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The Sun
9 hours ago
- General
- The Sun
Gardeners MUST carry out essential task if they want to get thick, bushy & super green lawns that last all summer
MANY people want thick, luscious lawns in their garden, but it can be tricky to achieve with hot weather and weeds springing up. One green-fingered whizz has shared an essential task you should do to get great results that last all summer. 4 4 A fellow gardener had made a plea for help after using Westland Triple Care on their grass, which they claim left it looking 'patchy.' Taking to the Facebook group Gardening on a Budget Official, they shared: 'What on earth! 'The grass was a little patchy and had some moss. 'I used this last week after spending two days using an aerator. 'The state of the grass now..... 'It wasn't like this before using this box of destruction! 'This is my first post on here and some help or advice would be appreciated. What should I do now.' Thankfully the gardening fan had some words of advice to save the day - and said that Westland Triple Care, which is £10 on Amazon, did actually work for her. They explained that it is aerating that 'does that' to lawns, but you need to 'water at least half an hour a day after using the seeds' to revive it. She explained the same thing had happened to her, and said: 'Mine was aerated. I was gutted, cried for a week. 'I waited till it was warmer as done in March, then I seeded, used two large boxes as did back and front. The four easy steps to get your tired lawn lush for summer & you don't need to worry about pigeons ruining it either 'I put the sprinkler on every morning at 7 o clock and every evening at 9 o clock. 'Once you get all the dead stuff up, sprinkle more, see and wait. 'Mine took 6 weeks of true dedication. 'I watered whether it rained or not as lawns are dry as a bone two inch down. 'All is not lost, good luck.' The upset gardener thanked her for her help and said he would 'water, water, water' his grass. The Westland Triple Care lawn feed is said to 'nourish your grass but also tackle weeds and moss head-on.' It is said to create 'a strong and healthy lawn', with greening visible within seven days - if used between the months of February and October.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Daily Mail
Moment woman brazenly 'steals' four solar lights from front garden while walking dog
This is the moment a woman was allegedly caught stealing four solar lights from a front garden as she walked her dog. In footage posted to Facebook, the woman can be seen brazenly walking up the garden path in Buckhurst Hill, Essex, with her German Shepherd. She then bends down and pulls two of the glowing lights out of the ground and begins to walk back down before the footage cuts off. The post was made in the Woodford Crime and Surrounding Areas Facebook group on June 18. Originally, the post read: 'Who is this woman in Buckhurst Hill stealing 4 solar lights ? Kindly return them if it is you and we will remove the post.' However, it was later updated to say: 'We have been informed Police now have her address. 'Your address is known. Please return the items. This is probably not the first time you have stolen.' Locals were infuriated by the video and rushed to the comments to give their opinions. One wrote: 'She's picking them like they were flowers.' 'Why can't people leave people's property alone. Buy your own. Makes me so mad,' another fumed. Others called to 'make her famous', as someone else raged: 'Oh well she's been caught in the act her face is famous now for everyone to see.' One woman questioned why someone would take the cheap garden decorations, writing: 'Why? You can get these in Poundland.' Finding humour in the situation, another local wrote: 'That's what you call light fingers.'
The Sun
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
I wasn't going to fork out hundreds for a Stitch birthday cake for my daughter so made my own with Tesco bargains
ALL parents want to create a magical birthday for their little ones, but the truth is costs can quickly add up, especially if you want a posh cake. That's why one mum decided to take matters into her own hands instead of forking out hundreds for a professionally made character cake. 3 3 3 She took to the popular Facebook group Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK group to show off her "Stitch cake done cheap." The glorious cake looked like it could've cost a fortune, but thanks to a few savvy supermarket buys the entire thing came to just £25. And amazingly, she didn't even have to bake anything, so her DIY creation is perfect for a baking novice. First, she snapped up the pink drip cake from Asda for just £14. Although the trendy cake looked great on its own, the mum decided to go all out with her DIY cake design, so headed to Tesco to bag some more bargains. To surround the main cake, she bought cupcakes for £4, as well as a cake base for £1.50. To add to the base and main cake she snapped up loads of pink and blue sweets, which she piled high. And the cherry on top was a Stitch cake topper, which she ordered from eBay for £5. After a little time sorting everything out, the finished cake could've fooled anyone into thinking it took hours and cost a fortune. So, it's no surprise other Facebook users were amazed by the creation too. Meghan shares rare video and pictures of Lilibet's 4th birthday celebrations at Disney One commented on the viral post: "We do this every year for our sons birthday! Buy a plain birthday cake and decorate it with whatever he's into that year." "Clever clogs!!! It's fabulous!!!" another wrote. And a third chimed in: "Looks awesome, well done!" Meanwhile, other parents revealed they've been