Two-year-old chef obsessed with cooking shows can make a full roast dinner
By Freddie Noble
Meet the two-year-old chef who can cook spaghetti bolognaise, chilli con carne - and a full roast dinner.
Oswyn Thomas can also make shortbread, cookies, brownies, jelly, a banana split, Welsh cakes and pancakes.
The toddler started cooking when she was 11 months old alongside her mum Madison, 28.
When she was born, Madison said she didn't bond with Oswyn as much as she wanted to so started cooking with her for some one on one time.
Over the years she has cooked spaghetti bolognaise, chili con carne and Welsh cakes and the list is still growing.
Oswyn will take charge in the kitchen, by measuring out the ingredients and knowing when the food is cooked.
As well as being a master in the kitchen, Oswyn is a super fan of Gordon Ramsey and Gino D'Acampo and will watch them on TV every day.
Madison, a stay at home mum, from Pembrokeshire, South West Wales, said: "When she was a born, we didn't bond as much as I wanted to.
"She loved her dad, so my only way of getting her to bond with me is getting her involved with something that I like and that is cooking.
"She absolutely loves cooking and it is nothing that I have pushed or promoted she has just done it herself.
"She makes a roast dinner with me like perfectly, we did a roast with a chicken and she [Oswyn] chose all the seasonings herself.
"She wanted lemon juice, chilli and a bunch of bay leaves an It tasted really nice."
Oswyn's first experience in the kitchen was making cookies alongside her mum so they could bond.
Madison said: "The cookie brownie was the first thing she mixed herself. She only just learnt how to walk."
"I will never forget the amount of chocolate she poured everywhere and It went all down the face of the cooker."
Over the years, the tot has helped make a number of classics from Welsh cakes, cupcakes, chocolate blondie, shortbread and trifle.
Madison said: "She has fully taken it on herself, she's so good at indicating and I don't really need to do anything.
"The only thing I do is film and edit for social media."
Madison and Oswyn will spend every day in the kitchen sometimes even twice a day baking cookies or cooking pasta.
Madison said: "She is my best friend. We do everything together now."
Oswyn is not only a food enthusiast but also a huge fan of fellow chef, Gordon Ramsey.
She is obsessed with Junior MasterChef and Gino D'acampo on This Morning.
From watching Junior MasterChef and Hells Kitchen to Gordon, Gino and Fred's Road Trip, Oswyn has been binge-watching them for days one end.
Madison said: "We would sit here for hours and watch on repeat Gordon Ramsey, even when she would eat her breakfast in the morning and she would watch the cooking on this morning."
"She would just stare at him and not doing anything but just stare but you could tell she was taking it all in."
"She calls Gordon the angry chef but when she grows up she wants to be known as the funny chef."
Madison reveals that she is a massive fan and every evening they would watch nearly every show ranging from Kitchen Nightmares to Hell's Kitchen.
Here is a list of the dishes she has made:
Shortbread
Cookies
Spaghetti Bolognaise
Chili Con Carne
Brownies
Strawberry Jelly
Banana Split
Beans on Toast
Welsh Cakes
Pancakes
Glamorgan Sausages
Quiche
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"I attempted the hardest race in the world - here's what it's like"
By George Mathias
A professional runner defeated by the "world's hardest race" has revealed what goes into training for the Barkley Marathons.
Ultra-marathon runner Jeff Garmine trained by running up hills in the pouring rain at 2am to prepare for the 2021 Barkley Marathons.
The 100-mile race is held in the forests of Frozen Head State Park in Morgan County, Tennessee, US, and sees athletes attempt five back-to-back 20-mile loops through the forest over 60 hours.
Up to 40 people take part each year - but few finish - with the record number of finishers for a single year standing at just five.
Super-fit Jeff, 32, had completed the 'Triple Crown of 200s' - three 200-mile races run consecutively over four months.
He also holds the record for the fastest time on the Great Western Loop - a 6,875-mile route – as only one of two people to complete it.
Jeff did 17 hours of running per week on hills with a 30% gradient to train for Barkley Marathons, and would run up and down the same hill for hours at a time.
He managed to successfully complete two loops of over 40 miles and collect all the books during his first attempt, but ran out of time and was eliminated.
Jeff, from Bozeman, Montana, US, said: "I trained for six months – the key is to make it as miserable as possible.
"You need to be training in the coldest weather in the middle of the night on the steepest hills.
"I would go out at 2am in pouring the pouring rain and begin running up the steepest hills.
"You have to be comfortable with uncertainty and being miserable – it's a mindset thing.
"We were just a bunch of idiots running around in the woods - it was most fun I've ever had while being most frustrated.
"Every step feels like you’re going the wrong way - it's a rollercoaster of emotions, the highs and lows are so drastic."
Jeff says those wanting to take part must write an essay entitled 'Why I should be allowed to run in the Barkley' and pay a $1.60 application fee to have a chance of being accepted.
If chosen to compete, each runner then receives a 'letter of condolence'.
Each year organiser Gary Cantrell, known as Lazarus Lak, an endurance race designer and director, lights a cigarette to mark the start of the race - which can begin at any time during an eight-hour window.
Jeff said: “The whole thing is still pretty secret – part of the allure is how hard it is even to put an application in.
“It's such a difficult endeavour and challenge even to just find out how to apply - you have to be 100 per cent invested.”
In March 2020 Jeff travelled to the camp where the athletes wait on call for the race to start.
Jeff said: "One hour before the race starts a conch shell is blown which means the race is due to begin.
“At 1am Gary Cantrell blew the shell so we all got up and had one hour to get ready and get to the start line. “
Competitors have 60 hours to complete the course - while searching for books hidden in the undergrowth of the forest which contain their race number.
They then have to rip out the corresponding page and bring it with them to the finish line.
