Cannot see this anywhere else.

Footballer Jeremy Doku plans to leave his Belgium team mates to be at the birth of his first child.

From BBC website:
However, Doku's plan to leave the USA and return home has brought fierce criticism from L'Equipe channel presenter France Pierron, who labelled a father "completely useless" at the time of their child's birth.
"The World Cup is an incredible joy," she said in a message posted to the Facebook page of French sports publication L'Equipe.
"There are hundreds of footballers who would kill to be in your shoes. It might never happen again in your life.
"You're living out a childhood dream, yet you're going to walk away from it all to attend the birth of your child - a disgusting moment, if you'll pardon the expression, where the dad is completely useless."

14 years ago I received the most glorious white bone china cake stand with glass dome as a wedding present from my grandmother. It was a Royal Doulton collab and it was simple yet refined and absolutely perfect for fitting all my oversized kid’s birthday cakes onto. It’s now smashed.
The incident involved a disagreement over a second piece of cake and the lid was placed down too roughly and it shattered everywhere, the base split in two.
It wasn’t me who broke it but I’m now looking for a fitting replacement. Nothing in the shops I can find seems as elegant or beautiful. The ones I find have knobs at the top that seem disproportionally oversized and the base not elegant or they are too plain.
Maybe I’m looking in the wrong places.
Does anyone have any recommendations?

Greenery on things where it doesnt belong

Ordered baked beans on toast (we'll come back to that) today.

Came with a clump of greenery on top. Salad garni.

What person in their right mind does this?

And OF COURSE it was bloody sourdough. Because NO other bread exists these days. And it was not toasted. It was barely within sight of the toaster I reckon

So it turns up with its green clump and then, to make matters much worse, it came with some butter pats but THE BEANS WERE ALREADY ON THE UNTOASTED TOAST.

So I scraped off my beans to try to spread the butter but of course this was a wasted effort because the butter wouldnt adhere to the untoasted toast due to the bean juice so I ended up just smearing it around while it stuck to my knife.

Anyway back to the greenery. I cant tell you how many bits of rocket have gone flying down the road before when served atop something, because of course a bit of wind will pick up salad and send it flying into the face of an unsuspecting pedestrian.

And dont get me started on bloody pea shoots.

#endgreeneryoverload

YANBU - Garnishing perfectly adequate meals with frilly extras is a performative nonsense to make something out of nothing

YABU - I really like bits of salad on top of a full English and you're only posting this because your OH has the football on anyway and you're bored.

Early 50’s and not coping with the heat as in full blown menopause so beach holiday out. I still have a15 and 10 year old so need to accommodate them. I feel shattered so want an easy holiday and want to relax but need something for the kids. Some culture and some relaxation Any ideas? Either UK or Europe.

Ill go first.

Morecambe. Nice views but proper creepy.

Anyone have a recommendation or a few for shorts that cover these…

• enough arse covering that my cheeks aren’t showing but not so long they look frumpy
• no iron / easy iron
• flatter a big tummy
• comfortable waist band
• don’t cut your fanny in half when you sit down
• on trend / young ish fashion
• not adversed to something funky

With the HBO show coming up I've been rereading the books and on several forums discussing them I've noted people describing the Weasleys as poor, saying they're a good portrayal of a poor family etc
I'd seen this before and assumed I must have missed those details but rereading (although not fully finished the series yet), they don't strike me as particularly poor. They have 7 kids which means money is tighter, Ron has hand me downs etc but overall they seem comfortable. Arthur has a steady job, Molly is a SAHM - presumably if they were really in financial trouble she would get a paid job too. A lot of families might find 7 kids financially tricky, rely on hand me downs etc, not holiday abroad much but is that necessarily poor?

I will say my own experience growing up with a single mother in fairly low-paid work was that we did scrimp on various things including holidays (which we never did when I was a child), but we could always afford good enough food, necessary clothes, had a warm house & books etc that I wanted (living in a place with good libraries and various cheaper services helped). A bit like Ron, I went to a school where a lot of people were much more well-off, but I'd never have considered myself poor. That would have felt insulting given far too many people (even more now) lack money for essentials or have enough for basics but not much else.

AIBU?

Hi, does anyone know the brand of the dress Kate Lawlor was wearing today (19/6/26) on This Morning? TIA

I'm sure I'll get roasted for this, but here goes anyway...

I live in an area of London where pretty much nobody is 'overweight.' Particularly young people.

Last night, in Wembley Stadium (Harry Styles concert), the ONLY food available was chicken and chips or doughnuts. That's it. And - I know this will sound very judgemental - but I'd say about 7 / 10 people were quite 'overweight,' but all walking around in tiny shorts and cropped tops, etc (I know this is the vibe at this kind of event). It made me wonder if this is 'normal' for young people, on a national level? I know it sounds judgemental, but AIBU? Are most teens overweight where you live?

