pigglemarex

Hi James Can you help with the following:- I am sure you have noticed that there are a lot of little poeple in East dulwich! My 3 month old daughter is a patient at the Gardens. They have recently changed their baby clinic policy (you can take them to get weighed, seak advice and get jabs). It used to be a drop in which had its benefits and negatives. However now it is by appointment only. I was supposed to get my daughter weighed at the beginning of June but can only get an appointment on the 21st July. I should have just booked an appointment at the end of June she offered but I decided to take their advice and call every Thursday the baby clinic is open and try and get a cancellation - no joy! Annoyingly people boom appointments and just don't show up. The health visitors work out of Townley Road. Other surgery patients are allowed to drop in their but we are not allowed. The Gardens have asked if we can go but the health visitors are yet to confirm / allow us to attend. Is this something you can help with or point me in the right direction? My daughter needs to be weighed regularly as they are concerned about her growth. I realise part of this problem is due to forgetful sleep deprived parents but it's proving difficult to get an appointment. I hope the above makes sense! Thanks, Catherine

I highly highly recommend Lauren - I used her for my wedding. I lost 15cm off my hips in 5 months! http://www.bodyfittrainingsolutions.com/ She does boxing, kettle bells, resistance straps and Bulgarian bags (no I had never heard of them either) She does semi private sessions on Peckham Rye. Maybe I will see you there! :-)

Having spent some of my teens in the 'sticks' and some in London - I can safely say that London is an awesome place to grow up. Admittedly I went to secondary school in Croydon but I was so independent. I could get public transport whenever I wanted. SO did not have to rely on lifts from parents or unrealiable bus service or infrequent trains. I could navigate the tube network with ease from 12 - some of my uni friends still struggle / find it scary. I was exposed to different cultures and backgrounds - It made me a much more open and accepting person I think. It was bit of a culture shock going to uni in another City. I had always considered that my parents had kept me quite sheltered and to some extent they did, but people who I met at uni had really not had the opportunities I had. I love London! I still get a kick out of going home late at night on the 176 and going over Waterloo bridge admiring the view!

Addison Lee kept their prices the same this Chrimbo - was great, esp on the way home after a big Christmas Dinner. It meant we could just sleep off our food babies.

South Africa - the flights are pricey but weather is lovely. Food and drink is v cheap once you are out there. Cape Tape, Constantia, Franchoek, Stellenbosch all lovely - not sure how family friendly but you can fly overnight on A Friday and be there Sat morning and fly back on a Sat evening and have the Sunday to recover... Its very chilled out.

We had an awesome band called the road runners - they are more rocky (not so much rubbish cheese) 60s - to current. Everyone young and old loved them. They are about 1,250 for the night (there are 5 of them) which seemed cheaper in comparison to some. They played at our wedding and a friends. At one point we were all 'moshing' to Nivarna including my parents friends and aunts and uncles! My husband used to be in a band and they did let them have a little reunion on stage - nice guys! We also had a Piano man - he played whatever you wanted on request - he had an AMAZING repertoire - he played everything from memory. He was about 300 quid - so a cheaper alternative - but still live music and interactive!

They only have a life of 5 years apparently.

Hi Looking at NCT classes and I came across Bump and Baby Club which is run out of ESPH - does anyone have any experience of this? I like the idea of NCT but also like that this course prepares you for changing nappies etc! If anyone has any other suggestions /recommendations it would be much appreciated. Can anyone recommend hypno-birthing course that they were happy with as well - willing to try anything to keep me calm! Thanks everyone x

They have a 3 year warranty- you should contact bugaboo if its within that period. They are actually very good and usually replace the broken/faulty bit rather than trying to fix it.

OH - the bare minerals ladies in CW are lovely! Its great for a shop at the weekend and the big boots on the otherside of the shopping complex to Bare Minerals has loads of counters. They have a bobby brown and Space NK shop there as well - I love the bobbi brown shimmer brick as I sometimes use the lighter colours on my eyes. I do recommend smashbox (at the back in the larger boots at CW) - they have a great primer (I use the light one) and eye primer (keeps eye shadow in place and stops it going in creases) for when you want to look especially glam x

Hello People! I have decided that rather than moaning about my job - I am going to do something about it and make a change! I have no idea what I want to do next or how to go about it so think I need some professional help. I have looked online but it is rather daunting, as well as being hard to tell who is good / who is unsatisfactory and who will just take the inevitable fee and run! Does anyone have a personal recommendations for someone that can help me with careers advice/guidance? Thanks in advance.

