Ah the old breast feeding mafia thing. Mrs ddmonkey tried very hard to make breast feeding work

MrsHeathen tried it for a day and wouldnae do it. Our girl's had formula and is, um, irrepressible, strong, fast and ahead of the other kids in her nursery class – all of whom are older than her. She's my youngest and I can honestly say there's nowt in it between her development and her breast fed brothers. And, to be fair, our midwife was totally cool with MrsHeathen's decision.

She slept in our room for a year and none of us suffered for it (grown up only 'special moments' returned about 4 weeks after the birth so don't believe any scare stories there. Of course, it all depends on how yr mrs is feeling).

The only hard going is colic in the night but here Infacol is your friend. It doesn't get rid of it totally but reduces it massively. At times, the first few months will, however, involve sleep deprivation and the looming spectre of madness.

The book What to Expect the First Year is very good but it's not gospel. Definitely worth getting hold of for alternative viewpoints to those you'll get from friends, relatives and muddleheaded internet 'experts' 😉

The main thing is that children are fantastic and worth all the effort. And, as I type this, I can unequivocally say that I'm actually enjoying Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom….

EDIT: The 'stop playing and eat your breakfast' conversation i've just had has reminded me that they will drive you **** nuts sometimes but even when they do you can't help but love em 🙂

stuff around Hollinsclough – 5 brilliant descents that I know of that are completely legal

Ah! that's given my memory a nudge. Are 2 of them in the White Peak book? I'd check it but cant work out where my missus has tidied it away to. I'll have to dig it out and spend some time with the maps. Cheers.

plenty of good riding near buxton – get out toward Longnor to the south

I'm looking at the map and can see a lot of cheek – what's good?

The thing about planet-x/on-one is that it usually comes right in the end. I had a minor disappointment with them over a top my missus ordered for christmas. Long story short: they did us proud in the end.

I don't think he did himself any favours with the write up, came across a bit sort of, whiney…

I guess everyone reads things differently but it didn't strike me as whiney. And I hate whingers.

OP: you're a bit of a dick mate.

Yep, that would be good! It will be a few weeks before I can make it though as I'm in the middle of putting a new patio down so my weekends are taken up with that.

How's the house hunting going – will you be moving up my way?

Patios?! Heh, every house we're looking at I keep thinking, "Well, that'll have to come up!" 🙂 And if you're building a patio i guess things must be looking up for you which is great news! We're looking in Belper, Kilburn, Horsley, that sort of area and Ashbourne as a wild card

No probs bout waiting a couple of weeks. My ex has asked for the boys 1 weekend a month and – after making sure i get extra holiday time – i've agreed. Which means for the first time in 4 years i'll be able to do one weekend a mpnth. Most of my riding's grabbed midweek when work's quiet.

Let me know when you're done and we can sort it out from there.

Justa? How about you? I'm completely out of shape so it'd be a nice leisurely pace if you could put up with that?

justa/tim: do you fancy a spin round the new bits at cannock some time? (andrew)

What a bargain – i might have to have a look next time the cyclescheme is running at work

I have recently been made redundant

Sorry to hear that Kev/blackhound.

I've been on here since around 02ish under various names: andrew-f, derbyandrew and probably others that i don't remember. It has calmed down a lot (tho' it was always at its calmest when the temporary mods took over – usually at Christmas – and they always seemed to include the most easily offended people going (was one of these Polly? Or is my failing memory failing me?)

Never really met that many folks off here – i'm far too antisocial – but did nearly go on a ss ride down a german mine until it didn't happen (was it phatlizard that was organising it?)

<chuckles> the_prawn <shakes head>

Surely, historically, Yorkshire was simply the Southern tip of the mighty Northumbria?

according to Yougov, tis Cameron the winner 36%

Really? Well, Barnum must have been right then.

