BlueOrchid

Thanks all for the advice!

Thanks - I think you are right. I am a complete dog novice and I just needed this kind of advice. I will go for it.

Hi I have a puppy who is just 11 weeks old and I have the option of joining a puppy class (which I do want to do) but the classes are at 1pm (usually this is when she is sleeping) and she will only be 12 weeks. The classes are with Dulwich Dog School. Does anyone else have any experience with doing a 1pm class? How did it work with the usual dog nap? Is 12 weeks too young to start? Really confused and would love some advice. This is my first dog and so really appreciate hearing from people who have been there. Also is it just me but is 1pm a really unusual time for a training class? All the stuff I have read online about puppy routines has puppies doing a lunchtime nap. This is the only local class I have found - why do a 1pm class? Am I missing something???

Hi We have a Cavalier King Charles spaniel puppy (9 weeks) coming to live with us this weekend. I am quite nervous as I have never had a dog before. My husband has - but I suspect I will be more on the front line day to day. We have two kids (12 and 15) who are very excited. So if anyone has any advice - please please get in touch. Also if anyone is selling anything dog related that they recommend please let me know too. I have a whole Amazon basket full of stuff (destined for next day delivery) - I just am trying to make sure I get the right version of each thing and it is mine field with so much conflicting advice. For example - I read that the puppy should sleep in a crate next to our bed to begin with. That is fine. But I also read they should have a crate in the main living area and also that having two crates could be confusing and also moving a crate about could be confusing. How did you square this circle? Anyway - would love to hear from people who have lived through this. Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the suggestions. 😀

Hi all I wondered if anyone recommended a yoga class in Dulwich (East Dulwich, Dulwich Village, West Dulwich or Herne Hill). I saw there was a hot pod yoga place and I wondered if anyone tried that and what they thought. Thanks

Hi I just wanted to write something about the very many muggings that have been occurring around Dulwich. I am on a what?s app group that shares alerts and in the last couple of weeks alone there have been multiple muggings - all of them on children. The victims are secondary school kids - usually aged between 11 and 14, usually boys, occasionally girls. Dulwich Park is a particular hotspot and the streets around it, especially Court Lane and Eynella Road (outside Dulwich Library). The roads around Sunray Gardens and Charter North Dulwich School have also been targeted. The attackers are usually a small group of boys, both black and white who start by engaging the school child in conversation- then make their threat. The reason I am writing this is several of my friends boys have been targets and they are understandable very upset by their ordeal. This evening one of them was approached and threatened and he ran to a nearby house and knocked on the door and the person inside refused to open it. The attackers thought he was going home so backed off initially, but then gave chase again when they realised their prey was still at large and vulnerable. Luckily they next house this boy went to for help did let him in, called the police and walked the boy home. Anyway - my point is - these attackers are also children - mostly around 15-19 years old. So far they have always backed off when an adult has become involved. Please can we all be vigilant? If you see a group of teenagers approach a lone child - keep an eye on them and maybe go over and ask the child if they need help. If the lone child does NOT know the approaching group, offer to walk them home. Every time this intervention has happened the gang have backed off. Also - if you happen to live around the streets of Dulwich and a child comes to your house asking for help - please think twice before turning them away. Please pass this on.

I just had my first haircut with Margaret and she was brilliant! I am normally very nervous when I get my hair done. Somehow Margaret put me at my ease and did a fantastic cut. Will definitely be using her again!

I recommend them too. They are just starting their own business, and it is really nice dealing with a small team of the same faces every day. They are polite and considerate and care about giving you a good service. (It is much nicer than getting a quote from a bigger company who then passes it on to hired hands who are on minimum wage and don?t care at all).

Hello We just had some work done. The guys were really good and very hardworking. They created a loft room for us inside our roof eaves, which included building walls (and insulator them) all the electrics and decor and adding a velux into the roof. They also tile. I?ll try to upload some photos. They are called LightBuild. Gintaras and Aivaras. ‭+44 7427 566558‬

I have had the same experience with people (including Reece from R M Coney) that I have hired and paid for jobs. I paid because I thought the jobs WERE finished, but I hadn't realised that there was poor quality work or things that had been missed. So now I faced with the choice of trying to constantly chase someone up, to get them back in (when they keep saying they'll come back but at the last minute cancel or don't turn up) or hire someone else - but to have to PAY A SECOND TIME. I have learnt my lesson. Whereas before I always paid immediately (especially people who are independent contractors as they have bills and families of their own) now I will be much more careful. I will now give it several days before paying to check and double check work. The problem is a new paying client is always going to take preference over a snagging job where you have been paid and are not getting any more money. So once you have paid you lose all leverage. That said - your only leverage is to spread the word like FFoster is doing, to warn others when someone does not bother to return and correct their mistakes. I am waiting for Reece to come back and make alterations to some carpentry work he carried out for me. He has promised to return about 6 times now and each time he stood me up - with no real explanation or apology. What makes it worse is that before I spotted the mistakes I was really happy with his work and I gave him a really good recommendation on the forum. I thought he was a really nice honest person and I am so surprised that he has behaved this way.

