Minitoots

Our parents are currently in a residential care home for the elderly in another part of the country and we're considering moving them to one nearer to us, anywhere from fairly near here or parts of Kent abut as far as Sevenoaks... Does anyone know of any good homes they'd recommend? We need somewhere that can care for those in early stages of dementia for one of our parents, and also with a lot of activities and a proportion of relatively active residents for the other parent! Fees are also an issue - we/they can't afford anything too extortionate, especially with 2 of them to consider.

I got a Roku 2 half price in curry's sale and it does the job perfectly so thanks to everyone for their help. Signing off now.

thanks for all the helpful advice. My son's Xbox isn't working now so we are deciding between the other options - sounds like it's either Google Chromecast, Amazon firestick or Apple TV so if they are all quite similar and easy to use, we will get the cheapest! By the way, if anyone else is moving from BT to Sky we had the most terrible customer service from Sky from start to finish due to them forgetting to send out our router but still cutting off BT. A tip for getting through to someone a bit more helpful is to mention having (an imaginary) friend/relative who works as a journalist for consumer products and who would be interested in doing a review of Sky's customer service- I got through to the senior manager in no time after telling them that, and she rang me every hour afterwards to see how the situation was progressing!!

My 93 year old Dad enjoys playing quiz games etc on his very ancient ipad - he has mild Alzheimers dementia so prefers the simpler games such as solitaire, art quizzes (identifying pictures etc) crosswords and simple memory quizzes- can anyone suggest any good ones that I may have missed? He currently has a very old ipad I'd like to get him a slightly newer one if I can find one at a good price - if anyone is planning to sell their old one (or another tablet if no-one has a spare ipad) please let me know, thanks.

thanks for the info. My son has an old Xbox 360 which we used to use for watching DVDs with the same TV so will try that first, and if not one of the other options you suggested that we will have to pay for. Should still be cheaper than buying a new Netflix enabled TV!

We are just about to move back to Sky TV from BT and have Netflix (which comes as an optional app with BT), but our TV is quite old and not enabled for Netflix with Sky. They have told us we will have to get a dongle or do it via our son's old X box or similar. If anyone else is in the same position can you let us know how easy it is to access Netflix in this way? We don't really want to have to get a new telly just for Netflix....

Maybe a train could work for bringing it back if it's not sold in January when trains would be quieter... I can't get there up myself in December and trains would be impossible to try and take something of that size in the run up to the festive season, so I'm only considering road based forms of transport....

Cross Country - Mickey Jupp's Legend - from the LP LEGEND (nicknamed Red Boot)

I need to get a painting up to Edinburgh before 29th December to a local art courier who will then store it for delivery to the Royal Scottish Academy building on 29/12/16 The painting is quite large - 89cm x 71cm including the frame and is a box frame with glass so it quite fragile. Art couriers are proving very expensive in their quotes (not surprisingly given the distance) I'm trying to think of alternative but safe ways of getting it there - has anyone got any ideas? Or.... is anyone driving to anywhere in or near Edinburgh this month who would be interested in quoting to take it up and in their car for a fee? The local art couriers up there said they can pick up from in or near the city but it would probably need to be earlier in the month rather than later to be on the safe side... http://studio-se22.com/dress-paintings/estellas-dress-pre-selected-for-rsw-winter-exhibition/

Thanks for the info about the museum- looks good and it's free. - I just had a look and the link (in case anyone else is interested)is http://www.modernamuseet.se/stockholm/en/

Any more helpful suggestions such as small art galleries, furniture design shops etc?

Thanks for all the great suggestions - he will have enough for many Hallowe'en nights now! Have a good Hallow'evening, everyone!

My son is doing the music for a Hallowe'en night at their student bar and would like suggestions of loosely related Hallowe'en themed music to add to the more obvious ones. Preferably more upbeat that mournful unless they are really good! If you have a Spotify link you could share either here or via PM that would be ideal, or just post the name of the song if not- thanks. He needs to have sorted it by tonight (sunday 30th )

thanks - those are really helpful tips especially the "Systembolaget" (state-ran booze shop). My partner was thrilled at the idea of seeing a football match - he'll be going on his own to that I think. Also looking forward to singing along at the 'interactive Abba museum' if I've got that right...

A group of 7 of us are meeting up in Stockholm for a long weekend in mid November - before I start searching on Tripadvisor etc for travel tips, I thought I'd ask here, in case anyone has any suggestions. We are staying in an air BnB in/near Hammarby Sj?stad - looking forward to seeing the architecture there. We're also interested in art galleries, independent designer shops, and finding out how to get the most for our measly ???s as we've heard it is very expensive....

thanks for all the helpful comments. I'm going to look into the respiratory physio and also will see the GP rather than the nurse who at our practice who is not a specialist in asthma.

Can we get back onto the subject of the request for old photos such as the lovely one posted by JeanieB and any other helpful information? also, The historians at the Dulwich Society tell me the Southwark Local History Library would have photos from the 1980s when a street survey was done. Local.History.Library@southwark.gov.uk, so I'll let Dulwich DIY know to contact them. I'm signing off from this post now.

Thanks so much everyone. Sue of the Dulwich Society also told me about Street view from 2008 so I'll let them know. We've lived in the area for over 24 years and would also be able to vouch for them re: stuff outside during all of that time.

I've just been into Dulwich DIY and they said the council is threatening to start charging them for displaying goods on the pavement outside the front of the shop. It is not a health and safety issue. They have been there for over 30 years and have always used the outside area and need help in making a case against having to pay a fee on top of their business rates. The council have apparently agreed to consider their case if they can prove that they have been displaying goods outside for over 10 years, which I know they have. Does anyone have any old photos of that part of Lordship lane showing the outside? Or maybe someone knows a local historian who may have access to old photos from pre- 2006. If anyone can help them in any way please contact them direct by emailing them at info@dulwichdiy.com as the shop is great - helpful friendly staff and a real treasure trove of goods. Please pass the message on. www.dulwichdiy.com

I'm allergic to dust and cats and we have both, especially as we are clearing the attic etc at the moment. I use a seretide inhaler and have tried things like quercetin and luffa and other things to help the immune system occasionally but am not sure if they work. Any suggestions for other remedies? Has anyone tried Buteyko breathing exercises?

I've sent a PM to you re your generous offer, DulwichFox-thanks!

Another of my printers has just bitten the dust( - this one was an old Epson stylus photo 900)so I am looking for a new one for printing photos, graphics and artwork as well as general stuff. I've had Epson and Brother ones before which have all been ok - any other recommendations? I am looking for something that does not cost a fortune in inks. I've often used the 'compatible inks' previously but plan to use the real thing this time while it is within warranty.

thanks for all the messages so far. I've sent off for a few samples. An alternative would be to sand and seal our original wood floor and maybe stain it a different colour- has anyone done this successfully without it looking too rustic?

We're finding it hard to get excited about the ranges of bathroom tiles we have been looking at in various places - has anyone got something a bit different to the usual neutral coloured tiles which is still practical / non slip / affordable? Our bathroom is exposed brick, wall tiles probably will be either white or subtle sage green and the floor is currently the original stripped narrow wooden floorboards which is not ideal for a wet room. We need something light in colour, maybe with tiny flecks of colour. We would consider rubber tiles or vinyl as well as stone/ slate etc.