What style would you advise? dd (16) has bought a fabulous burgundy House of CB prom dress from vinted (Anastelle). She only has today to find shoes. Looking for something affordable because most of her budget has gone on dress, nails, earrings. She will need to try on because she has narrow feet, high arch. We live in a town with most chains (eg Next, New Look, H&M, John Lewis, m&S, office, ….)
She would like flats or very small heel. She has very pale white skin, gold blond hair, wears gold jewellery and she doesn’t like “her grippers” on show, so closed toe. Size 7 and narrow feet.
Suggestions gratefully received!

Ive got wide feet, size 8 with a high instep AND an orthotic. Where do you shop for summer shoes???

im seriously considering drag shoes! I can only find things for £100 that look suitable - something nearer £40 is more my budget.

any links would be amazing thank you! (And please don’t point me to the website called Wide Fit Shoes - they seem to think everyone with problem feet is 90! )

My DM sadly passed away last year. Her estate is split between her 2 children and 4 grandchildren in various shares. My 2 DC have inherited c£65k each which is intended to help with university costs or setting themselves up with a house deposit. The advice online seems to be to invest in stocks and shares ISAs if you'll be leaving it for more than 5 years, which is the case for the younger grandchildren but my oldest is 15 and planning to go to uni at 18. Is this still the best option for her? Even if it is the tax free allowance is £9k per year so presumably most of it would have to go into a different sort of account.

I'm a bit clueless as to when the bills will fall for uni. Would she be better off investing her money and taking a loan for the fees, or paying the fees upfront?

I think uni costs will use up pretty much all of her money but it would be good to be able to help her with a house deposit as well which I can start to save for if I use my share of the inheritance to pay down our mortgage.

We'd obviously want to do the same for our youngest if but there's 4 years between them so her money will have more chance to grow so will need to work out what's fair. In any case by the time our youngest is ready to leave home we could downsize or relocate to release more funds. I guess there's our own old age to think about but we both have public sector pensions which I'm hoping would be enough to live off once the mortgage is paid off. We are currently 20 yearsish away from retirement.

My granddaughter is aged 12, and has just outgrown her adult size 9 shoes.
Where on earth am I likely to find shoes that fit, are suitable for school, and are acceptable to an almost teenager?

I am a teacher and have heard lots of parents won’t be sending their children in during the heat wave next week.

Are you keeping yours off?

I am dreading it as a teacher; our classroom is so stuffy!

We were at a wedding last weekend and there were two guests wearing the same (very nice) striped handkerchief hem dress. They spent the whole day avoiding each other.

Lots of discussion among other guests about how turning up in the same dress as someone else was a real risk in the 80s or early 90s where there was limited choice on the high street.

But nowadays, what's the chances?

Dh has 2 dd from his previous marriage. They are 16 and 18. I’ve always thought I got on well with both.
He sees them very regularly and they often just pop round whenever they fancy as well as the arranged times when they stay.

It’s relevant to include that dsd2 is in recovery for an eating disorder.

It’s been hot and I’ve been relaxing in the garden some days in a bikini (recently lost weight in jabs so was feeling quite confident). Yesterday they came over (not planned) and I heard them laughing at me from the kitchen and saying maybe it’s not a good thing I’ve lost weight if I’m going to start dressing differently and showing off loose skin. I don’t think they realised I could hear ?

Anyway I got up and went inside , said nothing and was thinking to myself how funny it’ll be when they are my age and look like this they’ll probably remember making bitchy comments. Dsd2 said hello and I said hi back, she said they were going to sit outside with a drink did I want anything I said no thanks I’m just going to put a dress on , cover up these wobbly bits and loose skin and smirked. She looked a bit shocked probably realising I’d heard her.

Next thing I know as I’m getting changed the door slams , I went down and nobody was there . Half an hour later dh calls me to ask why the hell i was talking about weight and smirking at dsd2 and apparently looking her up and down ???!!!

I told him what had happened and he said he will have to get their side of the story. Well of course I know dsd1 will back up what dsd2 is saying. I’m just really disappointed with them and I didn’t do anything wrong! AIBU to say to dh that there are no more unannounced visits after this - I should be able to sit in my garden in a bikini and not feel laughed at?

Have you done this when you have moved?

I think I am going to leave them a note with some useful info on for them. So far I have got:

The codes for the outbuilding locks
How to read the gas and tell if you need to order more (we are on LPG)
Who our gas supplier is
Who services our boiler
Who cuts our hedges (they expressed an interest in getting this done also)
Who our window cleaner is (although we will cancel him before we leave)
When bin day is

Is there anything else you would include/have included if you have done the same for your buyer?

Anything else you would do/leave before you go?

We have been on holiday to Tenerife. At the airport coming home there was a British family.
Mum, Dad and 3 children who looked between 10 and 14 and each one was reading a proper book.
No phones or tablets in sight.

