The poor winter has meant huge losses of bee colonies according to this article. It suggests that this winter losses of honey bee colonies were the worst since records began six years ago. More than a third of colonies did not survive the cold and wet conditions. I would be interested to know how we go about encouraging bees to our gardens. I certainly have no shortage in mine at the moment with the fruit trees and wildflowers being covered in them but they are so important for the crops.

Does not harm the neurodevelopment of your baby according to a recent study which suggests children of mothers who drink moderately during pregnancy grow up to have better balance. The research looked at 7,000 children and their mother alcohol consumption. This latest study found that up to seven glasses of wine a week did not harm babies neurodevelopment. With a conflicting report released every few months it really is difficult to know which to believe. I don’t believe moderate drinking during pregnancy has any adverse effects but still 7 glasses a week does seem quite a lot and is more than I allowed myself whilst pregnant.

This is interesting it’s a pair of shorts that use kinetic energy to charge your phone. Aimed at festival goers the shorts use the kinetic energy created by the wearers movements to charge their phone whilst they are moving around. Not sure the shorts are quite me but I might be interested if these were available as jeans.

If you ask people what are the things they cannot live without, you are sure to get a lot of different answers. Not surprisingly an internet connection came top of the list followed by television. Perhaps people have got their priorities a little wrong when you see that a cuddle only came third in the list followed by a trustworthy best friend at number four. The results come from a poll which was carried out on 2,000 people between the ages of 18 and 65. They were asked what the essentials of life were. A cup of tea made number seven and coffee number twelve. My favourite a glass of wine featured on the list at number fifteen.

I have often wondered where my four cats go during the day and what they get up to. We see them as quite domesticated but I have recently become aware that at least one is capable of killing and eating its own food. The others don’t seem to know what to do with a dead bird or mouse and see it more as a play thing. I would love to know how far they roam and where they go.

I found this experiment particularly interesting, it followed ten different cats putting GPS tracking devices and micro cameras on them to see what they did. All the cats had different territories, some stayed very close to home just frequenting their own garden, whilst others went as far as seven acres. I doubt mine go that far but I would probably be shocked as exactly what they do get up to.

I found this article interesting, it’s a call by the parenting forum Mumsnet to ban sales reps from maternity wards. From personal experience after the birth of both of my children I received visits from not only the Bounty sales rep mentioned in the article but also one trying to sell me a baby sling and another offering baby footprints. I remember at the time finding it quite intrusive, particularly after the birth of my first baby which had been a long and exhausting labour. I don’t think that women should be put into the situation where they feel pressured by sales reps when they are tired, often emotional after birth and quite often struggling to cope with becoming a new parent. I think in this situation Mumsnet have the right stance.

This is an unusual idea, it’s a home inside a trailer. Looking a little like a shed on wheels from the outside, the home packs quite a lot into a small space. It has a living area, kitchen and even a bedroom tucked away into the roof. Costing from £10,000 up to £18,000 for a fully fitted home they can apparently sleep up to six people and have a fully functioning kitchen, shower and toilet. It brings a whole new meaning to deceptively spacious.

This is interesting it’s a zero tolerance approach to dog poo which has been implemented in a Spanish town. The system involves parcelling up dogs mess and sending back to the dog owners who have failed to clean it up. The campaign has been a huge success and has seen a 70% drop in the amount of dog mess found on the streets. I wonder if something similar could work over here. I guess the main issue would be tracking down the perpetrator.

This is rather odd it’s a new method of losing weight which involves having a patch sewn onto your tongue. The patch makes eating solid foods so painful that you are only able to consume liquids whilst wearing it. It is claimed that the extreme weight loss method can help you lose up to 30lbs in just one month. You must be really very desperate to resort to such an extreme method and surely as soon as you begin to eat normally the weight just goes back on?

We had Russell’s christening yesterday. The little man did very well and managed to last most of the service without crying. He did seem a little shocked by the whole experience but I think it was mainly seeing lots of new people. Penny spent most of the service with the other children in the Sunday school but she seemed happy that she got to wear a pretty dress.

