Latest posts This Works Evening Detox Review7 June 2021SkincareThis Works Evening Detox Review: Key Summary Welcome to my This Works Evening Detox review. The This Works Evening Detox range includes a cleansing water, spray on exfoliant and clay mask. All three products detoxify the skin from a day exposed to pollution. A fourth anti-pollution skincare product is the in transit pollution shield, but as it’s a protection rather than detox product I’m not including it. This Works Evening Detox Review: The Products Now on to the reviews of each product! These can be used individually, but by incorporating all three into your regime, you maximise the pollution detox effects. The cleansing water can be used daily, the exfoliant and mask 1-2 times per week. This Works Evening Detox Cleansing Water The evening detox cleansing water is a gentle micellar water. It comes in a convenient pump which I dispense straight onto a cotton pad. It’s ideal for wiping away the day’s grime, make-up and pollution. I find it very comfortable on my combination skin, not drying or tight. It’s very refreshing to use. It contains botanicals which are specially selected because of their beneficial skin care effects. Specifically, eucalyptus leaf oil (decongesting), sweet almond oil (restoring), aloe vera (gently cleansing) and liquorice root (soothes inflammation). This Works did a panel test with 50 participants over a 28 day period. Results show that: 90% product removes the daily grime/pollution from their skin, 92% skin feels clean, 88% skin feels smooth and 88% of panel users would recommend to a friend. At time of posting, this product costs £22 on This Works website. This Works Evening Detox Spray-On Exfoliant This Works evening detox spray-on exfoliant also comes with a spray pump so you can dispense straight onto cotton. This is a leave on exfoliator which has a chemical action (so no grainy bits). I usually use it twice a week because London is a polluted city so I really need it! It works well because it makes my skin less congested and more even. I can actually slightly feel it working after spraying, although it’s not uncomfortable or stingy etc. It feels quite gentle and smells nice too. After a while of leaving it on I sometimes want to wipe it off because it feels a bit like the stuff it’s exfoliated is just sitting on my skin. I resist the temptation though as I want the antioxidant protective action to have a chance to work. And get the glow the next morning! This Works recommends wearing an SPF the morning after using this. Again, it contains an active blend of botanicals to deep cleanse, decongest and fight free radicals. It contains Witch Hazel (soothing), Salicylic Acid (exfoliating, resurfacing and decongesting) and plant antioxidants (fight free radicals and prevent future damage). The panellists’ verdict: 74% skin appears brighter, 82% happy about the condition and look of their skin, 82% of panel users said their skin felt softer, 71% of panel users said their skin felt clean. At time of posting, this retails at £28 on the This Works website. This Works Evening Detox Clay Mask I love the packaging for the This Works Evening Detox Clay Mask. It has a brush on the end so you can dispense it straight onto your face and give even coverage. Just take off the lid, twist to activate the brush and squeeze to release product. Afterwards, twist to close, rinse the bristles and let dry for 20 minutes. The bristles contain activated charcoal which is anti-bacterial. (The mask in the photo is actually a sample size which doesn’t have the brush applicator). This mask is slightly green and has a good consistency for a clay mask. The 10 minutes recommended time feels about right. The formula is soft and doesn’t dry and crack. I particularly like that it leaves my skin soft and refreshingly clean but not tight. The formulation contains both botanicals and minerals. Botanicals include 5 fruit acids: bilberry, sugar cane, orange and lemon; these rapidly exfoliate by increasing cell turnover. Minerals include Kaolin and Malachite. Kaolin is a clay which absorbs excess oil and environmental impurities to purify the skin. Malachite (a beautiful green stone) detoxifies and protects against environmental aggressors and pollution. The panel of testers found: 92% skin felt detoxed, 91% skin felt purified, 91% skin appeared brighter, 86% skin looked smoother. Currently priced at £32 for 50ml in This Works website. Over to you… Do you use detox products to protect your skin from pollution and free radical damage? Let me know in the comments below. If you’re a skin care fan you might also be interested in the SVR hand cream review, a saviour against sanitiser dryness. ... Your Friend Forever by Zena Barrie3 June 2021BooksKey Summary: Your Friend Forever by Zena Barrie Hello and welcome to my stop on the tour for Your Friend Forever by Zena Barrie! My thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for my spot on the tour. Your friend forever is a hilarious Eighties-set epistolatory coming-of-age novel, which is perfect for fans of Adrian Mole. It’s published by Unbound and out now in paperback and ebook. The cover blurb: Preston, 1981. Maud, who is twelve and lives with her dysfunctional parents and her elder brother, spends a lot of her time in her bedroom writing letters to her favourite popstar, Tom Harding, the lead singer of a punk band called Horsefly. No one really understands her or tries to – and she thinks Tom just might have some answers to her many, many questions… Today I’m sharing an extract from Your Friend Forever, which is this hilarious letter (below). Do check out all the stops on the tour to read the reviews of others. The full tour poster and about the Author is at the bottom of this post. Extract: Your Friend Forever by Zena Barrie Letter to Friends of Horsefly PO BOX 113, London, W2 14th January 1981 Maud Harrison 22 Slater Street Hutton Preston Dear Tom (I do hope it’s okay to call you that. I’m trying to be less formal but not overly familiar. Do please let me know at your earliest convenience if you’d prefer me to address you in a different or in a more inappropriate manner). Hello, it’s me, Maud Harrison, I’ve written to you before (last week). Did you get my letter? Firstly apologies if I confused you in my last letter by saying ‘one’ all the time. I read that that was the proper way to refer to yourself, but my English teacher took me aside the other day after I’d used it in some homework, an essay about what I’d done over Christmas (very little), and asked me if I was the Queen and when I said no he told me to ‘stop bloody referring to yourself as “one”, then’. When I opened my exercise book he’d also put in the margin that he’d stopped reading after six pages because it was too long. So I’m very sorry if it was confusing, I’m quite new to writing letters. I’ve only really written one before that I can recall and it was to a girl in France called Marie who was supposed to be my pen pal. My teacher gave me her name and address. I didn’t know and still don’t know much French so it wouldn’t have been a very good letter. Mostly just asking her directions really. She never wrote back. I’m not completely sure that my Mum posted it to be honest, French stamps are quite expensive. I go to Hutton South Comprehensive, I’m in the second year, most of the people there (pupils and teachers) are dreadful and the lessons don’t do much to inspire me. Every day we go through the motions of a normal day at high school, everyone is just waiting for their lunch and then waiting until the bell goes and