I came across this article the other day which shows how to make your own butter. It’s not something I have ever tried but looking at the instructions it doesn’t look that hard. So that I can find it again I am posting a link to it here.

The recipe which makes 1kg of butter and 1 litre of buttermilk starts off with 2.4 litres of double cream and 2 teaspoons of dairy salt which it says are optional. The cream is then whisked in a food mixer until thick and then even more until it separates into buttermilk and butterfat globules. The mixture is then turned into a sieve to separate the buttermilk and the butter whisked further to expel any remains of buttermilk. The sieving process is repeated. The butter is then kneaded with butter bats (wooden paddles) to remove any traces of buttermilk before being drained and washed several times. It can then be chilled or frozen.

It all sounds very easy and I will be trying it so watch this space for the results.

The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) has called on the government to scrap its plans to raise beer taxes. The tax is due to increase 2% above inflation in the next Budget in March and has risen 20% since 2008. The BBPA says taxing beer at a lower rate could save as many as 7,500 jobs at a time when many in the pub industry are struggling. Figures from Camra (Campaign for Real Ale) show that 40 pubs a week are currently closing and at the height of the recession this was as many as 52 a week. Personally I can’t see the government bowing to pressure when it has such a huge hole in public spending but I feel they should recognise the importance of the local pub in the community and do more to help the struggling publican.

If you have ever been in a dark bathroom at night struggling to find the toilet roll then this glow in the dark toilet roll might be just what you need. It looks like regular toilet roll but gives off a florescent glow when the lights are turned off. It costs £4.99 for a roll so is not cheap but could be useful if you are planning a camping trip or simply going somewhere really dark.

When it comes to endangered animals many get a much higher profile than the Great White Shark. It seems, though that it is now more endangered than the tiger with only 3,500 left. The findings have led to marine biologists to call for urgent action to stop them going extinct. The population estimates come after a scientists studied and tagged the migration of the sharks using radio transmitters. What was surprising is that great whites travel much longer distances that previously thought, anything up to 12,000 miles in a nine month period. The researchers found that sharks seen in Hawaii were the same ones that were found in California just six months later leading experts to the conclusion there are far fewer sharks left in the sea. Whilst great whites have a bad reputation for attacking people most incidents are thought to be due to the shark mistaking people for seals. With so few left and the fact that most people have little love for sharks, it seems they might not be around for much longer.

Cat food is being used in Australia to stop the spread of invasive cane toads. It has been found that cat food attracts meat ants towards it. Meat ants in turn have quite an appetite for baby cane toads. Leaving cat food near the waters edge when the baby toads are emerging puts the ants right where they are needed. The idea is the latest attempt to try and control the cane toads which were introduced from Hawaii in 1935 in an attempt to control beetles on sugarcane plantations. Since then cane toads have become a destructive influence on the local wildlife population. Other methods of controlling them have included hitting the toads with golf clubs and freezing them. However, with tens of thousands of toads emerging from the water at any one time these methods have not proved effective. Meat ants, are well equipped to deal with the glut of extra food and it has been found that when ponds are lined with cat food, 98% of toads are attacked within two minutes. Of those that escape 80% die of their injuries within a day.

According to this article there are some people that would like to see pole dancing included as an Olympic sport. It seems that pole dancing is fast becoming less a feature of a strip club and more a highly athletic and even respectable event. Pole dancing enthusiasts would first need to gain IOC recognition as a sport before it could be seriously considered for the Olympics. Some believe it is only a matter of time before it is and are optimistic that 2012 could see the first pole dancing event.

This article is interesting it suggests that microbreweries are becoming increasingly popular and in some cases more so than the big brands. The article highlights Ascot Ales which are brewed by Chris Gill and his wife. They currently produce around 12 barrels of ale a week when working at full capacity and supply 70 local pubs. Unlike larger breweries they do not add rice and maize to keep costs down, preferring to stick to premium ingredients. Neither do they pasteurise the beer. This obviously means that it doesn’t last quite as long but taking out this process means that none of the flavour is destroyed. it seems these microbreweries which have small output levels and minimal staff are enjoying rapid growth in a time when people are looking something more tasty and perhaps more local. In contrast many of the larger multi-national breweries are seeing their sales fall. It certainly seems to work for Ascot Ales, they are currently seeking a larger premises so that they can increase production.

