Puppy braves the wind during storm Babet
This is the cute moment a puppy braved the high winds of Storm Babet.
Cocker spaniel Mylo, one, stood strong as the gusts blew on Balmedie beach, north of Aberdeen.
Owner Euan Duff, a camera operator, videoed the dog during a walk on Thursday (19/10).
He said he went out despite the bad weather as Mylo and his other cocker spaniel Poppy, four, would have gone "crazy".
The 34-year-old, from Blackburn, Aberdeenshire, said: "The girls are two working spaniels.
"They are very good with the weather. If you don't take them out they go crazy.
"It was rainy and windy but we were on the sand dunes where we were well protected.
"Where we live we were lucky that we were sheltered from the winds and flooding.
"We have been very lucky but we know people who haven't been so lucky."
"We’re child-free so we can prioritise experiences"
A couple are child-free so they can prioritise experiences over everything - and say they don’t want to "miss out" on adventures by having kids.
Helene Sula, 36, and her husband, Michael, 36, are intentionally child-free and consider themselves as DINKS - which stands for 'dual income no kids'.
The couple grew up Catholic in Dallas, Texas, US, and after getting married had considered children as the next step.
But they realised they didn’t want to "miss out" on experiences after going to Tomorrowland festival.
Helene and Michael, who run a travel blog together, didn’t have a "calling" for children and said it didn’t feel "right" to have them for the sake of it.
Instead their child-free lifestyle has enabled them to live in Germany, the US, and the UK and visit 56 countries and counting.
Helene, a travel blogger, currently living in Oxford, said: “We're in an incredible time where we can do what we want in life.
“We’re living the dream.
"We prioritise experiences over everything else."
Helene and Michael met in high school and got married aged 24 in 2011 and had always thought having kids would be the next step.
But after going to Tomorrowland festival in July 2012, they realised they didn’t necessarily see children in their future.
Helene said: “We thought ‘there is so much more that we’re missing out on'.”
Helene started a travel blog and grew it after a climbing injury stopped her from working her job in marketing and PR.
The couple decided to move to Germany in 2016 – and travelled around Europe.
Helene said: “We were missing out on kids but there is so much to explore.
“There is no wrong or right way.
“I had thought I wanted to have kids at a younger age but reset my framework and realised that’s not for me.”
The couple love the “spontaneity” they have to go on dates nights or go away last minute.
Michael said: “We met up with our friends in Croatia with a four-month-old and they hadn’t been on a date night in a year.
“I feel raising children is one of the most important things you can do in life.
“It’s such a selfless thing to do.
“You have to be certain you want one.
“I never felt strongly that way.
“I don’t feel a calling to be a parent and it didn’t feel right to do it as it’s the ‘done thing’.”
Helena and Michael moved back to Dallas, Texas, in 2019 and travelled around the US but moved to Oxford, in the UK, in October 2023.
They are able to work online while they travel and have visited 56 countries including Iceland, Croatia and Morocco.
Helene said: “I want to experience as many places as I can.
“It’s never ending.”
Helene's favourite places to visit have been New England, and the Christmas markets in Germany and France.
The couple said their family have been supportive but strangers are constantly asking when they are having kids.
For now it is something Helene and Michael don't see in their future but they haven't completely ruled it out.
Michael said: “Some people say not having kids is selfish.
“We’re more comfortable with the idea of not having children than we have been.
“The life we're living for me is so much more rewarding.”
"I lost my fingers in freak accident - now I'm being harassed by fetish community"
A mum who lost two fingers in a freak accident says she is now being "harassed" online by a fetish community.
Natasha Baggett, 31, claims she receives regular messages online from people who "cut off their own fingers" and "get sexual kicks" from her disability.
She lost two fingers in a woodwork accident in May 2019, and says she has faced harassment online since.
After losing her middle and index fingers and the top of her thumb on her right hand, Natasha quickly adapted to life with just eight digits and was even given a robotic hand through her insurance.
Mum-of-five Natasha, from South Seattle, Washington State, US, said: ''It seems such a small thing to lose fingers compared to other limbs, but you need your fingers for everything.
''I thought not having my fingers would be the hardest part, but it's actually dealing with these crazy people online.
''I was sickened to find out they also get a sexual kick from it.
‘'The images on their profiles are extremely disturbing once you realise that they have chopped off their own fingers.''
Natasha lost her fingers while making a laptop table for a high school student with a brain tumour - whose mum she connected with on Facebook.
Despite not being a professional carpenter she took the hobby seriously - juggling multiple projects at a time.