we can all go home, no one actually wants to be there, it’s a shame really when we’re all supposed to be learning. The teachers all smell of coffee and fags apart from Mr Parkinson who Sarah (my best friend) says smells of whisky (and fags). I’ve never had a fag or drunk whisky and my Mum and Dad only drink tea, Dad did used to go to the pub but he hasn’t for a long time. Sarah’s Mum drinks coffee but I’ve never tried it. Sarah has had Mellow Bird’s (sexy coffee). I’d really like to play in a rock band when I grow up. At school when we do music the only instruments are recorders, xylophones, euphoniums and trumpets. The music teacher Mr Ward did say I could take a euphonium home and give it a try but Mum said I’m not allowed to learn that type of instrument because of my asthma, well she said ‘good God no way’, then she said because of my asthma. I hardly ever get asthma really, my brother has it worse than me. I told all this to my teacher and he just rolled his eyes. I’m not sure if he was rolling his eyes to my Mum or rolling his eyes at my asthma. What do you think? I’m not sure teachers should be allowed to roll their eyes at the pupils. It’s not fair for them not to explain things properly. Do you think I should ask him to explain himself? I don’t really like the noise of a euphonium anyway so I’m not too bothered. They don’t have a euphonium in The Clash do they? You don’t have a euphonium in Horsefly do you? It’s only really good for Songs of Praise (when you can see all the people in their best clothes miming along to a hymn hoping to get talent spotted) or if you want the noise of an elephant or a rhino plodding through some woods or something, and that’s not really music is it? More of a sound effect. My Dad has a record of sound effects, I’m not sure why. Lots of ones of taps running and the sound of rain and different doors opening and closing. It rains all the time in Preston so we don’t really need a record of it. It’s not like I ever miss the rain so much that I want to play it on a record. We can’t play it any more anyway as the radiogram gives us an electric shock if we plug it in. Dad won’t get rid of it though, even though it takes up half the front room. He doesn’t like your music, he says he only likes Ska. He bought some two–tone shoes and Mum got really angry about them. She called him a ‘fucking arse-hole’. I think it’s because we don’t have much money. Also I’m not sure where he’ll wear them. I haven’t seen him wear them yet, apart from sat in the front room but he did look really happy with them on, he kept looking down and smiling at them, I was watching him for ages, I watched him watching the telly in his new shoes. I could do with some new shoes. When did your feet stop growing? It would be really handy if mine would stop growing. I’m being shouted at so I have to go now. Your most humble servant, Maud Harrison P.S. Mum was just shouting in general, it wasn’t specifically at me, but when I went downstairs it became specifically at me so I’ve come upstairs again, I just seem to always be in the way. P.P.S. I’m not sure if I am a humble servant really. I have quite a humble opinion about what I look like but I have quite a high opinion about my mind (I think it is better than most people’s minds that I come into contact with). I think some of this is down to you. I read an interview in NME where you said you ‘read everything you can get your hands on’, and that you like reading poetry, in particular Keats and Browning. So I try to read everything that I can get my hands on too. Are you familiar with the poetic works of Pam Ayres? P.P.P.S. Are you humble? You always look quite humble in your pictures, or maybe sad, certainly not proud which I think is the opposite of humble. I’m not a proud person even though I have a high opinion of my own brain, well maybe I’m secretly proud, although I am telling you about it so I think that just makes me a show off. I’ll try to stop doing that. P.P.P.P.S. I’m going to be a teenager next week. I’m not sure I’m prepared for it at all. I wish there was a book I could read that wasn’t just about puberty. I know my body is going to change but I need to know all the other things. I suppose we are expected to find out for ourselves. I’d rather read a manual so I don’t have to keep getting things wrong. P.P.P.P.P.S. If you’re wondering why I’m called Maud (an old woman’s / witch’s name) it’s because I’m named after my Dad’s auntie that he fancied. She died before I was born though and I’ve never seen a picture of her. It’s probably a good job she’s died because if my Dad had carried on with her instead of my wanted About the Author Zena Barrie lives in Manchester and runs the Greater Manchester Fringe and the Camden Fringe. She ran the Kings Arms pub and Theatre in Salford for a while and also the Etcetera Theatre in Camden, as well as working in a wide variety of roles at the Edinburgh Fringe (from street performer to venue manager). In the 90s she did a degree in Drama and Theatre Arts specialising in playwriting. Up until recently she has been co-hosting the award winning spoken word night Verbose. She is also one half of performance art duo The Sweet Clowns. Your Friend Forever is her first novel.... Formula 1: The Official History2 June 2021BooksKey Summary Welcome to my review of Formula 1: The Official History by Maurice Hamilton. Formula 1: The Official History is published in hardback by Welbeck and is out now. This is a fantastic account of the sport through the decades because it covers all seven decades from the start of the sport to the present day. Featuring all the major characters and a wealth of fantastic photography it’s an essential book for any fan. My Review of Formula 1: The Official History I first became interested in F1 by accident. Whilst checking out of my hotel in Rome, the heavens opened with a torrential downpour. Rather than continue with my plan to wait outside for my taxi, I squeezed onto a sofa in reception along with all the hotel staff. They were mesmerised watching F1 and within half a dozen laps so was I. F1 is a sport unlike any other; the speed, the skill, the precision, the thrill. Formula 1: The Official History offers a fantastic account of the sport. It’s split into seven decades and each has it’s own focus. After the introduction by Ross Brawn, we have: 50s A Right Royal Occasion, 60s Lotus Blossoms, 70s On A Wing and A Prayer, 80s The Man in the White Suit, 90s Changing of the Guard, 00s In Excess, 10s The Cost of Winning. I particularly enjoyed learning about the sport before my time and getting to know the famous drivers and cars a bit better. This is a richly illustrated volume with a wide variety of photographic styles. They are also in various sizes, some double page and some smaller accompanied by text. This gives it an exciting feel because there isn’t too much continuous text and the printing production values are very high. There are few books charting the history of F1 and none so comprehensively. Therefore, this is in my opinion a cut above and I recommend it to anyone interested in the sport. Cover Blurb for Formula 1: The Official History Formula 1: The Official History is an electrifying account of the F1 phenomenon, telling the complete story of one of the world’s most popular, thrilling, and glamorous sports. Bringing together a superbly written account of the history of the sport by acclaimed author Maurice Hamilton, and an exceptional selection of stunning images from across seven decades of F1 racing, the book charts the FIA Formula One World Championship, decade