These rockets have been made by inventor John Coker. He had the idea after a friend remarked that his rockets looked a bit like crayons. The over sized pack of rocket crayons was soon born. They took several years to build  and do pretty much what you would expect rockets to do whilst looking like crayons.

According to this article almost half of all primates face extinction. There are 634 primate species but 48% of these are on the red list of animals under threat. The main problems facing primates is the destruction of tropical forests and the illegal hunting trade. A recent report has highlighted the 25 most endangered primate species some of which are thought to be down to just a few dozen individuals. Among these are golden headed langur of which there are between 60 and 70 individuals left and the eastern black crested gibbons of which there are around 110. It is hoped that the report will go some way to highlighting the problems facing these creatures before it is becomes too late to save them.

A bald eagle with a broken beak has had it fixed in a rather unconventional way. The eagle had lost most of his beak after catching it in a fishing line. The resulting hole in his beak then stopped him from hunting. A dentist who was called in to help and filled the hole with putty which is usually used to fill holes in human teeth. He made it the right shape and size to fit the hole in the beak and although it is not thought the bird will return to the wild, he should now be able to survive in captivity.

A farm in Sussex has started offering unpasteurised milk in an effort to save their farm. Longley’s Farm near Hailsham has been selling organic pasteurised milk for some time but recently has started losing money on the product. The farmer says that pasteurised milk now costs around 34p a litre to produce but they are only paid 26p for it so make a loss on each litre. Unpasteurised on the other hand is cheaper to produce although it must carry a warning that it might contain bacteria and can only be sold directly by the farmer. It is thought that the unpasteurised milk, however, has the advantage of containing more nutrients because it has not gone through the heat treating process. The farmer is currently planning to deliver the milk once a week but it will be interesting to see how much demand there is for the product.

According to this article some French vineyards are starting to make their fruit into health tonics, pills and dietary supplements in order to move into the teetotal market. Is seems that these products can often be made from the part of the grape that would be discarded. Although some wineries have traditionally turned this wine residue into state subsidised industrial alcohol, these subsidies are due to be ended and so producers are looking towards new markets and instead looking to develop medicines and supplements. One producer that the article mentions produces Dionysox a drink made from the grape skins which he sells as a dietary supplement whilst another sells dietary supplements made from the vines. Although 80% of wine studies show it has a positive affect on health there are as yet no guarantee that the wine extracts do, so it would be interesting to see if any of these products undergo any clinical trials.

A pub in Sheffield has won the Campaign for Real Ale’s national pub of the year for a second year running. The Kelham Island Tavern has been praised for the quality of its beer and attention to detail. The pub was brought in a derelict state by the current landlord in 2001 and since then has suffered flood damage which forced it to close. It appears the pub has bounced back and since it won the award for the first time in 2008 it has been attracting visitors from all over the country, so if you are in Sheffield it might be worth a visit.

A 90 year old man is waiting for confirmation from Guinness Wolrd Records to see whether he is the world’s oldest paperboy. Ted Ingram has been a paperboy for 68 years and claims he has delivered more than 500,000 papers on his round in Winterborne Monkton near Dorchester. Ted has only ever missed his round twice due to snow, despite the fact that he now has a hip replacement. He continues to do the round despite the fact that he no longer makes any money from it because he now has to take the car.

Scientists, politicians and wildlife groups are pushing for moves to restrict the sale of bluefin tuna. Campaigners will call for trade restrictions at the next meeting of Cities, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Bluefin tuna is very popular particularly in Japan where it is used for sushi and can often sell for thousands of pounds. Stocks of the fish, however, have dropped by 82% since 1978 in the western Atlantic and those in the eastern Atlantic have dropped by 80% in the same period. The fish is currently being fished faster than the total population can replenish its numbers so if nothing is done it appears the collapse of the species is inevitable. As the world’s main purchaser of the fish Japan are likely to oppose any restrictions.

A beer called Sink the Bismarck has claimed the title of world’s strongest beer. Previously the title was held by a German beer called Tactical Nuclear Penguin made by Brewdog of Fraserburgh with a 32% alcohol content. Sink the Bismarck, however is an impressive 41%. It costs £40 for a 330ml bottle and is being sold exclusively online. The beer is designed to be drunk in spirit sized measures rather than in a pint glass.