But while levelling out a plank of wood for the table, the saw she was using kicked back and flipped the plank into the air.
When the plank came back down, it knocked Natasha's fingers into the blade.
In the aftermath of the accident, while waiting for the ambulance, Natasha located one of her fingers in a pile of sawdust.
She was taken to Harborview Hospital, Seattle, where medics were forced to amputate due to the damage to her knuckles.
Despite her life-changing injuries, once Natasha was discharged from hospital, she still completed the table for the young boy with the brain tumour.
Natasha - who is married to Phil Baggett, 39, an airline pilot - said: ''I hated the idea of coming back to a messy house after the hospital so I did a bit of cleaning before the ambulance arrived.
''I'm a mum-of-five so it takes a lot to phase me.''
After adapting to her disability, Natasha was fitted with a robotic hand from Naked Prosthetics - which has proved useful when changing nappies, cooking and working.
She said: ''I started posting on Instagram about my injury because I wanted to help other people who were going through the same.
''And then all the weird messages just came flooding in.
''I was getting at least one message every week before I started reporting and blocking them.
''At first I thought I was getting supportive messages from other amputees as they were asking details of my accident.
''But then I realised the people I was talking to had cut their own digits off for the thrill of it.''
She has since learnt that this community who fetishise amputees call themselves ''hobby surgeons'' and often cut their own fingers and toes off ''knuckle by knuckle''.
During the four years since the accident, Natasha has been sent some ''really weird requests'' - including people asking for pictures of her nubs and making inappropriate sexualised comments about her hands.
Although she ''hates'' the negative attention from them, the plucky mum has also used social media to connect with other amputees in support groups.
Natasha - who is mum to, Payton, 14, Natalie, 12, Charlotte, seven, Genevieve, five, and Lucciana, three - said: “The support groups have been vital to my recovery, they have made me realise that I’m not alone and life goes on.
''But unfortunately some these hobby surgeons have infiltrated our support groups, totally invading our safe space, in order to find more amputees to harass.
''They have even taken screenshots mine and other women’s pictures and made Instagram accounts with all our images.
''It is absolutely terrifying that there are such sick and twisted people out there, and they are harassing people with disabilities.
''They are not ashamed at all, they even post publicly about it and ask each other for advice on how to handle the pain after severing their own fingers.'
''Sadly blocking them doesn't work as they just make new accounts, it's an impossible situation.
''It's very sad because there are many vulnerable amputees out there who are being exploited on social media and accept money for their requests.
‘'These people need to stopped but I don't know how, it seems these twisted people will always find a way.''
Dog throws tantrum to watch Bluey on iPad
A pet dog threw a tantrum to get his owner to play his favourite TV show on the iPad.
Chelsea Lim, 24, was watching a Korean drama on her iPad when pet dog Moji attacked the screen to get her to play Bluey.
A video shows Moji, a Shiatzu, scratching the screen of the iPad until Chelsea changes the program to the popular Aussie animated series.
Chelsea, a marketing employee in Manila, Philippines, said: "My dog knew that the iPad I was using is also the he uses to watch Bluey.
"When he saw I was watching a Korean drame, he started scratching his paws digging on my iPad.
"That's the tantrums he throws when he wants to watch Bluey."
Chelsea explained that watching Bluey in the evening is now part of Moji's bed time routine.
The three-year-old Shiatzu usually watches one episode before he goes to bed and has been doing so for about a month.
Chelsea said: "It all started when I was browsing for a show on Netflix and he saw images of the dog from Marley & Me.
"I was shocked that he could actually understand what was on the TV what's on the TV so I decided to look for a show that he might like and that was Bluey."
"I caught a flesh-eating parasite from mains water - now I'm blind in one eye"
A woman says she was left blind in one eye after contracting a flesh-eating parasite - from the tap or swimming pool.
Shereen-Fay Griffin, 38, lost sight in her left eye just under a year ago.
She believes she contracted the infection - acanthamoeba keratitis - two days after she had a swim at a local pool.
The infection is caused by a microscopic organism called Acanthamoeba, which is common in nature and is usually found in bodies of water.
At first, Shereen's symptoms were innocuous - itchiness, soreness and fatigue.
She consulted a GP who referred her to an optician who then referred her to an ophthalmologist.
Shereen was treated with steroids and told she would receive a call to set up a follow-up appointment
But as the weeks went on, the pain worsened and Shereen never received a call.
Almost ten weeks after her initial appointment, on November 9, she woke up blind in her left eye.
Shereen, who's from Crayford in Kent, went swimming at a local leisure center on August 19 last year.
