@thebees…suggestions for first year:

onions are a doddle to grow and now is the time to plant. Buy a bag of baby onions from Wilkos or any garden centre. Plant them just below the surface 5″ appart and wait…oh and weed!

Garlic and shallots are good and easy too.

For covering large areas, courgettes and pumpkins and sweetcorn are good. Little need to weed.

If you are sticking at allotmenting then asparagus is good…expecting our first YR3 yield this year from my wifes plot (we have two).

We have not yet mastered cabbages or other brassicas.

Tomatoes in the greenhouse and chillis in there too.

OP, no need to feel a traitor. It tastes great on both sides of the Pennines:

At over a quid a cup that Twinings Assam should be flipping amazing. Suspect you are paying a high premium for the wonderful packaging, rather than the tea enclosed. :-)

Yorkshire Gold. Your search is over. :-)

Love to let this belt out:

or this if I want to melt the speakers:

https://youtu.be/s9A9YDSabbo

(first track played in my first car!)

oh I don’t know. The other two acts showed ample “knobishness”, however I would not turn over to BBC2 at 8pm to watch them. Paxman I might.

We have a Panasonic one and its BRILLIANT.
Find it really good for chilled/frozen pizza, but especially useful for part baked bread.
They can pay for themselves as they are cheaper to heat than a big oven, so for a couple of people they are ideal.
I would happily recommend Panasonic.

The Halfords ones are good, especially the industrial ones.
If you sign up to Halfords news letter they tend to have a flash “10% off” online sale every month, normally for a slot midweek 10-2pm or some such time!

Ourman in t’North: I have the Stainless steel Lamy 2000 too, but it’s too heavy and the cap tends to fall off easily due to weight.
The Lamy Dialogue 3 I have in SS is also a nice pen, but the clip tends to get in my way when I write as I am left handed and hold the pen in a gawky way.
Is the Diamine ink much better than standard Lamy stuff?

I can see how it would work. I would use it for road/city riding where falling off is infrequent, but likely severe. For MTB I think that I would be worried that every tree branch or minor fall would cause the MIPS to slip. [Though I have not researched this!]

Lamy might be proprietary, but you can either buy a refiller that lets you use any bottled ink for about £3 or buy the disposable cartridges in bulk for not much money online.

There is an issue of motivation in many British schools and with many British pupils. Too many don’t see the point of education. In poorer countries education is often the only route out of poverty and that’s a powerful motivator to study.
I have seen the sacrifices parents and students make in poorer countries to get a “western” education. I wish more British pupils could see this as it might shake them from their educational torpor.

I have pretty much EVERY Lamy fountain pen in their range.
If I was on a budget then the Lamy Studio is a great pen for c£30.
However my one pen that I use most of the time and adore is my black Lamy 2000 with EF nib. For around £100 it really is the nicest pen on the market. Lovely to write with for long periods (I use it in exams as well as daily use).
There are other flashier pens for signing things and looking important, but for a stealthy lovely pen the Lamy 2000 is the best.

For me its not a cost/affordability issue. It’s the fact that I believe state schools should be and CAN work for all. Clearly there are some sink schools (plenty where I live) but good parenting is more important than private school.

To attempt to answer the OP.
Both my kids go to state school (currently 16 and 13).
I would look ahead to secondary school for your child.
I took a view that if the secondary school achieved at least SOME top grades and had GOOD/OUTSTANDING Ofsted then it would be OK.
If my children are not in those top grades then I blame myself and them for not taking advantage of the resources available.
I am also a governor at local school and its a good school. With more funding it would be so much better. Our education system needs more money.
I have close friends who recently pulled their child from a private school as it was not working for their child. Said child now goes to an outstanding state school and is much happier and flourishing.

So for me and my family: State all the way if there is a GOOD/OUTSTANDING school…and get involved! Schools are crying out for good governors to help in the running of the school. Use the money saved in private education to pay for any tutors your child needs.

