If you have ever wondered what Britain's happiest dog might look like, then you need look no further. Alfie (pictured) has recently won the title. He beat dozens of other dogs to win the competition which was organised by Penguin Books.

This impressive looking creature could be the world’s heaviest insect. Weighing in at 71g about three times more than a mouse the giant weta is the largest ever recorded.

This looks like it might be worth a try. According to this article it is the UK’s hottest cheese. Called Scotch Bonnet Cheddar it is made from the Scotch Bonnet chilli pepper. It costs £2 for a 250g and is available from Tesco. I will have to remember to pick some up next time I am there.

For several months we have been eagerly waiting the birth of our daughter who was due on the 26th of December. Penny, as she has now been called, caught us all unawares and actually arrived last Tuesday, nearly a month early.

Although I didn’t realise it at the time my waters broke on 27th of November. I guess I was expecting a massive rush of fluid but the slow trickle that I experienced confused me somewhat and I did feel a bit silly even ringing the hospital for advice. They did, however, call me in and confirmed that my waters had broken. They then gave me 24 hours to go into labour before calling me back for an appointment.

Penny, it seems, didn’t want to wait that long and having spent most of Sunday night at the hospital we were back again at 1am Monday morning with irregular contractions. After a 14 hour labour, and an episiotomy Penny arrived just after lunchtime on Tuesday. Now begins the real learning experience of figuring out how to look after a baby.

Regular readers may have noticed that things have been a little on the quiet side recently when it comes to blog updates. This is mainly because I have had an unexpected stay in hospital. My baby was originally due on the 26th of December but decided to make a rather early arrival. She actually arrived last week on the 29th of November, something that surprised everyone. I have been in hospital since and arrived back here on Sunday night. Hopefully normal service should resume here soon, once we have settled in at home.

This gold toilet was recently unveiled at the World Toilet Expo. Costing £129,000 it is gold plated. Quite why you would want a gold plated toilet is beyond me especially as its not the most attractive looking device.

This is interesting its a sunken bridge which has been created across a historic moat. The bridge at Fort Roovere is part of a sunken waterway surrounding the Dutch fort. Architects built it rather than creating a bridge over the moat so it forms an invisible bridge.

Grandmother Barbara Pitt has recently created the scent of Southport in a fragrance. She drew on the towns attractions to create the scent which captures the towns essence. Costing £25 it is on sale at a gift shop in the town and should be the perfect gift for those visitors to the town that want a unique souvenir.

This is interesting its a fence made of bee hives that helps deter elephants from areas populated by humans. Biologist Dr Lucy King came up with the idea after studying the African Savannah elephant. She noticed that the elephants refused to feed on acacia trees which housed African honeybees for fear of getting stung. Based on this she developed the beehive fence to stop elephants entering farm land. The fences have now been tested in three different districts in Kenya. Since they have been installed a total of 90 different raids by elephants have been monitored but there have only been six incidents of elephants actually crossing the fences.