Widnes worm Dave wriggles into record books

An earthworm named Dave has wriggled into the record books as the largest found in the UK - measuring a whopping 40cm (15.7in).

Experts at the Natural History Museum bestowed the accolade upon the annelid after it ventured above ground in a vegetable plot in Widnes, Cheshire.

The Lumbricus terrestris was studied at the museum before being killed in what staff called "the sad bit of science".

It is now in a jar and will be "kind of immortal", the museum said.-read more and see video

Welcome

https://youtu.be/x5zsTkLbYdQ

Mr Jon downes talking abour slinder man

https://youtu.be/7gvWCDk8aRc

Plan to re-establish royal favourite fish in the River Severn

Since the installation of weirs in the river in the 19th century many fish species, including the Shad, have been unable to swim upriver to their ancient spawning grounds. But the new scheme will see the installation of special fish passes at the weirs in Gloucestershire and Worcestershire so the fish can once again make the journey unhindered. Twaite Shad and Allis Shad are said to have been favoured in the court of Henry III in the 13th Century, and were once abundant and famed across Europe for their taste and quality.read more

Kitchen fitter, 43, designs body armour for small dogs to protect them from being mauled to death by larger, more aggressive breeds

A kitchen fitter has designed body armour for small dogs to protect them from being mauled by bigger breeds.

Bradley Davis, 43, created the padded suit after hearing about The Only Way Is Essex Star Bobby Norris' beloved pet, Beau, being savaged by a more aggressive dog.

The dog lover spent months researching and perfecting the armour and the safety protection is now available to buy in three sizes.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3882026/Kitchen-fitter-43-designs-body-armour-small-dogs-protect-mauled-death-larger-aggressive-breeds.html#ixzz4Oaxz8LwK

must have for this season white plastic bag on foot.

no not starting a new trend or fashion but needed to cover my foot due to toenail coming off .covered in this lovely white bag to stop getting plaster or bandage went during shower ,cool man.

CAT IS MAN'S BEST FRIEND Street Cat Named Bob

James Bowen says he'd be dead if it wasn't for kitty companionship that gave him a sense of purpose while he was homeless.IT used to be a dog’s life for stray cat Bob. Unloved and unwanted, he slept in cold doorways while ­nursing an injured leg.

But today he is a furry film star who flies first-class, has his own “Bobbyguards” at public events and his favourite Dairylea Dunkers on tap.The famous ginger tom is the star of A Street Cat Named Bob, directed by Canadian Roger Spottiswoode, which is in cinemas on November 4.

The film is based on the bestselling book of the same title, which has shifted six million copies and tells the story of how Bob’s companionship helped homeless busker James Bowen to win his battle with drug addiction.

Originally, the London puss wasn’t supposed to play himself in the film. The producers had ten specially trained doubles flown over from Canada, but they proved scaredy cats when it came to filming in London at night, so Bob stepped in.read more

Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners- Therese Oneill (Author)

Ladies, welcome to the 19^th century, where there's arsenic in your face cream, a pot of cold pee sits under your bed, and all of your underwear is crotchless. (Why? Shush, dear. A lady doesn't question.) 

UNMENTIONABLE is your hilarious, illustrated, scandalously honest (yet never crass) guide to the secrets of Victorian womanhood, giving you detailed advice on: 

~ What to wear 
~ Where to relieve yourself 
~ How to conceal your loathsome addiction to menstruating 
~ What to expect on your wedding night 
~ How to be the perfect Victorian wife 
~ Why masturbating will kill you 
~ And more

Irresistibly charming, laugh-out-loud funny, and featuring nearly 200 images from Victorian publications, UNMENTIONABLE will inspire a whole new level of respect for Elizabeth Bennett, Scarlet O'Hara, Jane Eyre, and all of our great, great grandmothers. 

(And it just might leave you feeling ecstatically grateful to live in an age of pants, super absorbency tampons, epidurals, anti-depressants, and not-dying-of-the-syphilis-your-husband-brought-home.) 

Vatican: No more scattering of cremation ashes

the Vatican have come out with so called new rules for catholic ashes . cannot be scattered ,divided among relatives ,kept at home and suggest you store in a scared place like church or cemetery so the community can remember the dead.i think this idea is wrong and no matter what your beliefs its up to you what you wish to do with loved ones -human or animal .for 2,000 years the church has permitted only burial to show faith  in resurrection ,cremation was allowed in 1963 -read article

Kind-hearted carer knits Silky the hairless hamster a woolly jumper to help her keep warm as winter approaches

THIS completely bald hamster wears a jumper to keep warm.

