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Cathy?s point about keeping moving is so true. I have OA in knees & fingers. The more you can build up the muscles around your knees the less the pain is. In the next 2 years a new medicine specifically for OA pain should be available. It?s a monoclonal antibody that specifically targets OA pain and 2 pharmaceutical companies are almost finished their trials. Monoclonal antibodies are the new success story in targeted medicines and the OA pain ones are really showing positive results. Fingers crossed NICE will approve them quickly!

My neighbour was paranoid about subsidence and would have a surveyor, Martin Hemming from Half Moon Lane ([email protected]) come out every 2 years to look at cracks. Each time he would check them out and reassure her that they were fine, not subsidence. He didn?t charge her much for this and she was reassured. If I remember correctly it was the diagonal cracks that were considered more likely to be subsidence. We bought and sold a house that had been monitored for subsidence and had no problem selling it so wouldn?t be too worried.

Hi, the Lido has been quite empty the past few weeks. This morning is sunny and practically empty. Seems as if the crowds from the 3 day heatwave have put everyone off but since then there have been no queues and the pool has been scrubbed clean and is lovely!

Lots of early swimmers but lots of lanes with different speeds. If you are a slow swimmer then the slow lane is very accepting and friendly to pootle along in.

After all the troubles during the heatwave Brockwell Lido was empty this morning, no queues- bliss! Left at noon and still no queues, just a few other families, all very calm and peaceful and lovely. Best place on a warm day!

Yes but it is early days and these delays etc are the things that make people reconsider how they use their cars. So if people doing short journeys then change and walk/bike/bus/train then it is worth the discomfort for the first few months. We need to change as a society and often people won?t change until they are made uncommfortable. It?s a trial, let?s see what happens 6 months and 12 months later. It is unfortunate they started the trial so soon after the secondary school opened as there are now 2 new changes affecting traffic.

Hi yes it is surprising the number of people who still think nothing of using the car to go to a local shop (and I am not including anyone with disabilities in this). Likewise it is surprising how many people still drive their children to school. Until people readjust their thinking (as we?ve had to re drink driving, wasting water, etc) then I think local govt needs to implement policies that people will be unhappy with until people accept that we all collectively need to change our thinking and use cars less and alternatives more. We all need to walk, bike, scoot, & use public transportation more. There will always be some occasions when cars are needed for health/work reasons but nowhere near as much as we currently use cars. So let local govt use trials like the one on a champion Hill to see what improvements can be made. It is a trial and everyone can give feedback.

It made us walk more for local trips. Just knew 1 neighbour who still used car to go to local shops, others either walked/biked or tagged local trips onto the start or tail-end of longer car journeys. It has made me think we need to do more things like this to discourage short car journeys. The damage to the environment is not worth the convenience of using cars for short trips.

Just before we moved onto Oglander Road the council did a similar thing and closed off the rat run access to Oglander Roas. I don?t know how long it took for traffic to stabilise and for people to calm down by all the old residents said it was such a huge improvement. Based on the success of Oglander I?d be inclined to say there should be more and not less road closures/one way systems.

Hi have seen that the Ruskin Park summer fete is on right now. Lovely event, donkey rides, reptile rescue, pop up cinema, street shows, face painting, henna artist, raffle, arts workshops, craft stalls, bric-a-brac, flying trapeze sessions, live music, games for all ages, food & drinks. All in the park next to Kings Hospital.

Hi I understand as we've done several renovations and have had a range of builders. We used Valdex 18 months ago for a very large project after finding a post on here that recommended them. We were very happy with their work. A neighbour has just finished redoing their whole ground floor following our recommendation and she showed the finished work today and said she thought they were marvellous. PM me if you want more info. Their number is +44 7793 540306.

They have been issuing PCNs there for a while but sporadically. A friend got one 2 years ago. Since then I always go in the right lane until I get to the broken lines that indicate I can move into the left lane. Unfortunately most drivers stay in the left lane preventing people in the right lane from moving over.

Brgr are amazing but not local : (

My favourite beach is Wedt Wittering. Great sandy beach & sand dunes managed by Nat'l Trust. You pay about ?7 to park at the beach but it is worth it as beautifully landscaped. Laid out with grass so families can play ball games and have picnics & BBQ on the grassy areas just by the sandy beach. Crabbing pools so bring bucket & bacon to catch one! Sailing club etc. Top beach! I know someone who has a 3 bedroom cottage they rent out that is gorgeous and a walk to the sandy beach. We stayed for Easter and had a fab time even tho weather wasn't great then. Top pick!

yes Davies & Vaughan on Upland Road (near North Cross Rd end) are great, am having an old ring of my mother's reset in a new setting and they have been very friendly and patient as I've wavered over different settings. I know they will resize the band of an old ring too as my husband needs his wedding ring resized and they are going to do it for him.

my independent garage told me to go with roof bars from the car manufacturer (in my case VW) as they would fit best and carry load best; so bought some on ebay and had no problems

hi depends how much you want to spend. I got a wonderful, really personalised gift of a memory box but it was about ?90. Hard to describe it but its a 25cm / 10" square deep picture frame with a 7" vinyl of the number 1 song from that day, maps of where we were both born, maps of our address, stamps/little figurines/characters/etc of things that meant something special to us. All in all a gorgeous momento box that means so much to us.

I took mine to Paine & Hunter for our daughter when she was 5 and they have been brilliant. Shes very short sighted and they are great with testing young children. Still go 9 years later!

Kings Hospital maternity ward always needs newborn sized baby clothes. I took mine down in person after calling the materniny ward to ask where to bring them.

Sounds like a good idea but haven't heard of them. Have you tried talking to someone at Bells on LL? They might know about it.

Stephanie of Chaos Art CLub is brilliant. Has classes after school in East Dulwich. My child went for 4 years and loved her classes. www.chaosartclub.co.uk [email protected]

Another very good book with easy activities/exercises/things to do with young children is: A Volcano in My Tummy: Helping Children to Handle Anger: A Resource Book for Parents, Caregivers and Teachers 7 Jan 1998 by Whitehouse and Pudney

Hi, an easy children's book that teaches an intro to mindfulness breathing is: Sea Otter Cove: A Relaxation Story, Introducing Deep Breathing to Decrease Anxiety, Stress and Anger While Promoting Peaceful Sleep by Lite, Lori (2012). It's told as a short children's story that you can read at bedtime. Another very good book for parents is: The Incredible Years: A Trouble-shooting Guide for Parents of Children Aged 2-8 Years by Carolyn Webster-Stratton. I read it when I had a 12 year old and so wished I had read it years earlier! Read the reviews on Amazon to get an idea. Mindfulness is also an invaluable tool for parents, it helps during those difficult moments we all have. Wishing you lots of calm and angst-free moments!

Hi, I used Andrew (local) a couple of years ago and he was v good, local, friendly & reasonable. Try him on +07730747900. He also did 2 neighbours and their shutters look great.

Take a look at Women Like Us (http://www.womenlikeus.org.uk/). Wishing you all the best, I know how daunting it is but like most things the reality isn't as bad as (I) imagined. (lol, just read Devsdev and they said the same thing)