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Daily Mirror
18-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mirror
Ultimate wedding gift guide including kitchen, tech and days out
MoneyMagpie Editor and financial expert Vicky Parry shares some favourite wedding gifts to inspire you this summer – and some are quite unusual… Wedding gifts used to be easy, because the happy couple would receive items that would set up their first home together after moving out from the family home. But these days, most people leave home long before they are married, and have already bought most things they need. Wedding gifts can be a tricky dance, too. How much should you spend? What if someone else gets the same as you? Will they even like or use it? Going for something a little unusual is a great idea, and there's a range of options in every budget. Kitchen wedding gifts If you want to stick in a more traditional style of gift, look for things the happy couple might want, rather than things they need. Gone are the days of the traditional toaster or dinner plate set! For avid bakers, opt for kitchen gadgets that add style to their home, such as the gorgeous blue and white Laura Ashley stand mixer – which comes in two sizes and so suits two different budgets. The smaller 4.5L stand (RRP £169.99) is made from plastic, which makes it super light to move around the kitchen, while the 6L (RRP £329.99) is die-cast iron designed to stay on the counter to look good every day. For the serious chefs, consider thinking outside the box with a Tormek T-1 Kitchen Knife Sharpener, the first at-home professional level sharpener which would pair well with a Zwilling knife set for a lifelong gift. Or, consider something for the outside chef, from bespoke BBQ branding tools from Etsy to a Jamie Oliver Pizza Oven. For the non-chefs who have yet to get on the airfryer wagon, consider the Daewoo AI Airfryer that uses cameras to determine your food and the exact cooking time. Perfect for busy couples! And they can store leftovers in ceramic Hokan bowls, a sustainable alternative to Tupperware and clingfilm, as you can put them in the fridge, freezer, oven, and microwave. Want to get something that you know they wouldn't buy themselves but would love? How about an Inoviva Slushy Machine? Let them indulge in frozen slushies on demand, with up to nine servings a batch AND alcohol recipes available, it's great for couples who love to host parties. Wedding gifts for the home Home gifts are ideal for couples who love their cosy atmosphere. You could give them the gift of scent with Woodwick Candles, or treat them to a NEOM wellbeing kit which includes a pillow mist, candle, and hand balm. Lamps are a good bet for most couples as a wedding gift, because there is always a dark corner that could do with some illumination. You could go retro-cool with a Lutris battery-operated lamp, which is safe for outdoor use too. Or, choose your favourite (or silliest!) photo of the couple and design your own lampshade from Custtom to give them a memory they'll treasure every time they turn it on. For the green-fingered, a long-lasting reminder of their nuptials is a perfect wedding gift. Trees hold a lot of symbolism of love and longevity, and can grow along with their marriage. If you can't attend the wedding in person, you can send trees by post with companies like Tree2MyDoor. An affordable wedding gift for everyone is Bird and Blend Wedding Tea, from just £3.50. Or, if you want to give the gift of tea all year around, sign them up to the Tea Subscription! Pair with some cute mugs printed with custom photos or designs from Vistaprint and they'll have cosy memories together for years to come, every time they sip from your mugs. Tech lover wedding gifts Tech lovers can be hard to buy for if they're very specific about what they do and don't like. But most people will appreciate a Dangbei Freedo projector, ideal for the living room or cast onto a bedroom wall for cosy nights in. It's got a long battery life too, so your happy couple could have movie night in their garden in the summer months! If the Freedo is out of your budget range, there are plenty of projector alternatives by Dangbei and other brands that will transform the newlyweds' living space. For the active couple, consider investing in tech they can enjoy together as a pair. That might be a TwelveSouth AirFly Pro headphone splitter, perfect for their honeymoon flight, allowing two pairs of wireless headphones to connect to the same source – even on in-flight entertainment systems. As for the headphones, opt for a pair of OpenRock X Sport headphones which use air conduction technology, so they don't disturb each other with their music at night but can still have a conversation thanks to the open ear channel design. For something fun, ideal for couples who spend time apart due to working away, why not get them an Enabot AI Companion Bot. A tiny friend, with an expressive face, this camera can move around on wheels and keep your happy couple in touch and not feel lonely even when they're apart. It can also serve as a home security camera while they're away on honeymoon. Experiences and days out For couples who seem to have everything already, give the gift of memories together. This could be as simple as buying a membership to a cinema for regular dates, or giving them an One4All restaurant card to buy them dinner together. You can always opt for a choose-your-own adventure type of voucher with a Virgin Experience Days gift card, and make sure they get the treat of money saved on every meal and coffee out with a Tastecard membership. For the couple that prefers to stay in, consider giving them the gift of subscription boxes like Gousto or HelloFresh, so they can spend time making new recipes together. For wine lovers, why not give them the gift of their own vines? You can rent vines for the happy couple for a year from £200 at Oastbrook vineyard, including the wine made from them! If your friends have a love of a particular sporting event or music type, consider getting them a ticket to attend, such as Bludfest in June, Emirates Sail Grand Prix in July, the Silverstone Festival in August. Or, if you know your newly married couple already have an event like the Isle of Wight festival booked, make sure they stay warm and dry with Vivida all-weather robes (ideal for the sneaky cold nights), or gift them camping kit like a tent or sleeping bags to make sure they enjoy their event in luxury! Some of the brands and websites we mention may be, or may have been, a partner of However, we only ever mention brands we believe in and trust, so it never influences who we prioritise and link to.