A conservation project in Devon and Cornwall to help the cirl bunting is proving successful with numbers of the bird up 25% on 2003 levels. Under the project conservationists have been working with local farmers to manage land in such a way that provides food and a natural habitat for the birds. In 1989 there were just 118 pairs of breeding birds to be found in the UK but this has now risen to 862 in 2009.

According to a recent poll on obesity and weight loss, people in the East Midlands are the fattest in the UK. The poll looked at the average body mass index (BMI) across the country. It found that people in the East Midlands had an average BMI of 28.4 compared to London which was 26.1. Putting this into perspective a BMI of anything between 25 and 29.9 is considered to be overweight. Based on this it seems that even the lower of the two figures is taken into account then the average person in the UK is overweight.

If you fancy getting married somewhere unusual then you might be interested to know that the houses of Parliament will now be available as a wedding venue. Westminster City Council has granted a license which approves two rooms in the Palace of Westminster to be used for marriages and civil partnerships. Until now only MPs, peers and parliamentary officials could get married there. The Jubilee Room has space for 80 people and overlooks Cromwell Green and the MPs’ dining room caters for 150 people and has views of the Thames. The rooms have been approved for use until 2013.

This rather unusual wine press has recently been discovered in southern Israel. The press measures 21ft by 54ft and is unusual because it has an octagonal shape. The press which is 1,400 years old would have been quite advanced for its time and the size of it indicates that wine was produced here for export rather than local consumption. Wine would have been produced by crushing the grapes on the treading floor. It would then have flowed into a distributing vat and have been collected on two vats on either side.

According to this article a lack of fog could threaten the giant redwoods in the state of California. A recent study has found that fog has decreased in the last 100 years in the area. Whilst the importance of fog might not be apparent at first it helps to prevent water loss from the redwoods in the summer and so is really important for the trees. Most of the redwoods in the area are concentrated along the coast because they are not that good at dealing with California’s hot summers.  With the decline in fog many of the trees are now showing signs of drought stress and it is this which could threaten the trees. As yet the negative impact of the trees does remain unproven but it is interesting to see how a slight imbalance could start to have consequences for the environment, It seems this is an area which needs further study to see if the trees will be further impacted in the future.

According to this article it could soon be compulsory for drinks manufacturers to include health warnings on alcohol. Some drinks already carry health warnings under a voluntary code between the drinks industry and the government. However, only 15% of alcoholic drinks currently carry these warnings. The code was agreed in 2007 and it was thought that by the end of 2008 most drinks would display the warnings. Under the code drinks should include the number of units the drink contains, drinking guidelines of no more than three or four units a day for men and two or three for women, and the website address for the Drinkaware Trust. The government has launched a consultation of how to move forward with the issue but one idea is to introduce mandatory labelling.

According to this article immigrants will be taught the fine art of queuing in an effort to help them integrate into society. If the article is correct foreigners wanting to settle here would need to learn how to queue in a test of aspects of British life. Ministers believe that queue jumping is damaging social cohesion and that immigrants don’t understand that they need to wait in line for services rather than simply going to the front as may the custom is some other cultures. According to the article 91% of Britons object to queue jumping but personally I’m not entirely sure that the problem is caused by immigrants.

This article is interesting, it suggests that vegetarian meat substitutes do more harm to the environment than eating meat. There has been widespread news about the impact of meat production on the environment but it seems that meat substitutes such and Quorn and tofu are not as green as they may seem. The Cranfield University found that switching from British bred beef and lamb to tofu and Quorn actually increases the the amount of land cultivated therefore raising the risk of forests being destroyed. This is because the production methods for these products are energy intensive and the final products are highly processed. A vegetarian looking to reduce their environmental impact, then, might be better off avoiding them.

A newly discovered species of big cat, the Sundaland clouded leopard has recently been caught on camera for the first time. The leopard which was only discovered to a be a distinct species three years ago is one of the more elusive cat species. The footage was caught by a team who were evaluating how changes to the forest in Borneo impacts on the carnivores. As part of the project they were placing camera traps in the forest and were lucky enough to get footage not only of the leopard but also a flat headed cat, bay cat and marbled cat. You can see the video and pictures on the original article here.

A horse sanctuary in Essex has seen a rise in the number of starving animals during the recession. Remus Memorial Horse Sanctuary in Buttsbury has been inundated with thin and starving animals because people can no longer afford to keep them. They have also seen an increase in the number of horses being dumped in fields and left to die. The problem appears to UK wide and unfortunately is expected to get worse before it gets better. The sanctuary has urged people to look out for tethered animals as they may be unable to reach food and water and to report any animals which they have concerns about.

