u/Pirate_Candy17

A Council Meeting in June 2026 agreed changes to parking tariffs, charging days and hours in Pay and Display car parks, along with a new digital permit scheme via Ringo.

Prices were finalised through the Traffic Regulation Order process and effective from Oct. Council plan to update signage etc.

Full list of changes (copied directly from council comms):

PAY AND DISPLAY CAR PARKS – NEW CHARGES & CHARGING DAYS

GALASHIELS

HIGH STREET, STIRLING PLACE, STIRLING STREET, LADHOPE VALE, HALL PLACE CAR PARKS

Charges applicable Monday to Saturday inclusive – 8.30 am - 5.00 pm

Up to 1 Hour £1.00

Between 1 – 2 Hours £2.00

Between 2 – 3 Hours £3.00

Between 3 – 4 Hours £4.00

Between 4 – 5 Hours £5.00

Between 5 – 6 Hours £6.00

Over 6 Hours (in any one day) £7.00

Penalty Charge Notice £100 with a reduced charge of £50 if payment is received within 14 days

HAWICK

O’CONNELL STREET, TEVIOT ROAD (HEALTH CENTRE), ALLARS CRESCENT, CROSS WYND AND WALTERS WYND CAR PARKS

Charges applicable Monday to Saturday inclusive – 8.30 am - 5.00 pm

Up to 1 Hour £1.00

Between 1 – 2 Hours £2.00

Between 2 – 3 Hours £3.00

Between 3 – 4 Hours £4.00

Between 4 – 5 Hours £5.00

Between 5 – 6 Hours £6.00

Over 6 Hours (in any one day) £7.00

Penalty Charge Notice £100 with a reduced charge of £50 if payment is received within 14 days

MELROSE

MELROSE ABBEY CAR PARK

Charges applicable Monday to Saturday inclusive – 8.30 am - 5.00 pm

Up to 1 Hour £1.00

Between 1 – 2 Hours £2.00

Between 2 – 3 Hours £3.00

Between 3 – 4 Hours £4.00

Between 4 – 5 Hours £5.00

Between 5 – 6 Hours £6.00

Over 6 Hours (in any one day) £7.00

Charge (Buses and Coaches) £10.00

Penalty Charge Notice £100 with a reduced charge of £50 if payment is received within 14 days

PEEBLES

GREENSIDE AND SWIMMING POOL CAR PARKS

Charges only applicable on Monday to Saturdays – 8.30 am – 5.00 pm

Up to 1 Hour £1.00

Between 1 – 2 Hours £2.00

Between 2 – 3 Hours £3.00

Between 3 – 4 Hours £4.00

Between 4 – 5 Hours £5.00

Between 5 – 6 Hours £6.00

Over 6 Hours (in any one day) £7.00

Penalty Charge Notice £100 with a reduced charge of £50 if payment is received within 14 days

EDINBURGH ROAD CAR PARK

Charges only applicable on Saturdays – 8.30 am – 5.00 pm

Up to 1 Hour £1.00

Between 1 – 2 Hours £2.00

Between 2 – 3 Hours £3.00

Between 3 – 4 Hours £4.00

Between 4 – 5 Hours £5.00

Between 5 – 6 Hours £6.00

Over 6 Hours (in any one day) £7.00

Charge (Buses and Coaches) £10.00

Penalty Charge Notice £100 with a reduced charge of £50 if payment is received within 14 days

PARKING PERMITS

A new digital parking permit/season ticket will be available from 21 September 2026 through the RingGo app or by calling 0131 516 4000. It will cost £107.50 per year (inclusive of admin fee), is non-refundable and will be valid in one nominated car park only. The new permit/season ticket does not guarantee a parking space.

The nominated car parks are as follows:

Hawick RingGo Location code

Allars Crescent (12661)

Walters Wynd (12659)

Cross Wynd (12658)

Peebles

Swimming Pool (12664)

Greenside (12663)

Galashiels

Hall Place (12656)

Permits will NOT be valid in the following car parks:

Hawick - O’Connell Street car park and Health Centre(Teviot Road) car park

Galashiels - High Street car park, Ladhope Vale car park, Stirling Place car park and Stirling Street car park

Melrose – Abbey car park

Peebles – Edinburgh Road car park

More info available on scotborders.gov.uk/parking

After a free community kids’ clothing event at the start of summer, I’ve finally got around to sorting out usable clothing from what was left.

I’ve now got 4 bin liners full of 0-12m of various items and will have more as I sort through the bigger sizes.

Wondered if anyone knew anywhere that would take larger volumes of donations as I feel like high street charity shops won’t be thrilled with an influx of kids stuff, particularly smaller sizes.

