We went into Staines today and spent the afternoon doing some Christmas shopping. The idea was to try and get it all done in one afternoon. What we failed to take into account was that everyone else in the surrounding area seemed to have the same idea. I wanted to purchase some perfume from Boots but found it was hard to find the brands I wanted in the store. Although I knew exactly what I wanted to purchase none of the products were on display and I would need to wait in a very long queue to talk to a shop assistant. Whilst I appreciate certain products are under lock and key for security reasons, having more than two staff on the perfume counter might have been useful at a busy time. Eventually I gave up. When I got home I spent less than five minutes ordering the products online instead.

The answer to that question is £790m apparently, well that’s accordingly to this article. A survey of 4,500 workers found that would spend around two hours and 18 minutes staring into space as a result of a hangover. That amounts to around £790m in lost productivity. The same survey carried out by Travelodge found that 30% of adults have called in sick because of a hangover, which they have passed off as another illness.

Our new oven and hobs arrived last Monday and I am really glad to see the back of the old one. The only problem is I had got used to having to heat the old oven for an hour before using it and then having to cook everything on the highest temperature. Now I have an oven that works perfectly I am finding I have to be careful with cooking times and pay a bit more attention when I am cooking. We have had a few burnt offerings this week, but I think I am just starting to get the hang of it.

I read this article the other day about a cat toilet that actually fits onto a toilet. The idea is that you start off with an actual litter tray which fits into the toilet bowl and gradually replace it with a smaller and smaller tray until your cat uses the toilet without needing the tray. The article features a video which explains how to train your cat to use the device. It looks very interesting but personally I don’t think I would use it because of hygiene concerns.

I took this picture of Ollie the other day as he was checking for danger before coming through the cat flap.

A very large truffle has sold for £165,000 at an auction. The truffle weighs 1.5 kg and was discovered last week near Pisa, Italy. The price paid for this truffle makes it not only the biggest truffle of the century but also the most expensive.

My husband came home with a Tom Tom yesterday which he had purchased as an early Christmas present for himself. We tried it out on a short journey from Egham to Maidenhead and found it performed quite well. You can read more about it here on my husband’s blog. Personally I found the best feature of the device was that it warns you where all the speed cameras are before you reach them which is really useful and could stop you getting any fines.

Animal welfare volunteers are trying to trace the owners of a lost cat found in West Yorkshire. The cat has a microchip and was registered in Kent eight years ago. She was found in Baildon near Bradford and it is thought that the owners have moved house and not updated their details. If her owners are not found, a new home will be found for her. The moral of this story, is always make sure you update your details when you move house.

An RSPCA centre in Shropshire has launched an appeal to try and find new homes for some of their cats. They currently have 67 cats and kittens that need homes. Some of the cats that need homes are shown below.

Max


Earl



Muffin