BlueOrchid

Thanks all for the advice!

Thanks - I think you are right. I am a complete dog novice and I just needed this kind of advice. I will go for it.

Hi I have a puppy who is just 11 weeks old and I have the option of joining a puppy class (which I do want to do) but the classes are at 1pm (usually this is when she is sleeping) and she will only be 12 weeks. The classes are with Dulwich Dog School. Does anyone else have any experience with doing a 1pm class? How did it work with the usual dog nap? Is 12 weeks too young to start? Really confused and would love some advice. This is my first dog and so really appreciate hearing from people who have been there. Also is it just me but is 1pm a really unusual time for a training class? All the stuff I have read online about puppy routines has puppies doing a lunchtime nap. This is the only local class I have found - why do a 1pm class? Am I missing something???

Hi We have a Cavalier King Charles spaniel puppy (9 weeks) coming to live with us this weekend. I am quite nervous as I have never had a dog before. My husband has - but I suspect I will be more on the front line day to day. We have two kids (12 and 15) who are very excited. So if anyone has any advice - please please get in touch. Also if anyone is selling anything dog related that they recommend please let me know too. I have a whole Amazon basket full of stuff (destined for next day delivery) - I just am trying to make sure I get the right version of each thing and it is mine field with so much conflicting advice. For example - I read that the puppy should sleep in a crate next to our bed to begin with. That is fine. But I also read they should have a crate in the main living area and also that having two crates could be confusing and also moving a crate about could be confusing. How did you square this circle? Anyway - would love to hear from people who have lived through this. Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the suggestions. 😀

Hi all I wondered if anyone recommended a yoga class in Dulwich (East Dulwich, Dulwich Village, West Dulwich or Herne Hill). I saw there was a hot pod yoga place and I wondered if anyone tried that and what they thought. Thanks

Hi I just wanted to write something about the very many muggings that have been occurring around Dulwich. I am on a what?s app group that shares alerts and in the last couple of weeks alone there have been multiple muggings - all of them on children. The victims are secondary school kids - usually aged between 11 and 14, usually boys, occasionally girls. Dulwich Park is a particular hotspot and the streets around it, especially Court Lane and Eynella Road (outside Dulwich Library). The roads around Sunray Gardens and Charter North Dulwich School have also been targeted. The attackers are usually a small group of boys, both black and white who start by engaging the school child in conversation- then make their threat. The reason I am writing this is several of my friends boys have been targets and they are understandable very upset by their ordeal. This evening one of them was approached and threatened and he ran to a nearby house and knocked on the door and the person inside refused to open it. The attackers thought he was going home so backed off initially, but then gave chase again when they realised their prey was still at large and vulnerable. Luckily they next house this boy went to for help did let him in, called the police and walked the boy home. Anyway - my point is - these attackers are also children - mostly around 15-19 years old. So far they have always backed off when an adult has become involved. Please can we all be vigilant? If you see a group of teenagers approach a lone child - keep an eye on them and maybe go over and ask the child if they need help. If the lone child does NOT know the approaching group, offer to walk them home. Every time this intervention has happened the gang have backed off. Also - if you happen to live around the streets of Dulwich and a child comes to your house asking for help - please think twice before turning them away. Please pass this on.

I just had my first haircut with Margaret and she was brilliant! I am normally very nervous when I get my hair done. Somehow Margaret put me at my ease and did a fantastic cut. Will definitely be using her again!

I recommend them too. They are just starting their own business, and it is really nice dealing with a small team of the same faces every day. They are polite and considerate and care about giving you a good service. (It is much nicer than getting a quote from a bigger company who then passes it on to hired hands who are on minimum wage and don?t care at all).

Hello We just had some work done. The guys were really good and very hardworking. They created a loft room for us inside our roof eaves, which included building walls (and insulator them) all the electrics and decor and adding a velux into the roof. They also tile. I?ll try to upload some photos. They are called LightBuild. Gintaras and Aivaras. ‭+44 7427 566558‬

I have had the same experience with people (including Reece from R M Coney) that I have hired and paid for jobs. I paid because I thought the jobs WERE finished, but I hadn't realised that there was poor quality work or things that had been missed. So now I faced with the choice of trying to constantly chase someone up, to get them back in (when they keep saying they'll come back but at the last minute cancel or don't turn up) or hire someone else - but to have to PAY A SECOND TIME. I have learnt my lesson. Whereas before I always paid immediately (especially people who are independent contractors as they have bills and families of their own) now I will be much more careful. I will now give it several days before paying to check and double check work. The problem is a new paying client is always going to take preference over a snagging job where you have been paid and are not getting any more money. So once you have paid you lose all leverage. That said - your only leverage is to spread the word like FFoster is doing, to warn others when someone does not bother to return and correct their mistakes. I am waiting for Reece to come back and make alterations to some carpentry work he carried out for me. He has promised to return about 6 times now and each time he stood me up - with no real explanation or apology. What makes it worse is that before I spotted the mistakes I was really happy with his work and I gave him a really good recommendation on the forum. I thought he was a really nice honest person and I am so surprised that he has behaved this way.

Following on from what FFoster said, we have hired a number of different people to carry out work for us, and I have noticed that the minute someone has been paid in full they almost NEVER come back to carry out snagging or repairs. I am experiencing this right now with 2 contractors - one carpenter and one plumber. I wish I had waited a week before paying them both. If I had I would have realised there were problems with the work and I could have withheld payment until it was completed properly. I will now NEVER pay on the same day and wait until I have fully checked and re-checked the work. But I learnt the hard way and I wish I hadn't.

Hello The buttons operating the clock on our range master oven have stopped working (unfortunately as the oven is linked to the clock through a timer it means the oven also isn't working). The gas works and the stove and the grill, so I think if I could just get the clock fixed it would all be fine. I saw on Amazon you can buy new buttons and even a new clock - but I would need an appliance engineer to fit it. Does anyone please have a recommendation? My normal electrician can't do it. Thanks

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They still live in central London so I doubt they are using the forum yet.