Two days later, her left eye started to become itchy and sore.
Shereen, a Learning Support Assistant at a local secondary school, said: "My eye was sore, itchy and scratchy.
"My eyelid was heavy and I was feeling fatigued.
"I had been swimming. I used the swimming pool and shower there.
"I had also washed my face at home in the morning and night."
After trying over-the-counter treatment, Shereen went to her GP who prescribed her a week's antibiotics, which did nothing.
Her GP advised her to visit an optician, who gave her an urgent referral to Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup on September 1st.
There she was diagnosed with herpes simplex eye infection and given steroids and antibacterial eye drops.
But instead of improving, her symptoms continued to worsen.
Shereen said: "I’ve never in my life even had a cold sore so it was odd to me.
"The ophthalmologist sent me off with antibiotic eye drops and steroids even though I told him oral antibiotics hadn’t worked.
"I had a continuous dull pain in my eye. It didn’t seem right but was manageable with day-to-day life."
Shereen was told she would receive a call for a follow-up appointment within the week, but she says this never happened.
The following weeks Shereen says she called the hospital multiple times and even walked in herself, but received no follow-up.
She said: "I’d had no follow-up appointment. My eye was still in pain and my eye meds were running out.
"I rang the hospital a number of times for a few weeks before walking in there myself to find out what was going on."
She was given additional meds and sent home.
On November 9, Shereen woke up "in the most excruciating pain" and blind in one eye.
She said: "It was coming up to 10 weeks of no follow-up appointment and steroids four times day when I woke up in the most excruciating pain and completely blind in that eye!"
Shereen went to the hospital immediately and another doctor was able to diagnose her with acanthamoeba keratitis.
She was treated there but it was already too late.
All this time, Shereen's cornea was being eaten away by the parasite and the scarring left her blind.
Acanthamoeba keratitis is caused by a single-celled organism that enters the eye and eats through the cornea.
Following her ordeal, Shereen decided to go to the Wellington Hospital, a private facility in St John's Wood, London.
There a doctor told Shereen that the steroids prescribed had made things worse.
She explained: "I couldn’t trust the NHS doctors after this level of neglect.
"They had wrongly diagnosed and wrongly medicated me for 10 weeks with no follow-up appointments even though I had been chasing them.
"The parasite was in fact strengthened by the steroids I had been put on for 10 weeks hence why I ended up waking up blind.
"It was explained to me by the doctors that this rare infection was very resistant [to treatment.
"They said because mine had been strengthened with steroids for 10 weeks it was now super resistant."
Unfortunately, to this day, Shereen still lives in pain and has not recovered her vision.
Her only chance at recovery lies with a corneal transplant, which may not work, and would need to be repeated.
She said: "I was bed-bound for three weeks and was house-bound for four months. I was off work for a total of five months.
"I have no left vision which stops me from taking part in activities like football with my students.
"I have dull ache, dryness, itches, soreness and still some light sensitivity as my pupil struggles to dilate because of the scares on the front of my eye.
"[I will regain my sight] only if I agree to a cornea transplant which may not work."
Moorfields Eye Hospital said: "The infection is caused by a microscopic organism called Acanthamoeba, which is common in nature and is usually found in bodies of water as well as domestic tap water, swimming pools, hot tubs, soil and air.
"Acanthamoeba do not generally cause harm to humans, but they can cause a serious eye disease if they infect the cornea."
"I’m an Inuk living in the Arctic"
Meet the Inuk who grew up in the Artic eating raw beluga whale meat and lived so remotely she had to travel 15 hours for a Starbucks coffee.
Willow Allen, 24, grew up living in the town of Inuvik, in the Northwest territories of Canada, and lived off the land to survive.
Willow and her family hunt different animals during the seasons to eat – in the spring they hunt geese and caribou, a type of reindeer, and beluga whales in August.
They have 33 days of no sun in the winter – with temperatures dropping to as cold as -40C – and wear traditional mukluks, boots made from seal skin or moose leg and caribou, to keep warm.
In the winter they get around on snowmobiles and by boat in the summer.
Willow’s town has a population of 3,500 people and has two grocery stores with essentials – but is 15 hours away from the closest Starbucks and McDonalds.
Willow, a model and social media influencer, now studying social work in Saskatchewan, Canada, said: “In the winter there, since we are so far up north, we don’t see the sun for 33 days.
“We go up to the coast and hunt beluga whales.
“We eat the skin or fat.
“You can eat it raw, frozen or boiled.
“It has a very strong taste.
“When dried it is like beef jerky in texture.
