I’m not a fan of pet fads for the simple reason that once the novelty wears off the pet usually ends up getting the short end of the stick (chicks and bunnies at Easter, guinea pigs after the movie G-Force, “Taco Bell dogs,” etc) and ends up in a shelter.

The recent trend in the U.K. are micro pigs — a “bred-down” version of several other small pig breeds, including potbellied pigs, Tamworth, Kune Kune and Gloucester Old Spot.
Though small pigs have been around as pets for a long time, sales for these tinier versions have kicked into high gear. …read more

Here in the US we may be tightening our belts and opting for a staycation, but it’s not so elsewhere.  Research from Visit London and Visit Britain have found that convincing Brits of the value of a staycation has been a very tough sell.  Despite challenging economic times, UK residents will cut back in other areas of the budget in order to put a priority on vacation.
The research showed that although 90% of the population was cutting back on spending in general, only 45% were cutting back on holidays, breaks, or day trips.  Instead, spending was reduced on items such …read more

One person’s staycation is another person’s vacation.  You may be choosing to stay home and enjoy your city, but, depending on where you live, you may find that there are plenty of tourists who are visiting your city as well.
The Church of England, hoping to get in on the staycation trend, has launched a new Church of England Staycation web service to encourage locals to put churches and cathedrals in their stay at home travel plans.  Churches and cathedrals can provide a bit of sacred space, but they are also wonderful sources as museums, art galleries, architectural sites, history, and …read more

Looking for love just got a whole lot simpler for singles in the UK.
A new online service called DatingTrail.co.uk, has been created by Richard Speigal and OriginalDating.com speed dating service creator, Andrew Summersgill. Singles are now able to use a one-stop shopping approach to access information about UK events for daters including wine tastings, speed dating, parties, singles holidays, and online dating sites.

The system is easy. You enter your postal code and a list of events and services pops up. They are listed in order of rating. Past participants use a star system to rate organizers.
We realised dating in the …read more