giving the same money-saving hack a go and have made some stunning cakes in the process. One mum showed off a cake she had decorated to fit a Barbie theme, complete with pink glitter, butterflies, and gold stars. Another showed off a spitfire-themed cake she made for her son using a supermarket cake and some fondant. And someone else revealed they used the hack for their wedding cake. "My wedding cakes [from] M&S, all four cakes you can personalise on there website. £150 for all 4. The toppers cost £50 in total from eBay," she said. How much do experts advise spending on a child's birthday? A study by major toy retailer TK Maxx revealed that one in three parents admit to spending less on presents for their own children and their children's friends compared to five years ago. Average Spend: Parents spend an average of £175 on birthday gifts for their kids, while presents for their children's friends can cost up to £95 a year, adding extra strain on household finances. Gifts and Parties: Children receive around 12 presents per birthday, and parents take their kids to an average of four birthday parties annually. Top Five Gifts Parents Buy for Children: Clothes: 49% Books: 46% Technology: 39% Traditional Board Games: 38% Remote Controlled Toys: 26% Dolls: 25% How Much Should You Spend on a Child's Birthday? Experts generally suggest keeping birthday spending reasonable and within the family's budget. A common guideline is to spend around £10 to £20 per year of the child's age. For example: 5-year-old: £50 to £100 Remember, the focus should be on creating memorable experiences rather than adhering strictly to a spending rule. Simple, thoughtful, and creative celebrations can often be just as enjoyable and meaningful for the child.
Associated Press
18-06-2025
- Health
- Associated Press
Argentines reel from health care cutbacks as President Milei's state overhaul mirrors Trump's
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — To outsiders, the Facebook group chat reads like a snarl of nonsensical emojis and letters. To uninsured Argentine cancer patients, it's a lifeline. The surreptitious network connects advocates who have spare drugs to Argentines with cancer who lost access to their treatment in March 2024 when President Javier Milei suspended a federal agency, known as DADSE, that paid for their expensive medications. Whenever Facebook cracks the coded pleas and removes the group for violating its rules on drug sales, another appears, swelling with Argentines who say they've grown sicker since the radical libertarian president took a chainsaw to health care. 'All I need for my body to function is this medication, and Milei is saying, 'There's no money,'' said Ariel Wagener, a 47-year-old pizza chef with leukemia who was hospitalized this year with failing kidneys after losing access to his medication. Without DADSE, a month's worth of his leukemia drug costs $21,000. Wagener's condition stabilized after he got leftover medication via Facebook, donated by a family whose loved one had died of cancer. The halting of millions of dollars of free cancer drugs is just one way Milei's austerity drive has torn through the public health system that once set Argentina apart in Latin America, ensuring that health care was free for pretty much everyone who couldn't afford private insurance. Since taking office in December 2023, Milei has slashed Argentina's health care budget by 48% in real terms. His administration fired over 2,000 Health Ministry employees, including 1,400 over just a few days in January. As part of Milei's plan to remake Argentina's troubled economy and cut waste and bureaucracy, officials gutted the National Cancer Institute, suspending early detection programs for breast and cervical cancer. They froze federal funds for immunization campaigns, hobbling vaccine access as Argentina confronts a measles outbreak for the first time in decades. They dismantled the National Directorate for HIV, Hepatitis and Tuberculosis, leading to testing and treatment delays. They defunded emergency contraception and stopped distributing abortion pills. 'We're seeing setbacks we haven't seen in decades,' said María Fernanda Boriotti, president of Argentina's Federation of Health Professionals. 'HIV patients without treatment, cancer patients dying for lack of medication, hospitals without resources, health professionals pushed out of the system.' The government curtailed medical coverage for retirees and lifted price controls on prescription medication and private health plans, causing prices to spike by 250% and 118% respectively, official data shows. 'We've stopped buying milk, yogurt, anything that's not absolutely essential,' said Susana Pecora, 71, who lost the insurance plan that covered her husband's antipsychotic drugs when the price jumped 40% last year. Milei and Trump see eye-to-eye Milei campaigned on a promise to shrink the state two years before President Donald Trump and Elon Musk took up their own chainsaws. The Argentine has become a close ally of the Trump administration, including on health policy. Argentina has followed the U.S. out of the World Health Organization, and last month received a visit from U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Meeting Kennedy in Buenos Aires, Argentine Health Minister Mario Lugones announced a review of Argentina's health system to align it with Kennedy's Make America Healthy Again movement. 'We have similar visions about the path forward,' Lugones said of Kennedy. Milei has not yet attempted to replace universal coverage with an insurance-based system, as he vowed on the campaign trail. But in stripping Argentines of coverage and increasing premiums and out-of-pocket expenses, he is moving Argentina closer to the U.S. model, said Macarena Sabin Paz, health team coordinator at Argentina's Center for Legal and Social Studies. 