Whilst I don’t think Reebok will be using this slogan to advertise their trainers anytime soon it seems that most burglars choose Reebok. That’s according to a university study which examined footprints found at crime scenes. Reebok Classics were found to be worn by 52 out of a 100 burglars in the Northamptonshire region after studying footprints in 155 burglaries. The study found that jobless criminals were more likely to wear expensive trainers spending up to £19 more on shoes than burglars who have jobs. It also found that for every extra £1 spent on trainers the level of social and economic deprivation of the criminal increased by 0.75%. Student Matthew Tonkin who did the research hopes that police will be able to use the information to narrow down their list of prolific offenders.

According to this article karaoke bars in the Philippines have been experiencing a surprising amount of what has now been termed "My Way killings. It seems the Frank Sinatra classic brings out the worst in karaoke lovers as a number of people have been killed after singing the song. The crimes have become so common that they now have their sub-category of crime and many karaoke fans are steering well clear of the song for fear of reprisals. What is still not clear is why this particular song seems to attract such an extreme reaction.

This is interesting it’s a concept called speed hating. Similar to speed dating participants are encouraged to confess their hatred of things that particularly annoy them and generally to row or insult people. If you are not comfortable hurling abuse at total strangers then cheat cards are provided which list things which may inspire hatred. I’m not entirely convinced it’s a particularly good way of meeting people but then I’m not convinced by speed dating either.

This article is interesting it points out the impact that globalisation has had on crime statistics within the UK. It seems that it has been responsible for bringing down the prices of household goods as cheaper electronic goods are made in the Far East and so making them less desirable to criminals. As they are likely to get less return for selling stolen goods such as TVs or DVD players, criminals are turning instead to more lucrative crimes such as mugging and car crime which promise better rewards. Trends show that during the 1980s and 1990s staple crimes were usually burglary and car crime as it was easy to break into a house and sell an item for profit. However, trends now show that criminals are increasingly targeting high value portable items such as iPods and phones which are carried on the person and so muggings are becoming more common. The good news for home owners is that you are less likely be burgled.

According to this article a study has found there could be potentially damaging effects from “third hand” cigarette smoke. Scientists have found that significant quantities of cancer causing chemicals are produced on surfaces even when a smoker has been away from the room for several days. It is these chemicals that linger in the room after smoking that they refer to as third hand. The chemicals are found to be present in significant amounts on chairs, tables, carpets and even skin. Nicotine can stick to indoor surfaces for several days where it interacts with nitrous acid released by car exhausts and gas appliances. When combined these chemicals form something called tobacco-specific nitrosamines which can cause cancer. It is thought that the amounts found are enough to pose a danger to non-smokers and young children so it seems there may be yet another way that smoking can kill you, albeit indirectly.

A group of hedgehogs at a wildlife rescue centre are being on a diet because they are getting a little too fat. The hedgehogs spent longer than usual in care over the winter period and as a result carry so much weight they are finding difficult to roll into balls. The 10 hedgehogs will now undergo a much reduced diet before they are deemed fit enough to be released into the wild.

There are many ways to show someone that you love them but this is probably one of the more unusual I have come across. A man from Minnesota created this giant manure heart for his wife this valentines day. The heart measures half a mile wide and it appears to have impressed the lady in question who thought it was rather cute.

A dermatologist has developed a application for the iPhone which he claims can get rid of wrinkles and acne whilst you talk on the phone. Called AcneApp The application costs $1.99 and uses blue and red light to help kill bacteria and promote collagen growth. There is some scepticism over whether the product actually works as it is yet to undergo clinical study but its an interesting idea.

Floppy disks are not really good for much these days but one artist has been putting them to good use.  Nick Gentry uses old floppy disks to create his pictures incorporating them into the artwork itself by using them as a canvas. Anything from 6 to more than 100 disks are used to create each picture depending upon the size. You can see one example to the left here but for others take a look at this article.

