jc558

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jc558 replied to the Gardening board. 20:57

Re: Plant ID

I've had Kerria japonica in several gardens and never considered it a thug. It always grew in situ for me - no rampant suckers.

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jc558 posted to the Wildlife board. 20:48

Sultanas for blackbirds (?)

I've been putting out sultanas on the terrace for months and only the blackbirds have taken them (as per plan). Suddenly yesterday a wood pigeon and then a starling stuck their (unwelcome) beaks in. I can't think of a way around this - blackbirds are [more]

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jc558 replied to the Medical Matters - Conventional board. 22:59

Re: First Welsh measles death...

Backache123: I won't waste time responding to each line of your post as I have no idea what on earth you are talking about.

Could I suggest that Medical Matters-Alt and Comp. would be a better board to air your views?

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jc558 replied to the Gardening board. 22:49

Re: Why does my pyracantha hedge not flower?

I don't know the definitive answer, but I've never, ever, given any feed or extra compost to a pyracantha. I think you may have over-cossetted it to the point where it is so secure that it doesn't think it needs to produce flowers or berries to [more]

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jc558 replied to the Holiday Ideas & Advice board. 22:37

Re: Self-Parking for Terminal 5

I've used Purple Parking at both Manchester and Heathrow on several occasions - reliable and low-cost service. Never had a problem, but then nothing's 100% guaranteed in these situations.

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jc558 replied to the Does Anybody Know? board. 22:28

Re: Best book on English grammar

If you care about grammar then it's Fowler every time. Comprehensive but very easy to use - accept no substitutes (although I'll admit Lynn Truss is an entertaining read).

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jc558 replied to the Family Fools board. 23:19

Re: Minor school process question

Not much consolation to your DD, but I'm surprised that some schools still have prefect systems. Frankly I find the previous comments re geeing up "bad" students quite bizarre.

The only solace I can offer is that she can doss [more]

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jc558 replied to the Comfort Cafe board. 18:01

Re: They walk among us

Funny - I would have read it that they were ordered to wear the t-shirts by their wife/partner/significant other, who is obviously a rampant feminist [feminists holding it as an article of faith that all men are potential [more]

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jc558 replied to the Wills & Probate - Practical board. 22:18

Re: Gold valuation when IHT is due

If IHT is due, the value of the jewelry is such a drop in the ocean that I can't see any reason to fret about it. Why not call it £2k and leave it at that?

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jc558 replied to the Medical Matters - Conventional board. 18:12

Re: Alzheimer's diagnosis

If I were you I'd just be glad that he's been diagnosed with Alzheimers and is getting meds. for it. My 88 year old mum has dementia, but it's never been diagnosed as Alzheimers, indeed the "d" word was only used by medics when she was [more]

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jc558 replied to the Gardening board. 17:32

Re: Large bed, seems to be 50% gravel

Just had another thought - you could try sowing annuals usually used to create a wild flower meadow in amongst some of the larger drought-resistant perennials for the first couple of years to give you some colour and interest. The soil to gravel [more]

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jc558 replied to the Wildlife board. 17:07

Re: House Sparrows

Until a couple of years ago I saw sparrows in the garden virtually every day, often 4 or more at a time. Last year and this they are much more intermittent - at most a couple on the feeders or poking around in the planters.

Didn't this [more]

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jc558 posted to the Decluttering Fools board. 17:54

Small things...

I took my OH's muesli (BB date 09/12) and his porridge oats (BB date 01/13) out of a kitchen cupboard today and decanted them into the food caddy.

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jc558 replied to the Gardening board. 17:47

Re: Large bed, seems to be 50% gravel

If it's in a reasonable open site with sun for at least part of the day you could try some baby perennial herbs, e.g. bay, rosemary, sage and thyme. Otherwise try Googling the RHS website and have a look at what they recommend for poor/well-drained [more]

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jc558 replied to the Decluttering Fools board. 20:17

Re: Clearing Dad's house

There is a big clean patch where I washed the carpet yesterday

So unless you clean the whole carpet you will continue to have a big clean patch and meanwhile it's still smelly.

When I cleared my mum's house (at that time in [more]

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jc558 replied to the Gardening board. 19:41

Re: courgettes in pots

Totally agree about the water, but it needs to go to the roots, not around the stem, which can rot off. When I grew courgettes on an allotment I'd create a kind of "motte and bailey", i.e. a slightly raised mound, where I'd plant the c. and [more]

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jc558 replied to the Your Tomorrow Starts Today board. 19:51

Re: May contain nuts

I am another starter/initiator but not a completer/finisher, so what about contacting 3 local EAs and booking viewings with them in a week's time? This would give you a deadline and kickstart a final push to get the house straight.

At the [more]

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jc558 replied to the Decluttering Fools board. 22:30

Re: it works in the garden...

So this year I stuck to my basic plan - do the bit you can't see from inside first.

This is obviously where I'm going wrong. I always do the bits I can see from the house on the grounds that the bits I can't see (as long as I [more]

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jc558 replied to the Comfort Cafe board. 17:33

Re: They walk among us

.. there were a few people saying that things were different in the 1970s (a fact I disagreed with)

IME things were indeed different then. I was a teenager in the 1960s and, on one occasion, was flashed at by a man in his 50s behind [more]

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jc558 replied to the Comfort Cafe board. 22:37

Re: They walk among us

the subject of any kind of sexual assault, be it on adults or children, seems to get some posters on a complete defensive for their divine right to grope or "cop a feel" without anyone exercising their legal rights in [more]