Had this removed from another PMDD sub and not 100% sure why.

I tried to treat myself to my 2nd ever deep tissue massage experience ahead of the luteal pit. I have setting up a monthly subscription to ‘force’ me to prioritise relaxation. Woo self-care!

Anyway during the session, it felt like I had a mosquito bite or similar in multiple places while the masseuse did their thing. It didn’t itch afterwards or when the pressure wasn’t applied to that particular area. It was bizarre.

I have felt absolutely awful all afternoon inc really nauseous. I did what any millennial does and googled - results point my experience* and symptoms to a release of histamine during the treatment itself and aftermath of that happening.

I just wondered if there was any known studies I could read up on that have looked into links between PMDD, histamine levels or potentially overlap with a histamine intolerance?

Thanks in advance 🫶🏼

Edit: typo

I’m in Scotland; we pretty much don’t do shared care agreements here, I have to get my prescription and meds dispensed privately.

Went in and the girl handed it over without ringing it up on the till, looked at me like I was weird for not immediately walking away with it.

I explained it was paid for because I was worried she’d get sacked for fucking up a controlled drug transaction and voluntarily paid for it when I could have just walked away.

Turns out the pharmacist processed it wrong.

£100 for being too honest, fml 🥲

TL; DR

Don’t ask me why, I corrected the young girl at my local pharmacy today while grabbing my elvanse prescription, paying £100 unnecessarily.

Edit: typo

I’ve switched meds in the fortnight to support my sleep better.

I moved from a very low dose of mirtazapine which I was on for several months (due to unwanted side effects) to a 1st Gen antihistamine, hydroxyzine, and trialled it for a week or so without much improvement so stopped taking it.

While I’ve had generalised itching, increase anxiety and nausea since stopping the antihistamine, the biggest annoyance is the random small flare ups I am getting (also in unusual spots on my hands for me).

I can’t work out whether there’s something else going on, potentially contact wise I need to review or, whether the medication changes have triggered something?

TL;DR
I changed meds which included antihistamines and experiencing multiple atypical flare ups - I can’t work out if it’s related or not?

Is it just me, or do some parents completely forget what it was like starting school for the first time?

We’re coming to the end of our first year and I’m still baffled by how much schools seem to assume parents just magically know.

Timelines, events, traditions, processes - half the time you’re piecing it together from scraps of information and vague references from people who apparently received the secret handbook years ago.

Because of that, I set up a parent group chat at the start of the year. Nothing dramatic - just somewhere people could ask questions, share reminders, discuss upcoming events and avoid having to endlessly scroll Facebook trying to find information.

Overall it’s been really useful and people seem to appreciate having a place to connect.

Christmas came around and I organised a collection for teacher gifts. Everyone was happy, teachers were over the moon, job done.

So with end of term approaching, I suggested doing the same thing again and asked for volunteers to help represent the two classes in the year group as Christmas was tricky because no one stepped up to give gifts to one of the teachers.

Cue the same person who previously decided the chat was ‘too much’ suddenly becoming heavily opinionated and invested in how everything should be organised…

They’ve now created a separate collection for the other class while simultaneously implying there’s some sort of untoward activity happening or it would lessen the gift if a combined effort overall.

The whole point was that parents in each class pool together to maximise what can be given to the teachers. If people want to organise their own thing, fine, but creating splinter groups (sorry, thought it was ‘too much’?) just seems to create confusion and unnecessary friction plus likely competitive mindset.

What makes it more frustrating is that these classes will be mixed together next year anyway. Building connections across the year group feels more useful than carving everyone up into little camps.

Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but it feels entirely driven by that particular brand of parent energy where someone decides they should be in charge simply because they believe they know better. I also have witnessed this particular parent is often one who has multiples within the setting.

I genuinely don’t care who organises things. I care about things being straightforward, inclusive and not turning into weird politics over teacher gift collections.

What is it with some people and their superiority complex managing to leak into everything?!

I suppose the irony is that the whole reason the chat exists is to make things easier for everyone and help parents support one another.

Starting school is a learning curve for all of us, and it feels like things work best when people collaborate, share information and focus on building a sense of community rather than competing for control.

TL;DR
Tried building a supportive parent community. Accidentally discovered some adults are more interested in control and undermining actions than cooperation. Apparently even thank you gifts have office politics.

**Link to Study**

The Gut Microbiota and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: Relationships, Mechanisms and Consequences for Host Health

https://doi.org/10.1186/s43043-026-00330-4

**The Core Issue**

PCOS is the leading cause of infertility in women of reproductive age, bringing with it insulin resistance, excess androgens (male hormones), and a higher risk of diabetes and heart disease. Standard treatments like hormonal birth control patch over the symptoms. They do nothing about what may be driving them.

