I threw a few dried out crusts of bread out for the birds today and a little while later went out into the garden to find my cats happily eating them. So, I provide nice premium cat food and gourmet biscuits and my cats choose to eat stale bread. Anyone watching them would think I am a terrible cat owner who starves her pets.

I read this article today that suggests poor quality beef from milking cows is often been sold to customers as prime fresh cuts. The National Beef Association has written to the four big supermarkets to ask them to check that their customers are not being misled. The problem is that the meat from dairy cows tends to be tougher than prime beef and some wholesalers are selling this cheaper meat on as prime cuts to boost their profits. I'm not sure whether there is any truth is these claims but I have often brought beef from a supermarket and been disappointed by the quality, finding it rather tough and tasteless.

A lorry driver was jailed for dangerous driving after he was caught eating spaghetti from a pan whilst driving his lorry. The driver who is from the Netherlands was caught near Ipswich and was stopped because he was veering over the white lines because he was using his hands to hold a knife and fork while driving his 40 tonne lorry with his knees.

I found this website where this guy makes suits of armour for cats and mice, I'm not quite sure why but the results are interesting. One thing is that missing from his website though is cats actually wearing the armour.

Milan airport has been forced to suspend flights because there are too many hares at the airport. The hares have been getting onto the runway and causing problems as well as confusing the ground radar. The airport was closed whilst a team of experts tried to catch and locate over 80 hares.

Thousands of dogs and their owners took part this weekend in an attempt to break the world record for the biggest dog walk. The unofficial number of dogs that attended was 9,128.

This cute little guy is a rare Beal's four-eyed turtle. He recently hatched at a zoo in the US and is one of only 18 known turtles in the US. The species in danger because they are collected for use in Chinese food and medicine.

It's very rare to get a picture of all the cats together but as you can see by the picture below feeding time is a very happy time in our house with all four cats tucking in.

I have been reading about this pair of Ospreys for a few weeks now to follow their progress. A few weeks ago the male Osprey found that his mate had mated with someone else and so destroyed all the eggs. She then laid another batch which were his and the first chick hatched on Thursday. Sadly, it appears that the male Osprey has now trampled on the chick and killed it whilst trying to free himself from some fishing line. Let's hope the other eggs hatch and there are no further incidents. They really are magnificent birds and with only about 130 pairs left in Scotland, they need all the help they can get.

A student has come up with an interesting idea for lolly sticks. His Plant Me Ice Lollies have a seed at one end of the stick, so when you have eaten the lolly, you just plant the stick. The seeds he uses are different types of herbs.

Apparently Russian men are risking their health by drinking aftershave and cleaning agents because they contain up to 97% alcohol. The problem which seems to be getting worse is now responsible for half of all deaths in working men in Russia. Hazardous drinking (drinking excesses of bear, wine and spirits) is also a problem in Russia, but people who consume non beverage alcohol are nine times more likely to die.

I read this article that claims pesticides are found in a third of all foods, at high enough levels to be harmful to the consumer. The foods tested included potatoes and apples. What I find worrying is the consumer has no way no knowing whether the food they buy contains pesticides or not. I guess the only way you can be totally sure is to grow your own.

Waterbeds can be beneficial for a number of reasons. They offer total body support so you can sleep with greater comfort. They also have a hygienic surface, so dust mites are unable to thrive on them; a great alternative if you are allergic to dust mites. waterbeds also offer a more controllable sleeping temperature. You may think that a waterbed will not be very durable but they can actually last up to 15 years because unlike an ordinary bed there are no springs to break down. Bearing this in mind now is a good time to visit my waterbed shop they currently have a sale on their waterbeds and also offer free shipping

A very interesting article here. Apparently there are two types of people. An A-person is one who rises early in the morning and a B-person is one who finds it hard to function in the morning and works best later in the day. With this in mind Denmark is starting to introduce a new way of working. Some offices allow employees to simply turn up for work when they want to, meaning that when they do arrive for work, they are at their most productive. A school in Copenhagen is also following suit with lessons that start later in the day for B-people. It seems a very interesting way to work. I am more of an A-person myself, I like to have an early start and find my concentration is worse in the afternoon. I think my husband would agree with this way of working, however, he finds it hard to get out of bed in morning, so he must be a B-person.

It’s that time of year when the cats are moulting and we have fur everywhere. To try and combat that we brush our cats or at least we try to. Ollie is by far the most furry of our four cats but he is a little sensitive (mild understatement) when it comes to be brushed. As soon as Ollie sees you approaching with brush in hand he starts a high pitched wailing noise and tries to get as far away from you as possible. It’s usually best to chase him outside because when he starts this wailing his party trick is to poo on the floor to punish you for scaring him. Obviously this is easier to clean up outside. The brushing process usually goes something this:

Step One: Chase Ollie into garden and shut all entrances to the house.

Step Two: Chase Ollie around the garden with brush in hand whilst he continually wails at you (the wailing noise sounds like is being strangled and I’m sure if anyone walked past they would assume I had my hands around his neck).

Step Three: When you manage to get close enough to Ollie quickly brush him as many times as you can whilst avoiding claws and teeth.

Step Four: Keep repeating steps one through to three until; either the Ollie has been brushed and the loose fur has been removed; or Ollie starts making a low growling noise in his throat. This is the sign that he has had enough grooming for one day and will bite you.

Ollie glaring at me after being brushed.

The evil brush with some fresh Ollie fur in it.

A man who brought a new bed for his daughter from Argos had a shock when it turned out it was full of termites. The bed complete with its visitors had been shipped from China and Argos are currently looking into how they got there.

A squirrel in Germany went on a violent rampage attacking three people. After attacking a woman and a builder, it finally met its match when it tried to attack a pensioner who beat it to death with his crutch.

A limited edition cucumber Pepsi has just been launched in Japan. It does not actually contain cucumber, instead being cucumber flavoured. I wonder whether they will release it over here.

I read this article about a guy who caught a blue lobster. Apparently lobsters can turn blue when they produce excessive amount of protein. If you cook them they turn red like regular lobsters though.

A gardener trimming his hedge encountered an iguana that had set up home there. Attempts are now being found to trace the rouge iguana's owner.

An interesting article here from the BBC. There are 20 short clips of people smiling, all you have to do is tell whether they are fake or real. I got 18 out of 20.

In a rather bizarre robbery two men assaulted another with a swordfish, after they broke into his home. The victim who lives in Queensland, Australia was left with cuts to his arms, hands and back. An odd choice of weapon but surprisingly effective, it seems.

Orange have been criticised over its use of the term "unlimited" used in its advertising for broadband, because they do in fact limit customers to 40GB of monthly downloads and 1,000 minutes of calls. Whilst most customers are unlikely to use anything close to this download limit, it still seems to be false advertising to say there are no limits when they quite obviously are.

A colony of bats has been found at a zoo. Not unusual, you might think, but these bats were found roosting in one of the zoo's maintenance sheds and includes 49 pipistrelle bats. It is thought to be a breeding colony.

An interesting article here on the top ten most common passwords, its worth checking this list and if you use one of them, it might be an idea to change it.

An invasion of caterpillars has descended on the Lake District. Millions of Antler Moth caterpillars have hatched in the Helvellyn and Skiddaw areas. This only happens on such a scale every eight or years. The caterpillars are currently munching their way through the grass leaving bald patches and no food for the sheep.

Des the cat has 26 toes, quite a few more than the average moggy which usually only has 18. Des has two extra toes on his front paws and one extra on his back paws. Thats 8 more claws he has to scratch you with.

A picture of his back paw.