CBS News
14-05-2025
- Climate
- CBS News
Aviation is playing a crucial part in battling wildfires in Northern Minnesota
Crews continue to battle several large wildfires across northern Minnesota from the ground and above, and aviation is proving to be a critical part of the fight — before and after a blaze starts. "It's crucial. Right now, with this year's fire season and the fire behavior we're seeing, we couldn't do without the aircraft," said Matt Woodwick, the Assistant Wildfire Aviation Supervisor with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. It's all hands on deck in the Northland as at least three large wildfires continue to grow. Those extra eyes from above have been scanning for smoke for days — as long as the threat is high. "Early detection is key. It's hard to fight those fires when they grow you you want to keep them as small as possible, so on these windy days, they're not growing into, you know, 100, 200 acre fires," said Tracie Walter, CEO & President of Bemidji Aviation Services, one of the contracted DNR partners. With more than 33,000 acres already burning, the job is even more draining. The DNR teams up with pilots across the state acting as detection teams. They're split up across 15 zones — flying set routes for hours at a time. "A single engine airplane that flies a pattern like a GPS point to a GPS point. When they get to the point, they do a 360 degree turn, look around the area, and then move on. It's hot, it's bumpy. They're flying a smaller aircraft that would only hold four people, and on these hot, windy days, it's exhausting," said Walter, who is also a pilot. If a fire is spotted from their Cessna C172, they call it in and the fight is on -- with dozens of aircraft above and hundreds more personnel on the ground— a fight that officials say is happening more and more. "We used to have a rule of thumb every 2 out of 10 years we would have a fire season kind of like what we're seeing now. I do feel like those years are more frequent," said Woodwick. Woodwick added the fight would be impossible without the teamwork with other federal agencies like the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. But even more important, is the help from the public — listening to burn bans and making sure all campfires are fully extinguished.
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
1 in 4 military families face food insecurity. Volunteers at Hill Air Force Base hope to help
A team of volunteers and one woman, in particular, are being celebrated at Hill Air Force Base after working for years to combat the surprising rate of food insecurity among military families. A U.S. Department of Agriculture report from April 2024 found that 25.3% of the military population experienced food insecurity, compared to 10.1% of the civilian adult population, drawing from 2018 and 2020 data. The report also found 10.5% of the military population had very low food security in the same time periods, compared with 3.6% of the civilian adult population. Those most at risk were families who joined in the past decade, those who had a permanent change in station in the past two years, families with children under 18, and active duty families. Sharaya Woodwick is the manager of the Airman's Attic at Hill. It is a thrift store and food pantry, but everything is free. In February, she was voted the Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year on base for her efforts to help families in need. As part of her role, Woodwick leads food and diaper distribution events, coordinates with local community leaders and manages regular volunteers and a board of seven to keep donations coming in. "We don't get any funding," she told saying it's "150%, absolutely" a labor of love for the team. "A big thing that we address is the interim of (permanent change in station) moves," Woodwick said. "If you're moving from overseas to stateside, you generally go two to three months without your belongings." It can be even longer at times — one family moving to Hill recently had their shipping container stolen in transit. "I think, that the misconception is that maybe it's only lower-enlisted that are affected by food insecurity," Woodwich said. "But that is not the case. Food insecurity happens. Life happens, regardless of rank." One of the first things she did when taking over the Airman's Attic almost three years ago was remove rank restrictions on people seeking help. The organization has a walk-in food pantry, so any ID holder can come in and get a grocery bag of food. They also can give referrals to another pantry, so families can get one bag of food per person in the household every two weeks, along with a gift card to the commissary on base for perishable foods. Woodwick's husband, Tech. Sgt. Tyler Woodwick, told that his wife "resurrected the food pantry here by making that connection with the commissary." As a result, around 3,700 families have been fed — 2,000 in the last year alone — and 21,000 household items have been repurposed, according to Hill Air Force Base. The Woodwicks got involved in the Airman's Attic, which exists at some other bases, when they faced food insecurity during their first duty station at the Royal Air Force Lakenheath base in England. "We were an (Airman First Class pay scale), and there are so many expenses that come with moving, and neither one of us had even had a credit card, right? We were very much growing up in a brand new lifestyle, and so I felt horrible about not providing and not contributing," Sharaya Woodwick said. When budget sequestration in 2013 took effect, an across-the-board reduction in federal agency budgets triggered a government shutdown, and their family "went about a month without a paycheck," according to Sharaya Woodwick. "We had no money. We were in the same boat as every other military family on that face. We were not an exception. That was a really long time to go without a paycheck." It was the food pantry on base that allowed families to pool resources to make family dinners and get by. "It's such a powerful tool to give military spouses that they can still help provide for their families in that way," she said. "There shouldn't be any shame in needing a leg up every now and again. We're just trying to help eliminate the stigma of that statistic." The community is a huge part of the success of Hill's program, and the efforts are reciprocal, according to the Woodwicks. A team of volunteers helps run the store, pick up donations off base, sort the donations and give anything that can't be stored to homeless shelters, foster care shelters, women's homes and more. Extra food that can't be used at the pantry gets delivered to the nearby Lantern House and a food bank in Coalville. A number of community organizations have made a large impact, going on Costco runs and organizing fundraisers, including the Wolf Creek Foundation, American Legion, the Layton Rotary Club, the Little Lambs Foundation and more. Sharaya Woodwick says the Attic is always "in dire need" of shoes, kitchen gear, cooking sets, uniforms, small appliances, vacuums and children's clothes. They are always running out of trash bags, duct tape, packing tape and zip ties. "The donations are always given to people without an expectation of them returning any of those items. So you take what you need and give back what you don't need," she said. They can't accept beds, bed frames or couches, as they get destroyed by the "beloved" resident raccoon named Ronnie, the group's unofficial mascot, and a gang of cats on base. Those wanting to make donations can contact the Airman's Attic at Hill on Facebook. As for Sharay Woodwick, she will be going to Washington D.C. in May for the Armed Forces Insurance military spouse week, where she hopes to network with spouses from other bases, share best practices and get advice on starting or expanding the service to other locations.