by decade, from its first race at Silverstone in May 1950 right through to the present day. Each chapter tells the fascinating stories behind the greatest drivers and teams, important personnel, famous and infamous incidents, as well as key changes to the rules on design, safety and competitiveness. These tales are accompanied by more than 250 exceptional photographs featuring icons past and present, including Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Alain Prost, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton. Accessible and entertaining for any F1 fan, and with a foreword by Ross Brawn, Managing Director of the FIA Formula One World Championship, this is the definitive visual history of the sport.... ASDA Free From Red Velvet Cupcakes Review27 May 2021Food & DrinkKey Summary Welcome to my ASDA Free From 4 Red Velvet Cupcakes Review. These are red coloured chocolate sponge cakes topped with soft cheese frosting. They used to have chocolate disks on top of the frosting but now come decorated with red velvet crumb. They’re very good value at £2 for four, you can buy them in store or online from ASDA. They make a perfect treat to go with your cuppa. These are gluten and wheat free, but contain eggs, milk and soya. You can see the full ingredients listing in the photo below. The delicately flavoured sponge is a good effort for gluten free and the cream frosting is soft and sweet. ASDA Free From 4 Red Velvet Cupcakes Review: Ingredients and Flavour You can see the full ingredients listing (at time of purchase) in the photo. Please always check before buying as ingredients can sometimes change. ASDA did a red velvet cake with frosting a few years ago as part of their free from Christmas range. It seemed quite popular, so the cup cake 4 pack was born and is available year round. They’re not too crumbly but the sponge doesn’t taste of very much, if I hadn’t read the ingredients I wouldn’t have known it’s supposed to be chocolate. The full fat cream cheese frosting is pretty good though, its soft and quite sweet. Overall they’re well balanced as the mild flavour of the sponge works to even out the sweetness of the frosting. I find theses a good buy to have as an occasional treat. They’re great for a bit of variety as I don’t always want biscuits or chocolate with my cuppa. ASDA Free From Food Awards – Retailer of the Year The annual Free From food awards took place last night. ASDA won ‘retailer of the year’ for the first time as well as a whole host of medals. To see which brands and products received awards, check out this link. Have you tried the ASDA red velvet cupcakes? What did you think? Do you have any ASDA free from favourites? Let me know your thoughts and recommendations in the comments below. If you’d like to see some other gluten free food and drink which I recommend, click here.... Extract: Shooting Season by David Gatward19 May 2021BooksKey Summary Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Shooting Season by David Gatward. Today I’m sharing an extract to whet your appetite. My thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for my spot on the blog tour. Shooting Season the 4th in the SCI Harry Grimm series is available in paperback, audiobook and ebook format. Do visit the other stops on the tour and see what readers think! The full list of dates and blogs is below the extract. Extract: Chapter 1 Harry heaved himself out of his vehicle and into the chill Wednesday night air, pulling the darkness around him like a thick blanket against the cold. Hunching his shoulders, he glanced briefly up at a sky that was thick with low clouds, and a creeping dampness, that told him rain was coming, and soon. He could smell and taste it, too, the tang of it just on the edge of each breath. It was the kind of weather, he thought, that a film director would be keen to use at just such a time as this. What he was about to do, what he was there for at all, was not an activity for bright evenings and warm nights, for stars and the moon and the promise of tomorrow. No. It was something best left to the shadows, hidden and secret, and talked of only in whispers. The street he had parked up on was, by its very normality, not normal at all. These houses were average family dwellings, over-priced boxes people worked hard for, used to keep their families safe, and perhaps where their occupants dreamed of moving to something bigger one day. Semi-detached houses with driveways for two cars and small front gardens of artistic gravel and a bush or two. The occasional detached property standing apart from the others as though shunned. And yet, up one of these drives, and behind one of these front doors, something darker sat, and Harry doubted that anyone in any of the other houses had the faintest idea about any of it, about what the occupants got up to while everyone else was running the nine to five. Which was a good thing, really, all things considered. A killer or two on a street could easily impact house values. Though with the way the world was, Harry wondered if such news would make prices go up rather than down. Harry locked his vehicle, an old green Toyota Rav4, which he had purchased a few weeks ago for a few hundred quid. So far, it had been very reliable and despite being not exactly the fastest thing on the road, it certainly had no problem with farm tracks and fields. All rather useful, seeing as he was still up in Wensleydale, and not back down in Bristol. He gave a moment’s thought to what life used to be like, chasing down criminals through the bright lights, sounds, and smells of a busy city. If someone had asked him a couple of months ago if he missed it, the answer would have been an emphatic yes. Now though, he wasn’t so sure. There was something about the dales that was getting under his skin, and no amount of scrubbing in the shower was going to shift it. Harry wasn’t even sure that he wanted to now. The green fells cut by lightning strikes of thin becks alive after a downpour, the winding lanes working like a seam on a quilt of patchwork fields, it was all starting to feel rather like home. Stepping away from the Toyota and getting his mind back into what he was actually there for, Harry recalled something he’d read or heard somewhere about never being more than six feet away from a rat. Well, here he was, in a quiet street somewhere in England, and the same, he decided, could be said of the people he spent his professional life dealing with. The criminals of this world. The members of humanity who liked to help themselves to the stuff everyone else worked hard for, who considered themselves beyond the law, who just didn’t see the world like everyone else. Thieves. Drug dealers. People traffickers. Killers. Rats . . . Walking up the street, Harry double-checked the address he’d scrawled on a piece of paper in his pocket, the blue ink smudging as the promised rain made its entrance. It was just a few metres further, and although he was in no real hurry, Harry upped his pace just enough to show the rain that he wasn’t going to just stand around in it and wait to get soaked, thank you very much. A sharp left and Harry was heading up a driveway between two black BMWs. Which, if he were honest, was enough of a giveaway that if he’d known, he wouldn’t have even bothered checking the address. What was it, he thought, with people buying into an image? After all, any car would, he was sure, be adequate. A bright red Honda, perhaps, or a sun yellow Toyota. Instead, the people he was about to speak to, they’d clearly fully bought into the whole criminal image and