ladywotlunches

I can' t decide whether or not to get excited about the new plans to let dad's take the 2nd 6 months 'maternity' leave. Part of me thinks, "at last, we won't get passed over at work because we're of childbearing age" but the other part just thinks "dream on!". I know its only being announced today, but how many of you think that your man will be happy to take time out of their career? And why is its so much more of a 'nightmare' for employers than women taking the year they are entitled to currently (the only reason I can think of is that employers do currently discriminate when employing men over women, and now they won't be able to tell!) What does everyone think?

Hi We went in June - to the one on mainland Greece. And had a FAB time. I read the reviews too and think that MW have perhaps gone about their changes the wrong way, but if you've never been on a MW holiday and want to go somewhere with reliable childcare, things to do if you want it, and 100% child friendly, then go for it. I also think the Kos one sounds fab. Re: 18-30 mix. How many 18-30 year olds do you know who would pay those prices, to go somewhere with kids around, not Ibiza??? That's not to say there wasn't some noise in the evenings, but it wasn't ALL night, was mainly the 15-16 year olds away with their families so had mum and dad to reign them in eventually. If you can get a good deal (we booked last-second and got it under half price). Then go for it!

Antilop is just unbeatable for price and wipedown-ability!. Its legs do pop out too if you need to store away. IKEA are also doing a new folding chair which is quite funky, and washable: http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/00146781 We also have a Svan highchair - same principles as the tripp trapp, but its less wide on the base. They're pricey - but even at 3+ my son is using it as a 'high' chair.

Peckhamgatecrasher I never did find a co-op, but I ploughed ahead anyway and got 40-odd bottles of red (well, light red/dark rose) wine, aging in my cellar. The last tasting (back in June) showed that the wine still needs some maturing (OK, so its home brew, but also if you ever look at the commercial reds, they are mainly 2+ years old). I wonder whether last year I picked them too soon. Like you, my grapes this year are looking a nice colour already - but most info I've read says harvesting takes place late October/November. Could be "climate change" meaning they are ripening early, but to get the most sugar, I'm going to leave them as long as I can before the pigeons eat the lot! This might help. A very basic, chuck it all in and see recipe for generic 'wine': TAKE 2 GALLON BUCKET FILL WITH GRAPES TO THE TOP, WASH WITH WATER (COLD). ADD BOILING WATER TO FILL WITHIN 3? OF THE TOP. ALLOW TO COOL. CRUSH GRAPES AND STALKS ETC. WITH HANDS (CLEAN) ADD 1 CAMPDEN TABLET (CRUSHED) AND JUICE OF 2 LEMONS AND 1 TEASPOON OF PECTIN. ALLOW TO STAND FOR 2 WEEKS ? COVERED. RECRUSH GRAPES IN JUICE ? ALLOW TO STAND 1 WEEK. DRAIN OFF JUICE INTO DEMIJOHNS, ADD YEAST AND 2LBS. SUGAR PER GALLON. FERMENT UNTIL CLEAR. KEEP AS LONG AS YOU CAN AND THEN DRINK !! Best place I found for the equipment at a good price was searching online (but remember to buy all at once as they charge delivery whether its a spoon or demijohn). Or if you have a Wilkinsons handy - they do the lot there too. Good luck, and Cheers! LWL

I agree - anything 'baby friendly' is about 50% more than anything else. That said, we did just go on a Mark Warner to Greece, and by booking 4 days in advance got it at under 1/2 price - which made it comparable with other options, and we got to have every morning lazing by the adult pool whilst LO went mini-sailing, kayaking and windsurfing (!!!) Worth checking out their offers, anyway...

Try Rose at Headnizm. Quick and easy - my 3 yo goes silent as soon as he sits in the chair (a very rare event!). Its only a fiver for under 5s too.

