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I'm an ED resident who has recently written a book called London Stitch and Knit, a guide to London's fabric, knitting and haberdashery shops. Here is a link to the book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/London-Stitch-Knit-Knitting-Haberdashery/dp/1910433527/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1442976660&sr=1-1&keywords=london+stitch+and+knit I will have a few book launch events locally and wanted to invite any crafty people who enjoy sewing, knitting, crochet, embroidery, weaving or related crafty pursuits. One will be at Stag and Bow in Forest Hill on 17 October from 3-5pm and another one at Rye Books 18 October 2-4pm. I've attached the invitation here (sorry, I had to make it quite small to attach it so it might be hard to read). I hope to meet some of you then! Leigh

I'll be taking part in the Decorative Living Fair on 6 October at Chelsea Old Town Hall. It's a great fair featuring beautiful vintage and antique housewares. I've attached the flyer for the fair. The organiser has kindly offered 10 tickets as a giveaway for me to offer to residents so I thought I would share that information here in case some of you would like to attend (it's a ?5 entry otherwise). In order to receive a ticket, the first 10 people to write Caroline, the organiser will receive tickets. I will remove my post after she's given away the tickets. Just email her at [email protected] and let her know you've read about her giveaway on the ED forum from Leigh. https://www.facebook.com/decorativelivingfair Leigh

I wanted to ask if anyone knows of any good options for group accommodation for 12 people in one house in London. I've looked in a variety of places online but wanted to ask if anyone has any particular suggestions here. Rooms can be shared but each person needs their own bed (that is the tricky part) and we need use of the kitchen so it has to be self catered. Thanks, Leigh

Thank you! I prefer the sound of the second option as I'm in lightroom more and usually export from there. Thanks for your help. Leigh

Any lightroom and photoshop users available to help me with a question? It might be easier to explain via private message or over the phone. Ideally, I'd love it if someone could come to my house or meet me out and show me on my own computer how to do what I want to do as I'm not having a lot of luck with tutorials and videos online. I use lightroom and photoshop often, but need to use it for a purpose that I'm not used to. Basically, I want to open multiple files in photoshop from Lightroom and batch edit them with an action in regards to printing preferences CMYK, uncoated FOGRA29, etc. I understand how to create the action, I just don't understand how to apply them to many photos at once (or at least a handful at once). If anyone is up for helping me, I'd greatly appreciate it! Feel free to PM me.

I purposely walk on the other side of the street with our daughters because this junction has given me so much stress trying to cross it in the past. Something really needs to be done. I've seen many near misses. A few months ago we saw a cyclist hit by a car and today my husband texted me when he witnessed today's horrible incident. I hope the woman is okay.

I also found Andy on the forum and he was very helpful at putting in some picture rails and a curtain pole. Reasonably priced and very nice.

Steve also did a great job on our garden recently too, a very thorough tidy up and cutting back. It looks great now!

I've recently had my engagement ring re-designed with Lila's Jewellery on Lordship Lane and couldn't be more pleased! The diamond in my ring is an heirloom from my grandmother. I've wanted to have my engagement ring re-designed for many years now as I wasn't completely happy with the setting I initially chose when my husband and I were engaged. I had been to Hatton Garden (among other places) in the past but was simply overwhelmed by the vast number and diverse array of jewelers there. When Lila's moved into the neighborhood, I thought I'd enquire if they could create a bespoke piece. I was pleased to find out they did. Rowena, their designer and gemmologist, did a tremendous job translating my inspiration ideas into her own design illustrations. After our initial consultation, she proceeded to make a series of drawings based on my ideas. As our ideas sharpened and came to a final design, she then sourced the best materials for my ring, even using some other stones I supplied from another ring to off-set the cost a bit. I also had grading and valuation done on the ring, which Lila's arranged for me. My ring turned out exactly like Rowena's final illustration and stayed within the budget. I can't recommend Lila's highly enough!

