Pixabella

Gourmet chocolates during the holiday season, with a roaring fire in the room, and perhaps a quiet drink to celebrate Christmas or New Year.

Chocolate from Gertrude Hawk is the perfect gift or treat with friends, the box of assorted chocolates are my favourite, personally the milk chocolates suit my taste, but the man like dark chaocolate.

Of course when chocolate was first invented thousands of years ago in the jungles of Mexico is was just a drink, which is nice, I love a hot chocolate drink on a cold winter night, but I am glad the method of making solid chocolate was discovered.

My favourites have always been caramel chocolates that melt in your mouth, but I always chew them before the chocolate is fully melted so that I get the wonderful taste of chocolate and caramel together, yum!

The man likes his chocolate too much to be allowed to have it too often, but when we do have a big box he always likes a glass of sparkling wine with the chocolate. He says they were made to go together. I do agree, sipping champagne while you're eating a lovely gooey chocolate is heaven.

Guys, don't forget as well that Valentines day isn't too far away now, and while every girl loves flowers, a big box of chocolates is also very welcome.

Well, where has the time disappeared to. Just last week I was celebrating Christmas with friends and tonight I'll be seeing in the new year, having a quiet one this year, just the man and me and our three kittens.

The Christmas tree is still up of course, but we aren't playing Christmas music anymore, we're back to the kind of music we love the most, Andrea Bocelli, Sarah Brightman, George Michael.

The cats don't realise anything special is happening tonight, it's probably hoping too much for them to sense a difference, although they might sense our moods have changed.

It feels bitter sweet to see out 2008 and bring in 2009, on the other hand we believe 2009 is going to be a great year for us so we're also excited.

so my dear readers, have a very Happy New Year and all the best of luck to you for 2009.

A cat finally uses up it's nine lives and appears at the pearly gates. Saint Peter tells him he's been a good cat and will be allowed into Heaven. For being such a good cat you can have anything you wish to make your stay comfortable.

The cat has had a hard life on the farm, with people who ignored him, dogs that barked, and hard wooden floors to sleep on. With a knowing smile Saint Peter offers him a fantastic pillow in front of a warm fireplace.


A few days later some mice appear at the pearly gates and are also told they've lived a good life, and are also offered anything they want to make their stay more comfortable.

Well the mice have also had a hard life, constantly running away from large feet, brooms and sharp claws, and ask for a set of rolling skates. Saint Peter smiles again and the mice race off on their shiny new skates.

A week later Saint Peter wanders through Heaven on his break and spies the cat sleeping on his cushion in front of the fire. "How are you cat?," he asks.

The cat half opens his eyes and giving a great yawn says "Oh yes, and thanks for all the meals on wheels you've been sending me".

Starting a new business from the ground up is a trying and stressful activity, so wouldn't it be great if most of the thinking had already been done and you only have to make it happen?

This is the advantage of franchising. You find a business idea that is within your expertise, then approach one of the franchisors for your niche, and if all goes well you become their representative in your area.

The advantages of franchising are that all the mistakes have already been made in most cases, and you just need to hit the ground running when you open the doors. In most cases you'll also get marketing from the franchisor and sales leads from them, but it's your business, and you make the profits.

To start a business with a franchise, simply use the search form on the Franchise Opportunities website and browse all offers you think might be interesting.

This particular directory is the world's largest franchise directory, covering everything from office services, party plans, burger restaurants and anything else you can think of.

Some of the industries you might like to think about include bridal, cleaning and maintenance, financial services, lodging, pets, photography, real estate, travel, vending machines, or wholesale.

There really is something for almost everyone, and even for all budgets starting from under $50,000.

Andalucia, which is Spainís southernmost autonomous community, is a place of unrivalled natural beauty. The state, which consists of eight provinces, each unique in its own offerings is rising up meteorically on everyone's chart of the best tourist destinations in the world due to its varied and till now, untouched and undiscovered beauty.

Andalucia's natural beauty is unique in itself because it is one of those rare places on earth that offer mankind all the treasures of nature at one place. So while the region boasts of sandy beaches and untouched countryside villages on one hand, it is complemented by snow covered peaks and lush jungles on the other.

Excellent weather, more than 3000 sunny hours an year, beautiful natural ports, awe inspiring historical monuments and inhabitants who are full of life and hospitality have made Andalusia one place where everybody wants to go.

One of the cats in a very small box, I just had to take the photo, it's not every day you see a nearly full grown cat inside a box not much bigger than a showbox. She seemed quite cosy in there until one of the other cats jumped on the box to get her tail that had been peeking out of a whole at the back of the box.

The first thing in garden making is the selection of a spot. Without a choice, it means simply doing the best one can with conditions. With space limited it resolves itself into no garden, or a box garden. Surely a box garden is better than nothing at all.

But we will now suppose that it is possible to really choose just the right site for the garden. What shall be chosen? The greatest determining factor is the sun. No one would have a north corner, unless it were absolutely forced upon him; because, while north corners do for ferns, certain wild flowers, and begonias, they are of little use as spots for a general garden.

If possible, choose the ideal spot a southern exposure. Here the sun lies warm all day long. When the garden is thus located the rows of vegetables and flowers should run north and south. Thus placed, the plants receive the sun's rays all the morning on the eastern side, and all the afternoon on the western side. One ought not to have any lopsided plants with such an arrangement.

Suppose the garden faces southeast. In this case the western sun is out of the problem. In order to get the best distribution of sunlight run the rows northwest and southeast.

The idea is to get the most sunlight as evenly distributed as possible for the longest period of time. From the lopsided growth of window plants it is easy enough to see the effect on plants of poorly distributed light. So if you use a little diagram remembering that you wish the sun to shine part of the day on one side of the plants and part on the other, you can juggle out any situation. The southern exposure gives the ideal case because the sun gives half time nearly to each side. A northern exposure may mean an almost entire cut-off from sunlight; while northeastern and southwestern places always get uneven distribution of sun's rays, no matter how carefully this is planned.