'We are beginning to see the idea ... where if you lose your job, or become seriously ill, you may have to sell your car, whatever you have, to pay for health care,' she said. Milei's staffing cuts have eviscerated agencies tasked with planning, financing and tracking immunization campaigns, disrupting data collection and jeopardizing the country's respected childhood vaccine program. The cuts have coincided with a measles outbreak that in April led to Argentina's first measles death in two decades. 'Argentina has been one of the most advanced South American countries and here we see it abandoning public health,' said Dr. Stanley Plotkin, an American physician who helped develop the measles vaccine in the 1960s. Milei's spokesperson, Manuel Adorni, did not respond to requests for comment. Lugones also did not respond to questions on the impact of policy changes. A tidal wave of cuts After decades of unbridled spending by left-wing populist governments that brought Argentina infamy for defaulting on its debts, Milei delivered on his campaign promises of taming extreme inflation and notching a fiscal surplus. But even experts who agree Argentina's health care system needed reform say the cutbacks have been so deep and fast that they've hit like a tidal wave. 'In terms of the destruction of the state, we've never experienced anything like this, not even during the military dictatorship,' said Fabio Nuñez, ex-coordinator of the National Directorate for HIV, Hepatitis and Tuberculosis who was among hundreds fired from the agency. Charged with leading prevention efforts and treatments for infectious diseases, the agency has lost 40% of its staff and 76% of its annual budget. Hospitals now face shortages of everything from virus testing supplies to medications to condoms. The cuts have coincided with a surge in sexually transmitted infections. Last year HIV cases spiked by 20% and syphilis by 50%. 'They're avoiding the expense now but will pay for it later as people seek emergency care,' said Cristian Pizzuti, a 31-year-old with HIV who documented 103 cases of patients deprived of their daily antiretroviral pills for weeks at a time last year. Pizzuti said he recently received expired medication and suffered a severe allergic reaction after being switched to a cheaper drug. Tuberculosis cases also climbed by 25% last year. TB clinics report delays in obtaining test results. 'As people go about their lives, waiting for results, they are spreading the disease to others,' said Dr. Santiago Jimenez, who treats HIV and TB patients in an impoverished Buenos Aires neighborhood. 'It's an epidemiological disaster.' Hospitals under strainFree public hospitals have become flooded with Argentines who dropped their private insurance due to increased premiums or who lost their job — and with it, their social security plans funded through payroll contributions. Buenos Aires facilities reported a 20%-30% increase in demand in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period last year. The strain was visible at the free public Rodolfo Rossi Hospital in La Plata last month, where crowds jostled in the outpatient clinic and long lines spilled from the pharmacy. Pharmacists have reported drug shortages as mass layoffs caused administrative chaos and the government froze a program that provided basic medications to Argentine public health centers. Silvana Mansilla, 43, spent half the day waiting to pick up her monthly supply of thyroid medication — which has doubled in price to $22 — only to find the hospital had run out. 'Where's the government? What are they doing about this?' she asked. With hiring frozen, doctors said they're handling double the patient load. Overwhelmed by ever-increasing workloads, Argentina's leading public Garrahan Pediatric Hospital in Buenos Aires has hemorrhaged 200 medical professionals since Milei took office. As annual inflation neared 200% last fall, their salaries lost half of their purchasing power. Doctors left for jobs abroad or better-paying work in private clinics. None were replaced. Medical residents ran a weeklong strike in May, displaying their pay slips for a month of 70-hour work weeks: $700. Waiting for treatment A lawsuit filed by patient advocacy groups said more than 60 cancer patients have died due to the government's suspension of the DADSE medication program, and over 1,500 patients were waiting for their drugs. A federal judge ordered the government to reinstate the drug deliveries, but it appealed, arguing that DADSE no longer exists. It said it had created a new, more efficient program to fulfill outstanding requests. But the timeline varies and sometimes the drugs don't come at all. Timing was everything for patients like Alexis Almirón. His medical records show the government drug bank received his request for an expensive medication to shrink his malignant tumor on Dec. 11, 2023, the day after Milei's inauguration. His doctor told the agency immediate treatment was urgently needed for the aggressive cancer. Months passed. His mother, Claudia Caballero, bombarded DADSE with desperate calls asking what was taking so long as Almirón's lymphoma spread from his neck to his brain and stomach. He vomited blood. He lost his eyesight. Caballero tried to crowd-source the $20,000 for a month's supply of the drug but couldn't raise enough. On March 12 last year, Almirón died at 22. 'They didn't give him the chance to choose to live,' Caballero said, her voice breaking. The day after she buried her son, Caballero received a call from the Health Ministry. They had good news, the caller said: Her son's medication had finally arrived.