My set up is 14 years old and is still pretty good. Yamaha 5.1 amp and a full set of B&W speakers.
Thick cable run discretely under the living room floor.
I do keep looking at the newer amps with HDMI and 4K upscaling. But for now good 5.1 and 1080p is absolutely fine, and other things can drain my finances instead.
Sadly its of most use when playing Call of Duty… very helpful to hear who/what is coming. :-)

Just done a set of alloys for my A2. Wheels cost £100, strip and powdercoat at the fantastic LSN coatings in Castleford £130 for four.
Thats a full set of wheels bought and refurbished for not much more than BMW Mini want to sand and spray touch one wheel.
Local independant is best, and a fraction of the cost.

I have a Kalkhof electric city bike.
For carting big bags of shopping back from Rothwell Morrisons its brilliant!
For commuting from South Leeds to Harrogate its equally fab and means that for my effort I can get to work still fresh to do a days work.
I hope we see more of them replacing cars. I don’t see them as a replacement for “normal” bikes, but as a tool for commuting or carrying shopping they are epic.
(That said I would love to ride one of the Focus E-MTB’s round Dalby!).

E-bikes have a future and will replace more cars than bikes.

The 2.4 5 cylinder Volvo Diesel is a rock solid engine and well proven.
We have a 10 year old XC90 with 130,000 miles on it (D5 Auto) and though it will never impress with cornering agility its a fantastic family car. I would always go for the D5 if I could. Volvo Autos are not the most efficient in fuel, but they are reliable.

Went through this recently. Had a “top of the range” Garmin from 2007 that was VERY long in the tooth.
Used my iPhone in the UK, but wanted something better for EU driving.
I bought in an Amazon Flash sale a Garmin 2598 LMTD. Full EU maps, lifetime updates AND lifetime digital traffic…£99.
For that price its a much better option than using my phone. Best bit is that since I synched it to the PC is that Garmin Basecamp software seems to have collected all the data from it, so it can use this for planning routes on my Garmin 800!
Loyal Garmin user here, they have a good (but not perfect!) ecosystem of kit.

Honestly Stoner, you are a hard guy to please.
Oh well, your loss. :-)

If John is spending that much on IMA machines (made in Bologna), then he might be able to get you a deal on a cheap Italian sports car. However like his teabags, it probably comes with strings attached. .

Well who would have thought it! You ask for tea on STW and you get employees from two UK companies offering to help!
Disappointed in Stoner, always thought of him being a chap of taste and discernment. ;-)

Stoner, I simply can’t stand by and let you tolerate either substandard tea, or a bulky pack.
Email me in profile with your address details and I will personally post you a Yorkshire Tea Sample pack with 10 of our finest tea bags.
Perfect for a short break away from home.
If Carol in our staff shop is feeling in the mood I may even throw in an surprise extra…no promises.

Have to disagree with Cougar there.
It is a grey area, based on what is classed as reasonable. But this isn’t about “inspecting the goods” its about “durability and fitness for purpose”. It is in my view entirly reasonable to expect a £1000 laptop to be durable well in excess of 4 months.

Theres a great guide here that puts it better and more comprehensivly than you need:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/consumer-rights-refunds-exchange

Also remember that under SOGA (sales of goods act), that your contract is with the shop that sold it NOT with Apple.
I guarantee the shop will try to slide their responsibility towards “well we have to send it away for testing”.
This is NOT your issue. Keep it simple: You bought from them. It does not work reliably. You are within your rights to reject.
IF they want to pick up with Apple thats their beef, but its nothing to do with you as your contract is with the shop not Apple and your SOGA protection is between you and the shop. Do not let them fob you off with this lie.

If trying to go down the SOGA route then what you are looking to do is “reject the goods”. I find shop assistants (and managers!) often don’t have a clue about the law, so if you sound confident and throw a few things in like “sales of goods act 1973” and most importantly keep calm, sound reasonable and don’t get angry, then you can get a good result. Remember the issue is the laptop NOT the shop. By this I mean that when dealing with the shop make it clear that the laptop is the problem for both of you and that all they need to do to fix the problem is refund the rejected goods and your faith in them will be maintained.After 4 months on a premium product like a Macbook I would want a new one not a repair.
Or. You could take to an Apple store and they will sort if for you?