gone for something fast and badass. Fair enough, Harry thought, because they were nice motors, and he was pretty sure he’d enjoy having one himself if he could afford it. But whatever the owners believed about the wheels giving them status, Harry was about to do his absolute best to destroy it. Cars, he was pretty damned sure, did not maketh the man. And they certainly didn’t improve one’s ability to take a punch. Not that he was going to be punching anyone. Well, not unless he really had to. Standing outside the house, the front door stared down at Harry through a single-glazed window, a cyclops’s eye glowing with a sickly warm yellow light from the hallway behind it. To his right, a curtained window, to what he assumed was the lounge, seemed to almost vibrate with changing colours, flickering out from a television he could just make out at the edge of his hearing. Harry took a long, deep breath and forced himself to relax. There was no point going into this wired to the moon, worried about what might happen if things went south. Fear was different though, he could use it, keep himself alert. He’d learnt that in the Paras. He couldn’t recall a single firefight where he hadn’t been absolutely bricking it, but in each and every case, that fear had given him an edge, made the soldier in him come alive, and helped him stay alive. Harry’s left hand toyed in his jacket pocket with something he’d made before setting off. His hand reached around it and his strong fingers clenched it, feeling cotton material brush against his skin. He smirked. Reaching out with his right hand, the black leather glove which encased it squeaking a little, Harry pressed the doorbell. Deep inside the house, the faint sound of an electric bell chimed. Nothing. No movement. No sign that the occupants of the house had heard it. Harry reached out again, only this time he kept the doorbell pressed just long enough to let those on the other side of the door know that he wasn’t about to give up any time soon. Still nothing. Harry growled, the rumble in his throat the churning of wet gravel and broken teeth. He reached out again, only this time, he kept his finger on the doorbell, pushing it hard enough, he hoped, that the damned thing would break and stay on for the rest of the night. From inside the house, Harry heard movement. It was the kind of movement that reeked of annoyance, with lots of muffled swearing and slamming doors. This made Harry smile, though he knew full well that a smile wasn’t something that sat all that well on his face. The scars he bore, a mask of a face ruined by an IED, never took well to expressing happiness. Wasn’t there a phrase, something about having a resting bitch face? he wondered. His was that, only worse, the disturbing visage of a man who knew war, had seen it, tasted it, survived it, but still wore it and carried it with him everywhere he went. But then, what soldier didn’t? Harry heard a scuffling from behind the front door. He stepped back. The door opened. ‘Whoever you are, I’m going to give you five sec—’ The owner of the voice got no further as Harry’s booted left foot hoofed the door inwards. It cracked the man hard in the face, knocking him backwards, and then Harry was inside. ‘What the f—?’ Again, Harry cut the man’s voice in half, this time by grabbing him at the shoulders and hurling him through the door immediately to his right, and into the lounge. The door, unable to withstand the force of the impact, crashed open, and the man tumbled forwards, did his best to stop himself from falling on his face, only to end up doing the worst roly-poly Harry had ever seen. He laughed. This was already proving to be more fun than he’d expected. Harry followed the man through the door, at the same time pulling from his left pocket the thing he’d made and stowed in there before setting off on the journey earlier that evening. The air filled with swearing, all directed at Harry, but he wasn’t listening, he was taking aim. With a roar that could wake the dead, Harry hurled the thing from his pocket at the other man in the room, who was dressed much the same as the one on the floor, Harry noted, in a shiny black leather jacket, white shirt, and jeans. He was doing his best to clamber out of a black leather La-Z-Boy armchair as the thing from Harry’s pocket flew through the air to hammer into his face with a nose-crunching thud. The man, having made it to his feet, dropped like liquid, and Harry grabbed the first man from the floor, pulled him to his feet, then flung him once again, this time directly onto his companion, with the ease of a farmer lobbing bales of hay. As the two men struggled to deal with what had just happened, Harry walked over, relieved them of the very obvious pistols they were both sporting, grabbed the thing he had thrown at the second man, stowing it in his pocket, then sat himself down in a very comfortable armchair. He reached for the remote control for the television and switched it off. ‘Evening.’ The two men pulled themselves apart and made to stand up. ‘I’d be staying on the floor if I were you,’ Harry said. ‘Make yourselves nice and comfortable.’ ‘You’re dead,’ one of the men spat at Harry. It was the one who’d come to the door, and for the first time, Harry was able to take in the truly epic facial hair the man was sporting. It wasn’t a beard so much as a work of art—long and so neatly trimmed that Harry wondered if it could be classed as a topiary. ‘You can’t just walk in here,’ said the other man, whose head was shaved cue-ball smooth. ‘You any idea who we are, who we work for, you ugly b—?’ Harry pulled something from his pocket and the bald man fell silent. It was the twin of the thing which had knocked the other man to the floor. ‘You don’t scare us,’ the bearded man said. ‘I’m the one armed with a sock full of birdseed,’ Harry said, lobbing it from hand to hand as though warming up for some impromptu juggling. ‘So, unless you want twatting on that fancily bearded bonce of yours, hows about you shush and just listen?’ The bald man reached to where he, only a few moments ago, had a pistol stowed. Harry stuffed the sock back in his pocket then raised one of the two pistols in front of him. ‘Looking for this?’ ‘That’s mine!’ ‘Give the man a coconut,’ Harry said, then stripped the thing in seconds and dropped the components on the floor. He did the same with the other. ‘A coconut?’ the bald man said. ‘What are you on about?’ Harry decided not to explain. It was pretty clear from the look on the man’s face that it would only serve to confuse him more. The men were now both sitting on the floor and facing Harry like two naughty schoolboys. ‘Right, then,’ Harry said, leaning back, ‘to business! First things first. You both know me, obviously, and I know you, which I’m guessing is quite the surprise. And everyone loves a surprise, don’t they? So, we have no need for introductions. Best we just crack on with the reason for my visit then, agreed?’ ‘What the hell happened to your face, anyway?’ The question was from the one with the beard. ‘Something wrong with it?’ Harry asked, staring down at him. ‘Everything’s wrong with it,’ the man replied. ‘It’s a mess.’ ‘That’s brave talk from someone who just had his arse kicked.’ ‘You got lucky,’ the beard said, and Harry heard a faint hint of bravado bubble to the surface of his words. ‘Anyway, we don’t know what you’re talking about or why you’re here.’ ‘Oh, I think you do,’ Harry said. ‘You visited my flat a few weeks ago, remember? Hung around for a while but got spooked by one of my officers. Left something for me. A little gift.’ ‘We don’t know nothing,’ baldy said. ‘That’s a double negative,’ Harry said. ‘By telling me you don’t know nothing, what you’re actually saying is that you very much know something. But, judging by that gormless look on your face, I’m guessing even that simple explanation just went over your shiny head, am I right?’ The bald man opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. ‘Do you polish it?’ Harry asked. ‘That head of yours? Spray it with Mr Sheen?’ He turned to the beard. ‘And you, with that ridiculous facial hedge on your mush. You must spend hours keeping it like that, am I right? And why’s it so shiny?’ ‘What?’ ‘Your beard,’ Harry said, pointing at the man. ‘It’s shiny. What have you done to it?’ ‘I’ve not done anything to it.’ ‘I can smell a lie a mile off,’ Harry said, ‘but right now I can see one. It’s shiny. Beards aren’t shiny, are they? So, what have you done to it?’ The man was quiet. ‘Cat got your tongue?’ ‘Oil,’ the man said. ‘I use beard oil, to condition it.’ Harry roared. ‘You what? You oil your beard? Seriously? Does it squeak, is that the problem?’ The men looked at each other, clearly baffled. ‘Anyway,’ Harry said, ‘I digress. Back to business.’ Harry slipped his hand inside his jacket and pulled out an envelope. From inside it, he removed several photographs. ‘You delivered these,’ Harry said. ‘Photographs of my brother in prison. And the person who hired you to deliver them to me, I want his address.’ The men stayed silent. ‘So, still not speaking then, is that it?’ Harry said. ‘I know he sent you. I know his phone call to me was bullshit. The whole thing just another way to try and get me to back off. Well, I’m not. So, you’re going to tell me where he is, aren’t you?’ Silence sat in the room for a second or two, as the three men stared at each other. ‘He said you’d say that,’ the beard said. ‘Did he, now?’ Harry replied. ‘So, this is all part of his cunning plan, is it? You daft sods on your arses, and me up here?’ The bald man smirked. ‘You don’t know who you’re dealing with. We know who you are, we can find you.’ ‘Who do you think you are, Liam bloody Neeson?’ Harry asked. ‘We can find you, find your brother, anywhere,’ the bald man continued. ‘That’s what all this was about.’ Harry leaned forward. ‘You fully expected me to turn up at your door and have you on your arses, is that right?’ Neither man looked too sure of that, Harry thought. ‘That’s not what we’re saying,’ the beard said. ‘So, what are you saying?’ ‘That he wants a truce,’ the bald one said. ‘He wants to meet you. Face to face.’ ‘Bollocks he does,’ Harry said. ‘No, it isn’t,’ the beard answered. ‘He knew that you’d find us. Not like this, obviously, because if we’d known this was going to happen, we wouldn’t have agreed to it, would we?’ ‘So, what happens now?’ Harry asked. ‘Because my plan was to tie you together, call the police, and let them roll in here to pick up two armed idiots. That’s you by the way, in case you were wondering.’ ‘He’ll call you,’ the beard said. ‘He has your number. But you need to do exactly as he says.’ ‘Or what?’ ‘Or this just gets worse,’ the bald man said. Harry rose to his feet, his shadow casting darkness over the men that Hell itself would be proud of. ‘It’s already worse,’ Harry said. ‘For you. For him.’ Harry jabbed a finger at the beard. ‘You, stand up.’ The man climbed to his feet. Harry spun him around and snapped his wrists together with a plastic cable tie, then toppled him onto the leather sofa. He used another plastic tie on the man’s ankles. ‘Now you,’ Harry said. The bald man hesitated, so Harry grabbed him, flipped him over onto his chest, and tied his wrists and ankles together just the same. ‘You’re dead! Both of you!’ the beard cried out, trying to sit back up on the sofa. ‘You and your brother!’ ‘You know, I don’t think we are,’ Harry said. ‘Now, why don’t you make yourself comfortable, and I’ll just give the old plod a call.’ As Harry made to leave the room, the bald man shouted, ‘You can’t do this!’ ‘And yet, here we are,’ Harry said, then left the room and wandered back outside. On the way back to his vehicle, Harry punched in a call. Detective Superintendent Alice Firbank answered. ‘Can I assume that no one was injured terribly?’ ‘Yes, you can, Ma’am,’ Harry replied. ‘We just had a little talk, that’s all.’ ‘Really?’ ‘Send a car to the address. They’re not going anywhere. And whoever does turn up, let them know that there are weapons on the premises. Not that they’re much use, seeing as I dismantled them, but worth knowing anyway.’ ‘So, were you right? That your father’s supposed olive branch was anything but?’ ‘I’m afraid so, yes,’ Harry replied. ‘Apparently, he wants to meet up. Face to face.’ ‘This is not an excuse for you to go all Lone Ranger on me,’ Firbank said. Harry laughed. ‘The Lone Ranger? Aren’t you a bit young for that reference?’ ‘You know full well what I mean,’ Firbank said. ‘If you go ahead with this–’ ‘I will, of course, only do so with backup,’ Harry said. ‘Is that a promise, Grimm?’ ‘Cross my heart.’ ‘Hope to die?’ ‘Not yet, Ma’am,’ Harry said. ‘Not yet. And things are sorted with Ben, as discussed?’ ‘They are,’ Firbank said. ‘If you’re still happy with the arrangement.’ ‘I am,’ Harry said. ‘Very.’ Phone call over, Harry climbed back into his vehicle, then watched as blue lights filled the night sky and two patrol cars came to a quick stop outside the house containing the two men. Then he flicked the engine into life, pulled out onto the road, and turned around to head back to Wensleydale.... What is Sleep Hygiene?19 May 2021HealthIntroduction Welcome to this post which looks at what is sleep hygiene? You may know the term sleep hygiene, but might not know what it fully involves. This post explains the impacts poor sleep can have, what sleep hygiene is and how best to do it. Over a third of all adults in the UK struggle to sleep at least once a week. Whilst nearly 50% struggle once a month. Since the pandemic Google trends shows a large increase in searches related to falling asleep. Most searches happen between 1am and 4am. Regular poor sleep puts you at risk of serious medical conditions, including obesity, heart disease and diabetes, and it shortens your life expectancy. You can read more about the health impacts of poor sleep on the NHS website. What is Sleep Hygiene? Sleep hygiene is both your sleeping environment and the bedtime behaviours you practice. In short, it’s your bedroom and bedtime habits. Good sleep hygiene means your environment is optimised for sleep and your bedtime habits are geared towards rest. Sleep hygiene is a branch of clinical psychology developed in the late 1970s to help with insomnia. There is little clinical evidence to support individual practices of sleep hygiene. When combined however, many people benefit from an optimal sleep environment and tailored wind-down routine. Sleeping environment There are several factors in your bedroom which you can optimise for better sleep hygiene. These fall into two key areas: the bed itself and the bedroom environment. Try to get as many aspects as close to most comfortable as you can. It might take a while to get everything to an optimal level, but can be really worth the effort. experienced keynote speaker, executive international coach, international workshop facilitator and learning consultant and author. – The Bed The bed comprises of your mattress, pillow and covers, plus what you may (or may not) wear in bed. Your mattress needs to be comfortable and supportive; neither too hard nor too soft. I’m a big fan of the Emma hybrid