Following on from my previous article relating to the wonderful work that my local animal sanctuary are doing in rescuing abused/abandoned dogs from Romania, I now have good news for all of you out there who love animals.

I know a lot of adults out there add a drop of whisky to their late night milky beverage but this recipe I came across has a very distinct Christmassy feel to it and there’s no need for milk.

There’s enough to serve four people but it’s easy enough to up or down the measurements depending on how many people you’re making it for. As the main ingredient in this is water it’s ideal over Christmas when maybe you want a hot chocolate drink but are running short of milk.

I love reading Annie Proulx's novels, but this memoir, not so much. Bird Cloud. It's the name of the book and the ranch she built. First she bought some land in Wyoming. The day she first saw the land, there was a cloud in the sky shaped like a bird. The book details her travails of building her "dream house" on the land, a section south of I-80 in Wyoming. This memoir was interesting, in some places interesting like reading an instruction manual is interesting--you know you're learning something as you go but how long will you retain it or care to remember it? Some of it not that long for me.