I thought I'd start a thread where people can discuss ANYTHING but politics. I don't know about anyone else but I'm fed up with the constant cuts, WBC, lies etc etc - Am I not great and the Tories are all Doctor Evil type people mantra that is spewing out from Mr Garvies Orrifice.

Please feel free to post about anthing from Dancing on Ice to the FA Cup!

I am glad Kerry Katona was knocked out of DOI last night, about time as she was rubbish, mind you the Army guy isn't very good himself. Would like to see Jason give Karen more stick as found it quite funny!

I'm glad Masterchef is back on tv and am enjoying the 'new look', anyone else?

Went to Donnington park twice on Sunday as no one ever goes there, we love having the place to ourselves.... Why is it empty? Because you are not allowed to park their as it is the Castles Pub parking so limits who can go. (I still parked there though ) Went to go in the pub after for a drink and doors were open but told it was closed at 4.30pm ish.

Cinema last night for 1 adult and 1 child, £13!!! Snuck own drink and snacks in but still a rip off. Back to DVD night at home I think!

Snap as to Dancing on Ice high time Kerry got the boot. Have to disagree about Jason and Karen he should be gagged he is a bully and it is disgusting.

Went to see Paul at the cinema very funny and virtually a full house so people are still going out. It is an expensive night out though that is true. I never buy food or drink from there the prices are extortionate.

Loads on the TV at the moment everything seems to be starting at the same time which is a nightmare my Sky+ is struggling.

Had some really nice meals out at the Diamond Tap my family love steak so Tuesday is steak night - steak and a drink (beer, wine or a soft drink) £4.99 and it is always cooked to perfection. Haven't tried Hoggit and Hoof but then why pay £19 for something you can get for £5.

AND - the nights are getting lighter

This is good, isn't it?! Just light debate, nowt too serious & people being polite to one another!
Half term this week, anyone got any suggestions for cheap activities with the kids? We're planning a campfire in the woods (all safe & permission saught & granted), a cinema evening at home with home made pop corn etc, a bike ride & picnic...all great fun but mostly needing dry weather!

I think it is just banter, nothing to take seriously!

Not ONE other person in the cinema screening, completely dead which was surprising.

Lots on tv tonight for me all on at the same time! Biggest Loser, OBEM, ANTM, New Ross Kemp all on at 9pm, thank god for Sky plus and + 1 channels.

Ate at the Diamond Tap a few Sunday mornings for breakfast and it was very nice. Will definatly re-visit. Went to Hoggit and Hoof and was a complete let down - (customer service, chicken had blood in it), all though steak was fantastic. Still wont return, I don't mind paying high prices if the food/customer service is excellent.

Soon be time for us to take the camper out with the light evenings and (hopefully) warmer weather coming.

How about Thatcham Nature Discovery Centre. I haven't been there in years but my kids used to love going there.

Not sure if you drive Rachel but you could go to Millets farm one day if the weather is nice, all free with good park to play on, lots of different animals to see, whilst also treating yourself to a nice slice of cake! Bike ride, pyjama day making dens out of sheets etc (Not sure how old you chldren are? ) painting (all though half our paint has ened up on the sofa this weekend !) , baking, crazy club, swimming....Wish I was off this week to join my friends and their children to do some activities...I hate working sometimes!!

All fab ideas, thanks! Will share with friends, as my son is abit older. We're decorating this week too, he's great on the roller...who says slave labour's dead?! What's Crazy Club? Yes, I do drive, so Millets is accessable. For those with littlies, we used to love to go to Hungerford by train, feed the ducks on the canal & have a cuppa & cake in the Tutti Pole before the train ride home. Also loved a bus ride to anywhere....oh, those happy. easy to please days!

PS Poor you, I'm soooo glad to have the week with my boy, I always count my blessings for being able to be with him in in the hols, something I never take for granted.

Crazy club is a softplay, so probably suited more for the younger children as you've mentioned your son is older. I would definatly get him helping out on the decorating, have to earn their keep some how... !

That sounds a great thing to do going on the train, I normally go to Victoria park to do the duck feeding but would make a nice change going on a short train journey somewhere else, my son would love that
Those easy happy days can still turn into the 'toddler demanding/do what I want/no listening to you mummy/I am not in the mood/I want to do as I please' days sometimes!!

Home made popcorn? Sounds tasty!!!

Discovery Centre is a brilliant place to take the kids. If you have a look at their website, they have some activities on this week for the kids.

Is it allowed to have a thread that doesn't discuss politics?

Of course it is. But you have to start those threads to be able to discuss on them

Well, I don't know which is worse: local politics or dancing on ice.

Can you still Bowl for £1 in the mornings these days ? Also there is a recycling jewellery class at the lakes on Wednesday for the kids .... which is free

Hate it when the weather is like this in the hols - gets expensive !!

