Summer Salads

Summer is almost here, well, its started raining again anyway, so its time to start thinking wistfully about that bikini body.

I had this alert sent through from M&S which started my taste buds a-tingling:-

This not just Strawberries and Champagne…

… this is M&S Strawberry & Champagne… Vinaigrette!

M&S is famous for its deliciously juicy strawberries and elegant champagne, and has now combined these two iconic products to dress your salad leaves in a totally new way this summer – the Strawberry & Champagne Vinaigrette.

Made with a combination of extra virgin olive oil, champagne vinegar for acidity and strawberries for sweetness, this dressing is perfect for jazzing up salad leaves, or delicious poured over a simple tomato salad. M&S Salad Dressing Expert, Sarah Loxton says, “I wanted to create a salad dressing that encompassed the decadent flavours of summer – strawberries and champagne! It’s a classic combination that works fantastically as a vinaigrette – I love it with the M&S Italian Leaf Salad Bag”.

Sounds great, I just wonder how many calories are in the dressing though as it would be quite easy to have strawberry and champagne vinaigrette with a dash of salad.

How To Choose A Coffee Table

How to Choose Living Room Furniture – Choosing a Coffee Table

A coffee table can be a practical and attractive addition to your living room furniture. Here are some hints and tips on what to look for when choosing a coffee table.

Choosing a Coffee Table – Size

As with other types of furniture, the first thing to consider when buying a new coffee table is the size of table that you need. Decide where you would like to place your coffee table and measure up, remembering to leave plenty of space around the coffee table so that you can walk around it.

If you have spacious living room, it’s usually better to go for a larger coffee table than a smaller one, so that you can be sure that there will be enough room on it for everything that you want to put on it. However, it’s also important to take the size of the rest of your living room furniture into account when making your decision. Make sure that your new coffee table isn’t so small that it seems dwarfed by the rest of your furniture but isn’t so big that it dominates your living room.

If you are happy for people to put their feet up on it, make sure that it’s at a height that makes it comfortable for them to do so – if you don’t want them to do this, buy a higher coffee table and consider buying a footstool or two as well!

Choosing a Coffee Table – Design

Coffee tables are available in many shapes and styles, and you may find that an oval or circular coffee table fits into your room more easily than a square or rectangular one. If you have young children, choose a coffee table with smooth and rounded edges rather than sharp corners, for peace of mind.

Many coffee tables have shelves, which are great for using to keep books and magazines on, and some contain drawers, providing you with additional storage space and helping you to give your living room an uncluttered look.

Decide whether a contemporary coffee table, such as one made from metal or glass, or a more traditional wooden coffee table would match the rest of your living room furniture best. If your living room is small and contemporary in style, a glass coffee table will help to create the illusion of space. If you are considering a glass or glass-topped coffee table, however, make sure that will be a practical choice for your home – it may not be the best choice if you have children, for example, and if you aren’t particularly proud of your carpet or flooring, glass-topped tables are best avoided.

If you are looking for a wooden coffee table make sure that it matches the rest of your living room furniture in both style and colour. If you don’t get much natural light in your living room, it’s best to avoid heavy, dark wooden furniture, as this can make a room look even darker.

It’s also important to ensure that your new coffee table is sturdy enough for your needs, particularly if you are likely to be placing a number of objects on it, such as books, magazines, remote controls and ornaments. If you have a large family or are likely to have a number of guests in your home at once, you may want to consider buying matching coffee table and side table set or a nest of tables.

You can buy coffee tables from a range of online furniture retailers, so you should be able to find the perfect coffee table for your living room by shopping online.

Global Warming Causes Mass Extinction

I found this interesting article in the Daily Galaxy. University of Washington paleontologist Peter Ward, observed that only one mass extinction even was caused by an asteroid impact, which was the even which caused the end of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

He maintains that fossil records are littered with dead bodies from past catastrophes and that rapidly occurring climate change was the cause. Evolutionary biologist Stephen Gould believes that these events have been major drivers of evolution. These climate change events have not always been gradual either, some have occurred over centuries or even decades.

Currently, we are in the middle, not the beginning, of an anthropogenic global warming, caused by agriculture and deforestation, which began some 10,000 years ago but which is now accelerating exponentially; though the earliest wave of anthropogenic warming has been stabilizing and beneficial to human development, it appears to have the potential for catastrophic effects within a lifetime or two.

Oceanographic paleontologist Tony Hallam has correlated rising and falling sea levels with extinction events, which he proposes are due to tectonic plate movement. Hallam's and Ward's theories compliment each other quite well. Both have radical implications for the current Darwinian model of evolution. Both have alarming implications for the near-term future of humankind.

Ward is encouraged that humans are beginning to make changes in our daily lives and demanding action from our leaders -"that we are on a planet that has violent convulsions, and that we humans are playing with nature in such a way that we could recreate what were some really awful times in earth's history, that we really tinker with the earth's atmosphere at our peril."

More Furniture Thoughts

As the sales have been extended, surprise surprise, it was time to start looking around for furniture, particularly with to a view to getting a sofa and a couple of chairs.

Furniture trying out can be quite fun. First stop Trago Mills. They didn't really have what we were looking for, but it was good to plonk down on some sofas, chairs - I also had a rest on a couple of beds too for good measure, but nothing really took our breath away.

Next on the agenda, Harveys and Land of Leather. A Leather sofa is definitely high on the list of preferences, but you definitely have to pay more for that nice soft 'leather' feel to the furniture, I found the cheaper sofas felt a bit more plastic and not as luxurious. The recliners were fab, I can just imagine being perched in front of the telly having a proper "Friends" moment playing with the mechanism.

