I get cold pretty easily so I use a 6/4 wetsuit in Cornwall in the summer! Definitely go full length not shortie, and boots are the best addition ever – more useful than a hood for me. I’ve got some Gul 5mm ankle boots with a 7mm toe.

That article goes with a BBC3 short documentary which is available on iPlayer. Really weird stuff but worth a watch if you found the article interesting.

This should help: http://www.british-gypsum.com/~/media/Files/British-Gypsum/WHITE-BOOK-Sector-Guides/RMI/White-Book-Refurbishment-Guide.pdf

Manspreading is fine if you’re on an empty train but if someone – man or woman – needs to sit next to you, move them in. If your balls are genuinely so big that you can’t possibly sit comfortably, then stand up! If you don’t do this you’re either a creep or an arrogant prat…unfortunately they are both numerous on the Tube.

Tom_W1987 you’re coming over as a bit ‘MRA’ and unattributed woman-hating quotes from Reddit are not helping the cause…

At 10 weeks:

And recently at 16mo:

Not much seating outside, but Sugardough at the far end of Hove Lawns has the best bread, pastries and cakes in Sussex. You could get takeaway and sit on the seafront.

Loads of great sandy beaches around Bude. Widemouth, Crooklets, Summerleaze. They’ll be a fair bit quieter than Polzeath/Rock! The cafe at Widemouth is great.

A good rule of thumb is 5min walk on lead per month of age, so at 3 months you could do 15min on the lead. Off the lead is different as they will run around and pace themselves – it’s the repetitive non-stop walking on lead that can do the damage, because they won’t stop.

LCD playing a storming final set on the Other Stage. I pity anyone who’s watching Coldplay instead.

Yes, it’s an important topic. This article is worth a read:
https://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/a-stiff-upper-lip-is-killing-british-men-344
and the recent book by the same author. I’ve been trying to persuade my friends and family to read it, both male and female.

Had a Ruffwear Front Range harness on our sprocker but it was starting to break within 3 walks – wearing through where the metal loop (quite sharp edges) is fixed in fabric. Returned it to Amazon and got a Julius K9 – no complaints with that so far and it seems a bit comfier for the dog too. Current collar is an Ezy ‘double up’ – lasting well so far, after the last cheapo basic one went missing whilst out and about.

I’ve used Borrow My Doggy in the past (before we got our dog). It worked well. However I would probably use DogBuddy these days – then you get paid to look after the dog.

Get him checked out at the vets, might be an enzyme deficiency or something underlying it rather than simply being a behaviour thing. You could also try raw food – everything is digested and what comes out is basically as inedible as an owl pellet! Even the flies aren’t interested.

A grill pan puller-outer? May also be broken.

Great photos! Really like the one of the old chap with a stick and the one of the yelling woman in orange.

There’s a lot of doom-mongering in this thread! I didn’t get the impression there was another person involved; sounds more like she’s rethinking everything, perhaps stemming from that decision not to go for the third kid – OP, this could be a much bigger part of it for her than you seem to acknowledge in your overview. Whether or not ‘rethinking everything’ might indicate underlying depression or perhaps more likely, a mid-life crisis etc, I don’t know. Sorry to speculate.

Would second the recommendation to talk to Relate and to try and arrange an activity for the two of you without the children.

I think the quote above is from the R4 interview with the survivor, Bjorn Ihler, yesterday morning:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03rqm9g

It’s only 3 minutes long and well worth a listen. Very moving and humbling comments.

Why wouldn’t you want a spaniel puppy? Amazing dogs.

Toffee is so little! Glad you went for a spaniel in the end. 🙂 It’s a good idea to let them off the lead (in a safe place) when they’re that young as they won’t be brave enough to go too far from you. Keep recalling her with some tasty incentives and it’ll be ingrained soon enough.

It’s always time for a spaniel thread!

Here’s my sprocker (on the left) and one of his brothers at a mini reunion last weekend. They hadn’t seen each other for 10 months (they’ve just turned 1) but they were really excited, definitely recognised one another. Interestingly, the brother had lost his balls at 6 months and made our dog (still intact) look really calm and mature in comparison.

Travelodge at Sourton Cross (near Okehampton)? Looks basic.

Alternatively, some family stayed here in November and it was apparently amazing:
https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/9276699

Or you could try Trethorne – http://www.trethornegolfclub.com/hotel-lodge-accomodation/

I spent the first four years of my life up there before the parents moved us to Cornwall. With hindsight, can’t thank them enough! Went back up there for a funeral last year and it was grim.

Go to the pub anyway – but critically, don’t get pissed. Surely this is possible for a group of adults?

Started doing work in the evenings for friends & relatives whilst working full-time for another company (doing the same thing on a different scale, so they didn’t object). It grew by word of mouth and eventually there was too much to manage unless I jumped and did it full time. A couple of years later it has continued to grow by word of mouth and networking so with a couple of big jobs lined up we are about to expand. No business plan or loans but registered with HMRC early on and set up a separate bank account.

There was an interesting interview with a listener on Woman’s Hour today whose sister had gone through a very similar experience to Helen. She reckoned that they had it pretty much spot on, including the way the other characters are behaving (e.g. Helen’s mum being unable to see what’s happening). Listen here if you like: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03pm4fr

It doesn’t really matter what he has stolen – it’s the fact he’s gone into your drawer, found the key to a private locked locker, and taken something from it. I wouldn’t be happy at all if he was my employee and if I had proof it was him he’d be gone.