mattress which combines a memory foam top layer and traditional pocket springs underneath. I’ll be posting my review of this mattress soon. The same goes for your pillow, there is a huge range to choose from. It can help to select one which matches your sleeping style to give you the best support. You will likely need to change the type of covering you use depending on the time of year. Aim for something that keeps you at a comfortable temperature; warm enough but not too warm. If you suffer from allergies there are hypoallergenic options which could further boost your sleep quality. What you wear in bed comes down to personal preference, many people find loose-fitting clothing made from breathable fabrics most comfortable. – The Bedroom Environment Ideally you want your bedroom environment to be cool, dark and quiet. Your body temperature decreases during sleep, this is part of your circadian rhythm. So, you want to ensure your room and covers don’t make you overheat. The right temperature will help you to both fall and stay asleep. Light exposure stimulates alertness, so a dark room is needed for sleep. Darkness send a signal to the body that it’s time to rest and enables release of the hormone melatonin. Melatonin regulates sleep quantity and quality. To ensure a dark room, minimise external light sources by using a blackout blind or curtains. Also, minimise internal light sources e.g. flashing LEDs from electronics. If you’re unable to do this, try sleeping with an eye mask. Noise can be challenging to optimise for and different approaches may work for different types of noise. If noise is coming from your own home, say if others are still awake when you need to be asleep, try carpets or floor coverings to absorb sound. If it’s coming from outside, close your windows and use thick curtains. Some city areas experience a lot of noise from traffic, flight paths, people socialising outdoors etc. In this instance, it can be worth considering investing in upgrading your windows. Specialist firms can analyse the noise type and level and tailor your windows accordingly. If you’re renting, you might like to try a white noise machine, sleep headphones or earplugs, although these aren’t suitable solutions for everyone. Earplugs and an eye mask can be useful to have if you’re travelling and sleeping somewhere different. Bedtime Routine Bedtime routines are highly individual as we all find different things relaxing. It’s important to wind down before bed so you don’t try to sleep whilst you’re still wired. There are a variety of sleep hygiene recommendations relating to bedtime routines. So it may be worth trying different combinations and tailoring your own based on what works best. Timing There are two key aspects to sleep hygiene timing; your sleeping hours and when you start your bedtime routine. Going to sleep and waking up at the same time every day programmes the brain and internal body clock to get used to a set routine. As most adults need between 6 and 9 hours of sleep every night, count back from when you need to get up, to work out the time you need to go to sleep. Obviously, for those who work changing shift patterns, that is not possible. I’m planning another post on sleep hygiene for shift workers so watch this space. It’s also important to allow enough time for winding down and your bedtime routine, to ensure you go to bed relaxed and ready for sleep. Having too short a lead-up to bedtime means you could be going to bed stimulated/wired and will find it hard to drop off. When exactly to start your bedtime routine, depends on what it involves. Activities to Avoid Avoiding certain activities ahead of bedtime will help your sleep hygiene. Experts advise avoiding caffeine and nicotine as they are both stimulants. Avoid using screens for an hour or so before you go to bed as the light from the screen on these devices may have a negative effect on sleep. If you use your phone or tablet for sleep or relaxation apps use a blue light filter and ensure the screen brightness is turned down, PC Mag has a range of suggestions. Certain foods should also be avoided, meals which are large, rich or spicy take longer to digest so if you have them late you may still be digesting when you should be sleeping. Choose a light snack if you need to eat something before bed and try not to drink too much (so your sleep isn’t disturbed by the need to pee). Activities which raise your core temperature are also best avoided right before bed. These include very hot baths and strenuous exercise. As mentioned in the bedroom environment section above, core temperature drops at bedtime so raising it will make it harder to fall asleep. It’s fine to have a bath if you allow enough time for your core temperature to drop afterwards or to do gentle exercise. Activities to Consider The key to a good wind down routine, is to make it non stimulating for body and mind. Choose gentle activities which you find relaxing. Allow at least 30 minutes for your routine, although many people prefer to take longer. Once you’ve established which aspects work best for you, stick to your routine. This way, your brain recognises the routine as a cue that it’s time to sleep. Incorporate the obvious things like brushing your teeth and putting on your nightwear, but also include activities beneficial to your wellbeing and state of mind. Some people find reading a book or using a meditation app helps them to relax. If you find you have concerns or anxieties whirring in your head, write them down with a view to tackling them when you wake up. Some people find stretching or gentle yoga helps them to release tension from their bodies. As a disabled person my exercise ability is very limited, but I really love the 10 minute ‘yoga in bed’ videos which Sleepy Santosha does. This is the bedtime one. Other people like a relaxing bath or to light candles/use aromatherapy. What if it’s not enough? You can have very good sleep hygiene, but sometimes it’s still not enough for you to sleep well. Common reasons include stress and ill health, although there are many factors which can affect sleep. If you’ve been struggling for a few weeks it might be time to speak to your pharmacist or doctor. For instances where you know the stress will be short-lived (e.g. a big project at work with an deadline in a couple of weeks) you can get over the counter sleep supplements. If you can’t identify the reason or it’s a complex or long-lived one (e.g. grief or chronic illness) speak to your GP about what support is available. Personally, I’m a big fan of the Talk Health my sleep programme, which is a free 12 week programme with lots of advice, tips and support. It covers a huge range of sleep-related issues from mental health to how to choose the right bed. It’s delivered weekly via email so you can complete it at a time to suit you. Over to You… Do you have any sleep tips? Do you struggle with any aspect of sleep? Drop a comment in the box below and let’s get a conversation started. This post is the first in a series of sleep-related posts, so do come back for regular updates. ... Really Resilient Guide by Andry Anastasis McFarlane14 May 2021BooksIntro Welcome to my review for the Really Resilient Guide by Andry Anastasis McFarlane. I’m a big fan of business and leadership books, and wellbeing so jumped at the opportunity to be on the blog tour. Big thanks to Helen Lewis, director at Literally PR for my copy in exchange for an honest review. The Really Resilient Guide is out now in ebook and paperback format. Andry Anastasis McFarlane has over two decades experience. She