WEST LONDON MEET-UP THREAD - APRIL 2007 - from Acton to Sunbury everybody welcome

[mellow2]

Brand new thread for a new month.

Mellow - Hiya

unfortunately my chocolate addiction preceeds BFing - I have a serious addiction

apart from the dark chocolate I have an incredibly healthy diet atm; based on super foods: avocados, alphalpha sprouts, probiotics, acidopholous, [sp???} steamed veg e.g. broccoli, oats, (no wheat), salad, greens, beetroot, oily fish etc etc no biscuits or cakes, very few processed foods apart from humous ...but...

I just have this very uncontrollable chocolate addiction too...

I have low iron levels so that could explain the chocolate cravings?

..have been outed by paddle anyway

happy birthday mini- mellow- wow 1 year old already !!

quoks - that's so nice your family want to visit you so soon

paddle - was looking at the local property papers - ham and whitton similar prices - hanworth mega cheap (e.g. 5 bed house £250k!!!)

fancy driving round some areas one day with me?

ham is good for us as there is a bus from ham to the Dcs school, but suspect whitton is nice too.

paddlechav - ham is very mixed - chav factor needs to be balanced with the fact that its very leafy and close to richmond park, the river, kingston and richmond (which can be walked to by river walks) - there are some lovely things about ham. the pretty period houses are lovely but much od the housing is 1950s ex council (nothing wrong with ex council - 2 of our homes have been ex council and one was council)- which are ugly but are cheap to buy and often quite roomy

we may end up moving too, downsize mortgage so i can work p/t rather than f/t

sorry, being boring now

have dh lined up for bbq later whether he likes it or not

foxie, i quite like what i've seen of ham. would love to drive round on a recce sometime.

i'm a bit obsessive about house hunting - i really like it LOL

not sure about hanworth, it's not that nice is it? altho 5 bed for 250k is amazing!

sorry about outing you

Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes.

I was actually quite sad last night as dd is no longer a baby and more of a toddler. It made me really broody (stayed up to watch Coming to America!) but for those of you who know it's not easy for us to have another one and I don't think I can go through with the whole conception thing again even if I can afford it.

Atm, we're struggling financially (as I'm being really picky about work) so having another one would be wishful thinking.

Dd has really thrived since I've been home and it would make me incredibly guilty to get a f/t job again.

Quoks,
I think it's fantastic that your family is lining up to come and see you. I would love to go back home so dd can see my family but it'll be a while.

Are you around this afternoon? We'd probably be round to pick up dd's cup.

Foxie,
I might need some advice on the property front too. We would love to move to a house in Ealing area but we can't afford to.

Tbh, we hated Hanworth, not much greenery (sp?) and very much in the flight path! I thought Ham was ok but dh wasn't keen, he has a big aversion to chav areas!

Mellow - have you thought about Pitshanger? Don't know what the prices are like but my friend has just moved over there, good schools, nice local shops etc.

Pitshanger is one of the most desirable parts of Ealing and expensive - very villagey with well known sought after schools

Ham has its share of chavs but has many lovely qualities too - specially the petersham bit (Richmond end of ham) where my grumpy dad lives

Ok its decided, have talked myself into it - lets all populate Ham

paddlechav I really enjoy nosing round other people's houses too

have been sorting thru DD's ols 0-12 months clothes and feel very very emotional - I want a DD2 - DD was and is such a dream I can't face not having another her. I know your can't clone children ...well not yet anyway...but she is so cutey and low maintenance LOL!!

Montipine gets to wear Ds1's old faves so feel OK about that but how can I chuck out DD's precious little mini dresses etc?

Pitshanger is one of the most desirable parts of Ealing and expensive - very villagey with well known sought after schools

Ham has its share of chavs but has many lovely qualities too - specially the petersham bit (Richmond end of ham) where my grumpy dad lives

Ok its decided, have talked myself into it - lets all populate Ham

paddlechav I really enjoy nosing round other people's houses too

have been sorting thru DD's ols 0-12 months clothes and feel very very emotional - I want a DD2 - DD was and is such a dream I can't face not having another her. I know your can't clone children ...well not yet anyway...but she is so cutey and low maintenance LOL!!

Montipine gets to wear Ds1's old faves so feel OK about that but how can I chuck out DD's precious little mini dresses etc?

ooops!

Puds - that's interesting about Hanworth as I know nothing about it apart from an old Ruts punk song called "Hanworth Revolution" (a bit worrying in itself)

Mellow - south Ealing is cheaper but I think you, I and paddle should all migrate to Ham

Not heard that one! Dh used to work there as well so knows it pretty well!