Well, from the perspective of someone who has no faith in the whole charade I fully agree with the majority view here:

Brown came across quite well: trying to get on with a difficult job
Clegg, not bad: a bit idealistic and potentially naive but committed
'Dave' came across like a lying snake who was getting sweaty because he was being repeatedly caught out.

Cheers – and thanks for the link as I'd missed that (a week's ban for a minor rant, d'oh!).

It's good advice, thanks. We're going to get AIP in the next couple of weeks so will be in a pretty good position. There's also an extension for Firefox ('Property Bee') which tracks edits on Rightmove so we're keeping track of changes in price, length of time on market etc.

I always say to the Mrs if you don't ask you don't get

That's what I was thinking 🙂

What thisisnotaspoon said. I got some menjas a month ago and am *very* impressed by them.

LOLling at:

Standard QR on mountain bikes = FAIL (road bike technology)

Yeah, so forget your gears too. Ridiculous.

With a bit of care and maybe a halflink nearly all vertical dropouts can be SS'd without an ugly tensioner (the only frame I could never quite get it to work on was a Pastey Howler).

But yeah, as much as I'm enjoying the winding up of PP as a spectator sport, you'd presume a SS tensioner to fit a SS chain without having to check the small print.

Good plan. I'm definitely not going back next week.

Went this morning – about 930ish – and it was nice and quiet*. Only managed to get down to the railway before my missus texted to say I needed to look after nipper during her driving lesson. So I headed back to the Dog. D'oh. What I saw was great fun and I loved the new finish to the old dog.

*And unfriendly. Granted I only saw three other people and a small group. Smiles, nods and hellos from me were all ignored.

Loved the link to the emergency cat story also:

In another call a man contacted emergency services to say he was stuck on a patch of ice in a street in Bolton and was too scared to go forwards or backwards.

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One happy seven year old at Sherwood Pines, yesterday. It was his first ride on 'proper' trails and he loved it. 🙂

What's wrang wi ya lad? Mekkin pisspoor excuses son.

There, does that help?

IRN BRU used to be made in Atherton, in Lancashire.

So it's cricketer's pish?

Firefox. Ime it starts up as quickly as the competition and like the flexibility the extensions give.

Ouch. Kudos for the, "at one with my bike," comment. 🙂

Truly awesome. Nice one.

(And with weather like that, have you any tips for lottery numbers 😉

The Fifth Doctor on the BBC show Doctor Who, played by Peter Davison, wore a stalk of celery on his lapel.

That was quite important. Can't remember why though.

You might need a saddle.

EDIT 3rd picture now loaded. You don't need a saddle.

Yep, thanks for sharing 'em – a nice story of a ride in pics

🙂 Thanks guys.

What ton said. I hope everything's okay.

Now turned into a train

Leggy new assistant in kissagram police woman outfit. Thanks kids.

Make them sit in the corner and be quiet until the race is over!

<glances round at the three rapscallions rioting in the front room> hem hem.

She had a quote from fed ex of $730 (£500) just to ship the bike.

That sounds more than a bit steep. Find the closest LBS that does mail order and ask their advice and then send details to your ex?

Heh cheers rob1984 – i think i prefer it to bbc 🙂

Mind you will i might have to join the kids in a second and supervise the watching of doctor who's new assistant. it's so tough being a dad 😉

Of course there's free will. How else could people choose between the voting options on X Factor?

I seem to have been usurped from my place of authority in the household and Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom is on telly. Hm. Still, seems like a good race from the line by line commentaries..

🙂 Thanks all – some great riding shots, some funny shots and some just plain disturbing shots. Nice one!

Hmm, I might see if the kids fancy watching it on iplayer this morning…

Heathenwoods – don't recognise your STW name – which one of the Derby massive are ya?

andrew_f as was – i had the 'local forum' which has since been overcome with world wide cobwebs.

Yep, love it. My youngest has recently learnt to climb on a stool which means all kitchen surfaces are within her reach. The horror, the horror…