West London chat winter & beyond

[tillyfernackerpants]

Hadn't realised we were so close to filling up the last thread, hope you all find it!!

vbus, how did ds1 get on with the bike? Dh has been reading that they should never use stabilisers, apparently its why the balance bikes are so good, they quickly get used to balancing their weight & can then move onto pedalling!

Ds1 does struggle with his bike, much prefer the scooter!

Copper, Watermans are showing Harry Potter first week of Jan, do you fancy going if you're around?

Aha! Found you!

Tilly - I am indeed around 1st week of January. Can do 1, 2 Jan, being the weekend, and 5 Jan 11.30. It's a brilliant idea. Shall we do it? But I think I haven't see the previous one. Must get it out from library or blockbuster quickly!

hello all

westwing hope you get some respite, hear you have a Giraffe restaurant in town now
hope all is settled in spite of seasonal ills

tilly we found the same regarding bikes, once we insisted on no stabilisers dd has progressed and has been going short distances without support
I found the same I need to balance myself for a while then manage to wobble a bit

lordcopper It is nice to let them loose after school I find dd is often wound tight and occasionally there are tears which in turn are made worst by the behaviour of one of her classmates

hope everyone has a nice weekend, we are busy mostly we dd's social engagements

Kew sparkle next Friday already time flies

No snow here either.

Cornish pasties in the oven. First time making this type of pastry. Hope it works, otherwise it's dial-a-pizza for lunch.

I am of the school of thought that for the vast majority of things childrne will learn whatever method you use unless there is a reason why not - balance problems, dyslexia etc. So I don't worry too much about stabilisers/no stabilisers, DS loves riding fast on his bike so much that I don;t have it in me to take that away formhim.

Have seen a video on youtube which one of the bike shops recommends to teach anyone to ride but does require a shallow grassy slope - so will start DS on teh no stabiliser bit when I've found a grassy slope!

Here you all are!

Kew I agree, they just learn at different ages don't they. DD (possibly dyslexic, but has great gross motor skills, though not great fine motor skills)) learnt really easily on her own, yet DS took ages and learnt late, though he did have balancing problem due to a history of ear infections

Not regretting the big move to Ireland, but slightly alarmed by the dire ecconomic situation and the tough 4 year plan.

I'm sure it will all calm down though and we will absorb the tax hikes/site value charges/proposed water charges.

Edwina Curry was on TV here last night and outlined the fact that Irish people have had lower taxes than the UK for years, plus no council tax, no water rates, a very generous tax credit system which gives tax breaks on rent/utility bills and loads more, plus 3 x the child benefit allowance of the Uk - she was making the point that we can absorb a lot of the measures,but I'm not familiar with all the benefits, so am just hoping she is correct.

Just applying for a mortgage here and not even sure of that as the banks here are barely lending to anyone

Property is very cheap here though, so we do have options, I guess that's the good thing...

Is it snowing in west London?? :)

Frosty here but no snow yet. Hoping we get a downfall so I can shirk work from home

dolphin I think it will be hard everywhere, it is the 80's all over again, Tories in power social unrest god awful music in the charts

seriously noisy kids party today I can't wait for an empty quiet house tomorrow

dh fell in the river today, he was defrosting when we got home, still slightly blue around the edges
it was his sculling baptism, bless him

Hello!

Been shopping all day in town! Bought hat and socks and cardi. Bought cute tiny solar system from muji for DS1.

Pretty cold out there.

without wanting to sound rather smug/mememe all this talk of freezing weather does make me giggle a bit. 4 years ago today was in temperatures of -20 andsnow wich hadn;t melted two months later when I was leaving at the end of Jan because the temp at no point in that time rose above zero!

Yes, it's not freezing or snowing which is good, but parts of me are still turning into ice blocks. We're in an "eco-friendly" underfloor heated apartment which has got some sort of clever cap on how high you can turn up the heating, but the system is let down because the insulation is inadequate. So, we've defeated whole object of eco-friendliness by buying a small oil-filled heater. It's fine wearing lots of jumpers up to a point, but realised had to do something when our five-month old's mobility on her playmat was being restrained by all her layers! Ah well.

Sfx, I've been looking out for you too! It wasn't me at the bus-stop but if you see someone looking flushed pushing along a baby and a little girl on a buggy board it might be me! I'm sure our paths will cross soon.

I have a very eco unfrendly fan heater if you want to borrow it, Kora

we have some sort of spare heater but not sure exactly what it is, very nice and warming if you need it.
so glad our boiler got fixed before this weather started

kewC describe -20 for me

btw dd's pic is on my profile feel free to talk if you think you recognise us on the street

It hurts to breath in.

You take your (ski) mittens off to make a mobile call and in the time it takes to dial the number your seriously think "I never knew it was possible to die form fingers being cold" - fingers so cold it takes over your brain.

We were lucky it wasn't that windy but after dark it is seriously painful to go out.

ouch sounds painful but I suppose people acclimatise, thinking not allowing dh to hear such things before he signs up for eventual trip to see the Northern Lights

I'm sure are lovely when viewed from behind awindow...

actually maybe after capsizing today he might want to move to the tropics, we have been hearing how his jaws were sore from uncontrollable shaking
then a couple of mates called to share capsizing stories, apparently it is the new 'fishing' with its tales

indoors yes possibly was thinking more along the lines of sledges huskies and furs

Its not that cold is it - compared with last New Year...coldest weather for 50 yrs etc

Mind you, the news last night said that Scotland was experiencing minus 28c -

No snow here in Clare yet, but happily our Dublin work meeting for tomorrow has been cancelled. Hoping that scarey bosswoman gets snowed in for weeks and her blackberry breaks at the same time

SFX how did DH fall in River? Poor chap he must have frozen his bullocks off!

Kora underfloor eco heating sound nice - I do love a bit of underfloor heating, feels so snuggly and luxurious

"Tories in power social unrest god awful music in the charts"

dusty is bosswoman still mad then? when cooperative volcanoes can't be found I guess a bit of snow and tech meltdown will do

dh has been sculling lately so capsized for the first time, did not check those but presume they retreated

only 700 words to go, hopefully all done before pick up so I can then just read it through and finish up tomorrow I live in hope of not sending the thing at the last minute

Hello all

Dusty - how's mortagage application going? Hope it works out for you

Sfx - has MrSfx recovered from his nasty shock into the freezing waters? Good luck on essay, finished yet?

Kora - pity heating is not as efficient as it could be. Also have a spare storage heater if you need it

copper - how's the solar system model, would you recommend? Curious as Ds1 has recently got into space and that might just be up his street

Bike ride was ok but short! I can see the logic of not using stabilisers so as he's keen to try without we might try a bit longer to see how it goes. If too difficult for him then will put on stabilisers to give him some confidence. Agreed they'll get it when they get it, I guess it's finding out a method that works for your child and doing that. The woman in shop said the hardest thing for them to master is the balance, once they've got that the pedalling comes naturally

Anyway best start cooking tea, shepards pie in order on this fine cold day!

Hi all, hope you all had a nice weekend

Kora, our heating is rubbish as well, I think we wear more clothes inside than we do out!

vbus, really sorry but can't do tomorrow after all. Dh has to go up to Warrington for work so is taking the car.

dusty, good luck with the mortgage

No news here, quiet atm

tilly - answered you about HP at Waterman's on the old thread.

Must go and sort out bloody kids. Will catch up later.

Tilly - that's pity I'm still going to go, you could get 267 to the green and 5min walk from there if you still want to come