In June this summer I'm assisting cookbook writer and photographer Beatrice Peltre to host a food styling and photography workshop in East Sussex. We have a few spaces left so I thought I'd pass along the information in case there are any aspiring food photographers out there who might be interested in sharpening their skills. The workshop will be held at a lovely farm, Hawthbush Farm http://www.hawthbushfarm.co.uk/, from 28 June to 4 July. Lessons by Beatrice will be interspersed with local visits to places like a smokery, the beach, and a pick your own fruit farm. Here is more information in case anyone is interested: http://www.latartinegourmande.com/2014/01/08/a-food-styling-and-photography-workshop-in-england-summer-2014/ Feel free to PM me with any questions as well. Leigh

Thank you for the replies! Leigh

I've signed up our daughter for Nimble Arts holiday club during half term (http://nimblearts.co.uk/?page_id=537) and was just wondering if your child has attended before and if they enjoyed it? I looked on the forum for any recommendations or info on it (besides info on the actual workshops) but didn't see any feedback regarding their program. It sounds really fun for kids and she's already signed up but I was just curious. Thanks, Leigh

A number of people have PM'd me to ask if I could recommend the handyman I found if he did a good job. I usually call on a person named Paul to help me, who does a wonderful job and has helped me a number of times, but he is not available right now until the end of February. His number is 07980540287. So the person I did call on was Lee 07717572036, who did a great job today as well and was referred by a private PM I received. Both Paul and Lee charge 20 pounds per hour. Hope that helps the people who have written me for information. Leigh

I now have someone to help, thanks for all the replies! Leigh

I've contacted 3 handymen I found on the forum in the last 2 weeks but have not heard back from them. If you are a handyman or can recommend one who might be available for small work, please let me know. I need a babygate installed, wall mount ironing board, curtain poles, and coat hook. Our walls are quite solid and require a hammer drill to get anything into them so I;m not able to do this myself. Send PM if you are a handyman who can help along with your hourly rate. I live in ED near the ED police station. Thanks! -Leigh

If you're interested in crafts... http://www.craftyfoxmarket.co.uk/

I'm not sure if I'm posting in the correct place, but I'd like to find someone who could put a simple doll pattern into illustrator to clean up the lines. I've made the pattern for a magazine and need a clean line version of my paper cut scanned pattern. I've drawn the face on the pattern and would like it to appear as well. I can't imagine this would take someone who knows illustrator more than 30 minutes to an hour. If anyone could help with this, please send me a PM. Thanks! Leigh

I also need one before the weekend due to a guest arriving. I called a few places but haven't had any luck finding anyone with them before this Friday, so I'm also interested if anyone knows of any local x-mas trees available now.

Thanks for that!

I'm interested in finding out if anyone has recommendations of things to do in East Sussex that are food related (farms, breweries, food markets) or just anything interesting to see and do in the area, especially for a small group. Specifically near Gun Hill or between it and Lewes. Also I'm interested in beach recommendations, on the quieter side. Thanks! Leigh

Thanks for letting me know!

I guess I should have mentioned also that we were weren't able to attend the stay and play sessions earlier this summer as we were away so we'd love to meet some other reception children if possible before September.

Our daughter starts reception at Goose Green in September and we're hoping to meet some other fellow classmates before starting. Unfortunately all of her nursery school classmates are going to other schools. If your child will be starting reception at Goose Green in September and you might want to meet up for a playdate, please let me know. I'd even be happy to have a group playdate at a park if anyone is interested! Leigh

Yes, they stood so close they could see me enter my pin. I guess they watched me enter it in while they were standing just behind me. She was sort of on my left, while he was sort of on my right. There were people in line at each of the 3 HSBC cash machines so I knew people were around me but didn't realize they were purposely watching, of course. After I entered my pin, she startled me on the left saying "that machine just took my card don't use it!" Or something like that, and in the second that I looked over at her, he had hit cancel and my card ejected and he slipped in in a brochure in his hand. He had said something too, like "don't use this machine," sort of pointing to it, though really hitting cancel and swiping my card. They both kind of stood there to help, saying things like "maybe we should go in the bank to get ours out" (the bank was closed of course). I started to argue with him telling him I knew he took my card and grabbed his hand as hard as I could. But then he cussed me out and walked off while she was distracting me. So cover your pin with your other hand over it! I always stand super close to the machines, but I guess I wasn't close enough and didn't cover my hand. I'd recommend putting your bank's phone number in your phone as well just to save time to try to cancel your card very quickly.

I'm ok, thanks! I just feel like an idiot! It's frustrating to have someone do this right under your nose! And they took out a big chunk of cash on the very next block. I'm sure our fraud protection will cover it, but still someone pays for this. Plus most of us want to assume the best in people, not the worst, but I guess you have to assume the worst sometimes, especially at cash machines! This machine had eaten my card before legitimately and the person in front of me did not get cash, which I noticed. I figured he just checked his balance. So when they pulled the, "this machine just ate my card" number, for a sec I thought maybe it did but quickly knew I had been had! The police came right away though, which was good and I rode around with them for a bit looking for the thieves at various cash machines in the area. No luck catching them today though.