**The Finding**

Women with PCOS consistently show reduced gut microbial diversity and a state of dysbiosis (bacterial imbalance) compared to healthy individuals. Beneficial bacteria like Akkermansia, Bifidobacterium, and Faecalibacterium are depleted, while harmful strains like Desulfovibrio are elevated. That imbalance triggers a chain reaction: leaky gut, chronic low-grade inflammation, spiking insulin, and ovaries pumping out excess testosterone.

**Why It Matters**

The gut microbiome is not just a digestion tool. It regulates immune function, hormone metabolism, and even mood via neurotransmitters it produces. In PCOS, a disrupted microbiome amplifies androgen reabsorption, throws off estrogen levels, and wrecks the gut-brain-ovary signaling axis. Fixing the gut may mean fixing the hormone chaos at its source.

**Limitations of Study**

The causal direction is still murky. Researchers know dysbiosis and PCOS travel together, but the precise mechanisms and which specific pathways drive the disorder still need deeper investigation before targeted therapies can be built.

**Interesting Statistics**

- PCOS patients show lower levels of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), especially butyrate, which are critical for gut lining health and hormone balance
- An imbalanced ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes (two major bacterial families) is a consistent marker in PCOS microbiomes
- Elevated branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) in PCOS are linked directly to insulin resistance and blood sugar dysregulation
- SCFAs like acetate and butyrate show the ability to improve ovarian lipid metabolism and endocrine dysfunction in PCOS models
- Hyperandrogenism in PCOS is tied to altered gut structure via bile acid signaling pathways

**Useful Takeaways**

- Aim for 25g of fiber per day from whole plants to feed beneficial bacteria
- Add prebiotics (garlic, onion, bananas) to reduce insulin resistance and androgenic load
- Incorporate fermented foods like tempeh and kimchi for live probiotic support
- Moderate, regular exercise improves microbial diversity and reduces systemic inflammation
- Fecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT) and vagus nerve stimulation are emerging research-backed options worth watching

**TL;DR**

Gut dysbiosis may be quietly running the PCOS show by inflaming the gut, spiking insulin, and flooding the body with androgens, and rebuilding the microbiome through diet, probiotics, and emerging therapies could be the intervention hormonal birth control never was.

‘All of my systems are nervous.’

So I treated myself yesterday to a full body massage after receiving a birthday gift voucher via Fresha.

I had the usual optimism decay into anxious anticipation I get with any ‘proper plans’ I make involving other people.

Leading up to the appointment, worrying I had forgotten about some social rule or unwritten requirements for the session. Obviously I was 5 mins late also because of traffic.

I didn’t realise I had been in such a heightened state especially as I had the day off work.

I was lying down, face poking through that weird little hole on the table, sandwiched between warm soft towels offering a weighted lavender hug and I could just feel an overcrowding of thoughts trying to get to the surface first.

Biggest niggle: I worried I wouldn’t be able to enjoy myself and it would be a huge waste of time and money because my head wasn’t in the right gear for it.

Also I am so pleased they start with the back/shoulder because I couldn’t handle if they started with feet or legs.

Anyway, 90 mins and a full body massage later; I was like a different person.

I can’t believe the impact it had. I understand that warmth and the activity itself instigates ‘rest and digest’ but I walked out felt better connected with my body yet mentally almost completely quiet, nothing was on the offensive - if that makes any sense?! I also had like a non-specific aggy tummy and sinus pain, both noticeably disappeared by the time I got dressed.

I was reflecting later and wondered if that ‘rest and digest’ state is a regular thing for others, potentially NTs more so? I just can’t remember feeling like that without something like that happening.

Borderline tempted to make it a more regular thing! Like how often can/should I look to do that for reset?

TL;DR I think I need to build massage in to improve my stress levels, wellbeing and physical health. Anyone else found it particularly helpful? Any recommendations to build in at home when a formally trained masseuse and her equipment is not available?!

Context: Adult would read to the child; child likely picking up on key words etc.

We’ve just finished reading CS Lewis’ Narnia series together and now I’m not sure what to move onto…? We love a big expanse or lots of world building.

We’ve developed a really nice bedtime routine where I will read to my child (6) for 20-35 mins before need usually 1-2 chapters.

We read Harry Potter (only up to #3 due to themes) prior to that. Despite the outdated wording, Secret Garden went down super well also. Roald Dahl has been good, even the little mini biography went down well.

I’m just looking for either a series that’s substantial enough while meeting the ~PG themes. I wondered about the Oz books? There’s 15 but they don’t look particularly long. Never ending story was another one I wondered about…

Bonus points for illustrations within the book itself as that’s been very much enjoyed during the Narnia books.