I had a root canal done on a rear molar this very week, on monday. Second to last molar on the bottom. Had rearmost molar removed in 2010 and this second tooth had suffered from an exposed root ever since.
It took 1 hour 40 for the treatment and cost nearly £500, but 4 days in its been pain free and is good so far.
My logic is that you only have one set of teeth, so keep them as long as you can.
If only Wham bars had not been sold in the 1980’s and dentists paid per filling.

From actually seeing something to saying YES/NO on buying? Anywhere from 5 seconds to 5 years!
I keep up to date on so much “stuff” that I know the prices and the tech so can normally know a good deal within seconds and have a pool of stuff that I would “like”/”need” and when presented with a price can buy ridiculously quickly.
However on stuff that I buy infrequently, and changes in tech…suspension forks or graphics cards I can ponder and research for days/weeks before I buy a particular thing.

Cook Bros is the brand I used to lust after. Brought a set back from Florida for a mate in 1994…purple naturally! He fitted pace rings to them for his Saracen.
I remember seeing PAUL components rear mechs in Stif in 1993…the price then would make my eyes bleed even now!
Suntour is another brand to have died a death…good gears but could not compete with the big S.
Best thing Marin ever did was the 1992 matt finish they used…loved my Palisades from back then.

Just seen this thread for the first time. Know you are a long term poster on here, and though I don’t know you I have always known you were one of the regular people who make STW the special, opinionated and knowledgeable place that it is.
I don’t have anything useful to add, other than the thoughts and best wishes that any other parent would send to you, your son and your family.
Best wishes from Leeds.

100 miles or so for the right car.
Currently have 3!
One from Chester, one from Stoke and one from Rotherham.
We live in Leeds.
Always worth a trip for a nice motor.

My wife used to be a waitress. We nearly always tip, anywhere from a couple of quid upwards. Biggest annoyance is when we go out with friends. Our friends split down the middle on whether to tip…so at best we end up leaving half what we would consider fair. Sometimes our friends have taken us putting in an extra £5-10 as a reason for them to pay LESS in. So now I pay just the bill and leave a cash tip from wife and me as we are about to leave.

Never ever replaced a headset because of wear in 25 years of cycling.
Having grease in any places where water might get helps, as does correct torque/load in the headset helps.
For comparison my car has sealed rear hubs that spin for 150,000 miles at 20-70(ish) MPH. Do you really think that a bike can subject a set of headset bearings to abuse more than this?
So make sure your bikes bearings have grease in them, and make sure they are in the Goldilocks tensions zone…not too tight, not too loose, just right!
[Of course cynics might say that the reason I don’t wear out headsets is due to mileage!…lies I tell thee!].

ios8 nearly killed both my ipad3 and my iphone 4s.
Ipad is SOOO SLOW compared with my microsoft surface that I am seriously considering de-camping back to MS rather than Apple (not a blind fanboy of either).
Windows 10 might just be the catalyst I need to go to windows phone for the first time in 5 years.

My wife wears Shalimar…that must be why I love her as much more than I love my bikes.

I have a Kalkhof that uses this same system…its amazing!
The power and the way its delivered is perfect and its replaced a lot of car journeys for me.
So in short buy it!
Its the best system on the market at the moment.

Edukator has a point. The super rich need the rest of us more than the rest of us need the super rich. But this thread is about folk on £50k or so. So mixing up “well paid professional” with “super rich” is hardly helping this conversation.

I had many great years driving MK1 ford focus cars. Great to drive for their time and good engines. Fords generally I am not a fan of…I owned a fiesta (1998 model) and the areas that the accountants had saves money on turned me off the brand…fuzzy felt as boot liner, exhausts that rotted in 3 years and one month, oh and brake calipers that siezed. After that car I have always bought a better brand at a greater age. Give me a 4 year old Volvo over a new Ford any day.

Of course…on the internet, you don’t get to hear from the hard working, but “done to” people…the Starbucks and carehome workers.
Instead you hear from people who equate sitting on their backsides with being “done to”.