The good and nice news thread, Poke bad news in the eye!

I thought it would be good to have a thread for nice, cute, quirky and good news.
There is enough bad news around so lets try and put a smile on peoples faces.

I'll start with this one which I thought was really sweet

Michelle Obama gives the Queen a cuddle.



And the Queen cuddles Michelle Obama

I had no idea that Michelle Obama was so very tall.


She is an incredibly attractive woman.

She is no so very tall - just the queen is so very little

I read somehwere that Mrs Obama is about 6ft 1, the same as Barak so she is quite tall and the Queen is very short (bless her!)

She is very attractive and he's not bad either, they seem a classy couple.

It was reported (I cannot remember where) that the Queen said to Michelle Obama "You must keep in touch"

Funding boost for Bletchley Park

World War II code-breaking centre Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire is to be given £600,000 for repairs.
Following a vote by local residents, Milton Keynes Council has agreed to pay £100,000 a year for three years, matching a pledge by English Heritage.
The deal means the historical site, which is in a poor state of repair, will be given £600,000 over the period.
English Heritage paid £330,000 in 2008 for roof repairs at the site, seen as the birthplace of the modern computer.
Director of Bletchley Park Trust Simon Greenish said: "The vital endorsement takes us one step closer to achieving our aim of creating a world-class educational and heritage site."
Bletchley was the base where Allied code-breakers intercepted messages that had been encrypted by the German Enigma machines.
Councillor Vanessa McPake, council cabinet member responsible for heritage and culture, said: "In this time of economic downturn more people are likely to be holidaying in the UK.
"So Bletchley Park has a real role to play in supporting the economy of Milton Keynes."
English Heritage threw down the gauntlet to outside organisations to donate £100,000 a year for three years when they funded roof repairs.

Great news

That is great news.

Bletchley Park is of huge historical importance.

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?...73&in_page_id=2

Very funny

Lol! I love the dreadlock one

Great article brenda.

Thanks Brenda.

They are great.

This lady sounds rather feisty some of the quotes about the incident are great

An 86-year-old who found an intruder in her kitchen whacked him with her crutch and held him until police arrived.
Widow Gwyneth Davies, from Treharris, near Merthyr Tydfil, struck the man four times with the metal walking stick she uses after having a fractured hip.
The former munitions worker said: "He was left bent over the work surface with his face buried in his hands - he didn't know what had hit him."
A 26-year-old man has been remanded in custody, charged with burglary. Mrs Davies told of how she struck out when she found a man in her kitchen at her terraced home.
She said: "He was right in front of me and he must have thought I would be no match for him.
"But I had my metal crutch with me and it turned into a very useful weapon. "I lashed out at him with it and as he turned away from me I whacked him four times across the back.
I was brought up with six brothers and put on the boxing gloves to spar with them. "He was stunned and pretending to cry - it was better than going to the pictures. "He was whimpering and I told him to sit on the kitchen stool and not to move."
Mrs Davies, who has recently recovered from broken ribs, a fractured hip and double pneumonia, dialled 999 and said: "I've just caught a burglar."
"When the police arrived they couldn't believe what I'd done. They were all asking me if I was all right - I told them: 'You're asking the wrong one!'."

Mrs Davies, who was widowed 20 years ago, worked at London's Woolwich arsenal during World War II, handling landmines, fuses and detonators.
After the war she transferred to a munitions factory in Bridgend, before becoming a care assistant in a residential home.
But she said an upbringing with six brothers gave her the strength and courage to tackle the intruder.
She said: "I'm not frightened of anything really - I always been able to take care of myself.
"I was brought up with six brothers and put on the boxing gloves to spar with them. And I played darts and football." Her niece Cherie Jenkins, 54, said she had not been fazed by what happened.
"My aunt is a remarkable woman - she's straight-talking, too straight-talking for her own good sometimes," she said.

Well done to her.

Congratulations to her.

A sweet story from the Cambridge Evening News



A PROUD mother duck has escorted her 11 fluffy ducklings on a waddle towards their local river - through a busy shop.
Staff at the Kidney Research UK charity outlet in St Ives have escorted duck families from their nest in the shop's backyard to the nearby river for the past seven years.
It is 100 yards through the store, across pavements and a busy road to the River Great Ouse quayside, where they then make a three-foot plop into the water.
The watchful mother kept a beady eye on her inquisitive brood in case they decided to indulge in a spot of browsing on their journey.
Shop manager Carol Andrews said: "It's quite an annual event now. The ducks come through and head over to the river.
"We opened seven years ago and it's been going on ever since.
"It's very sweet as they waddle through."