A new report has warned pregnant women they could be exposing themselves to unnecessary chemicals during pregnancy. The report has warned pregnant women against painting the nursery or using non stick frying pans as it could put their babies at risk of chemical exposure. Buying new fabrics, furniture and cars could also be dangerous whilst pregnant or breastfeeding. Personally I think the advice a little over the top. I was sanding walls and painting rooms throughout both my pregnancies right up until the day I went into labour and both my children are fine.

This is interesting it’s a miniature village created by a retired builder in his garden. The village includes a church, mill, pubs and cottages and even has a mini Big Ben.

I spent last weekend potting up some of the tomato plants in larger pots. They are growing but are coming so slowly this year that I wonder if I should just cut my losses and buy some plants. The courgettes are off to a good start and I have planted a few out in the vegetable patch in the garden. I am aiming to put the other plants in the allotment to see which do better. We have had a massive amount of blossom on the fruit trees in the garden so are hoping for a bumper crop, although last year they were largely hit by pests and bad weather so it’s a little early to know, fingers crossed.

This is interesting it’s an idea developed in Paris that allows people to farm their own fish for food using an ecosystem that can be installed in your living room. The system includes plants in tanks that feed off the waste produced by the fish and fish that live in the filtered water underneath. It’s an interesting concept but I can’t see people in the UK eating the fish, they would probably just give them names and enjoy watching them swimming around.

A customer in a South London Lidl had a shock when picking up a bunch of bananas and found a tarantula was hanging from them. The man was left somewhat shaken by the encounter. He dropped the bananas and the spider fell back into the box where it was later trapped by supermarket staff. I think my reaction would be a little more dramatic if I came across something that size lurking in my bananas. I might buy the pre-packed ones instead

If you are thinking of relocating then you might be interested to know that Australia is the happiest country to live in. It ranked number one on an international league table of happiness. Sweden was number two, followed by Canada, Norway, Switzerland, United States, Denmark, the Netherlands, Iceland and at number 10 the UK. Countries were ranked on 11 categories including income, jobs, housing and health. Britain scored well on income levels, high employment, low crime and community spirit but scored badly on overcrowding and a system which favours the rich over the poor. I guess one consolation is that France didn’t make the top ten coming 18th.

This is interesting it’s a Celtic logboat which has recently been created by the National Trust. The boat was carved from a fallen oak tree much as it would have been when they were made 2,300 years ago. The 15ft boat floats and is able to carry people. It took 200 people 3 weeks to make the boat which is a scaled down version of a 35ft Iron Age log boat which was discovered at the bottom of Poole harbour.

If you want to know how to make the perfect cream tea, then you are in luck. A Mathematician has developed a formula to do just that. The perfect combination of jam, cream and scones is needed to make the cream tea. The best ratio it seems is 2:1:1, so the average scone weighing 70g would require 35g of jam and 35g of cream.

It’s been two weeks since we last went to the allotment, so we were expecting a little bit of weed growth. This was something of an understatement when we arrived at the plot last weekend to find very little visible under a covering of grass and weeds. A day of hard work later and the grass has been cut down again and the soil dug and planted with the remaining potatoes. We don’t have much growing at the moment, just the potatoes and the onions. We have a few empty beds that I am saving for the beans, courgettes and squash, all of which are nearly large enough to plant out. Progress is still slow and I doubt we will get the whole plot dug for planting this season but we should see some vegetables for our efforts.

This is interesting it’s a bike light that can alert the rider to pot holes. It works by showing a grid made up of standard squares. On a rough road surface the grid will show broken areas that conform to the road layout enabling the cyclist to read the road ahead.

The children are both in different ways at interesting stages in their development. Russell has just started smiling, something that immediately makes him a lot more interesting. It’s now possible to know when he is pleased with something or when he enjoys something. He is starting to like laying on his mat and watching the moving animals but by far his favourite past time seems to be watching his sister.

Penny is learning at remarkable rate. She seems to have new words everyday now and has gone from knowing just a handful of words to having too many to count. She is starting to show more of an interest in Russell and wants to help feed him and wipe his face. Her favourite thing at the moment is dancing. She will dance to pretty much any music and will happily amuse herself for a couple of hours if she has music on and instruments to play.

