It seems English wines have done rather well at this years International Wine Challenge with two vineyards winning top awards. The Carmel Valley winery in Cornwall won a gold for its 2008 Pinot Noir Rose Brut and Nyetimber based in West Sussex also won gold with its 2001 Blanc de Blancs. The wines were tasted by a panel of 400 judges who awarded scores for faithfulness to variety, country, region and vintage. Although the top three gold medal winning nations were France with 75 medals, Australia with 65 and Portugal with 35, it seems English wines are starting to gain more recognition.

According to this article the average Briton spends up to 14 hours a day sitting down. It seems many people spend all day sitting down at work, then sit down on their commute home before going home to sit down on the sofa. For many people the only exercise they get is walking to their car. I guess I am a fairly typical example. I work on my laptop all day and tend to spend most of the evening watching the TV. I tend to only stand up when I cook in the evening and to water the garden. I do however, ensure I get at least 30 minutes of exercise a day whether it is going for a run or on the exercise bike, does that also count as sitting down?

For those that need their chocolate fix but don’t want to put on weight there may now be an answer. Le Whif is a new spray which claims it can give you a chocolate fix but without the adverse effect of weight gain. The spray which looks like a lipstick contains small particles of chocolate which when inhaled coat the back of the throat. They dissolve immediately but not before they coat the tongue and tastebuds. The spray costs £1.99 and comes in three flavours plain, raspberry and mint. Each spray contains around eight to ten puffs of chocolate. I’m not convinced myself, wouldn’t it be like smelling a chocolate bar without being able to eat it?

The dress can be one of the most expensive parts of planning your wedding day so it is quite common to see stories about people who have made their own. This one is a little more unusual because the dress was made out of bubble wrap. Rachael  Robinson’s dress was made completely out of recycled materials so didn’t cost her anything. The dress uses 13ft of packing material. It includes a 3ft train with the rest of the dress being put together with sheets of bubble wrap stitched over a cloth lining. I’m not sure the dress would be my first choice but it certainly is unusual.

It seems that the 24th of May is National Escargot Day, a day to celebrate the humble snail. In order to celebrate Cafe Rouge are running a promotion called the giant snail hunt. Giant snails like the ones pictured will be hidden in 30 towns and cities on the 22nd of May. 20 oversized snails will be hidden with the snails being redeemed for prizes. Cafe Rouge are also celebrating the snail by eating more of them. For a limited period until the 30th of May there will be a variety of snail based dishes on offer at the restaurant so if you like snails you have a week to try them.

In an usual story a drink of Lucozade has been credited with saving a dying dog. The dog was found abandoned in a shed in Ireland. When he was found he could barely move but it seems a bottle of Lucozade gave him a new lease of life. After receiving treatment for a severe case of mange Lucas is now looking a lot better and now has a new owner.

That’s according to one lady who is selling her collection of 17 wallabies. She claims that they are the perfect alternative to a lawnmower because they keep the grass well grazed and will work 24 hours a day. They do, however, have a tendency to eat all the other plants in the garden as well so might not be a solution if you are a keen gardener. It you would like a wallaby then you need at least an acre of land and be prepared to take two as they like to be with a mate. They cost between £300 and £1,000 each.

This poor little guy had to be rescued after he was found stuck inside the rim of a lorry wheel. A lorry driver found the fox cub at a depot after he was alerted by a yelping noise. The cub had managed to get his head firmly stuck inside the rim of the tyre and the SPCA were called in to rescue him. He seemed no worse for his adventure and is now being looked after at a rescue centre until he is old enough to be released back into the wild.

This was the outcome after an incident in Berkshire when a bus driver went under a low bridge. Luckily the driver had just dropped off the bus load of school children he was carrying and was in the bus on his own at the time. It seems the driver who usually drives a smaller bus simply forgot he was driving a double decker. Instead he now has an open top bus.

In what seems to be rather unusual behaviour a swan has been pictured eating an eel. The picture was taken by a wildlife photographer who has been watching a pair of nesting swans. Mike Davies was lucky enough to get a shot of the male swan pulling the eel out of the water and eating it. It is not clear why this swan has developed a taste for eel as their more usual food is insects, molluscs, plants and small fish.

According to this article foods that were traditionally used during the war are starting to make a comeback. A survey carried out by mysupermarket.co.uk has found that foods such as powered custard, sandwich spread and powdered milk are starting to become more popular. Sales of powdered custard have doubled in the last two years, sandwich spreads have seen an increase of 77%, powdered milk has increased by 36% and corned beef sales are up by 16%. The change in shopping behaviour has been put down to the fact that people on reduced budgets are relying more on cheaper food alternatives. Personally I find I am buying more powdered milk because I use it for making bread in the bread maker. I have also started buying custard powder rather than custard in packets simply because it lasts longer and there is less waste.

According to this article many people are causing damage to the wildlife in their garden ponds because they don’t know how to properly maintain them. A survey of garden ponds found that many had high levels of nitrates usually caused by topping the pond up with tap water. Creatures such as water boatmen, beetles, snails, alderflies and damselfly larvae are adversely affected by high nitrate levels because they cause excessive nutrients in the water. This encourages plants such as duck weed and blanket weed which tend to suffocate the pond. Tempting as it might be to top your pond up with tap water when the water level is low it seems that most freshwater creatures are adapted to changing water levels. Most can apparently survive in just 2cm of water. The message here is to refill your pond with rainwater where possible although I can see that if you also have fish in the pond sometimes tap water might be the only option.

According to this article cleavage is in fashion this season as the size zero look becomes less popular. For those that want to keep up with the latest trends but are feeling a little challenged in the cleavage department Marks and Spencer have launched a new bra. The bra uses a light foam insert and straps that cross at the back and claims to boost your cleavage by two cup sizes. It will on sale in stores from July and costs £20.