The Sun
14-06-2025
- General
- The Sun
I couldn't afford a new patio, so used a 10p hack to transform it with flowers – it's so colourful & stops weeds growing
A new patio in the UK typically costs between £80-£150 per square meter, but it depends on the materials and layout. So a typical homeowner could end up paying a few hundred, to thousands to get a new one. Amy on Facebook didn't have that kind of money to sort her patio out. 2 Instead, she came up with a genius idea to transform her wonky slabs, into an area she would love. Posting in the Facebook group Garden Makeover Ideas On A Budget, she said: "On a very tight budget, I couldn't stretch to funding a new patio. "So, last year, I bought some ground covering seeds and planted them between some of my wonky pavers. "I'm thrilled with how they now look but, the amount of bees that have been collecting the nectar from them is incredible. I'm so pleased." She added a photograph of the results, showing her wonky patio slabs covered with gorgeous purple, white and blue flowers. As for what flowers she sowed, replying to a comment, Amy said: "Mixed ground cover," and said it "will bring new life to your garden/patio". She "added a little sand to the compost" which she was advised to do so by her local garden centre because "the sand stabilises the wonky pavers". Her post has received 11,000 likes so far and hundreds of comments. One replied: "I absolutely love this idea! I have a horrible concrete area that I cover with benches and pots! Also have an old paved area all sunken forever taking out the weeds in between! Thank you for the great idea x." Can you find the hidden bee amongst the flowers in this tricky brainteaser- Someone else wrote: "I think that looks lovely & far nicer than a new boring patio, it looks how nature would have intended it to look with plants tumbling out if cracks & crevices." One comment read: "It looks so pretty! Love your solution and how nice that it's attracted pollinators too." Another said they make a great replacement for pesky weeds: "Oh I love this. I'm going to pulled out those weeds and put in seeds." Someone else was keen to know if any weeds grew amongst her flowers. They asked: "That looks lovely. Do you have any problems with weeds pushing through too?" Amy replied: "I have had a couple yes, but by and large, the flowers are winning the 'cosy' and limited space." 2 How to grow flowers between your patio slabs 1. Clean the area Remove any weeds or debris from the cracks between your patio slabs. A weeding tool or a stiff brush can help with this. Make sure the holes are at least six inches deep to help roots develop. 2. Fill with soil and compost Use a mix of soil and compost to fill the cracks. 3. Choose your plants Opt for low-growing, spreading plants that can tolerate foot traffic. Some good choices are: thyme, chamomile, creeping speedwell, dwarf mondo grass, daisies. 4. Plant If using seeds, mix them with a little compost and sand and push them into the cracks. For plug plants, carefully remove and gently plant them into the cracks. Fill any surrounding gaps with compost. 5. Water Water the seeds thoroughly and continue to water regularly, especially during dry spells, until the plants are established. June gardening jobs The Sun's Gardening Editor, Veronica Lorraine, has shared the tasks you should take this month. Stake out leggy perennials With all the dramatic weather we've been having, it's definitely time to stake out your leggy perennials (the ones that come back every year). Heavy rain and growth spurts, can make them collapse and flop. Picking out the slugs and snails Hopefully as we move into summer they will do less damage as the plants get bigger. The best way is still to go out at night with a head torch to find them. Pick elderflower heads You can use them to make your own cordial, or add to cakes, champagne or even fry them in batter. Get on top of weeds It's around now that weeds really ramp up in the garden, so keep on top of them with hoe-ing - or just the traditional 'on your knees with a hand fork'. Try and avoid chemicals - remember weeds are just plants in the wrong place. Up the mowing You'll need to mow your lawn weekly now - if you've got time, weed it beforehand as once you mow you chop off the leaves and its harder to see them. Check on your tomatoes Your tomato plants will need attention - water, feed and regularly and pinch out the sideshoots. Chelsea Chop There's still time for the Chelsea Chop - plants like Rudbeckia's, Asters, Penstemons, Sedums and other perennials can be cut back by a third to help them get a bit more bushy, and prolong the flowering period. Sort out your tulips If you can be bothered and have space - lift and story your tulip bulbs to ensure colour next Spring. Deadheading your roses Take them down to the first set of healthy leaves - which will ensure more flowers for longer. Enjoy your space Take some time to sit and enjoy your garden or outside space - it's great for your mental health. Even just a few minutes a day can make a big difference.