When was the last time you saw a hedgehog? It is likely the answer was some time ago. Unfortunately the last hedgehog I saw happened to be a dead one that I found in my garden. It seems that the once common creature is becoming something of a rarity. If this article is correct they are disappearing fast. Numbers of hedgehogs have declined by a third since 2003. It’s clear we need to take measure to help hedgehogs if they are to survive. Small things you can do are to leave wild corners in your garden where hedgehogs can find prey and shelter. Leave small holes in your fence so that hedgehogs can find their way though and encourage your neighbours to do the same.

So well in fact that it did better than some of it’s rivals that cost up to 10 times as much. The champagne has been described by judges as classy and complex and was awarded a silver medal at the International Wine Challenge 2013. The champagne performed better than Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame 2004, which costs £130 and Moet and Chandon Imperial NV, which costs £32.99. I’m interested to try some but unfortunately do not have a local Aldi.

The Scottish wildcat has long been under threat of extinction mainly due to problems with the species interbreeding with domestic moggies. A scientist who has developed a genetic test to identify pure Scottish wildcats has now warned that the species could be extinct in as little as two years. Some scientists have now called for the remaining individuals to be trapped so the species can be preserved. It is thought less than 100 now remain so unless action is taken soon it might well be too late too save the species.

Selfridges has reported that sales of edible insects have increased by 11%. It seems more people are being tempted by the snacks which include Thai Green Curry Crickets, Dark Chocolate Covered Scorpions and BBQ Flavour Worm Crisps. They certainly look crunchy.

Is a question you might think slightly insignificant but perhaps you need to rethink how you decorate your bedroom.  It seems that the colour you choose could impact how you sleep. If you paint your room blue it should slow the heart rate and help reduce your blood pressure. Purple rooms on the other hand can stimulate the brain making it more difficult to get to sleep. I wonder whether lilac being closer to blue has the same benefits, either way, it’s the colour I am going to paint my bedroom.

According to this article it could harbour more bacteria then the average toilet. Leather handbags carry most bacteria because the spongy texture provides the perfect growing conditions. The dirtiest item in the average handbag is hand cream which has more bacteria than the average toilet seat. Women are advised to wash their hands regularly and to use antibacterial wipes to clean their bag and its contents. When I think of all the places my handbag has been I hate to think what sort of bacteria it’s carrying.

Is the message of this article. It suggests that dieters who join slimming clubs lose five times more weight then those who try to do it on their own. People who followed a Weight Watchers diet lost an average of 8.6lbs in 3 months compared with just 1.8lbs with those on DIY diets. The weight loss was also more permanent with those on a Weight Watchers diet, after 6 months they had lost an average od 10.1lb but those that dieted on their own had put 5lb back on.

The transport secretary has unveiled plans for harsher penalties for some driving offences such as using a mobile whilst driving and lighting a cigarette at the wheel. Sending a text message or making a phone call whilst driving will also incur tougher penalties. The current penalty for using a mobile whilst driving is £60 but this will be increased to £90. The number of penalty points offenders receive will remain as three. I wonder whether an increased fine will make people think twice about using their phone whilst at the wheel. Certainly judging by how many people I see doing it at the moment the current penalties don’t appear to be severe enough.

I have often wondered whether I could put my cats on the treadmill to lose a few pounds. Now a company has designed a pet treadmill aimed at cats and dogs. It is currently still only a prototype but looked quite interesting. It was built because the creator had an overweight cat that was unable to lose weight by changing the diet alone. One thing is not clear, how do you motivate your cat to exercise, perhaps a strategically placed out of reach biscuit?

A women has died after eating soup she had made with poisonous mushrooms. The woman picked death cap mushrooms mistaking them for an edible variety. The mushrooms are highly poisonous and there is no antidote. This particular mushroom is responsible for most cases of mushroom poisoning so it’s really worth knowing your mushrooms if you are planning on going foraging. If in doubt its probably best not to eat them.

I was promised many things on programmes such as Tomorrows World when I was younger, one thing I have been on the look out for is a flying car. This model is due to go on sale in 2015, although it looks more like a plane it has been billed as a flying car. Costing £190,000 the Transition is part private jet and part sedan. It has four wheels and wings that can fold up so it can be driven like a car. The car will be small enough to fit in a garage and won’t need a runway to take off. Anyone who wants one will need to have a pilots licence and pass a test complete with 20 hours of flying time to be able to fly the car. Doesn’t that make it a plane then?

