Nicholas J. R. Dougan

A long story of the taint of bastardy and possible escapes, 25 July 2014

This is the second book by m�laird, (he says, coming over all Scottish), Robert Sackville-West, 7th Lord Sackville, who lives (although as the family tree of the Sackvilles of Knole in the opening pages subtly indicates, does not technically own, the sprawling �calendar� house of Knole, at Sevenoaks, in Kent. Having read it, I shall most certainly read his first, Inheritance (the inheritance being, I imagine, Knole itself).

This is the story of the family of the 7th Baron�s great, great uncle �old� Lionel and a Spanish dancer and demi-mondaine Pepita Oliva. �Old� Lionel never expected to inherit, being the 5th son, but immediately after his death one of his five children,… Read more

If these capsules were just brown chalk, who�d be any the wiser?, 16 July 2014

Customer review from the Amazon Vine Programme (What's this?)

I decided to start a new dietary and training regime recently, and it was at just that time that the opportunity to try these Rasberry Ketone capsules appeared, so I thought, �why not?�, and have been taking them once, and sometimes the recommended twice per day for the last 2+ weeks. What do I have to report? No obvious side effects, but no obvious benefit either. I haven�t been burping raspberry all day as apparently some users of raspberry ketones have (not necessarily this brand), but nor have the extra inches around my waist fallen away by magic. On reflection it�d have been more revealing if I�d tried them when on my previous, balanced diet, rather than at the time I adopted a… Read more

Hard to dispute that it's excellent value, but build quality could be better, 29 Jun 2014

It took me about an hour to assemble the Keter XL Store it out - and about as long to level an area and put some paving stones down as a base. Concrete is recommended, but it seems to be just as happy sitting on the flagstones, and it's less damaging to the garden.

So - assembly is not difficult, and the capacity is pretty good - more than enough for a lawnmower, rake/aerator, strimmer and a stack of hand tools. Only one lawn rake proved to be too long to go inside, and that didn't come as a surprise. There was one missing part - just one of the short screws, so the lockage fastening is not as well attached as it should be - but I'll phone up the spare parts line tomorrow. I… Read more