It never fails to amaze me the amount of spam I get in my inbox. The latest thing seems to be these Google Adwords phishing emails. I’m currently getting between 20 and 50 of these a week and they do look remarkably similar to genuine emails from Google. The emails ask you to either reactivate your account or change your credit details. The site you are redirected to looks genuine and could easily fool people. The purpose of the exercise is obviously to collect your account details so that unscrupulous people can steal your credit card details. Don’t be fooled.

This article suggests that around 75,000 households could face negative equity. Areas of Manchester, Glasgow, South East London and Birmingham appear to be most at risk because the value of an average home in these areas is only a small amount over the mortgage on the property. This useful map shows the areas that are considered to be most at risk from a fall in home prices and at a risk of people having their homes repossessed. The figures are based on analysis from Experian one of the largest credit reference agencies. The research also shows that 78,394 households have less than 20% equity in their homes and that if house prices were to fall by 20% as some experts predict that these people would face negative equity.

It appears Bagpuss has been voted the favourite children’s TV animal of all time in an online poll. The lovely fat candy striped cat beat other creatures such as Tom and Jerry, Winnie the Pooh and the magic Roundabout. Bagpuss has always been my favourite despite being just “an old saggy cloth cat and a bit loose at the seams.” Only 13 episodes of Bagpuss were ever made with each episode beginning with Emily saying the words:

Bagpuss, dear Bagpuss
Old Fat Furry Catpuss
Wake up and look at this thing that I bring
Wake up, be bright, be golden and light
Bagpuss, oh hear what I sing

to the old stuffed toy in the window who would awake when she left the shop and investigate the broken object Emily had left him. Bagpuss, Madeline, Professor Yaffle and the mice would then proceed to fix the object and tell a story about it, with much high pitched singing by the mice.

I love Bagpuss.

This is quite cool, a man called Jeremy Reid built a rollercoaster in his back yard. Firstly you obviously need a very large garden so I guess it helps to live in Oklahoma and secondly quite a lot of wood. Apparently it has a top speed of 20 mph and stands 17 feet high. I need a bigger garden.

If you fancy something a little a different you might be interested in this beach hut. It is built out of reclaimed timber and the roof of a grocery van and sits on top of a raft. The hut which is called The Ark has stood on the mudflats near King’s Lynn in Norfolk for over 50 years and has recently been put up for sale. With a guide price of £60,000 it doesn’t come cheap but it is fairly distinctive.

Surprisingly it appears that colonies of seahorses are living in the Thames, that’s according to this article. The seahorses which normally live around the Canary Islands have been found in Dagenham in East London and Tibury and Southend in Essex. The seahorses are usually found in shallow muddy water and estuaries and their presence in the Thames is a good sign that the water quality is improving.

Sheep are being used to cut the grass in Turin. The sheep are kept in fenced off areas and moved around in order to keep the grass trim in the cities municipal parks. Not only does this idea save around £24,000 in gardeners fees, it also saves the shepherd money because it means he does not have to rent fields to graze his sheep. What a good idea.

A man is likely to face five years in jail after he attacked a boy by throwing a hedgehog at him. William Singalargh is accused of throwing the hedgehog from 15ft to hit the boy. It hit his victim in the leg and caused a large welt and puncture wounds. The hedgehog was dead when police arrived at the scene. 

An environmental study has found that some bottles of wine from France are contaminated with pesticides. The survey analysed 40 bottles of wine and found that 34 bottles contained pesticides, some of which are classified by the EU as health threatening. Among the affected wines were three Bordeaux cru classé wines and a Burgundy Santenay. On average the bottles tested contained more than four different pesticides but they were found to exceed EU pesticide limits.

If you have a bit of spare cash you might want to put it into a cash Isa so you don’t have to pay tax on it. This article from This is Money highlights what they say are the 10 best cash Isa’s around at the moment. It’s also worth remembering that this year you can put a bit extra into a cash Isa, £3,600 as opposed to the previous limit of £3,000.