According to this article millions of men don’t know their partner’s dress size, date of birth or eye colour. If the article is to be believed it would seem that many men do not know some basic facts about their other half. A survey carried out by the Perfume shop on 2,000 men who were buying perfume for their partner founds that although six out of ten man thought they knew her, 12% did not know their partner's eye colour, 10% did not know her date of birth and 8% did not know her natural hair colour. Other questions which drew blanks were favourite perfume, bra size and the name of their best friend. According to relationship expert Francine Kaye although small details are important to women most men do not notice them. I must be lucky then, my husband knows all the answers even if he does describe my favourite perfume as the one in the green bottle. It’s close enough, to find it in a shop, so it’s good enough for me.

This massive crab is about to go on show at Birmingham’s National Sea Life Centre. The crab who measures more than 5ft long has been dubbed Crabzilla by some. It has been flown to the UK on route to its new permanent home in Belgium all the way from Japan. The crab will be in Birmingham until the end of March sharing a tank with some of the centres smaller crustaceans.

The number of people getting married is now at the lowest rate since records began in the 19th century. According to figures from the Office for National Statistics there were 232,990 weddings in England and Wales in 2008, 35,000 less than ten years ago. Figures also show that people who decide to get married are leaving it much later. The average age of marriage has now increased to 36.5 for men and 33.8 for women. Fewer than two thirds of weddings are now the first marriage for both partners with more than one in six ceremonies involving people who have been divorced or widowed. Figures have also suggested that more people are choosing to raise children outside of marriage.

A herd of wild horses has been released into the Kent countryside in a project to help improve biodiversity in the area. The horses have been released into the South Foreland Valley nature reserve at St Margaret’s Bay near Dover. The project is a collaboration between conservation groups and St Margaret’s parish council. The horses are a relative of the Tarpan, a wild forest horse that would have roamed Britain in prehistoric times. It is hoped that grazing the land will encourage the return of many species of wildlife which are under threat including butterflies such as the chalkhill blue and silver spotted skipper.

An Australian man has set the world record for sword swallowing by swallowing 18 blades. Chayne Hultgren who calls himself The Space Cowboy beat the record he set in 2008. He has been practising with swords since he was 16 and has a variety of methods he uses including stretching his throat with hoses.  

Eel passes such as the one shown in the picture have given a boost to the number of European eels in British rivers. The passes allow the eels to wriggle their way up and over the barrier on a bed of bristles so they can get to the other side. Two passes installed in Somerset have seen 10,000 eels queuing up to use them. The Environment Agency now plans to fit a further 100 gates across the country.

The answer according to one academic is 151 when it comes to Facebook friends. It appears that is the stage at which your Facebook friend list becomes unmanageable. The reason is that our brains are simply not big enough for us to handle meaningful relationships with more than a handful of people. Apparently there is a general relationship between brain size and social group size in monkeys and apes. That relationship predicts a natural group size and for humans this size is 150. This number is among other things the average number of people we send Christmas cards to, the average size of parishes among community-focused sects such as the Amish and the Hutterites, and the typical size of companies in most armies. Within these friends your social world then contains circles of friendships from a core of more intimate friends declining in intimacy down to those on the outskirts. I currently have 94 Facebook friends so it appears I have extra capacity for a few extra.

According to this article less people appear to be eating marmalade. It seems younger generations have lost their taste for marmalade with around 80% of sales being to shoppers over the age of 45. Overall sales were down 3% last year. The rise of eating on the move has been blamed for the decline as it appears less people take the time to sit down to toast for breakfast. Production has also been hit by price rises in ingredients such as fresh fruit and sugar. Personally I do buy marmalade but find I use it more in recipes rather than eating it on toast.

When you think of Scotland wine isn’t really the first thing that comes to mind. A chef from Perthshire, however, is hoping to change that. Pete Gottgens has planted vines in the grounds of the Ardeonaig hotel in Perthshire and hopes to produce Scotland’s first commercially available wine. Inspired by dessert wines produced in Canada and Sweden he has planted 48 vines of four different varieties. He hopes they will produce something this year even if it does turn out to be vinegar. It will certainly be interesting to see the results.

According to this article St Austell in Cornwall will get £9 million of government money to help its eco-town project. St Austell was named as one of four areas that has been chosen by the government to have eco-towns with the others being in Rackheath in Norfolk, Bicester in Oxfordshire and Whitehill Bordon in East Hants. In all, the four areas will support up to 2,000 local jobs and introduce thousands of people to green living. The project in St Austell will regenerate the china clay area being used to create a number of carbon neutral homes. The homes will initially be used as show homes to help give residents in the local area an example of green living. Other houses will be given a green makeover and will feature water saving systems and smart meters to monitor energy use. They will also have renewable power and electric car charging points.

