LocalMum

My daughter is having an 18th birthday party at the end of Feb in a room above a local pub and we want to hire a photo booth with props etc for the evening. Can anyone recommend one they have used?

4 adult tickets up for grabs for sold out Pub In The Park this afternoon in Dulwich Park. It's from 1-7pm and Beverley Knight, Brand New Heavies and S2S will be playing. ?37.50 each. Happy to sell individually, a pair, all 4 etc. We live in ED so happy to drop off tickets if you're local or meet at the gates to hand over. Thanks

And another recommendation for Ray Murray! I heard about Ray through the Forum and got him in last summer to decorate our back reception room which had been painted a very dark midnight blue so not an easy task. He did a fantastic job and we got him in again this Spring to paint our hallway, stairs and landing. The quality of his work is superb and I can't recommend him highly enough. Ray is a gem - he's reliable, hard working, trustworthy and a really nice bloke. We were working at home with 3 kids home schooling both times he's done work for us and it was a pleasure to have him around. And our dog would leave us for him tomorrow given the chance! You can reach him on 07927 239023. His next job has been postponed so grab him while you can!

This post isn't intended as a rant at everyone with kids - I've got 3 kids myself and am also trying to juggle work with home schooling. My kids also play in our garden. It was simply a polite request to ask parents to keep an eye (or rather ear) on noise levels. That's all!

Yeah, got 3 kids studying at home and trying to work myself. Park not really an option. How about you Abe?

Not so easy to move to a different room if you have a household of people all working on zoom calls etc. What if you're a shift worker trying to sleep? Honestly, if your kids are making a ton of noise, I doubt you can be working yourself so no reason why you can't go to the park.

Just a call out to parents with younger kids, please remember there are lots of people still working at home, people trying to sleep who have done night shifts and older kids studying at home (it's still term -time....) It's boiling hot, we've all got to have our windows and doors open so please encourage your children to show some consideration and not scream and shout in the garden! I get it, I've got kids, but take them to the park to really let rip if they need to rather than putting all your neighbours through it!

We have also just used Jon - recommended by a friend - and he did a fantastic job. Our windows were in a terrible state - hadn't been cleaned for over a year since having building work done. Jon worked really hard cleaning them inside and out including a very tricky huge roof light in kitchen side return extension. He was polite, responsive on email and phone, turned up when he said he would and is a lovely guy. We've already booked him to come back in 3 months to do the windows again and have also booked him to clean some carpets, a rug and sofa. Highly recommended!

Dear James I live on Shawbury Road, just off Lordship Lane. It has become a beacon for deliveroo drivers who park here - I'm guessing as it's so close to the restaurants they pick up from - rather than where they are supposed to park at their depot. Several times a week our evenings or weekends are marred by motorbikes and scooters revving up, going up and down the road and tonight I saw one of the motorbikes going up and down doing wheelies. We are a residential road with lots of young families. I, and other residents, have contacted deliveroo about their drivers anti-social behaviour before but nothing changes. What can the council do?

Just had some great service from a local plumber - Pete bennison - so I thought i'd tell someone about it. Our heating stopped working, even though the boiler was pumping out hot water. I called Pete based on previous recs on EDF, and he was so helpful. He talked me through what it might be, stayed on the phone while I switched a few things on and off, figured out what the problem was for me, said I could probably fix it myself if i got the replacement part, and even texted a webpage link to the part I needed to get. And he did all of that even though I'd never used him before and there was nothing in it for him. He saved me a callout charge, and I'll definitely use him for our next boiler service. Nice to know there are tradesmen out there like him.

Hi there, We have a 2 year old cockapoo who is walked by Siobhan Towland every week. Siobhan is a professional dog walker and she's fantastic - in fact, we started using her because I was so impressed with how she handled another cockapoo she walks when I first met her out walking our dog as a puppy. Our dog is always over the moon when Siobhan collects her and doesn't look back - you can't get a better recommendation than that! Her number is 07883 636773. Louise

My daughter is nearly 11 (Y6 at a local primary) and would really like to play netball out of school. Does anyone know of anywhere girls can play netball after school or at the weekend? Similarly, my 9 year old would like to play badminton. Does anyone know of a club for children that she could join in the local area? Thanks

Another ringing endorsement for Billy at Hunter Heating Solutions. Saw him recommended on the forum and was really happy with the work he did (serviced boiler, fitted new thermostat and explained very patiently how to use it, and balanced all the radiators). He was punctual, tidy and a very nice chap! We will definitely use him again for any heating related jobs.

At the risk of just repeating what's gone before, we've had a great service from David too - he and Paul turned up bang on time, did a great job, even advised us of jobs that would need doing next time round (but not trying to sell us into doing them now). Definitely a regular.