EGL

I recommend Virginia. She tutored my son for a school entrance exam (9+) covering English and maths. She tutors for 11+ too. Her number is 07876652989.

Hi. Another recommendation for K&O. We had a bad mouse problem which Colin sorted quickly.

Ditto! I posted a recommendation for him last week. He's really good.

Hello all. I'd like to recommend Mr Fruitcake, who we hired for our son's 5th birthday party recently. He did a really good job for a competitive price. He was great at rounding the kids up at the start of the party and he kept the kids entertained and laughing for 2 hours, even going round the table at tea time with a few little tricks to keep them happy. Our son (who's not easily pleased) was delighted. Mr Fruitcake made it really fun for the children and hassle-free for us. His website is http://mrfruitcake.co.uk

We did it ourselves using solid insulation. It was a huge faff, as our floorboards were mostly in place and we basically had to lie on our backs in the cavity under the boards and lodge the insulating material between the joists (having pre-cut it to size). It took ages but it was worth it. Very effective. With hindsight, though, we probably should've paid someone else to do it.

JAGS gets my vote. They run climbing sessions called "Pebbles" for age 4 and up. They're at 9am and 10am every Sunday and you need to book a few days (or up to a week) in advance. My son goes and he loves it. Great instructors.

We have a workplace nursery. It's run by Bright Horizons, but based in our office building. Apart from the obvious plus points of having a nursery at work, it also works out cheaper because my employer offers a salary sacrifice scheme, where nursery fees are deducted from your salary *before* tax. I have two children in nursery, so that really helps soften the financial blow.

Thanks Saffron, much appreciated x

Hi all. This is slightly off topic, so Admin, please move this thread if need be. I just want to ask if any mums can recommend a clinic for thread vein removal. I've had two babies and I've got lots of thread veins all over my legs. The treatment I'm after is microsclerotherapy rather than laser. Anyone have any experience of this?? Thanks

I bought the Philips Avent in 2012 and it's excellent. Works perfectly in our old terraced house and maintains signal over long distances. Not a video monitor but great reception.

Hi there. Re the commute, I think it's fine. I'm lucky to live near the station, and as a PP said, since part of ED is a fair old walk away, you should take that into account if short commuting time is a priority. It takes me 30 mins to get to Westminster (train to London Bridge, then tube for 3 stops). Canary Wharf would be slightly more going from ED as opposed to Peckham Rye, which has more connections. Trains from ED aren't that busy until you get close to 8am. I always get the 07:30 or 07:40 and there are lots of seats to be had. Coming back around 5pm is also totally fine. We don't have train problems too often, but when we do there are other nearby stations like Denmark Hill, Forest Hill etc. so you're never totally scuppered. We've lived here for 3 yrs or so (we have 2 small children) and we love it here. I'm sure it'd be easy to make friends through this forum and by going to the various kids activities that take place weekly. There's quite a lot going on most of the time.

Can I have a price list too please?!

Brilliant, thanks all for your recommendations.