According to this article cat owners are more educated than dog owners. That’s according to a study carried out by Bristol University. A poll of 2,524 households found that 47.2% of those with a cat had at least one person educated to degree level, compared with 38.4% of homes with dogs. It is put down to the fact that those who work longer hours are generally in better qualified jobs but that these people find their lifestyle makes owing a dog impractical so opt for a cat instead.

According to this article our DNA could affect our ability to burn off fat through exercise. Dubbed the “unfitness gene” it seems one in five of us will be unable to lose weight no matter how much we exercise. Researchers asked 600 people to take up cycling and then tracked their improvements in fitness.  They did this by measuring the amount the amount of oxygen they took in. By looking into the volunteers DNA they found 30 genes that affected oxygen intake and noticed that one in five had a combination of genes which meant their oxygen intake did not change despite the recent exercise. 10 per cent of the volunteers did see a massive improvement in their aerobic fitness, however, this could explain why some people find it hard to lose weight. Or it could just be that extra piece of cake you couldn’t resist.

In an effort to cut the amount of glass attacks in England and Wales the government has been looking into designs for safer pint glasses. Two new prototypes have recently been unveiled which it is hoped will help to reduce injuries. The first of the glasses called the Glass Plus has a clear plastic coating which is put inside the glass. The coating prevents the glass from breaking into shards when it is smashed and existing pint glasses can be treated with it. The second design called the Twin Wall is made from two thin walled glasses inside each other which are bonded together. Once again this stops the glass from shattering into small pieces. Both glasses are currently only prototypes and so are still being tested for safety. In a demonstration Glass Plus broke on the first attempt, but didn't shatter whilst it took four attempts to get a Twin Wall glass to break and when it did there were no shards of glass either. It is likely to be some time before either glass appears in a pub near you but it is estimated you might start seeing them in around a years time.

An Austrian millionaire is giving away his fortune after realising it doesn’t make him happy. Karl Rabeder who is worth around £3 million is gradually disposing of his fortune. He has put his £1.4 million villa up for sale and is also in the process of selling his farmhouse, six gliders and an luxury Audi. The proceeds of the sale will all be going to charities which he has set up in Central and Latin America. Once everything is sold he will move into a small wooden hut in the mountains or a bedsit.

According to this article drinking beer could help prevent weak bones. A study claims that certain types of beer are a rich source of dietary silicon and can actually help prevent osteoporosis. Not all beers, however, have the effect. Those that contain malted barley and hops have a higher silicon content that beers made from wheat so these are the ones to choose if the article is correct. However, the study suggests consuming them in moderation. Beer. Is there anything it can’t do?

According to this article scientists have created a tomato that can stay fresh for up to six weeks. The tomato which is the result of genetic engineering will stay fresh for around 45 days, three times longer than a normal tomato. Researchers believe the process could also be applied to other fruits including bananas and mangos. It has been created by researcher in India who have managed to stop the production of ripening enzymes in the fruit. The increased firmness stops the fruit going soft for longer. The one problem may be that no one has yet tested the tomato for taste. It would also need to undergo extensive safety testing before it would be allowed to go on sale. I’m not convinced myself, I find fruit and vegetables at their best when they are fresh and am a little dubious at something that can be kept so long.

If you have ever wanted to know which would win in a fight between a leopard and a porcupine then you might find this article interesting. It shows several images of a young leopard trying to hunt a porcupine. Despite the leopard trying out several different hunting techniques he is no match for his prickly opponent and after receiving painful spines in his paw decides this potential meal might not be worth the effort.

This is interesting, its a machine that supposedly turns waste paper from the office into toilet roll. Called the “White Goat” the machine could not be described as portable, it is 6ft tall and weighs in at 94st. It can create a new toilet roll from 40 sheets of A4 paper in around 30 minutes. Waste paper is fed into a shredder, untangled and then dissolved in a pulper. The wet paper is then thinned out and dried before being wound into toilet paper.

A vicious pheasant has been terrorising the residents of a village in North Yorkshire. There have been reports of people being attacked and even trapped inside their homes by the bird which is creating problems in Newsham. It appears the pheasant is simply protecting what he has decided is his territory as the breeding season approaches. One thing is clear, however, this is not a a pheasant to be messed with.