Oh dear - poor you! They do go through phases - which is no help I know other than you can hope there is light at the tunnel. Mine is older now (3 years) but I find that rather than letting him go to be later, if I try and get him in bed and asleep as close to 7pm as possible, we normally get a good 12 hours, through to 7 am (I'm so gonna regret saying this - we'll get an early one tomorrow now!). Might be worth bringing bedtime back a bit earlier again?

Any tips on how to get from the Rye side of town, into Tower Bridge/Tower Hill, and a realistic timing if I need to get there for 9am tomorrow? Checked out the TFL pages, and it gave be the same journey (starting at HOP and getting train to L Bridge then RV1 bus) twice - one took a hour longer!!! thanks!

Graciosa Glad you tried it out, and found it a good experience. That was the point of my original post. So the forum works! And I agree - beer in handbags would have been very entertaining....:)

Oh - and I do believe beer and wine are priced *relatively* reasonably (didn't pay, so don't know for sure). After a few beverages, the decor may not become as noticeable!

Indeed - the decor leaves a lot to be desired, its been through several changes of management (and no redecoration) in the 8 years I've lived close by, and there is a definite 'clique' of locals at the bar. But the staff are welcoming, its a small business, and they may want to do more to the place if they had the revenue to justify it. With The Plough being one of the places we tried and failed to get food in yesterday, Mr LWL said "if they painted it muted shades of dark green and beige and called it 'The Queen's Head' or something similar, it would be heaving.

Yesterday I, along with Man and Boywotlunches, decided on the way back from Battersea Zoo that we'd stop off for a spot of lunch. The weather was closing in and time was getting on so we wanted somewhere child-friendly and relatively quick. After trawling round all the usual suspects for about an hour - all with no joy (no tables, kitchen closed due to volume of orders etc), we ended up in The Uplands on NX Road. Why we didn't try there earlier I don't know. They have special Roast dinners on Sundays - we didn't partake but saw the plates and they looked very good. The menu is classic pub grub - steak sandwiches, burgers, fish fingers etc for the kids, with some salads, pasta options and bangers & mash, I remember. It was quiet, but that was good as it meant service was quick. The staff there were really friendly and helpful, the portions were huge and tasty. And there were some yummy pudding options too. At risk of losing our spur of the moment bolthole, just wanted to let forumites know about this as an option on a Sunday. I know that some have used the Uplands for hotel rooms, but they have more strings to their bow, it seems!

This is just wrong, wrong, wrong... The mother in question also very probably baulks at letting said toddler run free in the park because of the dog owners that don't bother to clean up after their pets. But her behaviour is on a par, if you ask me. Basic hygiene, basic common sense, and she can't even blame being a 'new mum' as the little one in question sounds over a year old so she's had plenty of time to get used to finding facilities.

She got me a few years back too. Then, she had tried to visit friends on our road who were out and had run out of petrol - so needed a fiver to get some and get her 'little boy' home who was in the car. (must have been a while ago - ?5 would even get you to the end of the road in a car nowadays >:D

Done mine, and have also helped to clear our elderly neighbours so they can get to their car without breaking any limbs, as the road is actually clear. Have a warm fuzzy feeling now...

strawbs - good idea, I was thinking myself about asking about self-collection. Its a real pain as I'm expecting some stuff that was sent last week, before the snow. Should have arrived Saturday, and I'm used to things drifting to Monday, but unfortunately it now means its been delayed almost a week. Just seen a postie on FH road and asked the question - he said "Absolutely - just take some ID and proof of address"

Hi I'm under the forest hill sorting office - can anyone give me the number to call? Tried the RM website but it just has a generic 'sorry, cos of the snow we might not be able to deliver' message. Useful

Hmmm - Mr LWL isn't religious, doesn't much like the cold, and wife-swapping on Valentine's night? (well...) Looks like it will be the tried an trusted dinner a deux then. (had forgotten Belair - sorry - Beauberry house though - thanks for the tip lozzy.