We got ours via an advert on Pets 4 Homes – visited the house to view the litter at 4wks old and met both parents, both family pets. Paid a £50 deposit and went back to collect at 8wks. The sellers weren’t professional breeders but having met them and the dogs we felt confident enough.
You could try asking on one of the sprocker facebook pages – ‘Sprockers Rule’ or ‘Recognise the Sprocker Spaniel’. Loads of people asking similar questions on there and you might find someone local who can recommend a breeder.

6 years seems a bit over the top. Anyone else not convinced by the whole ‘its runined the victims’ life angle that the prosecution are coming out with. From what I’ve read she was perfectly hapy going along with it at the time, knew exactly what she was up to etc etc

Not denying hes a scumbag, but shes not as innocent in this as shes being made out to be…
She’s a child.

I’ve specified a couple of platform lifts for high-end houses before for this sort of function – http://www.stannahlifts.co.uk/platform-lifts/vertical/midilift-sl.asp
Not sure how the price would compare to the Terry lift thing above.

Eden is impressive especially the first time you go, but it will be absolutely heaving on a BH, especially if (when) it rains.
If you must go to Tintagel, you could park out by the church. Make sure you walk west along the coastpath towards Trebarwith – stunning cliffs and old slate workings (just west of Treknow if you look on a map). if you’re in Tintagel at low tide then Bossiney beach is worth a look.

Head a little bit further north (towards my old ‘local’ beaches) if you get a chance and you’ve got Millook, Crackington Haven and Widemouth. The coast path heading north from Crackington is really good and there’s often seals visible off Dizzard point. Widemouth is good for surfing and significantly quieter than Polzeath or Newquay, would definitely avoid them on a BH. The cafe there is also really good since the refurbishment but make sure you don’t get it mixed up with Black Rock car park or cafe (at the western end of the beach).

If you’re going to St Ives then think about going to Hayle/Gwithian beach instead on the other side of the bay – it’s massive and will be comparatively empty. Tate St Ives is pretty good, and the Barbara Hepworth sculpture garden in the town, if you’re into that.

Lands End is a complete dump, stay away. Porthcurno is a stunning beach instead, or Sennen.

I would second/third etc the driving down/up at antisocial times – it can save a huge amount of time even on an average winter weekend.

Raw – discovered that bread/grains makes him horribly ill (colitis) when he was a little pup so put him onto raw – currently using Natural Instinct. He now gets that with the odd tin of sardines/mackerel, chicken drumsticks/thighs, mince etc.

Would have thought better of Specialized as they always seemed like a good provider of female-specific equipment. This is very disappointing.

I’m a woman, I hate sexism and I hate sexist companies using naked women to sell products – I guess that makes me a “professional handwringer” in the eyes of about 70% of the male posters on this thread.

Yep get lifetime cover, especially for the first year when any underlying conditions might come to light.
MoreThan and PetPlan are both regularly recommended.

Aww, gutted.

I grew up in a village with a Sainsbury’s, M&S, Boot’s, Superdrug and about 10,000 residents. Still a village.

That’s not a village, that’s a metropolis! I grew up in a proper village – about 20 houses and a small primary school.

A sprocker would be a great choice! Can’t recommend them enough. This was at the beach on Saturday. He is 11 months and turning into a really lovely obedient dog.
If you’re thinking of going down the rescue route then Sprocker Assist & Rescue would be worth contacting – they seem to regularly get young dogs which need new homes due to children’s allergies etc. We however found ours on Pets 4 Homes – just a family having a one-off litter, got to meet both parents as they were the family pets.

Yes, some friends from the park have one. It is a very sweet dog, always happy and playful and seemingly less demanding than a spaniel (for attention or exercise). Obviously it will still need 2-3 walks a day but they might be a bit shorter than for a spaniel, even a show cocker. Much easier to walk as he is about half the size of our spaniel, so might be easier for your girls (although either way the puppy will need training to walk nicely without pulling). The downside is that the coat apparently needs a lot of maintenance, regular trims and brushing. It’s white so all mud shows up instantly and it’s got slightly pink fur from saliva around its mouth and feet. And it’s not the smartest.

Yes, recommended – it would build his self-sufficiency and independence. Doubly recommended if he can use part it of it to gain some experience relevant to his course (volunteering in a medical clinic somewhere etc). Maybe travel for half the year and work (to fund it / save money for uni) for half the year.

Friend of mine reaches that age, and her mum decides to have the Conversation. “Aw mum, we had all this sex ed at school” “No Fiona (*), it’s not quite that conversation, it’s about your dad. Your real dad”. Turned out her genetic dad was a mad shagger and had fathered half the kids in the village. So for her The Conversation was “Don’t **** the locals, they’re all your brother”

(* I haven’t changed the names to protect the innocent, **** it)
😯

I’m an architect so I’m slightly biased but I think you will save money in the long run if you employ a professional. You should be able to find someone who will work with you and incorporate your ideas (and also tell you if they’re rubbish).

You can do building regulations on a notice so you don’t need full plans but you will need drawings & calcs from a structural engineer.

By permitted development do you mean class MB rights to convert from agricultural to residential? If so, watch out, it’s not straightforward. Have a read of http://www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1330471/barn-storm-why-councils-refused-half-agricultural-to-residential-permitted-development