Ellie78

Completely hijacking this for my own nefarious (researching) purposes. Can I add my own question to this? Where can you get a list of local nurseries (ie. Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham) and when's the best time (in advance of when you want a place for your little one) to get on waiting lists etc?

This is the recipe: http://www.thebroadbean.com/2010/07/avocado-broad-bean-and-quinoa-salad.html Forget quinoa (expensive) - get the easy cook sainsburys brown rice. Cook whatever quantity you need until its reasonably soft (c. 30 mins) and then allow to cool. I love this salad and everyone I've made it for has really enjoyed it. It'll go nicely with BBQ'd meat.

Good idea re having hallumi and veg kebabs as a veggie alternative. You'll find the meat eaters want them too- they BBQ well. Best to grill slabs of it tho- and then put on the plate with the veggie stuff-they fall apart on a kebab. Coeliac not hard- as people say there are gluten free buns (I prefer gluten free pittas that sainsburys have) but watch out for sausages. 99% are not gluten free, go for 100% meat products. Potatoes and rice all fine. Yottam Otttolenghi does a really good salad we've adapted for brown rice: brown rice, shelled broad beans, avocado, radishes mixed together in olive oil, tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp chilli flakes, lemon juice. Really tasty. Shelling broad beans is time consuming 20 mins but worth it. Hummus not out- make your own. Buy the big chickpeas (in foods of the world section), get tahini (no garlic in that) creme freche and oil....

Am I missing something? I don't understand why this question warrants such harsh reactions? There have been similar threads started in the forum, all if which (as far as I'm aware) have been treated respectfully. Surely it is sensible to do as much research as you can before buying into the hugely expensive property stock of ED..... good luck in your quest

I second Meze Mangal- it is AMAZING. Lewisham not too difficult to get to. Ganapati is fab. I love it.

Did she say where in Dulwich- ie. Did she say 'East' particularly? I would also post this on the west dulwich forum and nunhead forum (if you haven't already).... I hope you find her too! I also hope that she is hoping you find her so we can all have a happy ending.

Ignore Quaverflava. He/She just seems set on sarcastically interjecting on quite reasonable threads for no apparent reason - see their other one. It must be really frustrating for you. I hope you find some help and it gets dealt with.

Someone living opposite me made huge efforts to get my purse back to me a few years back - contacting various membership places I had cards of in my purse. There was about ?80 in cash in there, untouched. She hadn't even looked through it. I bought her a bottle of wine and a money tree plant by way of thanks. It didn't really seem enough. But I don't think she wanted anything. So absolute applause and massive thanks still to you, Adys Road Lady. It saved me money and enormous hassle in getting new membership cards for all those blooming libraries.

Sounds great! I'd use it for birthdays and get togethers depending on the rates involved of course. Would there be an option for bringing your own catering? If there was some film club scenario then I'd be up for that too.

I'm on O2 with the iphone. Always fine in ED. Their customer service is good generally. Generally, I've got no problems with them but, despite that, I'm thinking of moving back to Orange - apparently it's faster internet on the iphone with orange. And I want the cinema deal. I never use any of O2s 'offers'. With the other networks I'd think more generally about where you want to use the phone - ie, outside of London/abroad/rural. Some networks are really rubbish when it comes to that. Orange and O2 (the big ones generally) outpace the others by far on those points but they're certainly not the cheapest (there's little between them on that point).

This is amazing. I couldn't find the thread - I thought it had been removed, as I posted it originally in the wanted section, I looked here on the off chance it had been moved and saw all these responses. Wow - You've all been great. Thanks so much. I'm so glad I posted this - words of experience and wisdom! She'll really appreciate it.

One of my closest friends has just given birth to her first child, a beautiful boy. Hurray. I'm away on work and I want to get her something just for her, rather than for the baby. She went through what sounds like a horrific labour (at 36 hours) and she's obviously exhausted. If anyone has any advice I'd really appreciate it - I know there are lots of new mums in ED who might be able to tell me from experience what was appreciated by them. Only condition - it has to be something that can be delivered.

okay. This is probably going to repeat info that's already on this thread but I think it needs repeating! Sorry to jump in all Eeyore on this but I lived in a flat with a TERRIBLE moth problem a while back and I really don't want anyone else to go through it. Our problem was very bad when we moved in (although I didn't know that then) and it may be that this skews my view about it all. We had the traps you're all talking about. It controls the cycle but it won't eradicate them completely - it just takes 1 to slip under the radar...Seriously, though. The traps aren't designed for eradication. Simply control. You have to combine that with other moth prevention/control methods. If you remove all sources of food from your home or, if that isn't feasible, make it difficult for them to access those, you've got them. -hoovering everywhere regularly (OCD level) -and throw the hover bag out otherwise they'll breed in there. - Go through your wardrobe every week (if they're obviously hatching, ie you can see them about) and shake out your clothes, particularly woolens and silks. - storing clothes on open rails/in plastic boxes annoys them - they HATE light so generally won't lay eggs there. - look for the sources of infestation. In our case, they were obviously breeding in the 20 year woolen carpet our landlady had covered with laminate wood flooring (thereby preventing any control whatsoever) -bad for us- but there may be an old, scratchy woolen jumper somewhere that's causing it all. - moth balls from john lewis is an obvious one but you may not want to subject yourself to chemical warfare - check cuddly toys. Particularly old ones. It wasn't pleasant seeing a caterpillar like creature crawl out of a beloved childhood teddy - They like dark and dusty places. If you're confused as to why you have moths, and see no evidence of them on your clothes, they might be in a cupboard, attic etc. If they're in furniture or carpets there's not much you can do by yourself - get the big guns in for spraying. Whatever measures you take, do it quickly. These little critters spread and the larger the problem, the harder it is to sort out. If they suddenly seem to disappear don't get complacent. You probably haven't seen the last of them, its just their reproduction cycle. They will be back. Our moths (Stockholm syndrome here) went through 3 cycles each year. And Christmas is off this year.

Hullo! I was thinking of taking a trip into Lordship Lane but live about 25 mins walk away from the Palmerston. Can anyone tell me what the conditions are like for pedestrians? Cheers! Brrrrrrrr

Okay- I'm really glad I've seen this. I thought I was completely alone!! The little blighters have been driving me loopy for the past few weeks- although I think we've had them for longer than that. Our landlady nailed some laminate wood flooring over (almost) the whole of her old wool carpet before we moved in. Leaving some moth friendly gaps. And now they're feasting on the carpet...and multiplying..despite the moth traps and my newly developed moth sensing/squishing talents. We now have over 40 male moths glued to the traps, with hoards of moth bodies splatted cartoon-like on our walls. Nice. Happily, their love of the carpet means they've seemed to have turned their noses up at our clothes. Rentokil came round to give us a quote and to see if they thought they could solve the problem (which of course they can apparently). It involves 2 sprays. I'm really keen on doing it but worried it may not solve the problem. Anyone here tried the treatment? With any success?