Rory still has tooth ache, so is still on a diet of soup. I made a surprisingly good batch of carrot and orange soup. Basically you just boil some carrots and onions with some chicken stock, until they are soft. Then put in the blender with some freshly squeezed orange juice and blend it until it’s smooth. Lastly just reheat it. 

It’s our first wedding anniversary today and we had planned to go out for a meal tonight to celebrate. Unfortunately my husband has tooth ache and can only eat soup so it looks like we will have to postpone it to another day. He did, however, surprise me this morning with an iPod nano, which being my first iPod, I am having a great deal of fun playing with.

My cat Oscar has always suffered from runny eyes ever since we got him form the rescue centre nearly three years ago. Unfortunately the vet has said Oscar will always have the problem and there is nothing they can do to correct it. Oscar is such a happy cat, he is always pouncing on things and he is very affectionate, despite his eye problem. He does, however, get very moody when his eyes need cleaning. As you can see from the picture Oscar has runny eyes and is feeling very sorry for himself. A simple wipe of his eyes with the soothing eye wipes from the pet store or a clean tissue and Oscar is his usual happy self and back to pouncing.

I read this interesting story about a lake in Southern Chile which has suddenly disappeared. The lake was about the size of 10 football pitches and the area where it used to be is now completely dry. One theory is that an earth tremor caused the lake to drain away.

I came across this website for the World's Ugliest Dog contest. You can vote online for who you think should win. This little guy is called Elwood and he sure is ugly.

A golfer in Nevada managed to start a grass fire when he tried to get his ball out of the rough. When he knocked his ball into the dry grass and tried to hit it back onto the fairway, the golfer managed to hit something that created a spark and the dried grass set on fire. The fire burnt 20 acres of grass before it was put out by 50 firefighters. Thats what I call a bad at golf.

My cat Lucy has a new hobby, hunting newts. We have around 50 newts in our pond at the moment and as you can see by the picture Lucy spends most of her time watching them and dipping her paws in the water to try and catch them. To date she has not actually managed to catch anything but she is very persistant.

As someone who drinks quite a lot of wine I am always in need of a constant supply. I recently signed up for Virgin Wines discovery club. Basically what that means is they will send me a case of wine every quarter, based on the wines I would usually choose. If I don't like any of the selected wine then I just let them know and I don't pay for them. I also get 15% off any of the wines in the case if I want to purchase more. My first case arrives in September, so I am interested to see how the service works for me and also if their money back guarantee is as good as it seems. More updates on this to follow.

There are many hazards to watch out for when going to the beach, but apparently one of the most dangerous is sand castles. In fact more people are injured in the US falling into holes in the sand caused by children building sand castles than they are by sharks. Lifeguards are now under orders to stop children digging deep holes in the sand.

An interesting article here which discusses whether fish have feelings or not. It talks about the assumption that fish have very short memories which has recently been challenged by scientists ,who found fish actually have a memory span of a few months. Now, I feel really bad for keeping my poor goldfish is a bowl when I younger, it must have been really bored, no wonder fish never look very happy.

Its about time for another cute cat picture. This is Oscar (top) and his brother Ollie relaxing at home after a hard days pouncing in the garden. Cats have such a hard life, don't you feel sorry for them?

The European Space Agency is currently looking for six people to go on a trip to Mars. Well. almost, its a pretend trip to Mars but the crew will experience isolation and confinement. The experiement is being run to help scientists understand how people cope in extreme conditions.

A suspicious looking garden gnome was apprehended by customs officials in Australia. It was found to contain several snakes and lizards that had been smuggled from Britain. It is currently illegal to bring reptiles into Australia without a licence.

They have an unusal rat problem at the police department in India. Rats have been gnawing through beer cans and the caps of whisky bottles to get to the alcohol inside. The police department would usually sell the alcohol which is seized from illegal sellers in order to raise money, but due to their current rat problem are currently unable to do this. Rats under the influence have also been attacking people near the police buildings.

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.