The duck nest sits nestled among ivy on top of an eight-foot wall at the back of the shop and first appeared in 2002.
Staff have no idea why a mother duck set up camp in the shop's 10-foot by 20-foot yard, which backs onto the rear of other shops and houses, but said their annual visitors are delightful.
A spokesman for Kidney Research UK said: "Our staff are more than happy to help these unusual customers. It's become quite a tradition. We hope they're planning a return next year

Aw, cute

slightly dubious about this due to the fact that the last picture is of ducks in a pool not on a river (but that may just be me)

They are on a river actually.

Lovely article.

Son in my eyes

A DAD has seen his toddler son for the first time after docs saved his sight by rebuilding his eye.

Stephen Armitage, 36, was born blind in his right eye and lost the already-poor vision in his left through infection caused by a contact lens three years ago.

That meant he had never even had a glimpse of youngest son Harry, 20 months, or been able to read books or play football with elder lad Joshua, four.

But now surgeons have given Stephen back the gift of sight in an incredible seven-hour op ...

Full article, the Sun, 08/05/09.



Well done to that surgeon.

Coma tot wakes up singing Abba!

A GIRL of three who fell into a coma after getting meningitis stunned her mum when she came round - singing Abba hit Mamma Mia.
Layla Towsey was so ill after getting the brain bug she had been put on a life support machine and her mum had kissed her goodbye.

But five days after falling ill - and with 23-year-old mum Katy holding a vigil at her bedside - Layla slowly started to regain consciousness. And Katy felt sure her daughter would recover when she heard her very gently singing the Abba tune ...

Full article, the Sun, 26/05/09.



Best wishes for a speedy recovery to the little girl.

This is great, I thought it was a good idea when I saw it

Dragon's den reject has last laugh

The aspiring businesswoman was reduced to tears on the BBC's Dragons' Den when the panel rejected her invention, the non-spill Road Refresher travel bowl.
but now she's having the last laugh - because she's just been asked to supply the White House with a Road Refresher for Barack Obama's presidential pedigree, Bo.
Mrs Ellis, 41, said yesterday: 'I was taken aback by the news. It's absolutely amazing to think my invention is going to be used in the White House. In the back of my mind I can't help thinking, "Yes, Dragons, you were wrong".'
Mrs Ellis, a mother of one from Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, battled back from a stroke to launch a business selling her invention, which is designed to keep your pet hydrated in the back of the car while reducing spillage by 90 per cent.
It has a floating plate inside which allows enough water through for the dog to drink, but restricts the flow when there is a surge of water from cornering or braking. It also has a Velcro base to keep it in place.

Mrs Ellis appeared on Dragons' Den in April 2008 in front of entrepreneurs Theo Paphitis, Duncan Bannatyne, Deborah Meaden, James Caan and Peter Jones.
She was turned down for £120,000 of investment and told she didn't have a chance of being successful in the U.S. But she pursued her dream and has made more than £1million in sales in Europe and America.
Mr Obama promised a puppy to his daughters Malia, ten, and Sasha, seven, in his victory speech and got them a Portuguese water dog.
But Bo won't be drinking from an ordinary Road Refresher. Mrs Ellis has designed a special version modelled on the White House, complete with an American flag and Bo's name in glittering letters.
She added: 'I knew the product was good and I realised the Dragons were wrong. I'm glad they didn't say yes now.'
Her parting shot: 'When I go back to Dragons' Den I will be sitting in one of the chairs.'

During her nerve-wracking pitch Mrs Ellis was forced to admit her previous business had failed after a stroke left her numb on her left side, unable to walk and suffering memory problems.
The dragons all turned her down for the cash, telling her: 'America is the graveyard for British business.'
Mrs Ellis said: 'They started hammering me with personal questions, it was quite horrible. It wasn't common knowledge that I had suffered a stroke. I didn't work for about 10 months and my business went into liquidation. It was very painful to admit it to millions of people on television.
'They all liked the product but said I was crazy to go to America - that it was like walking in the lion's den.'
But the publicity from the show paid off instantly.
'Straight away orders started coming through on my BlackBerry. They were flooding in, three orders a minute,' she said.

I saw that on the BBC News this morning.

She proved them all so very wrong. Well done to her.

Cute orphaned puppy raised by mother cat





More pictures and full article here, the London Paper, 02/07/09.

Oh bless, I'm in love with those beautiful animals

They are absolutely gorgeous. They really are.