On the subject of food - we went to Frankie & Bennys is Basingstoke a couple of weeks ago - it was horrendous - took an hour to get a pizza - then it was cold.

Administrators. If you start a thread surely you should be able to moderate who posts on it? Can the author of a thread be given permission to delete posts made by others?

No and they shouldn't in my view. That would be an extraordinary thing to allow.

tee hee

The architecture of Gaudi is extraordinary. Doesn't mean it shouldn't be allowed.

Why ?? Did even Home made popcorn? Sounds tasty!!! make you cringe ??

Well, yes, actually....... Noisy, pointless, tasteless unless coated in fattening sauce. Sticks to my dentures, makes a noise in the Cinematography show....

C'mon, let's cut the BS.

Let's all get back to garvietoday.com/forum......

Ah, but that's why homemade's so good (probably should have said home cooked, but forgive me ?!) because you don't have to put anything on it, it's tasty as you can eat it warm, & I did say we were having a "home cinema night" so we can make all the noise we want without disturbing anyone .
Come on, don't spoil the fun by being serious NWNREADER, keep smilling!

I am one, not sure about the other

Can you still Bowl for £1 in the mornings these days ?

Not sure, but I remember always going as child very early Saturday mornings and it was £1! We went bowling the other week, Saturday pm, it was about £15 for ONE game for 3 of us!

In answer to my own question ..... yes you can still bowl for a £1 (early). Went there today and its £3.95 for kids and £4.95 for adults. They turn the lights out at midday to add to the excitement apparently .... personally I think it's to save on the electric

Feels like the first day of Spring today!

Hopefully we will get a nice Summer.

Loads of snowdrops now out on my drive to and from work they look really pretty. Daffodils just about to open and soon be time for blossom on the trees can't wait (sorry to you hayfever sufferers)

Watched a red kite this morning for 10 minutes just above my rooftop what a beautiful bird but obviously was looking for breakfast so not so good for the bunnies.

They're great aren't they - you'd hardly see one ten years ago, and now I'll see several every day - and you really get an idea of quite how big they are when you see them in a garden. Apparently they don't hunt live prey, they live largely on dead rats (and that's one of several very good reasons not to use rat poison), it's buzzards that the bunny's have to look out for.

Yes, Red Kites are big, but fragile. The do hunt small creatures, but it seems carrion is their preferred morsel. Buzzards are quite big, but Sparrow Hawks are deadly and they are a good reason not to feed birds in good weather.

PS: As a rule, don't feed wild birds any processed food, e.g. bread and breakfast cereal. They should only eat what they would find in the wild and not man made.

I love this time of year, you reckon we are past the snow and the coldness then? Hope so!!!

Well I have learned something new I never knew they mostly eat corpses I will have to mow down a lot more squirrels then. They still scare the crows and jackdaws though.

Maybe someone could answer this question which has been puzzling me. We saw a rather bizzare sight last summer with red kites and buzzards in quite a large group and they seemed to be playing with tumbling together or am I mistaken and it was gang warefare. They did actually look like they were playing and not fighting.??

They'd almost certainly be mobbing. Birds don't usually enjoy a multicultural environment.

Racist Birds? What a disgrace. They should all be shot!

It's pair bonding - very unlikely buzzards and kites together, but kites are quite gregarious and pairs will lock talons and come spiralling down together, letting go close to the ground. I saw kites doing this last autumn. I'd read about it, but it was the first time I'd seen it. I counted about 10 kites together in the area, though only one pair was displaying like this.

If they fly over the trees where Rooks are nesting the Rooks gang up on them & chase them off.

I also saw this, some of them were soaring around very low overhead for quite some time.

I googled this:

"Red kites usually take the same mate year after year, but ‘divorces’ aren’t unheard of! The pair perform high circling displays, particularly in the early part of the day. They may pass close together, twisting apart at the last moment, and will sometimes pass food between them. Very occasionally, they may lock talons, but this behaviour is not commonly reported."

http://www.querycat.com/question/90836c054...47a1e7e9b26327d

Had some good responses to this but yes there were buzzards and kites together we had the binoculars out and you can obviously tell them apart. That is why we were confused though because we had heard of the tumbling and locking of feet and so when we saw it were astounded - even more astounded it was buzzards and kites !!!! maybe where we live they like to put their keys in the ashtray !!! And do you want to know the most bizzare thing.....when I first told you about what we had seen I went for lunch and flying over the cinema were a buzzard and a kite together..... very strange

You have to admire our feathered friends sometimes.

I've seen swifts 'dive bombing' cats. Also, I have seen thrushes and blackbirds confront cats in the back yard to try and draw them away from nests. My g/f once was trying to park her car at work, for a robin to stand defiantly in the middle of the parking bay so my g/f couldn't park!

Of all creatures, I think I find our feathered friends the most endearing. To think their ancestors ruled the Earth once.