A Merseyside football team has resorted to getting their pitch blessed in order to try and improve their luck. Marine FC have lost several players to injuries this season and have had the floodlights fail mid game on one occasion. They have also lost their last five matches. Father John Ealey was called in to remedy the situation. He has blessed the pitch, said a prayer and poured holy water on the turf. It will be interesting to see whether their fortunes improve as the season progresses.

According to this article Kellogg’s will change the recipes of their brands of cereals in order to cut the salt content. The Move comes after a health watchdog criticised the salt content in brands such as Corn Flakes and rice Krispies. The salt content in these brands will be cut by 30%. The new recipe Rice Krispies are already on sale and the new recipe Corn Flakes are expected to be available in March.

This coin which was found in the village of Hallaton in Leicestershire is thought to be the oldest piece of Roman money found in Britain. The coin was found in 2000 with around 5,000 other coins, a helmet and a decorated bowl. It has since been dated to 221BC and has been put on display at the Harbrough Museum. The other coins excavated at the Iron Age shrine of the Corieltavi tribe have been dated to the first century AD. It is not known how a Roman coin might have come into the possession of the local tribe but it is thought that they might have been traded before the Roman conquest in 43AD.

A German man has been jailed for 14 weeks after being stopped at an airport with geckos in his underwear. The man attempted to board a plane in New Zealand with more than 40 geckos and skinks concealed in his underwear. He was convicted of two charges under the Wildlife Act and five under the Trade in Endangered Species Act for taking the creatures from the wild gecko and skink populations.

According to this article an English sparkling wine has beaten some of the leading French champagne producers to win an international competition. The Champion of Worldwide Sparkling Wines competition is run by Italy’s wine magazine Euposia. It attracts sparkling wines from around the world which are tasted in a blind tasting by a panel of judges. The Nyetimber Classic Cuvee 2003 which is made in Sussex won the competition beating some notable French wines including Bollinger. Two other English wines also featured in the top 12.

According to this article people are increasingly choosing inexpensive pursuits such as painting and drawing during the recession. It seems people are moving away from more expensive hobbies as paint brush sales tripled and sales of A4 sketch books doubled at Tesco last year. They have put the increase down to their customers looking for cheaper ways to spend their free time and expect a further increase this year.

A half smoked cigar that was abandoned by Sir Winston Churchill has sold at auction for £4,500. The cigar was discarded when Churchill rushed away to an urgent wartime cabinet meeting. It was picked up by a member of staff at 10 Downing Street 69 years ago and was recently put up at auction. The cigar was expected to fetch around £350 but was snapped up by a private collector for the sum of £4,500.

I have always been sceptical about the claims that fortnightly bin collections will cut waste. I’m not surprised then by the results of a report recently commissioned by the Government. It suggests that fortnightly bin collections do not help to cut waste and in fact it forces people to dispose of their waste in other ways such as driving it to the local dump. The report which was commissioned by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs found that although fortnightly bin collections did reduce the amount of waste left in the street it had a knock on effect of home owners taking more rubbish to the tip. According to the shadow Local Government minister this has the effect of increasing congestion and pollution from traffic. Based on the findings the Conservatives have said they will work to establish weekly bin collections if they are elected.

According to this article Dyson have just launched a mini version of its vacuum cleaner. Designed for those who live in small flats or apartments the City DC26 is small enough to store in a bookcase but has all the features you would expect from the bigger model. At £250 its not cheap but I would certainly find this useful for cleaning awkward places like the stairs where I find lifting my larger Dyson a little difficult.

According to this article the recent cold weather has been responsible for a rise in the sales of bird seed. It seems people have been spending a lot of money on our feathered friends this winter. The demand for bird seed has helped the Garden Centre Group post a jump in profits as sales rose 8% in the five weeks up to 27 December. The combination of this and an increased demand for Christmas trees have meant the chain have posted a 17% rise in gross profits to £14m.

If you are tempted by the by one get one free offers when you go shopping but often find you can’t use the products before they go off, then you might find this article interesting. It seems Tesco are looking to reduce food waste by offering a buy one get one free later deal. Under the offer customers will be able to take advantage of the deal but instead of having to take both products at the same time, they will be given a coupon to redeem against the second product at a later date. It seems like a good idea to me and would certainly encourage me to take advantage of the offers on perishable items which I would usually bypass.