26 m. ago Shoppers rave about Dunelm's comfy £29 padded chair that's perfect for garden and camping use

Dunelm's padded portable chair is the perfect choice for taking camping, to festivals or just for having in the garden, and you can snap it up for under £30

Economics

59 m. ago Dunelm's £29 portable padded chair is ideal for festivals, camping and 'snoozing in the garden'

The camping chair is ideal for taking everywhere from festivals to camping, or just setting up for a comfy afternoon reading and snoozing in your garden, and it's under £30

Economics

95 m. ago 'Brilliant' adjustable garden sprinkler slashed by 40% in Amazon flash sale

The Gardena AquaZoom compact oscillating sprinkler is down to £33 from £56 on Amazon, meaning gardeners can save 40% on the must-have garden tool

Politics

1 hour ago Amazon slashes 40% off 'brilliant' garden sprinkler that keeps gardens watered in summer

The Gardena AquaZoom oscillating sprinkler is currently on sale at Amazon with £22 off, and it's perfect for keeping gardens watered in the hot weather

Politics

2 h. ago ‘Alexa, what do you know about us?’ What I discovered when I asked Amazon to tell me everything my family’s smart speaker had heard

For years, Alexa has been our on-call vet, DJ, teacher, parent, therapist and whipping boy. What secrets would the data reveal?She is always listening. She is unfailingly polite. She is often obtuse. She is sometimes helpful. She frequently frustrates. She isn’t great with bashment artists. Or grime. Or drum’n’bass. She needs to be spoken to slowly and clearly, as you’d talk to an aged relative with diminished faculties. She doesn’t like French accents.‘“Alexa, how long do wasps live for?” Continue reading...

Politics

7 h. ago Distressing RSPCA video shows cruel woman whack dogs with garden spade

A pet owner was caught on video swinging a spade down onto her French Bulldogs - but she has not been banned from keeping dogs (WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT).

Culture

8 h. ago Tim Dowling: let my tortoise’s humiliating mishap be a lesson to him

A freak thunderstorm soaks the middle one on his way to our house (he’s come to raid the fridge), but the real drama is the toppled tortoise After an hour’s work on a hot morning I leave my office shed and return to the kitchen for a coffee. Halfway there I find the tortoise lying on his back on the path. He can’t have been there for more than an hour, as he wasn’t there when I came out.“What happened to you?” I say, setting him on his feet. But it’s pretty obvious what happened: he tried to exit the garden bed by climbing over the border of diagonally laid bricks and overbalanced. It’s an obstacle he surmounts without difficulty between five and 10 times a day in the warmer months, but occasionally – perhaps once every four years – he puts a foot wrong. So far, I have always been there to turn him back over. Continue reading...

Politics

10 h. ago Gardeners urged to check underside of leaves immediately in May

As your plants begin to bloom this spring, experts warn to take care when checking your plant's leaves - you could be in a for a nasty shock that risks destroying your garden

Politics

10 h. ago Gardeners issued with important advice over controlling crop

Blooms are under siege from sap-sucking aphids right now but encouraging their natural predators to move into your patch will keep them under control this year and next

Politics

11 h. ago UK households warned to check on blackbirds when they enter your garden

Scientists warn that a deadly disease has been culling blackbird populations - here's what you need to know and the signs that blackbirds in your garden may be infected

Events

11 h. ago Gardeners urged to place a washing up bowl on their lawns immediately

This unlikely household item can be a massive saviour in your garden - an expert has urged people to use it to create a "mini pond" for this one struggling creature

Politics

12 h. ago Tiny UK seaside village predicted to be huge staycation spot this summer

With scenic coastal walks, a beautiful beach and sublime setting, visitors can enjoy the village’s natural splendour while feasting on award-winning meals that consistently receive rave reviews

Politics

12 h. ago Tiny UK village with gorgeous beach and nature reserve that visitors call 'bliss'

Wrabness, a small village and civil parish in Essex, has a beach and a nature reserve, and it's no wonder that people flock here to escape the chaos of everyday life

Politics

13 h. ago Who needs manuals anyway! Doing DIY without looking at the handbook gives men a 'masculinity boost', study finds

According to a survey of 2,000 men, 38 per cent experience a masculinity boost when they complete a job around the house or garden.

Politics

13 h. ago UK households urged to use 12p item to keep rats out of gardens

An expert has shared some top tips on how to keep rats out of your garden - using just a few household items. One of the items is a kitchen essential that you probably have in your cupboard right now

Politics

14 h. ago Shimmering with an opal shine: New Zealand’s unique blue pearls face threat of warming seas

In New Zealand only a handful of farms produce pearls from abalone, known as pāua, but the molluscs need delicate conditions to surviveRoger Beattie was diving off the Chatham Islands, about 800km east of New Zealand, when he saw his first pāua pearl. Beattie was familiar with pāua, the Māori word for abalone, and their iridescent shells of shimmering purples and greens. But the pearl that had formed inside was unlike anything he had ever seen, gleaming with layers of the pāua’s natural colours.“I just thought ‘heck, that would make amazing jewellery,’” Beattie says. Continue reading...

Events

15 h. ago Nicole Kidman reveals major decision she regrets over her natural hair after viral wig fails

Nicole Kidman is owning up to her biggest beauty regret - just as buzz swirls around her ever-changing hairstyles and the use (and misuse) of wigs.

Events

17 h. ago Trump signs executive orders to spur US ‘nuclear energy renaissance’

President aims to construct new nuclear reactors as he implements his own energy policies and undoes Joe Biden’sDonald Trump signed a series of executive orders on Friday intended to spur a “nuclear energy renaissance” through the construction of new reactors he said would satisfy the electricity demands of data centers for artificial intelligence and other emerging industries.The orders represented the president’s latest foray into the policy underlying America’s electricity supply. Trump declared a national energy emergency on his first day in office over and moved to undo a ban implemented by Joe Biden on new natural gas export terminals and expand oil and gas drilling in Alaska. Continue reading...

Politics

18 h. ago The Mastermind review – Josh O’Connor is world’s worst art thief in Kelly Reichardt’s unlikely heist movie

Cannes film festival Reichardt’s quietist, observational style is unexpectedly successful at creating a super-naturalistic depiction of an art gallery robberyIt needs hardly be said that the title is ironic. The abject non-hero of Kelly Reichardt’s engrossingly downbeat heist movie, set in 1970s Massachusetts, is weak, vain and utterly clueless. By the end, he’s a weirdly Updikean figure, though without the self-awareness: going on the run with no money and without a change of clothes, to escape from the grotesque mess he has made for himself and his family.This is James, played with hangdog near-charm by Josh O’Connor; he is an art school dropout and would-be architectural designer with two young sons, married to Terri (a minor complaint is that the excellent Alana Haim is not given enough to do). James depends on the social standing of his father Bill, a judge, formidably played by Bill Camp, and is borrowing large sums of money from his patrician mother Sarah (Hope Davis), ostens...

Politics

21 h. ago Stockport council's new leader gives update on £59 garden waste charge

The new fee has led to criticism from some residents

Politics