Wrinkly rodent Silky was born without fur so a pet shelter worker knitted her a 5cm woolly jumper.One-year-old Silky was left at the centre by owners who said they were moving fromOregon, US, to a colder area and could no longer care for her.

Staff noticed the shivering hamster huddled in the corner of her cage while desperately trying to stay warm.

The pet has no fur like normal hamsters due to a gene mutation.read more

New era of climate change reality' as emissions hit symbolic threshold

The world is in a new era of “climate change reality”, with carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reaching a symbolic threshold which it will not fall below for many generations, scientists have said.

In 2015, for the first time, carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere were at 400 parts per million (ppm) on average across the year as a whole, the World Meteorological Organisation’s (WMO) annual greenhouse gas bulletin reveals.

The longest established greenhouse gas monitoring station in the world, at Mauna Loa in Hawaii, predicts carbon dioxide concentrations will stay above the symbolic 400ppm for the whole of 2016 and reach new highs.

It will not dip below the 400ppm mark again for many generations, the experts said.

The world passes 400ppm carbon dioxide threshold. Permanently

 

Read more

The growth spurt in carbon dioxide levels, which saw a bigger-than-average increase in the greenhouse gas in the atmosphere between 2014 and 2015, was fuelled by the El Niño weather phenomenon in the Pacific.-read more

What Is Qi? (and Other Concepts)

After 2,500 years of evolution, TCM has become a very rich and sophisticated system of rational medicine with a great diversity of theories and applications. But, in its essence, itseeks to understand and facilitate harmony in human life.

It is based on a very simple principle: any system that is in harmony tends towards health, wellbeing, and sustainability. A system that is in disharmony tends towards illness, disease, suffering, and collapse.

What is a system in TCM?

A system is comprised of everything that creates and sustains it. Everything is interconnected and interdependent. If all of the parts of a system are in harmony with one another, then the whole system is in harmony. Disturb one thing and you create a disturbance that ripples through the whole system.

This principle applies to any and all systems. For example, it applies as equally to a human being as it does to a family, community, or the environment. So we must take care to consider our actions and to take things as a whole.

What are the fundamental concepts?

Two concepts that are unique and fundamental to Chinese medicine are Qi (usually translated as "vital energy") and yin and yang (the harmony of all the opposite elements and forces that make up existence). These two concepts form what we might call the "roots" of Chinese medicine.

Springing from these roots are the basic principles and theories about the dynamics of Qi and yin and yang, which form the "stems" of Chinese medicine. -read more

25-10-2016 robbie r.i.p

Tuesday 25-10 -2016 Robbie  back leg give away in back garden we went to the local vet to be checked but you could tell this was not going to be good news.highly emotional for us all in the raines household . Robbie had to be put down due to his heart ,Robbie was a rescue dog who always said hello to all our visitors and ask for a hug,he liked to wander from bed to bed ,could have been a champion at hide and seek .gunted and stuck his tongue out .a great friend who will always  have a place in our hearts and now among the stars.

benefit call experience.

ringing up for benefit requests is very uninteresting as you listen to the classical music with interruptions of repetitive response with  a female voice  going over all the options like a bad advert or a repeat on television.you can wait ages and it can fell as if the other end has hung up on you or having  a secret joke at your expense ,you dont hang up as that means rebooting the whole process again -inside scream.when finally you get  a reply you tend to be asked a lot of security questions almost like a interrogation then the unfriendly jaded voice seem to send you to coventry  for a short time until you get item required ,glad dont have to do everyday .

coping.

it turns out that i do have mci or not i have decided to treat any illness with humour as much as possible .as found out if i dont my illnesses get worse due to stresss,so come on and say cheese .

Saturday alright for bird fight.

in this photograph you can see 2 birds having a scrap or fight due not willing to share a fish at zimanga river,south africa.the 2 birds are a Goliath heron -5 ft with wing span  of 7 ft, the other is a African  fish eagle which can kill a  small crocodile.

3 little pigs

3 long haired pigs have gone on the run after escaping in farfield ,glos.

Halloween

This article is about the observance. For other uses, see Halloween (disambiguation).

"All Hallows' Eve" redirects here. For other uses, see All Hallows' Eve (disambiguation).

