Home page widget area changes

Hello,

I am fairly happy with my new site omfgd.co.uk. I have used the free theme merlin. but can’t figure out how to do 3 things. I have attempted editing the CSS but with my extremely limited knowledge was not able to figure these out.

First:

I want the “header” (where it say Brentham Cricket Club in Orange) to be our logo but it will only let me use text.

Second:

In the right sidebar I have used 3 picture widgets to add 3 quick link buttons – join us, selection, fixtures – I want to reduce the white space inbetween the buttons.

Lastly:

I want to get rid of the the latest posts grid underneath the slider and replace it with some simple static welcome text.

Thanks for all the the help in advance.

Pratyesh