Latest news with #Hazel
BBC News
21 hours ago
- General
- BBC News
Scunthorpe woman's mum is her Guiding inspiration
A volunteer has told of the inspiration that has driven her to achieve a top Girlguiding Collingwood is to receive the Queen's Guide award – the highest in Girlguiding – and she says it was the memory of her late mother Hazel which spurred her who died from cancer in 2018, was a Guide leader and helper in Winterton, near 27, said: "It was a huge challenge [but] thinking of her really helped me to keep going on the harder days." Chantal was signed up to join the Guides when she was 10, and her mother had passed on a love of adventure."At my mum's funeral, my childhood leader gave me a Queen's Guide record book and said how much my mum would love me to complete it," she said."It was a very thoughtful gesture and it really made me feel connected to mum while I completed the award."The mental health nurse, from Scunthorpe, dedicated hundreds of hours over two and a half years to achieve the part of the process, she got her camp licence and took about 30 girls away on residential who has been an assistant leader at 1st Broughton Guides for the past seven years, said: "I'm sure my mum would be proud of me for completing my Queen's Guide award."She added: "Just like my mum, I'm keen to do the same for girls now that I'm older and I want to make sure that they get the opportunities to try things that they might not otherwise get to do."Chantal will join hundreds of fellow award winners in October at the Girlguiding Celebrates event in Manchester."[My mum] will be in my thoughts so much that day and hopefully I will be making her proud," she said. Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here. Download the BBC News app from the App Store for iPhone and iPad or Google Play for Android devices
USA Today
a day ago
- General
- USA Today
Would you go into debt for your pet? Some couples are.
How far would you go to care for your pet? For some, the cuddles, comfort, and joy they bring are worth going into debt. It's particularly true for 'DINK' couples – those with a dual income and no kids – 94% of whom view their pets as family members, according to a new Insurify survey. Some 68% of these pet parents say they've made financial sacrifices to cover essentials for their furry friends. From taking a second job to stopping savings contributions to skipping medical care for themselves, DINK couples are willing to go a long way for their pets. Kenzie Mollock and Wiley Garren, two married 29-year-olds living in Texas, consider their two-and-a-half-year-old miniature schnauzer mix family. They named her 'Hazelnut Frappuccino Whip Cream Paws,' or 'Hazel' for short. Mollock is a teacher and Garren serves in the U.S. Army. They described their salaries as 'not huge,' but they always make room in the budget for Hazel. 'When I'm happy, she's there. When I'm sad, she's there,' Mollock said. 'Even if my husband's not here because he's at work and he's deployed, my dog is there. And she's happy to see me every time.' More: Owning a pet isn't easy. But these species can make it a little easier How much do DINK couples spend on pets? DINK couples surveyed spend an average of $1,906 per year on their pets; a fraction of the $23,000 parents spent raising a child last year, according to a SoFi report. The most common pet-related monthly costs for these couples are food, treats, and toys. Vet care, medication, and groomers are other common monthly expenses. However, an unexpected vet visit can quickly throw a wrench in pet parents' budgets. The highest vet bill those surveyed have paid is about $1,449, but 13% said they had spent more than $3,000. While that may seem like a lot, DINK pet parents say they would be willing to spend more. Those surveyed said they would spend up to $5,004 for lifesaving treatment and $2,835 per year to care for a pet's chronic health condition. Even that may not be enough. Dr. Amy Fox, a veterinarian at Kinship said she has worked in several specialized animal hospitals where bills sometimes exceeded $10,000 after pets experienced accidents or had severe health conditions. "This can put pet parents in a difficult position when their pet has an unexpected emergency and is another very important reminder to have pet insurance or set up an emergency savings fund for your pets," Fox told USA TODAY. Whatever the cost, some pet owners seem willing to find a way to pay. 'I don't think there is a cap or a limit because you can just finance and pay it off slowly,' Mollock said. What luxury pet items are people buying? It can also be difficult to stick to a budget when your pet is giving you puppy dog eyes. Only 11% of those surveyed said they never splurge on their furry friends. About 20% said they rarely buy non-essentials, 43% said they occasionally splurge, and 26% said they regularly spoil their pets. Some of the most popular luxury items DINK couples buy for their pets include vitamins or supplements, luxury treats, gourmet or organic fresh food. High-end toys and clothing or accessories are also common splurges. Mollock and Garren buy Hazel a salmon-and-rice-flavored dry food for dogs with sensitive skin and stomachs, tick and flea medication, and special bags she can sit in when they run errands or go hiking. They also buy her enrichment toys. 'We usually get her these puzzle boxes, and they can get a little bit expensive. She's so smart and inquisitive,' Mollock said. 'Then you are just kind of buying the next one and the next one. She's outsmarted them all.' What are DINK owners sacrificing for their pets? Even if DINK couples aren't splurging on organic food or outfits for their animals, pet-related expenses can put a dent in their budgets. While 32% said they had never made financial sacrifices for a pet, 34% said they worked extra hours or took a second job to cover costs and 33% said they took on credit card or loan debt. The poll also found 29% stopped contributing to savings, 24% delayed paying other bills, and 15% skipped personal medical care. 'Human relationships with cats and dogs have drastically shifted, with a growing focus on animal welfare over the past several decades,' Julia Taliesin, data journalist at Insurify, told USA TODAY. 