TwinkleToes

Thanks for opening your fabulous home/ studio for the Dulwich Festival - what an amazing space hidden away in the heart of East Dulwich, and your work is wonderful. Very happy with my purchase.

Thanks to those of you who gave helpful unbiased advice, and for the PMs - it's appreciated. Also fair enough to the people who have enough time to trawl the forum and express their opinions on 'buy to lets' but it might help if you knew our full story and intentions before expostulating! Best wishes, Mrs P Rachman

Is there anywhere to store bikes, as I cycle from SE22?

Does anyone have any experience of trying to get a 'buy to let' mortgage? We're interested in the idea of getting somewhere to develop or do up and then let as a source of income. Probably not in London due to the initial costs.... We'd be really interested to hear anyone's experience both pre- and post-covid.

I know the main idea of wearing masks is to stop passing germs on to others and most people wear the most basic ones but which are the best ones for protecting ourselves against getting Covid which are available to the general public?

I'd also like to recommend these classes - I went to several in the summer and will be going back as soon as I can get Wednesday afternoons off again. They are really enjoyable and it's a friendly atmosphere, very welcoming. Suzsi shows us lots of new techniques every week but is also happy for us to do our own thing if we prefer. It's also useful not to have to splash out on materials - she has lots of paints and unlimited amounts of paper for us. Her live and work studio is in an amazing space hidden away right in E Dulwich - it used to be an old church school and the light is great there.

thanks for the replies so far - interesting. It would be great to see photos of the art that some of you have described. Do any of you visit the Art markets atno 57 Northcross road? There are a few coming up on Saturdays - - fine art on Nov 30th then a mix of art and design on Dec 7th and Dec 14th.

I hadn't realised some people in East Dulwich were so hilariously witty, or had so much time to waste, Capt Marvel and Artful Dodger. It will be helpful for my next survey to find the average IQ of the population of East Dulwich. On the other hand, thanks for the helpful feedback, KidKruger + sweetgirl. I'm trying to help local artists and designers get a better understanding of the local demographic and look forward to more helpful comments such as yours, ideally with photos of any original art that people have on their walls.

If it's mainly family and friends, would you ever consider buying original art or prints from local artists or online? Or if you were able to choose an artwork for free, would it be a painting/original print/ photo? Would the subject be landscape, abstract, portrait, cityscape, or something else? All replies are really helpful for our survey, thanks for replies.

I'm trying to find out what East Dulwichites put on their walls to help our large artistic community and also out of general interest. Do you collect original art, or do you prefer prints or photos? Landscapes? Cityscapes? Portraits? Family photos? Minimalistic plain walls? If you'd like to send a description or better still, post an image of anything you have on your wall, I'll make an East Dulwich 'gallery' once we have enough. Personally, I have a mix of photos of family and friends, past and present and paintings by my Dad, partner, son and friends, so I'm starting it off with attaching a couple of photos of my walls. Looking forward to seeing everyone else's, in particular original art rather than family photos.

I've had a very helpful PM from someone who managed to get rid of their infestation - details below in case anyone else needs it. They said:- "Hi, there, I had a fight with bed bugs this summer too & won (although it was a very stressful time dealing with them!) Key points when dealing with them I'd say: - They tend to stay with 1-2m radius from where you are staying at night i.e. bed so you can focus you treatment area - their feeding window is around 2-5am + dark, so any treatments you do I'd recommend doing them at night, as this is when they are active, chemicals are more likely to reach them directly and have better effect - do not move things from one area (room) to another, I'd say, even when they are clean, leave them in the same room, so you know if your methods are working Methods - Wash all the fabrics in the highest temperature possible - Spray area with the bedbug killer - Spray area with highest concentration alcohol you can get (this helps to dry out their shells and larva) - Clean the affected hard surfaces with alcohol solution - Hoover the affected area at least 2 times a day (night even better) - change the bag or wash the hoover after each use!) To sum up, basically you're trying to make sure the chemicals reach them directly, and their bodies & larva dry out & then hoover like mad! I used 70% isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol and put it in a plant spray bottle. I'm slightly sceptical about bedbug 'experts' and think they are likely to say that you will not be able to get rid of them yourself. From my research I found that there isn't a product that would prevent them from coming out or multiplying, so the only way to kill them is using spray or alcohol + direct contact, hence, i think, night hunts and obsessive hoovering worked. It's all about knowing reproducing/feeding habits and trying to tackle it that way. I've slept in the living room for 3 days and applied extreme cleanliness in the affected area! It is quite horrible and stigmatised, but they are actually not as bad as mosquitos for example (which move around more and have potential to carry diseases). But yes, it's very annoying having them disturb your sleep (I've even developed an allergic reaction to the bites). Good luck! "

We have found bedbugs in corners of 2 of our bed frames - no idea where they came from but even after blitzing both rooms with bedbug killer spray, throwing away the mattress and ripping up the carpets, we still seem to be getting bitten. Apparently there is an epidemic in London - yuk!! https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/aug/19/bedbugs-heatwave-sparks-plage-pest-infestation Our flat has so many places they could hide as it is open plan with lots of exposed brick and wooden beams.... Has anyone else had a similar problem and if so did you manage to get rid of them?

I don't normally post recommendations on this forum but I wanted to share this as today is the last day this is open. I visited this artist at Studio-SE22 yesterday - the work and the studio are great - it's in a converted Victorian school. There are really interesting digitally manipulated cityscape prints, contemporary landscape paintings and amazing paintings of vintage dresses using unusual techniques, large and small. the smallest ones are incredibly good value for a professional artist. Best studio I've been to! It's open again today and also she said she is sometimes open by appointment if you contact her via her website which is http://studio-se22.com/ or via instagram https://www.instagram.com/studio.se22/?hl=en - I'm not on commission by the way!! Just a happy art appreciator and collector.

I've always found Epson the best for artwork and the inks are not as expensive for newer models, especially if you can buy the economy size individual ones. I'll check the model no I currently have and send you a PM later.