Mellow IKWYM about working f/t - I think p/t is ideal (best of both worlds for mummy who gets brain excercise and cash but still has plenty time with DCs). My main aim atm is to rearrange our finances so I can work p/t not f/t.

We could have an interest only mortgage but that is a bit scarey TBH....

hello all

very belated happy birthday to mini mellowi know what you mean about no longer a baby we spend the first year of a firts child so preocupied and it is all gone so quickly.

We lived in Hanworth or more specifically on hanworth road near hanworth library and i would not recomemded it with young children, there is a leisure centre Feltham airpacs and the cinema/ bowling rec. are but not my thing.

pitshanger had cheap houses/ flats about 10yrs ago but having said that some friends bought a semi 2yrs ago for a nice price but it needed lots of work.
we also loooked at ham and nearly went for it but them this one came up.

we braved C&C and it was quietdo you know about the puppet shows on 23/05? they are boooking now

Happy birthday to mini-Mellow!

Foxie, we have an interest only mortgage atm, it is a bit scary but the important thing to do is get one that you can overpay on which is what we're doing now.

I'm trying to decide if I want another dc, dh definitely does, but for some reason I've gone off the idea in the last couple of months. I've been thinking more about going back to work p/t instead. Is it that terrible to be an only child?

had such a lovely lovely lovely day at kew with his kaz "cousins" all under 2.5, varying mixture from pure russian through to pure Kazakh. Consensus is that DS is mixed race and seeing him next to one of the Kaz little boys I would say so too. It was so lovely to meet with all the people who struggled with IVF and then the adoption process at the same time as me - all happily home with their children.

You know some days that just couldn't get any better - well that was today. And DS despite having virtually no sleep today is now quite happily pottering around while I MN (very rare event).

But must go off to get him some tea...

There is a great kids' park in Ham - but I can highly recommend Isleworth! We are now thinking we might stay. 20 min walk into Richmond, Syon Park and the river 2 mins walk, Osterley Park ..... great! But would still consider Ham and Whitton. So, Foxie is Ham now ok?

Bunyan - well, err, didn't say it wasn't Ok, just mentioned the chav factor

actually I just remembered that there is a bus straight from Ham to Dcs school - so yes it is Ok now

Phew! Might keep my options open then ... until I win the lottery, which I fully intend to do soon. Upon which I am moving to a castle

Bought ds a sandpit today so fingers crossed the weather stays nice and he can actually use it!

If anyone would like to come over to mine Tuesday pm, you're more than welcome, a friend and her dd are coming also.

bunyan were you looking at Ham too?

puds - free until 3.30pm Tues, but my DD may be a bit older than the other LOs?

Sue - sounds like a very interesting picnic. How many Kazak LOs were there and were they all different ages?

Hi foxie, my friend's dd is the same age as ds so yes she is a bit older. But you're still welcome to come round for a coffee if you like? My friend isn't arriving till around 3-ish anyway.

Yes, I had been considering Ham - in my constant quest for a slightly larger but affordable house in West London! Am going to stay put here for a while but the whole "moving" issue isn't going away - am totally obsessed with trawling properties on the net in the search for our future home! Tis all getting quite boring lol. Anyone around today?

Foxie there were 5 DS's and one DD (all between DS age and 2yrs so very close together) and one homegrown dd 4 months. And two more on their way home in the next month, similar ages. We are going to try to get together more often, I enjoyed it soooo much.

morning all hope you are well

sue that sounds lovely and definitely something to keep up.

puds about only children i have terrible prejudice about that not doubt unfounded as typical of that kind of feeling(my dreadful father is an only child)
i guess we want to give a sibbling because we get on with our sibblings and in my case i cannot imagine going through horrid things on my own.

and property i just don't have the bug, the idea of moving and all that it entails just leaves me cold if not downright ill. but then again i hate shopping generaly, maybe i am not a proper girl

dd refused the planned activity and wants C&C again! babies are easier

morning all! quick hello as keeping low profile today. i thought about and discussed the problem of interview tomorrow and was told i must be mad to even consider trying to change it.... so i'll pull a sickie tomorrow i think as otherwise it will be too hard to be here in the morning and fake that creche called to tell me to collect dd. this has happened before and created huge problems that in the end i had to get dh to do it. anyway enough of me but wanted to say thanks for all your advice on friday.
sue; the gathering sounds lovely and glad you enjoyed it so much. foxie? you looking to move to ham?
have a good day all and will catch with you a bit later.