Page 10 | WEST LONDON MEET-UP THREAD - DECEMBER 2006 - from Acton to Sunbury everybody welcome

MrsBojangles · 2006-12-01T12:17:42+00:00

The brand new general chit-chat thread

snowfallatxmasmum · 10/12/2006 10:39

morning all

dh and dd out on the bike i am sitting here feeling lazy in my running gearbetter go otherwise will feel awful all day.

i have a very old Dell laptop which works fine, dh upgraded it it is quite reliable

hope you all ok

mellowchristmas · 10/12/2006 10:50

There was a report about primary schools' performance in Chiswickw4.

The link is here .

2quokkasandapeartree · 10/12/2006 11:04

Mellow I'm hoping to get ds1 into Belmont, and second choice is Grove Park. Altough we are in the catchment area for Lionels, which has improved a great deal. Think I will start stressing closer to admissions, things can change very quickly. Dh is trying to convince me to move back to Grove Park, but we wont get a garden and garage like we have now. Have just got my veggie patch going here and the wait for an allotment in Chiswick is years!

Paddlechick666 · 10/12/2006 11:16

i love Grove Park, but you need an arm and a leg to live there with any decent space (indoor and outdoor!)

hey qokka i was thinking about you this morning and about global warming.

you should set up as a consultant and go round to peoples' houses and tell them where they can get greener and how.

i need someone like that, i want to be more eco conscious but besides some recycling and turning my heating down and washing at a lower temp i'm a bit rubbish at it!

ah well, off to tesco in the car - now that's not very green LOL!

ps: foxy, ta for looking on the stairgate, got to be pressure fit tho otherwise will damage the rental

2quokkasandapeartree · 10/12/2006 13:01

PC I'm a novice really, dh is greener than me! I do cringe when we go over to our friends house, they doen't even recycle bottles, everything gets thrown in the bin . They drink water out of those tiny evian bottles, and they don't get recycled.

Paddlechick666 · 10/12/2006 14:08

if i have a small bottle of water like that i either re-fill from home or fill it with noisy shaky things for dd to play with.

some people just don't realise how much money you can save by re-cycling.

one thing i know but never do is to turn the power off at the wall. mobile phone chargers and computers still use power even when switched off.

i think we should look into this and add it to our repetoire of money making schemes to go with the childsplay cafe in Gunnersbury!

anyway qokka you're more expert than me, i have one recycle bin and no veggie patch so i'm making you the SME (subject matter expert) for this!

ps: another one for foxie, dd's nappy was a delight of undigested raisins this morning LOL!

2quokkasandapeartree · 10/12/2006 14:56

I have a very small veggie patch. Dh is teasing me because I've got onions and garlic growing at the moment, and he's like "oh wow we're gonna save so much money and we're gonna stink"! He's a sarcastic little bugger at the best of times

Original poster

MrsBojangles · 10/12/2006 15:41

PC I've got a pressure stairgate yours if you want it.

did the crazy thing yesterday and hit Hamleys with the kids yesterday. Sheer madness though the kids loved it of course. Didn't spend a fortune for once. Had ds screaming his head off though because I dared remove him from the Thomas the Tank Engine section after pottering for about 30mins! mean mummy or what?!

As for being economical... I know exactly what I should do but can I muster the discipline? nope... don't recycle because as we're in a block of flats we won't get green boxes and it would mean loading the car and driving the stuff to the nearest recycle depot. I keep mentioning to the managing company of the 'estate' that they could 'dedicate' bins in our bin shed for various stuff. Works fine at my mum's block of flats, but that's in Germany...

OP posts:

hoxohoxohoxo · 10/12/2006 16:03

Mrsb, Richmond council do special provisions for flats, may be worth looking at their website/ calling them.

nanny this am was nice but lives in central london so will NOT get here for 8am. also, part time so will prob not cover her travel costs!

on the hunt again......

snowfallatxmasmum · 10/12/2006 16:07

i feel like i could make more of an effort to be green, we do recycle we have colour coded bins in the flat and in the buildings waste area is also colour coded.
we don't own a car, rent one when we need it and try to cycle and use public transport as much as possible.
we do other stuff to but we want to be greener i guess we have to atone for the use of disposable nappies, i just could not face cloth in a flat.

trying2bgood · 10/12/2006 16:08

quokka - LOL, that was a funny comment though!

trying2bgood · 10/12/2006 16:21

A childs play cafe in gunnersbury is definitely a good idea. I love the park but feel the cafe is definitely lacking, and the playgrounds are neglected but I guess that is the problem of having dual control/ownership of the park.

I am trying to be green although I did not go with real nappies as have always been very bad at keeping up with the washing, instead we use nature nappies. We also recycle. And I don't drive so walk and take public transport everywhere. I also do freecycle whenever I can.

mellowchristmas · 10/12/2006 17:05

I want to move closer to Turnham Green Terrace shops as I love the food shops there. I don't care where I move to: Acton, Chiswick, Hammersmith etc. But now I'm going to have to consider schools when we move next.

trying2bgood · 10/12/2006 20:39

Turnham green & Chiswick is pricey, and Acton is not brilliant for primary schools. The little ealing school is well regarded and Northfields is a lovely area.

