n DON'T drive your animals crackers on bonfire night, pet owners are being warned in advance of the big bang.
A code issued by top pet suppliers Hartz recommends that rabbits and guinea pigs are brought indoors well before the action starts. Draw curtains to dampen the noise of squibs, black out flashing lights, and pamper two and four-footed friends with Guy Fawkes treats. Strategically placed toilet facilities could spare Rover a rocket later.
Finally, remember to check bonfires for hedgehogs and other small animals that might be nesting there.
n IT REALLY is ``chips with everything'' now that a software package has been produced for home cooks.
Recipe for Success, Britain's leading provider of computerised recipes for hotels and professional caterers, is offering a domestic version with more than 2000 recipes. From asparagus to zabaglione - including hundreds of veggie dishes - Menu Maker should appeal to good food lovers with a personal computer. The starter pack costs #21.24 including p&p from Greylands, High Street, Minchin Hampton, Stroud, Glos, GL6 9BN, tel 01453 731313.
Meanwhile, if you're confused by cookery - electronic or plain Mrs Beeton - BBC1's Can't Cook Won't Cook is looking for new recruits for its daily challenge. Write to Sarah Williams, Lomond TV, Albion Court, 19 Frederick Street, Hockley, Birmingham, B1 3HE, tel 0121 605 5750.
n POT POURRI and the smell of polish could be the ingredients that clinch a house sale, according to a new guide from Barclays.
It's one of the tips in a free package that includes a video cassette and hand book - call 0800 400 121 for a copy. But while some smells, like coffee and home-baking trigger good vibes in prospective buyers, newly applied paint is likely to put them on their guard, suspecting you have something to cover up.
The Really Helpful Guide to Selling Your Home - there's also a version for buyers - includes advice on stamp duty and other fees, removal costs, how to find a good estate agent and the most suitable mortgage.
n NEW Glade Essence of Nature candles in a cut-glass jar promise up to 30 hours continuous ``mood enhancing'' fragrances from specially blended oils. Around #2.30 at most supermarkets, they include vanilla, spring pot pourri and peach . . . Asda is offering VAT-free music and video tapes until Sunday at its 28 Scottish stores, with Braveheart down from #12.99 to #11.05, and Singing Kettle for #7.65.
n WINNER of Weekend Extra 3D's leaf-devouring Flymo GardenVac Plus and Compost-a-Cube is John MacLeod, Gartmore Road, Paisley. Thirty other readers will be receiving consolation prizes of Biotal biological compost maker .
Thumbing through the leaves of our Century of Children's Ghost Stories, from Oxford Paperbacks are Mhairi Maxwell, Craigton Road, Glasgow; Kimberly Reay, Wellbanck Place, Carlisle; Janice Grant, Peace Avenue, Kilmarnock; Muriel McCall, Hillcrest Avenue, Glasgow; Christopher McGuire, Abercorn Road, Willowbrae, Edinburgh.
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