Spooniferous The maps are available in a book called 'The London County Council Bomb Damage Maps' 1939-1945, which was published in 2005. I imagine that the library will have a copy to take a look at your road. As most of this old rail line has been built on now, there doesn't look like any chance of a revival. According to a neighbour who has lived here all his life (moving only about 3 roads, ever!), in the 50s he used to take this line and even at rush hour there were about 6 people on it. It was a victim of the great rail cuts of the time. Vives le Car!!! But languagelounger - now Mr Connor is gone, perhaps the short cut to HOP could be reopened and help use all? How would this get done?

Normally Mr Lwl and I avoid such PDAs like the plague, but this year, the grandparents are down and have offered to babysit and it would seem churlish to refuse! Anyone heard of any special menus that aren't too 'cheesy' (not in the food sense) - or even better, any places that are sticking to their normal menu, and won't be packed shoulder to shoulder with tables for two, with rose sellers popping through the door every 5 minutes? Blimey - this does sound a bit 'bah-humbug'. Its not meant to be, I'm looking forward to a night out, but not one that's too OTT on the valentines schmulzh. Any thoughts?

Has anyone heard any more about the extension of the 63? An interesting (perhaps!) fact for you: Yesterday I was looking at a map of the area from 1946 which shows where bombs landed and the extent of damage to buildings. On this map is shown a railway that used to run to the north of the Horniman Gardens, just south of WoodVale and through where Brenchley gardens is now. There used to be a station opposite the Cemetary there called 'Honor Oak' which is probably why the buses still say that - they (a long time ago) used to serve that station. This line looks as though it used to go to London Bridge too. Anyone know what happened/when it was taken out of service and removed? From where I live, this would have been a most handy station and would have saved the walk up AND down the hill each way. But its gone now. And Boris wonders why the capital relies on their cars so much. Public transport is not 'getting better'!!

Very well said, Peckham Rose. I don't ride my vespa now as don't commute into town often, but when I did, EVERY day I'd be pootling up denmark hill to Camberwell green (say - and pretty much the rest of the route too) and when the traffic is in a queue going SLOWLY up the outside (litte known fact - if you are going more than 15 mph and you get knocked off by a muppet in a car turning right its your fault, if less than that its theirs), when along came some ?$%^%^^ (fill in preferred choice) on a 'big' bike (not necessarily the full 1000cc but they'd love it to be!) on the outside of me, just cos they can. And for that show of bravado and stupid extra risk - they'd get precisely 2 metres infront of me at the next set of lights. hey ho.

Not sure where you pick up the 63, but they have just put in roadworks on Forest Hill road with no traffic signals so its a free for all trying to get through - especially for Buses who need all the space left. Which leads to another point - what is going ON with the roads at the moment? With Gas and Water, there is no route I don't think out of the area which doesn't have one way lights/roadworks to negotiate around. Is November the designated time? I thought councils always had a massive blitz on this type of stuff at about March when they had to spend their budget for the year.

Not sure where you pick up the 63, but they have just put in roadworks on Forest Hill road with no traffic signals so its a free for all trying to get through - especially for Buses who need all the space left. Which leads to another point - what is going ON with the roads at the moment? With Gas and Water, there is no route I don't think out of the area which doesn't have one way lights/roadworks to negotiate around. Is November the designated time? I thought councils always had a massive blitz on this type of stuff at about March when they had to spend their budget for the year.

Hi Have just moved to a new house with a large vine in the back garden, that currently has tons of grapes on it turning a very nice red colour. They are definitely wine grapes as opposed to eating ones (shame) and I don't want to see them go to waste, but having done a search on the web for instructions it seems that to make wine from grapes is a very equipment heavy process. As I don't know how good the grapes will be (and everyone is telling me that with this miserable summer they will be really sour) I don't want to invest in all the kit to have it festering in the cellar for years to come. A SW London friend came round at the weekend and said that near them there is a garden centre that organises a winemaking cooperative- you go in with your grapes, then come out a few weeks later with some lovely wine! Anyone know of a similar project in our neck of the woods? Or can anyone offer advice for a rookie vintner?