works as a keynote speaker, executive international coach, international workshop facilitator and learning consultant and author. You can find out more on her website the learning moment. Review of the Really Resilient Guide by Andry Anastasis McFarlane Andry Anastasis McFarlane has written a timely book. She gives advice for an employment landscape which – in the wake of the financial crash, covid etc – she describes as volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. Where there are challenges, there are also opportunities; but to avail ourselves of the opportunities we need the resilience to be able to recognise and act upon them. McFarlane’s book outlines techniques to build resilience and meet the challenges. This book is written in a very accessible style, so is very easy to read. It’s also very succinct, which I think is critical in an advice guide because too much waffle looses the reader. I like that McFarlane shows what resilience looks like on both an individual/freelancer and team level. Each section has a short real-life example and practical exercises to do. These include visualisation, reflection, mindfulness, developing awareness and wellbeing, changing mindsets, using solution focused thinking, collaboration, coaching, and resilience mapping. They should be repeated at intervals to keep building resilience. Whilst the advice is quite specific, it is also universally applicable regardless of which industry the reader works in, or how much seniority they have. I particularly like the wellbeing section. The key advice is: connect, keep learning, be active, keep noticing, and keep giving. So many career books focus on greater productivity or efficiency, but fail to help the reader address their wellbeing. It follows logically that a worker with good wellbeing, will be more resilient. I’d recommend this book to anyone who works or is starting/returning to work. The advice is very useful and easy to follow, both in terms of how to identify needs and how to find solutions to those needs. Do check out the other reviews on this tour, please see the poster below for dates and locations. Cover Blurb The world of work has become virtually unrecognisable. Constant uncertainty, short-term contracts, high staff turnover, budget cuts and a lack of financial security. These all contribute towards unprecedented demands on mental health and well-being. In these times resilience is key to both surviving and thriving. The process of being adaptable, flexible, having staying power and a healthy self-awareness is simultaneously a mindset and a set of behaviours. And the good news is that this can be learnt. With Andry Anastasis McFarlane’s REALLY RESILIENT approach, you’ll learn to navigate workplace adversity and embrace change. You’ll become more effective at responding to crises and make calmer decisions. You’ll have a greater positive impact on colleagues and clients alike. Drawing on real-life examples, executive coaching insights, emotional intelligence, global wellbeing research and solutions-focused approaches, The REALLY RESILIENT Guide blends compassionate yet reassuringly practical guidance, with 27 relevant, proven resilience-building techniques you can quickly and easily practise at home or at work.... Facets of Death by Michael Stanley Review19 April 2021BooksKey Summary Welcome to my review for Facets of Death by Michael Stanley. My thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for my spot on the blog tour. Thanks also to Orenda Books for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. Facets of death is available in paperback and ebook format. It is a prequel to the award-winning Detective Kubu series. This series is on my radar, so when the opportunity to review came up, I was very pleased to volunteer. Especially as I’m meeting Kubu at the start of his career. Review for Facets of Death Writing Style I love this Botswanan diamond heist thriller! The style of writing is very original and the plot really draws the reader in. The story is told linearly which is quite refreshing as so many thrillers are now written from multiple time points and points of view. The chapters are short, essentially each reflects a scene in the story, and grouped by day. The novel basically covers around 10 days and is told broadly in ‘real-time’. I very much enjoyed the simplicity of this because it means the characters and plot have to be strong enough to hold the reader’s attention. This they definitely do! Plot Detective David ‘Kubu’ Bengu is fast-tracked into CID straight from university. He arrives for his first day at work and is met with mistrust from his colleagues as he didn’t have to go through the stage of being a beat policeman. Nevertheless, he dives straight in with a case of missing suitcases. He barely has time to establish the facts before a significant diamond heist takes place leaving 3 dead and 100,000 carats of uncut stones missing. It’s interesting to see Kubu learn how to detect whilst on the job. The heist itself is fascinatingly intriguing and there are some great plot twists which leave the reader with even more questions. This essentially draws the reader in even further as the story develops. The story telling is compelling and so enjoyable! There is use of local dialect which adds authenticity and although the meaning is clear from the context there is a little glossary and map included. Setting I also enjoy the aspect of the setting. Specifically, the geographical description of Botswana and the culture which is a blend of western development and traditional beliefs. This felt much more authentic than the southern Africa of the media which is typified by political instability and abject poverty. Overall I found this a hugely enjoyable novel and am keen to read the others in the series and follow the development of Kubu as a detective. Facets of Death Cover Blurb A dark and sophisticated thriller set in the heart of Botswana, introducing Michael Stanley’s beloved Detective Kubu Recruited straight from university to Botswana’s CID, David ‘Kubu’ Bengu has raised his colleagues’ suspicions with his meteoric rise within the department, and he has a lot to prove. When the richest diamond mine in the world is robbed of 100,000 carats worth of gems, and the thieves are found, executed, Kubu leaps at the chance to prove himself. First he must find the diamonds – and it seems that a witch doctor and his son have a part to play. Does this young detective have the skill and integrity to engineer an international trap? Or could it cost him everything? About the Authors Michael Stanley is the writing team of Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip. Both were born in South Africa and have worked in academia and business. Stanley was an educational psychologist, specialising in the application of computers to teaching and learning, and is a pilot. Michael specialised in image processing and remote sensing and taught at the University of the Witwatersrand. On a flying trip to Botswana, they watched a pack of hyenas hunt, kill, and devour a wildebeest, eating both flesh and bones. That gave them the premise for their first mystery, A Carrion Death, which introduced Detective David ‘Kubu’ Bengu of the Botswana Criminal Investigation Department. It was a finalist for five awards, including the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger. The series has been critically acclaimed, and their third book, Death of the Mantis, won the Barry Award for Best Paperback Original mystery and was shortlisted for an Edgar award. Deadly Harvest was shortlisted for an International Thriller Writers award. They have also written a thriller, Dead of Night, following the investigative journalist, Crystal Nguyen, who gets caught up in the war against rhino poaching and rhino-horn smuggling.... 