Ok - I have called 6 times to enquire if there is any chance the joining fee can be reduced or taken off. But no one has picked up - I ring and ring until their system hangs up. NOT acceptable for somewhere that charges the same as privately run gym companies...

I was thinking about joining but with a 37 joining fee - for what - it takes seconds to take down an address and key in a direct debit - I am not sure I want to. I thought this was supposed to be a council Gym. ?49.00 a month plus a ?37 joining fee is quite a lot of money for normal folk.

Hi Can anyone recommend a place to get a last minute birthday cake today please in EDulwich & surrounding area. Preferably carrot cake. My Stupid brother is throwing surprise party for wife and forgot to sort the cake out! He has asked me to sort. Needs to be at least 10 inches / feed 16 - 20. Thanks guys!

Oooooh I am getting married in Dec - shall we do it together?

Thanks everyone! Lots to choose from now.

Hi Jeremy Haha! Yes I know it?s a tall order - I had been looking but thought I would ask the forum as they are usually better informed than myself! I had been looking at Kent but had not even thought of Richmond. Were there any specific ones? I think hotel is more important than location. Although I am not sure a fancy London would be in our price range just before Christmas. I think Richmond would be perfect as we can get home on Public transport easily when returning and the park and river are close by for a nice relaxing walk. Plus its far enough away to avoid the rellies popping in! Thanks Jeremy!

Hi Getting married in Dec and need somewhere not to far from East Dulwich to stay on our wedding night and the following night. We would stay at home but it will be over run with fanily from overseas and I don't think we will get much chance to sleep as I am sure we will be knackered! So bascially if anyone can recommend somwehere romantic and within an hour from ED that should be ok with us arriving late on the first night let me know! Thanks!

Sofa.com I know its not technically local (they are London based) but we bought lovely sofas and an ottoman from sofa.com. They have their only showroom by Wandsworth Bridge - I def recommend going there and actually sitting on them pus they have large swatches of all the fabrics so you can cover the sofa you like in thr fabric and get a better idea of what it will be like. Have a look at the website - you can even get the fabric customised if you want something a bit different. The delivery men were lovely and they can assemble the sofa at your home if your hallways are to narrow etc. They cleaned up their mess and all the packaging. I would avoid the soft wool fabrics though as they loose their shape a little. Plus any place that gives you money for the parking metre and makes you a cuppa is a winner as far as I am concerned!!

Neighbourhood vets! Solved the mystery of our cat scratching all the skin off her head repeatedly quickly. Plus my other half loves going there - apparently one of the vets is rather pretty! :-)

Hi I need a marquee hire company recommendation for a small marquee to go in a back garden in December. All help greatfully appreciated!

I definitely recommmend Winkworths. From a buyers perspective they were very good dto deal with - pro-actively calling up as soon as something we wanted came on the market. Asked for feedback etc. Which is good from a sellers perspective as gets buyers in that are actually interested in your house rather than just getting numbers through the door and gets it sold quickly. Believe me having to dress your house up every weekend is a PAIN! The asking prices seemed 'punchy' to me but its a sellers market and people are seemingly willing to pay top dollar in the area. So they will def get you a good price - they eeked every last penny out of me! They also have the most listings in the area - I got bored calling loads of agents every week and stuck to the ones with most listings at the time, Winkworths and Haart. I highly recommend Dominic Barry - I think our vendors were very happy with him as well. He got the deal sorted quickly and chased solicitors up etc (which is half the battle of getting a quick completion.) Re not having a top dollar mansion - the first rung on the property ladder is mental all over London at the moment and the agents do not have to try very hard to sell. They should be biting your hand off and you should get the fee reduced if you can. 1% is good. Most houses/flats in the area are under offer before they even make it online! Re using an agent that is in the area that you are buying in - did not help us even though they promised it would.

Hi Planning on getting married in December and was wondering due to the lack of hotels in the area can anyone recommend some B&Bs? I have heard the Lilac Door is very good but will need a couple of suggestions for people planning to stay over. xx

Hi Going to pick up our new cats from the Cecilia Hammond centre at the weekend. Can anyone recommend a goodvet in the East Dulwich area? Thanks! :-)