be bullies themselves, this is as old as Time & zoologists observe it in troupes of primates & call it 'bicycling', because the subordinated creature then goes off and scrabbles over something else, weaker & smaller than itself. Given how humans are in such a mess, facilities of online communication offer 1,000 ways for aggression to get worse or better. But 3 things a computer won't ever do on its own, 1) substitute for real friends, 2) do the work of self-awareness or 3) make societies break the default position of bullying happening whilst kindly people are absent.

What numbers said, plus the 'protection' from the EDF offering on line anonymity. Tired of life? Lonely? Bored? Suffering from an attention deficit? Come to the EDF and sling a bit of mud at anyone you can find! Your real family and neighbours will never know it's you! See who'll throw it back! Start a dog fight! Watch the wounds! Lubbly jubbly.......

OK, thanks - agree

Any possibility you could spell out 'why they wouldn't make that joke' StraferJack?

How old is your child? It seems there is a 'window' at 10 months when baby is attached securely to parent but not averse to everyone else on principle.

Have also alerted Renata Hamvas

Have alerted James Barber to this thread, by email

Louisiana, anyone else, go here http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?5,336529,1148755,page=102#msg-1148755 to see whether Cllr James Barber can prompt some immediate action from TW could be life & death for someone

Great effort, louisiana. Keep us updated.

There is now a red alert heatwave warning on the Met Office website http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/ Expected to reach the 90F mark about 4 p.m. which means that the very young + the elderly are especially vulnerable. Please let EDF know of anyone who needs urgent supplies of drinking water from neighbours, etc. It couldn't come at a worse time and TW aren't taking the right care of vulnerable people here. At the very least, immediately they could send a vanload of bottled water to distribute door-to-door in affected streets.

They are much nicer, needn't endure the stink of gloss or polyurethane any more. Something called silthane meant to be washable is in the fl0w household's "never again" league. A nice eggshell acrylic stuff is around...think it needs good quality undercoat though as it's rather thin.