redjam

I think classes have a place, as long as you're not constantly dragging your kids from one to another every day. We've done Caterpillar Music in the past and go to Diddidance now, which my daughter loves. She still loves hopping around to music at home and bashing her tambourine, but the classes offer her the chance to socialise with other kids, learn new things, play with different instruments etc that we just don't have at home. And realistically you don't always have the energy/imagination to organise stimulating activities at home, so it's good to have a focus to the day. Some classes seem better value than others, admittedly, but I wouldn't say they're a rip-off - I don't think a fiver or so is bad for 45 minutes of entertainment. Less than a large glass of wine in some of the pubs round here!

Ho hum - just had the dreaded call from Barclays - my card has just been used in Canada too. Wouldn't be so bad, but my husband was called by his bank, HSBC, last night, to say his had been used in India. And of course we both happen to be completely out of cash and both our local banks are closed tomorrow... I mentioned to the Barclays fraud protection woman that there seems to be a lot of fraud round our way recently, and she sighed and said, 'There's a lot of fraud everywhereat the moment, Madam.' So may not just be here - maybe we're just more aware of it because of the postings on this forum. Anyway, am now completely paranoid that someone's been going through our rubbish, seeing as both my husband and my cards were both cloned at the same time. Oh, and I was always very smug about how careful I am to cover the PIN number with my hand when dinging it in, but now not convinced it makes the blindest bit of difference. Oh well, one for experience.

I've had this problem before with Somerfields too. I once bought two massive boxes of teabags as they were on a 2-for-1 special offer. Didn't notice till I got home that I'd been charged twice. Next time I was in there I showed them the receipt and pointed to the offer sign, but they said it only applied on special shrink-wrapped double packs (which needless to say were buried behind the individual boxes and couldn't be seen easily unless you were on your hands and knees). I got a bit stroppy and the guy told me if I brought both boxes back I could swap them for the special double-pack and get a refund. So after three trips I finally got my money back! Not sure it was worth the hassle given I only saved a couple of quid, but by this point I was on my moral high horse. (Sad I know...) Anyway, I always check the receipt now at the till if I've bought anything on special offer, as I'm sure there have been other times that I've been caught out with them. Not really convinced incompetence is an excuse.

I'm glad this message has been posted as I too, saw the other locked thread and was sad to think it might damage G&F's reputation. I've always thought the staff there have been great - I went in just after my baby was born to choose an outfit for a wedding and the owner was lovely - really taking the time to help and clucking gratifyingly over the baby (this must be the hardest part of being a shopkeeper in ED, having to be endlessly pleasant to a constant stream of baldie babies and snotty-nosed kids). Been in there many times since and always found them friendly. It's my nick-nack shop of choice!

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Ah, thank you! I was never going to guess that... Any other weird pun names in East Dulwich?

This has been bugging me since we moved here. It's a hairdressers on Uplands Road, and I've become obsessed with trying to work out whether the name is some kind of pun. I am too embarrassed to go in and ask in case I'm missing an obvious reference. Put me out of my misery, someone!

I fed him this morning and put a blanket down for him in a sheltered spot, as he was still hanging around our front door and appeared to have spent the night in our hedge. He didn't seem like a long-term stray as he looked fairly healthy and was happy for me to pick him up, so I had hoped he would find his own way home yesterday. I was planning to phone round vets/contact RSPCA etc this afternoon if he was still there, but I now haven't seen him since lunchtime. Don't know whether to be pleased or not really! Let's hope he's now back with his own family, having a laugh at my expense... If he shows up again, I'll spring into action. Always difficult to know what to do in these situations as you don't want to encourage cats if they have owners elsewhere, who might well be missing them. Our cat once led a double life and was fed by a neighbour for several months (mind you, he's enormously fat so I can't think how she didn't realise he already had a home!).

Anyone lost a kitten on or around Fellbrigg Road? A little grey tabby has spent the last couple of days constantly burrowing its way into our cellar through a broken grate and is now hanging around sadly outside. We'd love to keep him/her but we already have a cat who is not amused by the intrusion! Not sure what to do with him as we feel bad chucking him out into the cold...

We've just moved here after living in Islington for 13 years (St Peter's Street/Barnsbury Terrace). Various reasons we moved, not least that we could get a whole house here for the price of a maisonette with no garden in Islington! I agree with the person who said that Islington is a better place to live in your twenties - ED by contrast feels like a good safe place to bring up kids, with more of a community feel. I'm surprised though that people are saying ED is good for green spaces - it might have two big parks but the playgrounds aren't great, whereas Islington had loads of little interesting squares, and Highbury Fields is fab for kids. LL feels like Upper Street was when we first moved there - a bit scruffy, with some interesting independent shops and bars, but with the chains starting to sniff around. Certainly Upper Street changed a huge amount in the time we lived there as more City money came into the area and the rents increased. Overall we're happy we moved though I do miss the good transport links - it definitely feels more cut off here even though it's only Zone 2.