Says great British Bake Off presenter Mary Berry. She believes that modern parents are often too busy to teach their children how to cook, leaving children without basic skills and making them them more likely to eat junk food when they grow up. The solution she believes is to have cookery classes in schools.

Not having children of school age I assumed they still did cookery at school, we certainly did when I was a child. I’m not sure I picked up much from the classes, however, I do remember having a fairly limited grasp of cooking when I moved out of my parents home and for a long time I relied upon ready made sauces and convenience food. It was only really much later that I started to experiment with cooking and taught myself a lot from various books. I think I will make time to teach my children at least a few basic things, like how to boil an egg, make a white sauce, cook a roast dinner so they can manage to feed themselves when I am not around.

Living in Sevenoaks I was interested to see the town came third in a list of the 10 richest small towns in Britain. I am aware that parts of Sevenoaks are extremely affluent so wasn’t surprised to find that it made the list of towns where most millionaires are located. Perhaps less surprising is that Windsor topped the list and Weybridge came second. Ascot which I would have expected to feature somewhat higher was number 10. The full list is as follows:

1 Windsor
2 Weybridge
3 Sevenoaks
4 Beaconsfield
5 Henley on Thames
6 Marlow
7 Hale
8 Alderley Edge
9 Bray
10 Ascot (including Sunningdale)

I obviously live in an affluent area, now to work on that millionaire status. 

Exercise is something that although I quite enjoy it, I do find difficult to fit into my daily routine. Juggling two small children means that much as I try to find 20 minutes a day to run on my treadmill, in reality I often only manage it 3 times a week. I find it encouraging then, to read this article which suggests just 75 minutes of exercise a week can make a big difference to your health.

Whilst it is less than the recommended two and half hours a week, light exercise such as brisk walking can cut your risk of serious illness. I probably already do about 60 to 90 minutes of light exercise in a week, just getting to all of the baby groups we attend. Added to my more strenuous treadmill exercise I estimate that despite me thinking I get very little exercise I might actually surpass the recommended weekly amount in an average week. I do, however, tend to prefer walking everywhere if at all possible simply to give the children a little fresh air and particularly now that Penny likes to try walking by herself.

This article is interesting, it claims that children who spend more time playing outside have better eyesight than those who spend more time indoors. The article claims that short sightedness has increased by 65% since the 1970’s in the US and puts this down to the fact that children are playing outside less.

Personally I think this is a load of rubbish. The condition is largely hereditary. All of my family suffer from short sight and have taken various measures to control it, from glasses and contact lenses, to myself who decided on laser eye surgery to address the problem. Regardless of whether we played outside or not ( and we did every day) we would still have the problem. Now a parent myself I fully expect my own children to need glasses unless they are very lucky and have their father’s good eyesight. In my opinion the increase of short sightedness is more down to the increased use of computers, smart phones and games machines and less down to whether a child plays outside or not.

I try never to go shopping when hungry as I tend to buy all sorts of things I don’t need. Researchers have looked into exactly how much extra you are likely to purchase if you shop when hungry and it appears the figure is 18.6%. Shoppers who have not eaten before going shopping not only purchase much more food but also have a tendency to buy many more high calorie foods, in fact 31% more high calorie snacks. The message is clear, snack before you go shopping and you could save yourself some money as well as making healthier food choices.

I always like the cute and fluffy stories so was pleased to come across this one about a family of ducks who caused havoc in Shrewsbury. The ducks decided they wanted to have a leisurely stroll through town and managed to cause a mile long tailback in the town as drivers waited to let the ducks go past. The ducks were eventually guided to the River Severn away from the danger of the road.

This is unusual it’s a cheese and onion flavoured chocolate bar. The firm that makes it has already sold out of the 100,000 limited edition bars it produced in response to requests from people on social networks. Although cheese and onion flavour is more commonly found in crisps it appears to have positive feedback.