Londoner, stupidly bought a new-ish build flat that is like a greenhouse (I viewed it in winter). My flat can reach up to 39°c inside and I despise this flat regret buying but can’t go back and it’s not a suitable time for me to sell. During summer I try to avoid staying at home for too long. I’m disabled live alone, regularly feel unwell, have previously fainted, got dizzy spells, and barely sleep but my housing Clarion couldn’t care less

I keep all windows shut during the day but open them at night (single aspect windows so not much breeze). Sometimes I’ll also put fan with ice facing out the open window at night too but barely does much.

I purchased portable AC but it’s inefficient, it doesn’t cool the overall room well enough and you only feel cool if you stand right in front of it. Also I can’t keep windows open all day for safety reasons. Americans claim single hose portable acs which are commonplace in UK are inefficient compared to dual hose (can’t find dual in Uk), there’s some science behind it. Makes sense as my portable ac is no where near as good as split ac or even my friends flat (no ac) who has cross ventilation

Desperately want split ac and/or external shutters but as a leaseholder it won’t be allowed. Why is it not considered as a health safety risk to have to live in these temps as a disabled adult

I’m sure many will comment to tell me I’m being ridiculous and lacking resilience but I have relatives who live in Arizona who wouldn’t sleep in temps above 23°c… why do we have to suffer like this in a first world country

Not really an AIBU but looking ahead at the forecast for next week and it’s looking like a scorcher.

I work in a secondary school in a science classroom (which seems to get extra hot during practicals) and we have no fans or AC or anything at all to keep the children cool. Open windows don’t seem to help much. The thermostat in the classroom got above 30°C in the afternoon.

The children need to have their water bottles filled at break times and lunch times only and are not allowed to fill them during lessons - which I disagree with as so many come to me saying that they didn’t get a chance to fill theirs up in the 20 minute lunch break.

Last week I had children saying they were dizzy and feeling sick, and they’re made to go outside during breaks. I’m also not sure that anything I taught them during the extra hot days actually stuck in anyway as they all seemed melted onto the desks.

I know there is a legal lower temperature limit for classrooms/workplaces but maybe with the increasing summer temperatures over the last few years we need to start considering investing in ACs as the heat in summer seems to be more prolonged than a couple hot days and in the meantime consider health and safety of the students (and teachers as even I was beginning to feel a bit dizzy).

Light-hearted one for a Sunday morning. Settle something between me and my husband.

If you asked someone what they want to eat, and they said "boiled eggs and toast" what would you give them?

YABU - Boiled eggs, in eggcups with toast cut into soldiers IE: boiled eggs and soldiers
YANBU - Boiled eggs (shelled) and slices of toast, because that's what they asked for

The ones like Kate PoW's is holding recently...little square top handled bagd. I love them. Where can I look

My son is having a weekend of birthday moments ahead of the day on Tuesday. He is turning 17, and we've been teasing him about how he needs to know the dark side of being an adult (for some context, he is ND, funny, and plays along beautifully, adding his own roasts about how his older brother not adulting properly). He really enjoys word play, and learning British phrases that haven't made it to Oz where we now live.

We were discussing what he wanted for lunch, making suggestions for picnic type foods. At the time I was grasping for the word "picnic" so said "if we were in the UK, some people would describe them as 'picky bits'. He looked me straight in the eye and said " Why? Why would you do that to me? Is this what comes with being an adult?? Gdammit!"

Fascinating that, even without me giving any idea of how I feel about the phrase, his reaction was the same as mine. I sat him down and explained that this is what we meant by having to get used to the adult world, and that I was sorry we had to ramp it up so hard, but we only had until Tuesday to get him educated.

And then I remembered the word picnic and the world tilted back onto its axis.

I've just got engaged and we're going ring shopping!

I'd love some advice on my ring. Definitely want an asscher cut ring.

I love the style of tapered side baguettes but also want some sparkle (which asscher isn't known for) so thinking of pave band instead.

A lot of the settings like prong hide the beautiful octagon shape and I really want a setting that doesn't hide the stone (so not a bezel). Considered a tab/squared prong instead.

Any help on this as well as anything else I need to consider e.g. how much cleaning etc would be really helpful.

I feel like every month I spend hours looking at a spread sheet. We do have a good income at £5,500.
we pay

mortgage and council tax £2046
phones incl device plans £96 (5 people)
utilities £498
tv and broadband incl extras like Disney £196
insurances (cat, cat, house, life) £166
gym £40
ring £8
milkman £151

im thinking that the milkman wasn’t as cost effective as I hoped. It was to stop me going to buy milk and eggs and then adding extras but I wonder if it’s a false economy.
tv is another one - it includes two tv licences as one of the kids is at uni and has some additional needs and I was worried they might unknowingly watch something that needed a licence. Maybe that’s me being over protective.