Western Morning News, The

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IRB Rugby Sevens. Sky Sports 2, 7.00pm. The South Africa Sevens. Highlights from the second round of the season, held at Outeniqua Park in George, Western Cape. Live Monday Night Football. Sky Sports 1, 7.30pm. West Bromwich Albion v Queens Park Rangers (Kick-off 7.45pm). This evening's Championship encounter sees the promotion contenders battle it out for three points at the Hawthorns. The sides last met here in the 2007/08 campaign when the Baggies recorded a 5-1 home win. However, Rangers ...

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Alice Band's Diary ; I Am Alice Band, Wife of a Naval Officer and Mother of Four Children. What Follows Is the Story of My Busy - but Always Complicated - Life...

BUT I don't want to be a lamb" sobbed the Red-Head, adding, "I want to be like her". "Her" was her bigger sister, gloating and floating around in a cream Monsoon dress - model's own as they say in magazines; glittery, gossamer wings adorned her back, a tinsel halo hovered above her head, silver tights sparkled on her legs but the piece de resistance, being as this is a contemporary nativity, were the silver sunglasses on her face. How could a five-year-old, in a lamb costume of boring black l...

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Live International Cricket. Sky Sports 3, 9.00am. India v Sri Lanka. The second match of the five-match series comes from the Andhra Cricket Association-Visakhapatnam District Cricket Association Stadium in Visakhapatnam. Live Alpine Skiing. British Eurosport, 10.00am. Coverage of the latest World Cup meeting of the season from Val d'Isere in France. Live UEFA Champions League Draw. British Eurosport, 11.00am. Coverage from Nyon in Switzerland of the draw for the last 16 of Europe's premier c...

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Heston's Feast of Christmas Past ; Daily Preview

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Live Test Cricket. Sky Sports 1, 6.00am. Australia v West Indies. All the action from the second day of the third and final Test of the series, held at the Western Australia Cricket Association Ground in Perth. Live Test Cricket. Sky Sports 1, 8.00am. South Africa v England. All the action from the second day of the First Test, held at SuperSport Park in Centurion.

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Topical Tips

Hardwood cuttings AFTER leaf fall and until mid-winter (but avoiding frosty periods) hardwood cuttings from deciduous trees and shrubs such as Cornus, Buddleja, Forsythia, Philadelphus, Populus, Ribes, roses, Spiraea and Weigela can be taken. Select fully mature current season's growth that is about pencil thickness, but discard any material showing signs of pest or disease damage.

Dirty Nails Gets Help From the Birds

AMISCHIEVOUS twittering overhead alerted Dirty Nails to the presence of long-tailed tits as he pottered and tidied in the garden earlier this week. Like a wispy plume of smoke caught in a gentle breeze, a loose flock of these gorgeous little birds flitted through a tangle of elder scrub and lime branches adjacent to his plot. These tiny tits are not only a pleasure to watch but also useful to have around. As they dangle like feathered pom-poms and perform acrobatics from twigs, they are actua...

'Tis a Season to Be Jolly with Holly ; Folklore, Fads and Fascinating Uses Are Linked to Our Famous Evergreen, Explains Christopher Bailes of Rhs Rosemoor

OF ALL the trees that are in the wood - the folklore of hollies. A well as providing us with beautiful specimens for our gardens, many plants have other qualities and uses that are fascinating in their own right. None more so, perhaps surprisingly, than the common holly, Ilex aquifolium, a plant that comes into its own in the garden in winter, with its combination of beautiful evergreen foliage (often brightly variegated) and generous crops of berries. The humble holly has a rich history, whi...

Plant of the Month Daphne Bholua 'Darjeeling'

Let's Do Lunch With... Ben Ainslie

a a Ben Ainslie CBE, is a triple Olympic gold and silver medallist and Britain's most successful Olympic sailor ever. His career in sailing began at the age of eight on the water near his then family home at Restronguet in Cornwall. Educated at Truro School, at the age of 19 Ben won his first Olympic medal, a silver at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Now 32, he is skipper of the British America's Cup challenge, Team Origin. Here, he shares his Westcountry foodie secrets What's your favourite Westcoun...

Making Pudding Is Stirring Stuff ; with One Christmas Wish Left, Food Editor Becky Sheaves Goes Back to School for a Festive Dessert Lesson

THEY'RE making Christmas puddings this term at West Hill Primary School in East Devon. I've tried one and it was light, sweet and luscious. Very impressive. So how is it that a six-year-old can cook up a terrific plum pud, when mine are the consistency of concrete and sit unloved in the fridge for the best part of January? In desperation, I went along to the school this week to pick up some tips. My mission: to find out how to make a festive dessert that is actually good to eat. Rather than u...

Mine's a Pint

BELIEVE it or not, our beloved Westcountry game of skittles is the second most popular UK pub game after darts. This is remarkable given its lack of match coverage and shortage of sponsorship. Here in the South West there are more than 12,000 skittles players providing custom to our often hard-pressed publicans. For what is skittles, I ask, without a pint or two of the finest to aid your game? The first recorded games appeared in the third century, when German monks had nothing better to do (...

Shopping Basket Put These On Your List This Week

Festive chocolate pie (Pounds 2, 60g), Living Food St Ives This delicious concoction is made with raw cacao, agave syrup, nutmeg and cinnamon. Available mail order, 01736 791981 or www.sproutingseeds.co.uk. Cornish Sea Salt biscuits (Pounds 2,170g), Furniss Biscuits Rick Stein has joined forces with Truro's Furniss Biscuits to create these biscuits, now in Waitrose stores nationally. They're seasoned with natural sea salt from the Lizard Peninsula. Call 0845 337 5277 for details or visit www....

Getting Cosy Is so Comfy ; Alan Carr: Chatty Man Channel 4, Thursday, 10pm

ALAN Carr's couch must be making other TV chat show furniture jealous. The sometimes raunchy, sometimes mumsy comedian has already welcomed A-listers Mariah Carey, Kate Hudson and Sharon Osbourne to his sofa, with Bette Midler and JLS to come next week. As his second series of Alan Carr: Chatty Man, gets under way, Alan is rapidly becoming the next big thing in camp chat show comedy.

Ray of Sunshine Amid the Gloom ; Art Today: John Leach Gallery, Muchelney .

THE Christmas show at the John Leach Gallery, Muchelney, brings a welcome ray of sunshine to the damp greyness all round the region. This year more than most the South West appears to have suffered less August and September sunshine, so just looking at Sue Luxton's Outside the Taverna, an oil in sparklingly bright colours of two people in a cafe, drinking and passing the time of day, raises the spirits.

Images of Fruit Look Good Enough to Eat ; Art Today: The Art Room, Topsham .

SO GOOD does the fruit appear in several still life works in the present sizzling show at The Art Room, Topsham, that one could be forgiven for getting close enough to see if they smell. But they do appear much better from a distance, of course, looking as if they could indeed be ripe fruits on a sideboard, just awaiting the knife or eager mouth. Fruit is of course not the only subject in this exhibition, entitled Fragments and Details, which is on until January 24.