I woke up this morning to find that it had snowed during the night. Although there is not a great a deal of snow it was still enough to create some entertainment for the cats, well for Willow anyway. Oscar and Oliver pictured to the left went out to investigate before coming straight back inside and sitting on their bean bags refusing to leave the house again. Lucy pictured on the right simply sat under the bench looking miserable before also retreating inside.

Willow, however, invented a fun new game which involved digging a hole in the snow and then pouncing on it. After a while she had dug several holes and proceeded to pounce from hole to hole. This game kept her amused for about an hour before her paws got cold and she too came inside to get warm. Generally cats seem to hate snow but as these pictures of Willow show, it can be fun for a short time at least.

A man has advertised for a drinking companion for his father because he is worried he might be lonely. The successful applicant will be paid £7 an hour. The job involves accompanying 88 year old Jack Hammond to the pub and drinking. Any one interested should be interested in talking about engineering and golf. This looks like a great job.

Pink wine seems to be the thing to drink at the moment with annual sales increasing by 30%. The rise is thought be fuelled by women who appear to prefer rosè to other wine. Sales of rosè reached record highs in Britain in February with £453 million sales and they now make up 10% of the British still wine market. I must admit I do quite like a chilled glass of rosè in the summer.

It appears that as British children are getting fatter new rules are needed to protect seaside donkeys. Under the rules children who weigh more than eight stone will be banned from enjoying a donkey ride because the extra weight causes the donkey’s undue stress. The new rules also state that a donkey can only work six days a week and must have a full day’s rest as well as a break of at least an hour at lunchtime or early in the evening. It seems donkeys are very well looked after.

It appears we could soon have suffer mobile phones on the plane as the communication regular Ofcom has given British aircraft the go ahead to install systems that will allow passengers to make calls and send texts. Whilst I can see this might be good news for business customers who need to make important calls, I can see it could also be very irritating for other passengers. We have all travelled on the train with the passenger from hell who feels the need to call friend after friend, gradually working their way through their entire list of contacts, simply because they can’t sit in silence for 5 minutes. These people don’t seem to realise how irritating they can be, the one consolation is that train journeys are usually rather short. Can you imagine the same situation on a 12 hour flight? I think this decision could lead to more cases of air rage as passengers start to revolt.

According to this article a good night’s sleep can help you stay slim. A study found that people who slept for less than six hours a night or more than nine hours a night put on more weight than those who slept for seven or eight hours a night. Apparently the amount of sleep a person gets can affect their weight because it affects hormone levels especially those involved in appetite. I need more sleep.

There was a time when there was a huge stigma attached to being a pregnant bride. Obviously things have changed greatly and it is no longer frowned upon to have children before getting married. I can’t help thinking, however, that this bridal shop dedicated to pregnant brides is a sad sign of the times. The shop called Expectant Bride offers personal consultations to women who are planning to marry before they give birth. The bridal gowns are made to fit over the stomach and give a flattering shape as well as having room for last minute alterations. The owner has already helped around 150 pregnant brides.

It’s that time of year again and the frogs have arrived in the pond. I found this clump of frogspawn this morning. I’m hoping we might get some tadpoles this year. Unfortunately last year’s frogspawn which arrived a bit earlier on the 7th March was damaged by frost and died so let’s hope we see a better outcome this time.

A survey suggests that being out of mobile phone contact can be as stressful as moving house or breaking up with a partner for one in every five users. Running out of battery or not having enough credit also cause stress for mobile phone users. Apparently men are more affected by losing mobile phone contact than woman. The survey found that 48% of women and 58% of men admitted to feelings of anxiety and more then 20% of people questioned said they never switched off their mobiles. 9% of users said having their phone switched off made them feel anxious. The Post Office has published a guide to reducing these symptoms of stress. It recommends leaving loved ones an alternative contact number and making a back up list of your contacts in case your phone is stolen.