Following on from what FFoster said, we have hired a number of different people to carry out work for us, and I have noticed that the minute someone has been paid in full they almost NEVER come back to carry out snagging or repairs. I am experiencing this right now with 2 contractors - one carpenter and one plumber. I wish I had waited a week before paying them both. If I had I would have realised there were problems with the work and I could have withheld payment until it was completed properly. I will now NEVER pay on the same day and wait until I have fully checked and re-checked the work. But I learnt the hard way and I wish I hadn't.

Hello The buttons operating the clock on our range master oven have stopped working (unfortunately as the oven is linked to the clock through a timer it means the oven also isn't working). The gas works and the stove and the grill, so I think if I could just get the clock fixed it would all be fine. I saw on Amazon you can buy new buttons and even a new clock - but I would need an appliance engineer to fit it. Does anyone please have a recommendation? My normal electrician can't do it. Thanks

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They still live in central London so I doubt they are using the forum yet.

My sky engineer spoke to their builders when he fixed the issue. No one is in any doubt about the cause. If the neighbours asked - they could speak to the engineer we used (we have his telephone number). Or they could offer to contribute the amount they feel is fair if they think we have over-paid. But in reality they have just ignored the whole issue and not responded to any direct emails or texts. So Lowlander just to check would you have behaved in the same way as my neighbours? And do you think any potential souring of the relationship is all caused by MY actions?

Sorry - Also want to add in response to Lowlander that getting a sky engineer to visit and quote would cost ?60 - so once the engineer is there it is crazy not to let them fix it. If the neighbours wanted to check it if it was their scaffold that caused the problem or organize to fix the sky themselves - they had weeks in which to do so. So I don't really agree that I have wound them up. Red Devil - one of the things that grates is that we signed off EVERYTHING they asked for straight away as we were trying to foster a harmonious neighborly relationship.

I apologize for the double thread on this subject. It was unintentional. I had raised the matter in a different section accidentally and it had been moved here. I didn't realise it had been moved here and thought it has been deleted by the moderator - so started a new thread that was also moved here. Anyway now I realize my mistake and won't make it again. Also - in response to a few comments, I mentioned to them the day the scaffold went up that is interfered with our sky signal. We waited 2 weeks then we forced to organize to get it fixed ourself as our children were unhappy. I kept my neighbours informed at each step. They have ignored me each time. I have now asked directly for money (rather than hinting and hoping they offer which would have been pleasanter). Anyway it isn't the money - more the rudeness. I would be perfectly happy for them to donate the amount to charity. I would just like an acknowledgement - which I have never had. And that is actually been what has made it more tricky to let go of. I know in the big scheme of things this is not a big deal. I started the threads to genuinely find out if many people would have taken my neighbours position.

If you put up a large scaffold around your house and your neighbour told you it blocked their sky signal would you: a) apologize and offer to pay for an engineer to fix their signal b) ignore them c) deny that your scaffold was the cause Please vote now - I really want to know what most people would do Thanks in advance

Sorry that previous response was to the first comment. To respond to the second comment - they are both lawyers. I don't think I can threaten them with court. Also - I want to be on good terms with my neighbours - and more than the money it saddens me that this is an indication that we are not going to be living next door to people who are considerate.

I know I should. I just wanted it to be sorted out in a pleasant manner. I don't have any doubt that they know I want them to reimburse me. The fact that they haven't yet offered (it has been month) means they don't want to have to pay. I am worried that if I ask outright they will just refuse and everything will be horribly awkward. I have friends who say that having mentioned it 3 times I should just leave it now and forget about it.

Hello Can people please let me know what they think about this matter.... The house next door to us was sold recently and the buyers have decided to completely renovate it: new roof, side return, loft dormer, total garden re-vamp - the complete works. This started on the first day of the school summer holidays (I have 2 kids and don't work over the summer so I can be at home with them). It was very noisy. Also the builders were working EVERY Saturday. So we get very little noise respite. On the day their massive wrap around scaffold went up it knackered our sky reception. I sent a polite text mentioning this. The text back merely expressed surprise that sky was so "sensitive" and seemed to deny their scaffold could be the cause. We then paid for a sky engineer to fix the issue. A very nice man came around and said "yes of course it is the scaffolds fault" and he moved our dish to get a signal. I have since mentioned it twice in passing that we have paid for an engineer hoping they will offer to reimburse us - but it is clear they have no interest in doing so. It isn't really about the money - I am actually more upset that these new people who are going to be our neighbours (once they move into their finished house) could be so dismissive and offhand about this matter. So here is my question: Would you have offered to pay for a sky engineer if you had caused your neighbours dish not to work? Thanks in advance for comments

Signed - kids need their playing space. The estate represents private schools with acres of land but cannot leave this tiny plot for the use of this state school? It is horrid. If they need the cash so badly I am sure Dulwich College won't miss part of one of its many large fields!

So is it definitely an M&S food that is replacing Iceland? Does anyone know?

Hummm seems suspicious - interested to see if anyone else has same problem. I have not been impressed with their cleanliness.... Seen their toilets? Horrid. I don't go there now - the ice-cream is really expensive - ?2.30 for a single scoop and their customer service is the worst I have seen in the Village. Stefano is really moody about giving out tasters (even when he has run out of all the usual flavors like strawberry and vanilla). Seriously with ice-cream at this price I don't think it is too much to ask for more than one taste test for a young child. Plus some politeness and a smile might be nice too.