“It’s not like anything else I have eaten.
“It’s always been a part of Inuvialuit culture. We never take more than we need.”
Only Inuvialuit are allowed to buy and sell beluga whale and Willow has to get a special licence to transport the meat down South.
She said: “People prefer hunting.
“We typically hunt different animals.
“We hunt geese in spring - and freeze it.
“In August, we hunt caribou when they migrate from Alaska.
“We eat caribou soup, and my family would always make this.
“We hunt beluga whales.
“In the winter we hunt moose and go ice fishing.
“In September and October there are berries all over the land.”
Inuvialuit tend to use a range of traditional hunting like harpoons and fishing sticks to catch their food.
As well as hunting for food they use the animals to make their clothes.
Willow has traditional parka coats with a fur-lined wolverine hood, mukluks and seal skin and silver fox mittens.
She said: “Animals like moose, caribou and rabbits have always been something we’ve relied on for food and clothing that traditionally get us through the harsh winters.”
Willow said Inuvialuit are “very community oriented” and they celebrate the end of the winter with traditional games.
She said: “We get together the celebrate the changing of the sun.
“It’s called muskrat jamboree.
“We play games like who can skin a muskrat the fastest and harpoon throws.”
Inuvialuit make traditional medicine such as Labrador tea and tree sap.
She said: “You have tree sap and have that when you have a cold to soothe your throat.
“Labrador tea helps with sore throat, chest congestion, coughs, lung infections and muscle pains.
“We would always make this over the fire. It tastes amazing.”
Willow has now moved to Saskatchewan, Canada, with her boyfriend, Cale Kindra Chuck, 25, a business student, while she is at university but visits her family as often as she can.
She said: “I would love for my kids to know our culture we have in the north.”
"From rock bottom to building my dream home with my kids!"
A recovered addict is hand building his family home with his kids - and says moving to a remote homestead has made him a "better" husband and dad.
Andy Robert, 33, had always wanted to raise his family in the woods after growing up in a similar environment.
But he struggled so badly with alcohol and cannabis addiction, his wife, Carlos, 38, and three children moved from North Carolina to Northern Michigan without him.
Determined to become a “good man” Andy got himself sober and moved down to join them six months later and began to restore his marriage.
After saving up, he bought 20 acres of land and is now building a self-sufficient homestead himself and with the help of his young children.
Andy has spent less than $4,000 so far, building a four-bedroom home with scraps and timber from his land.
He says the move has made him a “better” husband and dad.
Andy, who served in the US coastguard, said: “I don’t like the guy I was.
“I grew up with the mentality as man and husband I provide and that’s it.
“I did that, but I realised that wasn’t good enough.
“I wasn’t present for my wife, I wasn’t helping with the kids.
“Now I don’t wake up hungover in the morning.
“I’m around to be present.
“I’m around to make a point intentionally to support my wife and with the boys.
“My relationship is better and stronger.”
Andy struggled with alcohol and would drink as soon as he got home from work and said he wasn’t “present” with his family.
He said: “I developed quite a serious drinking problem.
“I wasn’t a very good husband.”
Andy switched booze for cannabis before finally getting sober in 2019 after being hospitalised.
But with “damage done”, Carlos and their children moved to Northern Michigan at the beginning of 2020 – something they had already planned on doing.
He said: “I ended up with my wife telling me she didn’t love me anymore.
“After she left, I committed to myself.
“I thought ‘I’m going to be a good man, the man I’m supposed to be’.”
Andy continued to work on himself and moved down in September 2020 – buying five acres of land near his family.
He said: “A lot of damage was done.”
But Andy didn’t give up on his marriage and started to rebuild his relationship with his wife and children and saved up to buy 20 acres of land.
He said: “My marriage was slowly restored.”
Carlos put her ring back on in March 2021 and the family are now all helping out to build their “vision”.
The family have chickens, goats, a horse, a cow and two pigs and are growing crops so they can become self-sufficient.
Andy said: “I’m trying to save as much money on the process as possible.
“I have scavenged for materials. I have traded equipment for metal going on the roof.”
Andy’s children are also on board to help with the build.
He said: “They are heavily involved in the process.
“They have certain jobs on the farm - collecting the fire wood and they take care of the animals.”
Andy and Carlos had always dreamed of bringing up their family surrounded by nature.
Andy said: “So many kids live buried in a screen.
“We’re not raising our kids that way.
“I grew up in the woods.
“I’d like them to have that experience.”
Andy believes the homestead has improved his own wellbeing and his relationship with Carlos.
