With the weather being nice recently I have been eating my fair share of burgers to make full use of the BBQ. This one, however, might be a burger too far. Claiming to be the world’s biggest burger it weighs an amazing 777lbs and has more than a million calories. The burger includes a 110lb bun, 20lbs of onions, 12lbs of pickles and 30lbs of lettuce. It was made by organisers of the Alameda County Fair in the US with parts of the burger being sold for 99 cents at the fair and proceeds going to charity. That’s what you call a burger.

If you have a bit of spare cash to spend and fancy something a little unusual, then this new Bugatti might appeal. Costing £1.4 million the one off car is called the L’Or Blanc. it has recently been unveiled in Berlin to mark the the start of a partnership between the Konigliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Berlin and Bugatti. The car is unusual because it features porcelain on both the interior and exterior. It’s a nice looking car but personally I think I would prefer it without the porcelain detail, it makes it look a little strange.

That’s according to this article which suggests a million more people now employ a cleaner compared with a decade ago. It seems the main reason is that in households where both partners work there is simply not enough time left to do your own cleaning. I don’t have a cleaner but I must admit finding time to clean the house can be difficult and when I am busy with work, then it simply doesn’t get done. Perhaps I should look into employing a cleaner for a couple of hours a week to make things a little easier.

Compare the Market have found another way to capitalise on the success of their Compare the Meerkat campaign. They are now giving away cute cuddly meerkats for every customer who buys car insurance, home insurance or pet insurance via the website. There is a choice of four characters including Aleksandr, Sergei, Bogdan the meerpup, Maiya the teacher, Yakov the toymaker and Vassily, a regular at the Queasy Mongoose pub.

The high street chain Peacocks have recently launched a budget wedding dress inspired by the one worn by Kate Middleton for her wedding. The dress has a similar neckline and lace sleeves but also includes a ribbon around the waist which was not a feature of Kate’s dress. It will launch at Peacocks online store on the 7th of August and will be on sale in sizes 8 to 18. If you want one they cost just £60. 

Scientists have recently opened a bottle of 170 year old beer. The beer was found in a Baltic sea shipwreck along with several bottles of champagne. It has been sitting 50 metres below sea level for so long that it had become contaminated with seawater. Despite this the scientists opened the beer and analysed the contents. They found malt sugars, hops and aromatic compounds that are still used in beer today as well as lactic acid which would have given the beer a sour taste. There were, however, no active yeast cells meaning they will unable to replicate the beer using a reverse process. A further five bottles have also been recovered from the wreck and another will be opened and analysed at a further date. I wonder whether any are still in a drinkable condition.

According to this article scientists may have found a cure for hay fever. It comes in the form of a cellulose nasal spray which forms a barrier over the membrane in the nose, filtering out allergens like pollen. It has been developed from a powder produced from pine trees and has been proven to reduce the symptoms of hay fever. It is not clear from the article, however, whether it is already available to purchase or if it still in development.

Things are coming along nicely at the allotment with the potatoes just beginning flower. The sweet corns are growing fast and the runner beans appear to have picked up despite being damaged by a late frost. Currently the bulk of the work consists of keeping on top of the ever growing weeds. We are also gradually clearing the back part of the plot in preparation for more crops next year.

We have just had a new cat move into the neighbourhood which is causing a bit of excitement in our four cats household. The new cat who lives next door has been trying his best to make friends with our cats without success. He has been visiting the garden several times a day and has been popping in to help himself to a snack (pictured left). A few days ago we found him trapped inside the kitchen unable to get out. So far our cats remain unimpressed. They have made it clear that they hate their new neighbour and do not appreciate him visiting. It seems they also take a dim view of sharing their food. We are currently looking into purchasing a new cat flap that works with our cats microchips. Hopefully this will stop the visits inside the house but as for the garden I guess they will just have to learn to get along.

If you have the time then smoking a chicken is a very flavoursome way to cook it. We use our kettle style BBQ to do this and generally leave the chicken cooking for about three to four hours although it can be usually be left all day if needed. The trick is to get the coals  nice and hot. Place a aluminium dish of water underneath the chicken. Stuff the chicken with a few fresh herbs to add flavour and drizzle with a little oil. Then just close the lid and let the smoke do the work. Check on it after a few hours to make sure the fire hasn’t gone out and if so relight it or add more wood. We served it with a garden salad and some potato salad made with the first crop of early potatoes also from the garden.

According to this article. this is the world’s most expensive razor. Costing $100,000, that’s about £62,460 it is called the Zafirro Iridium. Researchers have spent three years developing the razor which has a handle made of 99.9 per cent iridium, the most corrosion resistant platinum metal. The razor also has two blades made out of white sapphire. They are just 80 atoms thick on the cutting edge and are much sharper than any other blades currently on the market. The question is, who would buy a razor that costs this much money?

This is an interesting idea, it’s a theme park in Las Vegas where customers can drive diggers and other machinery. Called Dig This the park has various machinery including a pair of bulldozers and some hydraulic excavators. Visitors are able to buy three hour packages which include a safety course followed by some time operating the machines. They are able to dig a trench, build an earthen mound or perform skill tests using the machines. It all sounds quite fun, I wonder if there is anywhere in the UK you can do this.

A handbag used by Margaret Thatcher has recently sold at auction for £25,000. Margaret Thatcher was pictured with the bag as she stood with President Ronald Reagan in 1985. It was brought by an unnamed Cypriot buyer and was expected to attract bids of up to £100,000 so it seems they have picked up a bargain.

That’s according to this article. A study has found that the insects are more likely to fly towards a person after they have consumed a pint or more. Researchers believe that they are attracted by the odour and breath changes caused when you consume alcohol. It might also be that they have to come to associate beer odour with a lack of defensiveness from drinkers. The research was part of a study into the insects to try and halt disease spread by mosquitoes. Tests were conducted on a group of people aged between 20 and 43. They were given a litre of beer and insects were given the option of flying towards traps containing either open air or the human odour of the participant. It was found that 65% of mosquitoes flew towards the human odour after the person had consumed beer compared with 35% before any beer was consumed. I wonder if the same applies to wine.