According to this article which suggests they develop more brain cells. It seems that children brought up by two parents have more brain cells because they get more attention and stability and so suffer less distress. This means that boys develop better memories and learning ability and girls have more motor co-ordination and social skills. I’m not entirely convinced by the study but having two parents to look after a child has to be better than just one.

Some experts would like to see health warnings on fizzy drinks if this article is to be believed. Scientists have found that drinking just one can of soft drink a day can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes by a fifth. The study carried out by the Imperial College London found the risk rose by 22% for every serving of fizzy drink, each can, consumed per day. I do wonder how many people consume fizzy drinks everyday.

This is impressive it’s a guy who has made his own Iron Man costume out of Eva foam. It really does look good and has received a great deal of interest from people who would like one made for them.

This weekend we finally had some weather that was good enough to get to the allotment. We went to do a few odd jobs and ended up spending all afternoon. In the end we managed to get the potatoes planted as well as some leeks, beetroot, carrots and parsnips. Everything has gone in so late this year due to the cold and wet weather but hopefully we will soon see something starting to grow. I still have a number of crops left to plant and will hopefully get these in the ground in the next week or so.

This is interesting, it’s a cruise company in the Scottish Highlands which has insured it’s fleet against monster attacks. More specifically Jacobite Cruises have insured their fleet of ships against damage by the Loch Ness Monster. This is despite the fact that it has not been seen for 80 years. The owner of the fleet of ships has said they would be silly not to be covered for Nessie attacks. The unusual request whilst it is unlikely to cost the insurance company any money has certainly generated publicity for the cruise ship company which was probably their aim from the beginning. A good piece of marketing.

If you are looking for a tasty steak then this article is interesting. It looks at sirloin steak across the main supermarket chains to see which is the best. In tests carried out by Which? an expert panel of judges graded them on taste, texture and colouring. Sainsbury came top in taste with their Taste the Difference British 21 Day Slow Matured Sirloin Steak. Tesco came 2nd with their Tesco Finest Dry aged British Beef Sirloin Steak and Asda came 3rd with their Asda Extra Special 28 Day Matured Beef Sirloin Steak. Surprisingly more expensive steaks from Waitrose and Marks and Spencer failed to make the top 3.

It has been nice this week to see a few days of sun. Whilst it doesn’t appear to have lasted very long it has meant that Penny has been able to really explore the garden for the first time. There are so many new things to see and experience and it’s really nice to see her becoming interested in the flowers and animals and running about on the grass. It has become quickly apparent, however, that the garden poses many hazards, everything gets eaten at the moment and Penny has something new in her mouth every time you look around. I think we might have to fence off a safe area of the garden to play in until she is a little bigger.

Say scientists who have found that puzzles are better for the brain than vitamins or workouts. A study looked at 32 trials involving 25,000 healthy patients aged 65 or older. Studies of drugs, hormone therapy, vitamins and supplements ginkgo, omega 3 and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) showed no positive effect with the evidence of the benefits of physical activity being weak only mental training showed benefits every time. Perhaps all those Sudoku puzzles I do, are not wasted time after all.

This is interesting it’s a McDonald’s hamburger that hasn’t degraded after 14 years. The burger was brought in 1999 and doesn’t appear to have changed in appearance. It does make you wonder what is in it if it doesn’t degrade.

The typical Western diet really can kill you, is the message of this article. A study of more than 5,000 civil servants found that those who ate the most fried and sweet food, processed food and red meat, white bread, butter and cream doubled their risk of premature death. The research goes some way to explaining why heart disease is still the UK’s biggest killer. Once again I think this needs to be taken into context. We know these things are bad for us and they probably would kill us if we ate them all the time but the odd fried breakfast or bacon sandwich isn’t going to hurt. Obviously people who eat like this all the time might want to think about cutting back and choosing more white meat and fish and less processed food.

Is the message at one park in Edinburgh. Park wardens at Holyrood Park have been confiscating white bread and replacing it with healthier snacks. Officials claim that white bread causes arthritis, birth defects and starvation so have taken the measures to protect the parks birdlife. The RSPB on the other hand say that all bread is fine providing that birds have a balanced diet. The message here is clear, if you want to feed the birds, particularly at Holyrood Park then wholemeal bread or seed is the thing to buy.