He said: “I believe my wife and I would have worked it out regardless.
“For my own mental health it has been fantastic.
“I’m present and I’m better.”
"We bought an abandoned 100-year-old school to live in for $175k"
A couple bought a 100-year-old abandoned school for $175k to live in and raise their children.
Stacie Grissom, 32, and her husband, Sean Wilson, 34, an orthopedic surgeon, purchased the former school in August 2021 after moving back to Franklin, Indiana, US, from New York City.
Stacie said she had always wanted to live in a quirky home but never anticipated buying a school - complete with four classrooms and a cloakroom.
The couple plan to turn the 4,000 square foot building into a four-bedroom home with two bathrooms, a kitchen and living space.
Stacie says renovations have been a challenge but she hopes to move in with her husband and two children - Arlo, two and Margot, one - by January 2024.
Stacie, a marketing and PR consultant said: "It has definitely been a challenge, I have always wanted to live in a quirky house and always loved old things.
"We didn't quite anticipate getting this quirky a house.
"I love that it has a story - we found it funny how it used to be a barn too.
"It is fun to be playful with your house and daydream about doing little themes for dinner parties and stuff like that."
Stacie and Sean had been living in New York City for 10 years and wanted to move back to Franklin to be close to family.
While looking for properties, the pair came across the old school - which was closed in 1934 - and purchased the property in August 2021 for $175k before immediately getting to work.
Stacie said: "There was a lot of stuff still left in the property that we needed to clear - it needed a lot of work.
"It needed a new roof and foundation work.
"We stripped the school down to its original bones. We put a new roof on, strengthened the foundations, placed new windows.
"We are now putting in new plumbing and electricity."
The renovation project hasn't been smooth sailing, Stacie said that the pandemic meant things would take a lot longer to get done.
She said: "Some unexpected things happened during the pandemic.
"Things took seven times longer than you originally thought they would take.
"We found a 72-inch snake skin in one of the walls.
"We haven't seen that large of a snake yet but we do have some critter tenants that we need to work on."
Currently, the family are living with Stacie's parents nearby until the project is finished but they hope to move into the space early next year.
Stacie said: "We would not be able to do the construction without them.
"My parents are kind of crazy and they think it is a good idea to restore a 100-year-old school.
"My husband's parents are here too and they have been very supportive.
"It is nice to be around them and build a place where the whole family can come together."
You won't believe how this lad got a fish hook stuck in his ear
A schoolboy got a fish hook stuck in his ear in a "bizarre" accident - during his first-ever trip.
But Joel Doyle, 13, has not been put off - and is looking forward to going fishing again.
The teen was out in Christchurch, Dorset when a friend cast his line backwards - and hooked the lure straight through his ear.
Sister Lynsey Pooke, 27, and mum Lorraine Hanley, 58, rushed Joel to hospital with the hook and a plastic fish dangling from his head.
The doctor had to “pierce” the “distressed” boy's ear and used pliers to remove the items.
Lorraine, a social worker from Bournemouth, said: “This was Joel’s first day learning to fish.
“He was very excited. I got this call and he was crying and screaming.
“He said the hooks gone through my ear. I raced over.
“The doctors had to push it straight through the ear as if piercing it. It is so bizarre.
“He loves fishing. It hasn’t put him off at all.”
Joel had been fishing with a school friend at Iford Old Bridge when the hook got caught in his ear on October.
Sister Lynsey, a health care assistant, from Watford, London said: “The plastic fish was dangling out of his ear.
“It was something from a comedy.”
Lorraine added: “I said ‘were you trying to pierce your ear?’. He was very distressed.”
Doctors managed to free the hook and plastic fish from Joel’s ear and gave him a tetanus shot to prevent an infection.
Now Joel is back to normal - and has already been out fishing again.
Lorraine said: “We’ve ordered him a fishing rod. It’s unbelievable. You’d have to see it to believe it. I’m going to get it framed."
Men's daring attempt to trap tiger 'terrorising' villages
By Laura Elvin
A tiger put up a fight when local people tried to trap it in a net - and under a sheet - after it "terrorised" villages.
A video shows men trying to trap the three-year-old wild animal in a sugarcane field, while the big cat snaps back.
According to a local source, villagers had complained to the forest department about this tiger, which was straying close to homes.
The nets and sheets did not trap the creature, which was eventually brought down by a tranquiliser dart, fired by Dr Daksh Gangwar from Pilibhit Forest Reserve.
The tussle happened in Jamunia Khaspur village in northern India's Uttar Pradesh on October 17.
It was later released into the wild.
