I and my husband are heading off to Ireland this weekend for a friends wedding. It always occurs to me when going away how much easier it is for men to pack. They simply pack a pair of jeans and a pair of trousers and a couple of tops. My packing dilemma goes something like this. We are going away for 4 days. The first day we are at the wedding, so I have my dress and shoes, but what if it is cold, I might need a jacket. The next day I will need something casual to wear during the day, so I pack jeans and trainers, but wait I am going out in the evening, will I need something smart? So I pack a skirt and top, but what if it’s too cold for a skirt… I pack trousers. The thing is trousers require different shoes to a skirt so I pack my smart boots as well as my strappy shoes. Ok, the bag is starting to get heavier at this point and thats before I think about day three. Men have it easy. 

I found this odd looking spider in my house today. It was crawling on the ceiling and was a reddish brown colour. When I crept forward for a closer look it jumped off the wall as if to attack me. Now I'm not great with spiders, even the regular kind, so after I had finished screaming, I did what I usually do. I got a glass and placed it over the spider and waited for my husband to come home. When he arrived he slid some paper under the glass and we examined the spider more closely. Looking at it, and comparing it with many spiders on the internet we finally came to the conclusion it was a hobo spider and not native to this country. I'm not sure where it came from but strongly suspect it might have crawled out of the bananas in the kitchen.

This picture is of a female hobo spider, not the actual spider we found because Rory squashed that one.

Another year, another birthday and its getting to the point where I am not going to say how old I am today. I received a nice new TV from my husband and although it did actually arrive a few days ago, it was still a nice surprise.

A bank robber in Florida was caught after he was found drinking beer, opposite the bank he had just robbed. Not the best getaway plan ever. After robbing the bank he simply walked to the car park, changed his shirt and went to get himself a well earned beer. He was quickly arrested.

We hear about people being mugged every day. This mugging story has an unusual twist. A student walking home was set upon by three vicious geese. In his haste to get away he dropped his mobile phone, which one of the geese promptly seized in its beak before making its escape. It is not yet clear whether this gaggle of geese have struck before or indeed how they intend to use the mobile phone with no hands. One thing is for sure no phones are safe when there is a goose on the loose.

A goose.

Cats just love boxes. This is Willow helping to unpack the new TV.

A lucky cat managed to survive 35 days trapped in a cargo crate after it chewed its way into a box which was then loaded onto a ship going from the US to Shanghai. Apparantly it is possible for cats to survive for long periods without water because they are able to live on the moisture that comes from condensation. Amazing.

I found this article about a rare white alligator that lives at a zoo in Knoxville. The 12 year old alligator is kept in a special enclosure with a heat lamp, as she would burn if she went out in the sun.

We all want our pets to be well looked after when we go away. We have to plan our holidays’ carefully to make sure we have someone to come and take care of our cats for the duration. No cat care means no holiday. However, even I think the idea of a Pet hotel is a little extreme. The Wag Hotel in San Francisco is just that. It features a number of creature comforts such as plasma screen TV's, toys and rugs and also has a pet chef and massage parlour for the pampered pets. With all this, why would they want to go home?

I came across this article about this cute albino hedgehog. He lives in Cumbria at a nature reserve and is the offspring on two African Pygmy hedgehogs. Apparently only one in ten thousand hedgehogs are born white with red eyes.

Researchers studying Loch Ness found not a monster but a common toad. The amazing thing being that they found it at a depth of 98 metres (324ft) down, much further than they usually expect to find amphibians. Still no monster though.

Are you looking for an excuse to eat beef jerky? Or perhaps drink alcohol and eat chocolate? Well apparently all of these things can be good for you according to this article. Beef jerky is not only high in protein; it also contains omega 3 fats most commonly associated with oily fish. Alcohol on the other hand can lower the risk of a heart attack when drunk in moderation. The most beneficial alcoholic drink has been proven to be pinot noir, a good excuse to go the bottle shop. Lastly chocolate can help improve blood flow to the heart. Now I just need to find an excuse to eat cake.