5 checks for choosing a tradesperson18 April 2021House & GardenIntroduction to Choosing a Tradesperson There are times when we all need a tradesperson, whether it’s a plumber, gas fitter, electrician or other. How can we choose someone professional, reliable, and honest? Personal recommendations can be very helpful. You can ask friends or family, or another tradesperson you trust. If you can’t get a recommendation, there are ways to minimise risk when choosing yourself. Here we describe 5 checks for choosing a tradesperson. Even if you get a recommendation, check these aspects because licences and insurance expire, staff change etc. 1. Check License and Insurance The individual or firm you hire need to have both a license and insurance. The license (can also be certification or registration) is proof that they are qualified in their trade. It means they are a professional and therefore able to deal with complex tasks or unexpected problems. Different tradespeople are licensed to undertake different tasks. For example, if you’re having a central heating installed the pipes can be laid by a plumber, but the boiler will need to be fitted by a ‘gas safe’ registered engineer. Similarly, the person or firm you hire should be insured for public liability. What if there’s an accident, e.g. a pipe bursts causing damage to yours or neighbours’ properties? You don’t want a huge bill for something that is the tradesperson’s fault. 2. Tradesperson Reviews Research the tradesperson and/or the company. Do they have good reviews? Do the reviews seem genuine? Don’t just look at the company’s website, also check independent review sites. Examples of sites where tradespeople are verified include trustatrader, checkatrade and trustmark. Aspects to look out for are the professionalism of the trader (see point 5), what type of work they completed (is it similar to what you need?) and how recently the feedback was posted. 3. Choosing Quote Quality Once you’ve found a reputable trader, the next step is to ask for quotes. Some traders give a full breakdown of costs including labour and materials etc. while others give a ‘whole job’ quote. It’s easier to compare quotes if you have a full breakdown. You can ask for more detail if you need it. It is easier to compare if a quote states which materials are needed and how many, how many hours the job is likely to take etc. A quote should be in writing and give details including company name and registration number, VAT details, address and contact information. Make sure you are clear on what the quote covers so hidden or unexpected costs don’t crop up later. Traders should also say roughly when they can start and how long a job will take. It’s your choice which quote to go for but be wary of any which are vastly different (much cheaper or more expensive). 4. Dodgy Sales Tactics There are a variety of dodgy tactics which disreputable traders use to swindle customers. Two main ones are: pressurising the customer and upselling. Here we describe what they are and how to spot them. A dodgy trader may try to pressurise a customer by telling them their ‘best price’ quote is only valid for that day. Quotes should be valid for several weeks to give customers time to compare firms. Often the validity (typically 30-90 days) is on the quote itself. Upselling is where a trader will try to sell you more than you need. They may exaggerate the nature of the problem, recommend an expensive version of a product, or offer you a bundle to ‘save’ you money (the bundle includes things you don’t need). As an example: your toilet cistern isn’t filling properly. To fix this you may need a new part i.e. valve seal or flapper, it might be a blockage, problem with the chain, or the tank fill is set too low. A dodgy plumber will tell you that you need a new cistern. A cistern is much more expensive than a replacement part and will take much longer to fit. Detailed quotes enable you to compare, is one quote for a new cistern whilst the others suggest a replacement part? As you can see the checks for choosing a tradesperson complement each other. 5. Professionalism It can pay to trust your gut if something doesn’t feel right. A good tradesperson will let you know when they’ll be coming to start work, keep you up to date on progress and put everything on paper. These are the hallmarks of a professional and the things to look out for. Larger jobs will have contracts, read them carefully and don’t sign blank forms. You should receive receipts for any payments you make, confirmation on paper for certain jobs (e.g. boiler service certificate) and warranties on certain types of job too. Do you have any checks for choosing a tradesperson? Maybe you have tips on what to avoid? Let us know in the comments below.... 3 reasons I love M&S Made Without Wheat Prosciutto and Ricotta Cappelletti Pasta14 April 2021Food & DrinkKey Summary M&S Made Without Wheat cappelletti pasta with prosciutto and ricotta makes a quick and tasty meal. Ideal for an easy mid-week dinner because they take a maximum of 3 minutes to prepare! Each pack provides 2 portions which is great value for filled gluten free pasta as they’re priced at £3.50. They’re the real deal because they’re made in Italy for Marks and Spencer. The taste is really nice and they hold their shape well. As they are a bit smaller in size than the M&S spinach and ricotta ravioli they’re not so delicate when cooking. I love 3 things about them: taste, quick and easy to cook, and convenient. 1. Great Taste I really enjoy the taste of these, the filling is quite mild but moreish. There’s a really good balance between prosciutto, mortadella and ricotta. It’s a little on the salty side but I think that’s down to the prosciutto which is a salty cured ham. The pasta itself is tasty too and you wouldn’t know it’s gluten free. I often eat these with just with a knob of salted butter and cracked black pepper, but they also work well with a variety of sauces. They can work well as a starter on their own or as a main course with some vegetables on the side. 2. Quick and Easy to Make These are an absolute doddle to prepare! You pop them into boiling water, return to a gentle boil and after just 2 minutes they’re ready to go. If you’re cooking from frozen (see point 3 below) just extend the cooking time by an extra minute. Gluten free fresh pasta can sometimes be quite delicate, but with these there’s no splits or breakages. You’d be hard pressed to find a quicker and easier meal to make. I love these as a mid-week ‘can’t be bothered to cook but not ordering take out again’ meal. 3. Convenient Obviously being quick and easy to make is a huge convenience in itself. This pasta can also be frozen. That means you can have a couple of packs on stand-by in case of any dinner emergencies. Can’t be bothered to meal prep? Unexpected guests? Just remove from the freezer and pop into boiling water. 3 minutes later you’re all set! These are available instore from Marks and Spencer, and online from Ocado. As they’re ‘cappelletti’ style of pasta the pasta makes up 60% of them. So if you prefer more filling in your pasta check out the M&S Made without Wheat Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli which is 45% pasta. Check out my other gluten-free food and drink reviews here.... Categories Books Beauty Food & Drink Health House & Garden