So no firm ideas yet, but as we're not in any real hurry it doesn't really matter. We have got an idea of what sort of money we will have to spend and have tried a few bits of furniture out, its just a case of keeping an eye out for a bargain when it comes along.

Motorbike Sat Nav & Home Furniture

I have turned another year older, and the Tom Tom V2 Rider arrived, nearly on the promised day.

What a great piece of kit! There isn't a great range of motorbike sat navs out there anyway, and none of them are cheap, but so far we are well pleased with the Tom Tom V2 Rider. Naturally my other half got his hands on it first - the headset and unit are pretty straight forward to get to talk to each other, but getting the phone working with it was slightly more complicated. In the end it worked when the phone was connected via bluetooth to both the headset and unit I think - maybe pretty obvious for clever people, but us mere mortals got there in the end..... That's my one gripe with it, the instructions aren't that great.

Fixing it to the bike and ease of use, brilliant so far. The voice is a tad distorted, but going even going along at 70 with earplugs in you can still hear the instructions. The Tom Tom V2 Rider also whines at you when you speed, and lets you know when you are approaching a speed camera too.

So, the next part of the plan is to redecorate the living room - again. Its about time we got some new furniture; the sofa is over 10 years old now and the carpet was there when we moved in in 1997. Not having kids or pets prolongs the life of furniture for sure, but even so, its probably time for a change.

I'm not particularly looking forward to heaving various bits of furniture, dvd racks, tv and associated bits, carpet etc about. Dedicated time off will be required I think, not to mention a roof rack for the car. I just keep telling myself it'll all be worth it in the end.

Where To Buy Flowers

Flowers can be sourced from a wide variety of places these days, such as florists, supermarkets, market stalls, greengrocers, farm shops, garden centres, nurseries, garages and mail order companies.

Mail order florists are a popular choice for events such as Mothers Day, especially if you live in another part of the country to your loved ones. In my own experience, the quality of these goods can vary: not being able to look first hand at the flowers is one of the biggest drawbacks to mail order services.

However, there are places out there which recommend good florists, such as 'The Guide To Good Florists'. This particular guide advertises itself as invitation only for florists, stipulating they are unable to buy their way in.

If you like to buy potted flowers or plants from such places as a garden centre or farm shop, there are also certain signs to look out for which signify a well run centre or nursery:-

• Well stocked displays, with the plants categorised in an easy to follow manner
• Labels should be easily read and identify common as well as botanical names with a thorough description
• Root systems should be well developed, in appropriately sized containers and be pest and disease free.
• Friendly and helpful sales people

Expect to pay a fair price for good quality goods. It costs money to maintain a well tended shop with expert staff.

If you wish to help the local economy and charities, here is also a helpful guide to buying British Flowers.

Has The European Summit and G20 Sorted Out Climate Change Issues?

After the EU Summit last month, Oxfam wasn't particularly impressed. (Excerpts from Oxfam pressroom)

“Europe is turning its back on poor countries just when they need help most. At a crucial time just ahead of the G20 Summit in London, the EU is empty-handed and in no fit state to lead the world on the two biggest issues we face today – the economic and climate crisis. Europe’s approach is putting millions of lives and livelihoods at peril.”

According to Elise Ford, head of Oxfam International’s EU office.

Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change has this to say about Europe's stance in terms of climate change:-

“Europe’s leaders are failing us. The latest science shows climate change will bring economic and social devastation in just a few short decades yet our politicians are sitting on their hands.”

“By refusing to put money on the table to help developing countries adapt to the effects of global warming and develop in a low carbon way, the EU risks undermining any chance of a global climate deal.”

“Waiting for the US to move first on the money issues is far from leadership. We expect Europe to set the bar on adaptation finance: by remaining silent, there is no pressure on the US to make a strong offer. This makes it harder for progressive voices in the US to drive the agenda forward.”

“EU leaders must use Obama’s visit to Europe in April to pressure the US on both emissions and finance, and to raise their own game dramatically.”

"The EU says it will pay its fair share of adaptation monies needed by poor countries, but instead of putting numbers down and building trust, it's using the issue as a bargaining chip. This is just another example of the EU back-pedaling on the fragile agreement struck in Bali, where rich countries agreed to action on adequate and predictable financial resources."

At the G20 summit, Oxfam informed world leaders that the amount of money ploughed into Bank Bailouts could end poverty for 50 years.

Oxfam is calling for a $580bn-a-year rescue package for poor countries made up of an immediate fiscal stimulus for the poorest countries of at least $24bn, debt relief and fulfillment of existing pledges to increase development aid.

Urgent action is also needed to crackdown on tax havens, which deprive developing countries of hundreds of millions of pounds of tax revenue every year – much more than they receive in development aid.

Barbara Stocking, Oxfam Chief Executive, said: “When you look at the amount of money that has been found for banks it seems inconceivable that G20 leaders will stand aside and allow the economic crisis to destroy poor people’s lives."

“Developing countries are reeling from dramatic declines in trade, remittances and foreign investment. Rich governments whose policies contributed to the crisis have a responsibility to help those who cannot afford their own bailouts."

“Without urgent action, hundreds of millions of the world’s poorest people will fall further into poverty. Losing your job is devastating wherever it happens but for millions people in poor countries, without benefits and health services to fall back on, unemployment will push them into destitution.”