'Pet owners care for their pets on a personal level, making it easier for them to excuse splurges for the sake of their pet's welfare.' Some sacrifices are hard to measure, like the time spent training a dog to stop begging for food or from chewing through another pair of shoes. And training doesn't always end when puppies or kittens grow up. As they get older, their personalities can change and issues can arise. Dr. Valli Parthasarathy, another veterinarian at Kinship, advises owners be prepared for unwanted behaviors to start at any age and work with a vet or experienced trainer when they do. Do pets replace children for DINK couples? While 'fur babies' are a welcome addition to the family, 39% of DINK pet owners surveyed said they do plan on having children someday. But 17% said raising children is too expensive to ever have them and 15% said they never wanted to have kids. Some 29% said they prefer a lifestyle that allows for more freedom. Of those surveyed, 22% said they need to improve their financial situation before having children, and 5% cited medical or fertility issues as the reason they don't have kids. For Mollock and Garren, having kids isn't a priority right now. 'We're still trying to find our way in life,' Garren said. 'We need to bring a kid into an environment where we have more things figured out than less.' In the meantime, Hazel is 'something to take care of, similar to a baby,' he said. 'We consider her family.' Reach Rachel Barber at rbarber@ and follow her on X @rachelbarber_
Sydney Morning Herald
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Birthday cakes have become the new battleground for fathers. I blame Hamish Blake
Nobody has fun at children's birthday parties. Not the guests forced to attend, not the parents forced to host and definitely not the child whose birthday it is. From start to finish, they are an obligation to be met and a box to be ticked, the only saving grace being the promise of a lolly bag before leaving. I know this because I attend them regularly, the consequence of having a toddler in daycare. Too many weekends spent singing Happy Birthday to children whose names I struggle to remember. Happy birthday … I want to say, Hazel? No, wait, Maisie? The one thing all these parties have in common, aside from being held at places with names such as FunZone or InflatableWorld, is elaborate birthday cakes made by smug fathers. Last weekend, at a nondescript bowling club in the suburbs, I watched a man loudly announce, 'Cake coming through', before presenting a perfect recreation of the Heeler house from Bluey, complete with Bluey and Bingo playing on the front porch (which was made from fondant). Everyone congratulated him on a job well done, while he assured us all it was 'No big deal! A piece of cake, literally! Haha!' Admittedly, his daughter (I want to say Stella? No, wait, Ella) looked impressed, playing with the edible front door while her father posed for photos next to his handiwork. If this were an isolated incident, it wouldn't bother me, but over the past couple of years, birthday cakes have become the new battleground for fathers to prove their worth as parents – a uniquely modern problem for which there is one person to blame: Hamish Blake. Now, before we proceed, a disclaimer. Hamish Blake belongs to that select group of famous Australians whom everyone universally loves, right up there alongside Hugh Jackman (pre-divorce) and Cathy Freeman (post-Olympics). He's funny, smart and most importantly, he seems like a regular guy. Sure, he might be a three-time Gold Logie winner and married to the phenomenally successful Zoe Foster Blake, who sold her 51.5 per cent stake of beauty brand Go-To to the ASX-listed beauty conglomerate BWX for $89 million in 2021, but besides that, he's just like you and me!
The Age
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
Birthday cakes have become the new battleground for fathers. I blame Hamish Blake
Nobody has fun at children's birthday parties. Not the guests forced to attend, not the parents forced to host and definitely not the child whose birthday it is. From start to finish, they are an obligation to be met and a box to be ticked, the only saving grace being the promise of a lolly bag before leaving. I know this because I attend them regularly, the consequence of having a toddler in daycare. Too many weekends spent singing Happy Birthday to children whose names I struggle to remember. Happy birthday … I want to say, Hazel? No, wait, Maisie? The one thing all these parties have in common, aside from being held at places with names such as FunZone or InflatableWorld, is elaborate birthday cakes made by smug fathers. Last weekend, at a nondescript bowling club in the suburbs, I watched a man loudly announce, 'Cake coming through', before presenting a perfect recreation of the Heeler house from Bluey, complete with Bluey and Bingo playing on the front porch (which was made from fondant). Everyone congratulated him on a job well done, while he assured us all it was 'No big deal! A piece of cake, literally! Haha!' Admittedly, his daughter (I want to say Stella? No, wait, Ella) looked impressed, playing with the edible front door while her father posed for photos next to his handiwork. If this were an isolated incident, it wouldn't bother me, but over the past couple of years, birthday cakes have become the new battleground for fathers to prove their worth as parents – a uniquely modern problem for which there is one person to blame: Hamish Blake. Now, before we proceed, a disclaimer. Hamish Blake belongs to that select group of famous Australians whom everyone universally loves, right up there alongside Hugh Jackman (pre-divorce) and Cathy Freeman (post-Olympics). He's funny, smart and most importantly, he seems like a regular guy. Sure, he might be a three-time Gold Logie winner and married to the phenomenally successful Zoe Foster Blake, who sold her 51.5 per cent stake of beauty brand Go-To to the ASX-listed beauty conglomerate BWX for $89 million in 2021, but besides that, he's just like you and me!
