Crop Circle in Switzerland
Do you believe crop circles were made by visitors from other planets? Maybe you think they are made by people who like a joke and don’t mind some hard work to achieve a good hoax that attracts many people to see it. A lot of people take the circles very seriously and there is a large conference on the subject opening today.
Britain's Prime Minister, David Cameron
While fighting the last General Election in the UK, Conservative leader, David Cameron, put forward the idea of the Big Society. During the election campaign he didn’t go into many details about it, perhaps he hadn’t worked them out at that point.
Now he’s Prime Minister in a coalition goverment with the Liberal Democrats, he has just launched his plan and told us how it’s going to work.
A Bride and Her Bridesmaids
Although the bride is the star of the wedding, other people have their own roles too. These are the traditional duties of the various wedding attendants.
What do they all do or are they there just for show?
Bridal Bouquet
The bridal bouquet has origins deep in history. The Roman bride and groom would wear garlands around their necks to symbolise long life and fertility. Strong smelling flowers, garlic and herbs would be worn to ward off evil spirits which were thought to be ever present and bad luck.
History of the Bouquet
During the plague in England when it was thought the plague was carried by the wind and bad smells, people would wear strong smelling spices and herbs to drive away the infection. The bridal bouquet symbolised a maid in bloom and the flowers she chose related to smell, colour and decoration, and could be recalled later on when the couple would come accross the same smell, to bring back memories of their happy day. (more…)
Garage Sale
A garage sale is a lot of hard work, but the returns can more than justify the effort.
Clean out your closets and anything that is useless to you or you don’t want – put it in the sale. Don’t throw anything away. What is one person’s trash is another’s treasure. (more…)
Garden Mint for Taboulleh Salad
In summer most of us want our food to be fresh and light. In hot weather we don’t want casseroles or stews, roast beef and potatoes or hot desserts, even if they are chocolate.
Luckily, summer produce gives us just the kinds of food we want to eat and, even better, it’s often quick and simple to make. Here are some suggestions.
These Rice Crispy chocolate bars are a favourite with children of all ages. The recipe is quick and easy to make, the children can join in the fun. Makes 30.
Ingredients
60g (1/3 cup) soft brown suga
80ml (1/3 cup) light corn syrup (or golden syrup)
30g (2 tbs) unsalted butter
60g (1/4 cup) dark chocolate bits
125g (1/2 cup) of crunchy peanut butter
125g (4 cups)Â Rice Krispies/Rice Bubbles
60g (2 squares) chopped baking chocolate – for decoration
Cherries
These little cakes are ideal for a children’s party or for a formal afternoon tea.
Ingredients
1 cup (4oz) sieved self raising (cake) flour
2oz butter
1/4 cup (2oz) castor (fine grained) sugar
1 large egg
2 rounded tps cocoa powder
1 tbs warm water
Topping
Halved glacé (candied) cherries
1 cup (4oz) icing (confectioners) sugar
1 tbs lemon, rum or other flavouring
cold water
Polling Station in England
Well, it’s nearly the moment of truth. Tomorrow, Thursday, the polls will open at 7am and we will be able to vote to decide on the future government of the country.
I admit, I’m in the minority and do not want the Tories to get into power. I don’t trust them to look after the interests of ordinary people. I don’t feel that David Cameron is genuinely interested in us. I think he’s ‘Blair Lite’, just not as convincing as Tony Blair at getting people to like and trust him. I certainly don’t think that George Osbourne would make a good Chancellor of the Exchequer. Considering that the Tories have kept Osbourne under wraps for most of the election campaign, it seems they don’t think he’s an electoral asset – I agree with them. (more…)
Nick Clegg, LibDem Leader
In just nine days, here in Britain we will be going to the polls to vote for a new government.
As General Elections go, this one has been fairly boring apart from the introduction of leaders’ debates. Because we’re a parliamentary democracy and we vote for individual Members of Parliament to represent our district not the Prime Minister, debates between leaders of the main parties has always been resisted.