2Cute · 11/12/2006 00:13

Just discovered today that the Heathrow Visitor's Centre has been closed! We took DS as he's crazy about aeroplanes and ended up watching them take off and land from the car park. We froze but he loved it anyways.

Quokka - I don't have your email address.

PortAndLemonaid · 11/12/2006 08:03

As a possible tip for another occasion, if you go to Hatton Cross and stand on the pedestrian footbridge over the road you will get some very low-flying aircraft coming overhead. There are normally several planespotters with cameras hanging out there.

We use cloth in a flat [proud emoticon] but do have a car although it is a treehuggy Prius hybrid [proud emoticon] but I probably use it too much . No one's ever wanted anything I've offered on Freecycle ... We recycle as much as the council will allow but, for example, they won't take compostables here [urgent need for integrated national recycling policies emoticon]

trying2bgood · 11/12/2006 08:34

oh port, I normally offer baby stuff on freecycle & videos which tends to go like a shot! Will look out for your stuff next time! Have only been to heathrow centre once and dd1 enjoyed running up and down the ramp more than watching the planes! Am annoyed at Heathrow though as it is likely they will get a third runway and the flightpath will go over Acton & Chiswick - 500 flights a day and in the night!! Not lovely!

harktheheraldfoxessing · 11/12/2006 09:44

ooh don't get me started on flight paths. We moved house two years ago and appear to have moved right under a flight path. Our last house was near Sainsbury's in Manor Road and it was much quieter, although only a few streets away. Mind you, anywhere in west London is blighted by Heathrow.

Paddle - I was at Tesco yesterday too

Thanks for your tips about Dell - will deffo check out their website and have a look at that entry level PC, thanks Mellow for the recommendation too.

Paddle - DS has been talking about your DD all weekend (who he refers to as "that baby" ). I think she's charmed him, he's usually most disinterested in babies, specially pink and fluffy ones. I keep laughing, thinking of how he was instructing our DD to be nice to your DD and share etc LOL!

2quokkasandapeartree · 11/12/2006 09:51

lemonade I use cloth but don't have a hybrid so think your greener than me! Do you use reusable wipes as well?

t2bg we moved here (Acton) becuase you couldn't hear the planes. Our friends have moved to this huge house in Barnes, which cost loads and they have low flying planes that start at 4am! I mean why would you bother. I think I would hve bought a huge house in the country with an easy access into to the city. Would hate to think that the planes will follow us here.

2cute do you do cats?

Have been all bunged up this weekend with a cold and poor dh has had to put with me being a moody little cow. I think he was happy to get back to work today

Nanou1 · 11/12/2006 10:24

morning all!
too many threads to read. will have to catch up later! but... would anyone be interested in sharing an allotment? quokka - where are you??!! think it would be great fun with the kids too. problem is... hardly know anything about growing veg

Paddlechick666 · 11/12/2006 10:52

i think we need to set up a West London Mums Co-Op!

I unplugged my computer and mobile phone charger last night {smug emoticon]

I have cloth but haven't used for ages . drive a deisel is that good or bad? lol

we're right under the flight path but we barely notice it these days.

foxie, your kids are great fun and ds was very sweet with my dd. he kept patting her head lol.

bummed i couldn't get your machine sorted better. have asked the geeks at work today and really nothing more to do i'm afraid.

2cute, are you recovered from Thai Pin night out? you were only about 10 mins from my place!

qokka, me too full of disgusting cold. all shivery and sneezy

may have to go home sick soon...........

Nanou1 · 11/12/2006 10:55

paddle - i agree. need to sort out loads of dd's stuff and told dh last night that i might invite you guys one evening and you can borrow clothes (up to 2yrs age wise). we need an agenda for thursday!!!!! paddlechick - fancy meeting at pub before meal? bumped the dinner thread! hope you are feeling better soon. coop is fab idea too. we'll be like the WI !!!!

snowfallatxmasmum · 11/12/2006 11:02

the WI
good morning all i like the co op idea complete with allotmentsdh is very keen on growing vegetables too, i keep thinking i should just probably join some self sufficient community but i am just not very good at true communal living.

dd spent the night trashing about for no discernible reason, she was talking loudly and kicking dh while still sleeping but it seems to have tired her out since she only woke up at 9.45 she is now full of beans!

flightpath i hardly notice it these days and night flights i am sure they can't compete with dh's magnificent snoring

Nanou1 · 11/12/2006 11:16

could be a real laugh - we'll need a shed too for nice cups of tea and biscuits - and watch the kids go the weeding [dgrin]

Paddlechick666 · 11/12/2006 11:21

lol @ snoring and WI!

i'd like to buy/eat from the allotment but sadly would probably kill anything i tried to grow myself!

nanou, am a bit worried about leaving DD with Grandma for first time in AGES and AGES so prob only going to get to the restaurant dead on 7pm.

would deff be interested in the loan of clothes up to 2 tho! need more of you lot to get pg again so i can pass on my dd's stuff too!

ideas for a co-op:

childsplay cafe
babysitting circle
bookswapping
recycling police!
clothes/toys round robins
allotment
car pooling for recycling trips for those who's properties don't support recycling
lots of meals out
lots of drinks
lunches
trips to kew!

okay, i just had my first coffee of the day and boy am i feeling it!

WOWSER!

ps: am feeling nervous about tonight! how silly!