International Coffee Day

Every day is an international day of some sort, but the international coffee day seems one worth raising a glass, or mug, to, and today's the day! Being made from a grown source, the coffee bean, it is obviously difficult to tell when coffee drinking was first discovered. The first evidence appears to show coffee drinking starting in the mid 15th century in Yemen. Coffee became popular in England due to the British East India Company, and Oxford's Queen's Lane Coffee House started up in 1654.

Over the years coffee has become a much loved commodity across the world, and nowadays is the source of many social and business meetings, with coffee shops becoming increasingly popular year by year. The phrase 'going for a coffee' is used even by those who never drink coffee, it's become something of a modern day term for going for a drink, whether that be tea, coffee, juice or pretty much anything that's not an alcoholic beverage. Despite the big chains such as Starbucks and Costa having coffee shops left right and centre, the local and unique coffee shops are still popular, and are often even more popular than the big guns due to being a bit different and being supported because they are a locally owned and run business.

Why not take the opportunity of it being 'international coffee day' to visit some of the locally owned coffee (or tea) shops in the Olney area?! There are lots- Beans, Cafe Tosco, Teapots and Much Ado, to name but a few!

Get stuck in with British Mud Week

Tomorrow sees the start of something new- the first ever British mud week. Sponsored by Nomad Direct, suppliers of the world’s first cordless pressure washer (which you may need if you decide to get involved!), the general idea of the week is to encourage the British public to get outside and enjoy the great outdoors. Although we have our fingers crossed for good weather this June, we all know you can never be too sure when it comes to the British weather, and so the chances are there'll be plenty of mud around to get involved with!

People are being encouraged to complete mud-themed challenges for charity and get their families involved in the great outdoors, and schools are also being encouraged to take part, with downloadable packs, full of ideas, being available on their website. 

The website also lists a number of ideas of ways you could get involved with mud week, if you work with or have young children, I can only imagine the idea of a week spent rolling in the mud will go down a treat! 

Elkie Brooks live @ The Stables

Hopefully you'll have seen the interview the Phonebox magazine did with Elkie Brooks this month in preparation for her upcoming gig, tomorrow at The Stables in Wavendon. If you missed it have a look at the image below, or click here to be taken to the online magazine.

Elkie became a household name in the 70's, and to date has released a total of 21 albums. A clearly talented musician, her music has become a family affair, with both of her sons working with her on her music and her husband working as her sound engineer.

Seated tickets for tomorrow's show are sold out, but standing are still available on a limited basis, so if you've got a ticket or are planning on going, don't waste any time in securing a ticket and we hope you thoroughly enjoy yourself!

The show is set to be a great night as ever, with Elkie performing some of her classic hits of blues and jazz, and we're looking forward to seeing one of the most successful British artists of all time perform tomorrow. The night begins at 8pm, don't be late!

Shock weather reports...

Firstly, when is British weather ever a shock?! The variety of unexpected and erratic weather we get every day should have made us un-shockable by now, you'd think, but it seems not. Reading the latest news reports, I'm beginning to see why, this weather really does seem quite shocking.

Always ones to over-estimate the weather predictions, the forecast tends to be a lot worse than the reality. However, following the stormy and extreme floods this winter, I'm feeling more inclined to pay attention...

So what are they expecting? Well, cricket ball-sized hail stones and tornadoes are the more extreme predictions, the worst hailstones in 170 years, apparently. The weekend is meant to be the start of the bad weather, with hot temperatures heading our way over the next couple of weeks, apparently we'll get little sun and lots of storms. Such a warning is more than a little daunting, yet I'm hoping for the temperature predictions to be true and the rain and storms to stay well away! We've got some sunshine apparently heading our way tomorrow at least, so make sure you make the most of it, just incase they are right, but maybe keep your umbrellas and wellies to hand for the following few days!

The British quiz obsession?

Quizzes- love them or hate them, are a huge part of our British culture. Even if they've never won a quiz, many people take part in pub quizzes regularly, often seeing it more as a social than playing to win each week (obviously a bonus though!) As well as all the pub quizzes out about, come all the television quiz shows that crowd our screens every evening. The number of different spins and twists they've managed to put on the general theme of answering questions and winning money is pretty impressive if you ask me, we've got pointless, the chase, ejector seat, university challenge, eggheads, the million pound drop, the weakest link and so many more, it seems Britain really does love the quizzes! Then on top of all the regulars, we get the big fat quiz of the year, which is basically a glorified pub quiz (with a few obvious differences, the fact that it's not in a pub and in a television studio for starters!)

So why do we like being questioned? Surely it reminds us of exams, interviews and tests?! Is it only the idea of winning that motivates us- would we take part in quizzes if there was no prize incentive?... I've got a feeling that many of us would. Maybe it's the challenge it provides, racking our brains for that fact we just know we know... somewhere far back in the memory bank.

With technology and social media has also come the unending stream of online quizzes, you can take a quiz to see which Simpsons character you are, what actor is your lover, what age you 'really' are and so many more... is the British quiz obsession getting a little out of hand?! Maybe we are better off sticking to the old fashioned pub quiz, then at least you get the social aspect and (hopefully) some questions that make sense and which you can actually answer! Why not head down to your local pub this week? Most pubs hold pub quizzes once a week or so, in Olney alone there are pub quizzes at the Two Brewers pub and the Cowpers Oak, just to name two! I might start truing and learning some random facts in preparation for the next pub quiz!...and the capital of Venezuela is...

Love is in the air: Some of our top Brit couples

Tis the season for celebrating love, and so we’ve racked our brains to give you a selection of couples Britain can be proud to boast of…

First and foremost, Kate and Wills. Their wedding was arguably the wedding of the century, and now with baby in tow, they continue to present a relationship of bliss. Of course, the royals aren’t going to be airing their spats and disagreements into the public domain, but just looking at this couple it is clear they are truly loved up and taking their role in the spotlight seriously. They seem to be the perfect match for one another.