Halloween
A jack-o'-lantern, one of the symbols of Halloween
Also called	Hallowe'en Allhallowe'en All Hallows' Eve All Saints' Eve
Observed by	Western Christians and many non-Christians around the world[1]
Significance	First day of Allhallowtide
Celebrations	Trick-or-treating, costumeparties, making jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, divination,apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions
Observances	Church services,[2] prayer,[3]fasting,[1] and vigil[4]
Date	31 October
Related to	Totensonntag, Blue Christmas,Thursday of the Dead,Samhain, Hop-tu-Naa, Calan Gaeaf, Allantide, Day of the Dead, Reformation Day, All Saints' Day, Mischief Night(cf. vigils)

Halloween or Hallowe'en (a contraction of All Hallows' Evening),^[5] also known as Allhalloween,^[6] All Hallows' Eve,^[7] or All Saints' Eve,^[8] is a celebration observed in a number of countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day. It begins the three-day observance of Allhallowtide,^[9] the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed.^[10][11]

It is widely believed that many Halloween traditions originated from Celtic harvest festivals which may have pagan roots, particularly the Gaelic festival Samhain, and that this festival was Christianized as Halloween.^{[1][7][12][13][14][15]} Some academics, however, support the view that Halloween began independently as a solely Christian holiday.^{[1][16][17][18][19]}

Halloween activities include trick-or-treating (or the related guising), attending Halloween costume parties, decorating, carvingpumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing and divination games, playing pranks, visiting haunted attractions, telling scary stories and watching horror films. In many parts of the world, the Christian religious observances of All Hallows' Eve, including attending church services and lighting candles on the graves of the dead, remain popular,^[20][21][22] although elsewhere it is a more commercial and secular celebration.^[23][24][25] Some Christians historically abstained from meat on All Hallows' Eve,^[26][27] a tradition reflected in the eating of certain foods on this vigil day, including apples, potato pancakes and soul cakes.^{[27][28][29]-wiki link}

how to keep pets safe during fireworks

Fireworks

Many animals find fireworks scary. It is estimated that 45 per cent of dogs in the UK show signs of fear when they hear fireworks.

It doesn’t have to be that way though, so don’t ignore the problem. Firework phobia is a treatable condition and animals don’t have to suffer such misery every year. Seek advice from your vet who will, if necessary, be able to refer you to a professional clinical animal behaviourist.

There are also lots of simple things you can do to help your pet deal with fireworks. By preparing in advance before fireworks start your pet will be better able to cope with the noises.

Download our leaflet 'Fireworks frighten animals - help them feel safe (PDF 192KB)' which includes:

• lots of great tips for keeping your pets secure during fireworks. Follow our top tips to make firework celebrations less frightening for your pet.
   
• information on keeping dogs, cats and small animals safe during fireworks.
   
• introducing ‘Sounds Scary’ – a therapy pack aimed to teach your dog to be less afraid of loud noises. Sound Therapy 4 Pets-Relevant documents

Two-month winter closure for town market a possibility-holsworthy news -Zoe Uglow Reporter (Holsworthy Post)

THE town council wants to make it clear they will not be closing Holsworthy’s weekly market indefinitely, but is considering closure during January and February as poor weather conditions in the past have reduced turnout and profits.

The town council met for a full town council meeting on Wednesday, October 4, to discuss the possibility of closing the market during two months only. In previous years it has heard many complaints from traders about the poor weather conditions at the start of the year drastically affecting trade. The council has decided it is time to look into possible measures to ease loses and ensure the Wednesday market can survive into the future — however some traders have expressed their opposition to proposals for a two month closure.

Mayor Jon Hutchings reiterated the point that the council is not planning to close the market for good, he said: “I want to assure locals and traders that we are not closing the market. No decision will be made tonight but we will take any suggestions to a market committee and then back to a full council meeting again.”

Speaking on the issues that have been raised to him by market traders and stall holders, Cllr Hutchings said: “We have had issues with the wind in the past, with traders saying the market in the weeks between Christmas and new year and the one after have been terrible and a waste of time.

“We have had complaints that the tents have been flapping and blowing around in the heavy winds and that this has become quite dangerous. However, now that we have said we will close it they are moaning.”

Holsworthy town clerk Vanessa Saunders, who is also the council’s responsible financial officer, said: “We do make a loss. Because of the bad weather last year they did miss a few weeks of the market anyway.”

Ms Saunders suggested that if they did close the market during January and February it would ‘give us time to clean up’ as many of the complaints the council have received regard the dirty or poor state of the markets tents and signage.-      Good morning Mark,
I am a reporter for the Holsworthy Post. I saw your most recent blog post, posted on the Holsworthy Moan and Groan page, and wondered if you would be able to credit me and the Holsworthy Post please as I wrote the article! I hope that is ok, Kindest regards, Zoe Uglow Reporter (Holsworthy Post)                                              read more