CNET
08-07-2025
- Business
- CNET
The Pixel 9 Pro Is the Easiest Android Phone I've Ever Used and It's 25% Off During Prime Day
Amazon Prime Day Deal: The Pixel 9 Pro is a solid smartphone that looks even better during Amazon Prime Day. Right now, you can get the 128GB version in Obsidian for $749 or you can grab it Hazel or Porcelain for $734. Higher storage capacity variants are also discounted. If you want to go big, the XL models also have had their priced slashed for Prime Day. CNET's key takeaways I've been using Google's Pixel 9 Pro for months. I like its solid overall performance and quirky new AI skills. The element that stands out most is how easy it is to use. Android phones often get a bad rap for being overly convoluted. And to be fair, that's often well justified. Samsung's Galaxy S25 range, for example, has deep menu systems for messing about with nearly every aspect of the phone, along with features like the Edge Panel sidebar and a variety of Samsung's own AI tools. You even get Samsung's version of some apps, so you end up with two apps for photos, two apps for web browsing and so on. For many Android users, the deep customizability of the OS has always been a selling point over the more simplistic iOS found on Apple's iPhones. But just because you want an Android phone, doesn't necessarily mean you're a fanatical tech nerd who wants to tinker with menus all day. The Pixel 9 Pro is the easiest Android phone I've ever used, and there's a number of key reasons why. My experience with the Pixel 9 Pro First, it's Google's own phone, meaning there's no secondary manufacturer software skin over the top of the operating system. It's pure, uncut Android. Google's interface is clean, easy to read and uncluttered. Naturally, it uses Google's own apps by default. Samsung, meanwhile, loads its phones up with its own browser, email client and photo gallery, all of which sit beside Google's Chrome, Gmail and Photos apps, meaning you already have duplicates of each tool. Samsung is not the only phone-maker to do this. Almost all Android phone companies load their phones up with at least their own browser and gallery app, while some companies, like Samsung and Honor, go as far as making their own email clients and calendars. With its pure Android software, the Pixel 9 Pro offers a super-clean and easy-to-use experience. Andrew Lanxon/CNET I recently reviewed the Honor 400 Pro, and one of the big issues I found with that phone was how much unsolicited stuff comes pre-loaded as standard. Third-party apps from TikTok, LinkedIn, WPS office, Temu and a variety of others are all right there as soon as you turn it on for the first time, making the phone feel cluttered, bloated and complicated before you've even had a chance to install one app of your own. The Pixel has none of this. It's the same with AI tools. Samsung has its Bixby assistant, plus a huge variety of its own AI functions. The Honor 400 Pro packs a bunch of AI features for real-time translation and transcription, as do the OnePlus 13 and various other recent Android phones. But they all come with Google's Gemini Advanced, too, along with Circle to Search. The Pixel doesn't need to pointlessly double up. If you want to use AI with your phone, its tools are baked into the heart of the phone experience without you needing to also activate and sign into a third-party service. This simple approach extends to the camera, too. Open the default camera app and you're met with a neat interface, comprised mostly of the shutter button and zoom levels, with other shooting modes found alongside. It doesn't try to overcomplicate things here, instead letting you quickly shoot images without messing about with settings. It's an approach that works here, and as a result, the Pixel 9 Pro takes some of my favorite automatic images from a phone camera, doing a great job of balancing exposure and colors. I love the Xiaomi 15 Ultra's camera, but to get the best from it, you need to shoot in Pro mode, taking manual control of the settings, which makes it more suited to advanced photographers who want to fine-tune their images. The camera's simple software makes it easy to take photos with little effort on your part. Andrew Lanxon/CNET The Pixel does offer deeper control if you want it, conveniently hidden behind a small settings icon, rather than requiring you to switch completely into a "Pro" mode. For those of you wanting to take manual control of your white balance to warm up a beautiful sunset, the Pixel 9 Pro offers an easy way in. The specs 6.3-inch LTPO OLED display, 2,856x1,280 pixel resolution, 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate Google Tensor G4 processor 16GB RAM 4,700-mAh battery 50 megapixel main camera, 48 megapixel ultrawide, 48 megapixel telephoto zoom Best July Prime Day Deals 2025 CNET's team of shopping experts have explored thousands of deals on everything from TVs and outdoor furniture to phone accessories and everyday essentials so you can shop the best Prime Day deals in one place. See Now CNET's buying advice Google has clearly taken notes from Apple's approach in making the Pixel range. Apple's phones may be derided by Android fans for their lack of customization and "locked down" nature, but iPhones are famously more simple to operate. They have integrated hardware, software and services that make them easy to understand whether you're new to smartphones or a veteran gadget obsessive. Apple's "you do things our way" approach is a big part of the phone's success, and the Pixel 9 Pro feels like the closest approximation of the Apple experience you can find on Android. If you're looking for a clean experience with a smartphone that doesn't try and get in your way with needless extras, the Pixel 9 Pro is certainly worth a look.
