skippa_10

My 13 year old dog has started licking carpets, floor tiles and even the kitchen cupboards. Does anyone know why he would do this?

I want to volunteer to work unpaid in an office or retail environment. The trouble is if I am not on the payroll I am not covered by workers' compensation so I want to insure myself against accident or injury as well as covering myself should I cause an accident or injury.

Both scenarios are unlikely but I realise that no one will take me on if I don't have insurance. Is there an insurance cover that applies to this and if so what is it called? I can't even get a quote if I don't know what I'm talking about.

I believe there is an organization in Melbourne Australia that can assist with rehoming the pets of elderly people who can no longer keep them. I have a friend whose mother is soon to go into a nursing home and cannot take her dog with her. My friend cannot take the dog either as she is at work all day and lives in a high rise. She desperately wants to find this dog a good forever home but needs help. Can anyone in Australia assist me with the name of the organization?

I have a fridge I no longer use and I've unplugged it. I don't want to keep the door open as it will get dirty inside. How can I stop it from going mouldy inside if I keep the door shut?

Last Christmas we were privileged to spend Christmas in the Yarra Valley. We had a wonderful time. Sadly the hotel we stayed in was destroyed in the Black Saturday fires. We hope they'll rebuild and we'll be there again.

In the meantime, I'm looking for somewhere we can go either for an overnight stay in country Victoria which includes lunch on Christmas Day or a restaurant in Melbourne where we can have Christmas lunch.

Please spare me any judgemental commenst like "spend it with family" (if that was an option we'd be doing it).

A few months ago I found a replica 'old blue' British passport cover in an online shopping site. Unfortunately I didn't bookmark the site. They had other souvenirs such as key chains and t-shirts for save the pound but it wasn't the EIP site.

Please don't tell me these covers have been banned. I know that. I just want to find the website.

Any help will be much appreciated.

I have a recipe that requires suet to make dumplings. Where do I get suet from? I have never used it. I don't even know what it looks like.

I have a recipe for pot roast chicken (in a slow cooker) that calls for creme fraiche to be added to the stock and pan juices at the end to make a gravy but I can't find creme fraiche at my local supermarket. Is it called by any other name or can I use something else instead?

I thought that it was no longer permissible for employers to ask intrusive questions about an employee's health and that covers the nature of an illness if they are off sick. The last time I was sick my boss came right out and asked me what was wrong with me. He caught me off-guard and I didn't want to be rude so I told him but I resent his asking. Isn't this the reason doctors no longer specify an illness on a medical certificate? They are now compelled to preserve the patient's confidentiality.

What laws/regulations cover this?

What would have been an appropriate way of responding without telling him exactly what was wrong with me?

I love lambs fry and bacon but whenever I cook it, it is goes hard rather than soft and tender like they do it in restaurants. My mum hated cooking this but she's the one who taught me. She never took the membrane off and I find it really fiddly to do this. Is it necessary to remove the membrane? If so what's the easiest way of doing it? Do you soak it first and if so for how long? Is leaving the membrane on the reason mine never seems tender or am I just not doing it right?

I can't find them anywhere. Where do you get them from?

I had the most beautiful slow cooked lamb in a Greek restaurant recently and I'd like to try to recreate it in my slow cooker/crock pot. The meat was tender and dry rather than what you would get if it had been cooked in water or liquid of some kind. I suspect it was marinated in oil and herbs and lemon. If I marinate a big piece of lamb in oil, herbs and lemon juice and put it straight into a crock pot will it cook ok without adding any water or other liquid or will the bottom burn? I plan on cooking it on low for at least 8 hours.

Also, can I add some potatoes, cut into pieces, to the pot or will they not cook through?

A friend's mother is getting to a point where she can't properly look after herself but she insists on staying in her own home. Family members want to find her an assisted living place but she is very resistant.

She's had falls, is not taking care of her personal hygiene, gets her medications mixed up and, yet, when she was recently assessed they determined she could stay at home.

Her family is at their wits end. They all have full time jobs and do what they can (taking her to medical appointments etc.) but can't keep rushing out to her at all hours of the day and night to pick her up when she falls or needs other assistance.

They can't understand why she would want to stay in an old house that she can't take care of, where she is lonely and especially as she is often unable to even wash herself properly when they are prepared to find her a modern, purpose-built unit that has onsite medical assistance and where she would meet people and have company etc.

Can someone shed some insight as to why she is so insistent on staying where she is when she would be better off in an aged care facility. If her family could understand her thinking perhaps they could accept her decision or it would help them to reason with her about the move.

I once had butter chicken that had fenugreek in it. I think the chicken was coated with herbs and spices and fenugreek was included. It gave it a fabulous smokey flavour.

I've searched everywhere for a recipe but all the butter chicken recipes I've found do not include fenugreek. Can anyone suggest a recipe?

Some time ago you used to be able to buy a product called Murlex. It was a spot/stain remover available in supermarkets and hardware stores. Supermarkets no longer stock it. Does anyone know whether it is still available and, if so, where?

I changed a couple of my toolbars and moved them around and then locked them but whenever I open a new browser window the Links toolbar has moved underneath my menu bar. I have checked and I have definitely locked the toolbars. Why are they not staying locked in the position I put them in? I've never had this problem before.

I'm trying to find somewhere nice to take my husband for our anniversary. We have our favourite places of course but I'd like to surprise him with somewhere new.

Tell me your favourite place to eat and why. Seafood restaurants are out because I'm allergic but anything else is pretty much an option. It would also be helpful if you could give me a guide as to the cost of main courses.

Thanks

I wouldn't be without my crock pot. I just love it but I'm running out of ideas for things to cook in it.

I love cooking corned beef in mine, as well as things like beef stronganoff and casseroles. I tried doing lamb shanks in it once with limited success. The lamb was incredibly tender but seemed very oily. How do I remedy this?

What's your favourite recipe?

English measurements please.

From the moment we installed IE7 on our computer the cordless mouse has been playing up. If I scroll using the wheel the screen just keeps jumping down in phases rather than stopping when I let go of the mouse. I now have to use the side bar to scroll up and down and its driving me crazy.

Is it just coincidence that this started happening after we installed IE7? How can we correct this? Oh, by the way it's a Logitech cordless mouse if that's any help.

The 1 Christmas I spent with my MIL was a nightmare. I've managed to avoid doing so again as each year my husband visits her for a few days after Christmas & I stay home but this year he's told her she can come to us for Christmas. She insults me & criticises everything, eg:

* The first time I met her she looked me up & down & said "she's big isn't she?" I am but she was rude to say so.

* When she visits us, the minute she walks in the door she says she'll help me clean the house - the house is always clean! As if I'd let her see my house dirty!!

* When I took an afternoon nap she cut an article from the paper on sleeping disorders & said I should read it as I had something wrong with me & should see a doctor as I sleep too much,

* She gave me a book on how to lose weight for Christmas.

He says he will stick up for me if she is rude but he hasn't in the past. He doesn't understand how much she hurts me. I feel trapped. What can I do to cope? I'm panicking already.