Jeff said: “You have no cellphone or navigation - it’s just a map and a compass and very steep terrain.
“Slowly in the fog we all spread out, searching for the books hidden in the woods, there was 40 of us but that year only one person finished.
“You run for two kilometres and then turn right into the woods which is full of shrubs.”
Jeff says the event feels extremely surreal, as athletes scramble in the forest to try and find the books with their number on it.
“Every single step feels like you’re going the wrong way,” he said.
“There’s an overwhelming feeling of satisfaction when you find the book, it’s a rollercoaster of emotions.
“At one point there was a group of 10 of us searching for a book for an hour for one book, we finally found it, we had all been searching.
Jeff finished one loop of the course, but was timed out in the second one and said he felt an “overwhelming sense of disappointment.”
He said: “It's a very unique feeling – it's a very strange."
Jeff, who is not married and has no kids, says he has devoted himself to ultra running and setting records.
“I ran cross country in high school but then I got bullied – I slowly took running back up once I found out you could do it on trails.
“I developed relationship with nature, I love it.”
As for the Berkley Marathons, Jeff said he hopes to come back in the future for a second attempt.
"You are called a "virgin" if it's your first time, and virigins almost never complete the race - I'd love to come back again as a veteran," he said.
Jeff's training regime:
- 20,000ft of vertical gain on average per week along
- 13 - 17 hours of running at 30% gradient and higher
- Practicing eating while out running to simulate race conditions
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Lady Di's first job contract where she 'lied about her age' set to sell for thousands
By Paul Andrews
Princess Diana’s first employment contract where she ''lied about her age to get the job'' is set to sell for thousands at auction.
The contract from Solve Your Problem Ltd – an agency offering nannies to the rich – was completed by Diana in May 1979 just weeks after moving to London.
Her address is noted as Cadogan Place SW1 where she temporarily lived before moving to her own London flat at Colherne Court, Kensington, a few months later.
The contract is largely filled out in Diana’s own hand and she incorrectly listed her date of birth as ‘1960’ instead of ‘1961’.
In May 1979 she would have been 17 turning 18 that year - but by changing the year she made herself already 18.
The seller says they were told it was deliberate - so Diana could get the job or better pay.
The document is expected to sell for over £5K when it goes under the hammer at Auctioneum Ltd in Bristol later this month.
Auctioneer Andrew Stowe says the error on the date of birth was on purpose by Lady Di.
He said: ''Our client had always been told that this was done deliberately, in order that Diana would appear older and therefore more likely to secure a job with the agency, or at least a higher rate of pay!
The document is thought to be Diana’s first official work contract, which saw her undertake various short-term jobs as a nanny, mother’s help and child carer.
Prior to this in 1978 Diana had worked for friends and family, in an unofficial capacity, some are noted as referees on the contract.
‘This is an incredibly important piece of history,’ adds Andrew. ‘'Getting your first job is a big moment in anyone’s life, let alone when that person becomes one of the most famous figures of the twentieth century.
''Here we have a teenage Diana Spencer, freshly moved to London, trying to find her way in life and applying for her first job. It’s so human, so real, so normal.’
''Elsewhere on the contract the employers have listed some of Diana’s skills including ‘cook – basic,’ ‘housework,’ ‘animals,’ and ‘ballet dancer.’
''As well as comments of ‘check skirt’ and concluding ‘lovely girl – send anywhere.’
Solve Your Problem Ltd was an employment agency set up by Mary Cook – a one-time Portuguese Countess - who moved back to London after divorcing her husband in the 1970s.
The agency was a high-class establishment, vetting staff for royal residences and for homes of the rich and famous based in London.
The contract was kept by Cook as a souvenir and was eventually passed to the current owners, who are now offering it for sale.
‘This is such a poignant item,’ adds Andrew ‘at face value, this is just an everyday document, a piece of office stationery that lived in a filing cabinet alongside hundreds of others.
Yet just over two years later, Diana Spencer would become Princess Of Wales and her life would never be the same.
This contract is one of the last remaining snapshots of Diana’s life before she was thrust into the spotlight.’
‘It’s filled with hope, it’s filled with nerves, it represents the emotions and feelings of every teenager trying to find their first job – and yet, there is of course, a great feeling of sadness attached,’ says Andrew.
Diana’s first work contract is featured in Auctioneum’s ‘Autographs & Memorabilia Online Auction’ which ends on April 30th and carries an estimate of £5,000 to £8,000.
The catalogue can be viewed on their website www.auctioneum.co.uk
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This spacecraft will head to Saturn
By Dean Murray
This is the spacecraft that will head to Saturn.
NASA has confirmed its Dragonfly rotorcraft mission to the planet's organic-rich moon Titan.
The space agency say the decision allows the mission to progress to completion of final design, followed by the construction and testing of the entire spacecraft and science instruments.
The rotorcraft, targeted to arrive at Titan in 2034, will fly to dozens of promising locations on the moon, looking for prebiotic chemical processes common on both Titan and the early Earth before life developed.
Dragonfly rotorcraft has eight rotors and flies like a large drone. It marks the first time NASA will fly a vehicle for science on another planetary body.
“Dragonfly is a spectacular science mission with broad community interest, and we are excited to take the next steps on this mission," said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Exploring Titan will push the boundaries of what we can do with rotorcraft outside of Earth.”
With the release of the U.S. president’s fiscal year 2025 budget request, Dragonfly is confirmed with a total lifecycle cost of $3.35 billion and a launch date of July 2028. This reflects a cost increase of about two times the proposed cost and a delay of more than two years from when the mission was originally selected in 2019.
Following that selection, NASA had to direct the project to replan multiple times due to funding constraints in fiscal years 2020 through 2022. The project incurred additional costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain increases, and the results of an in-depth design iteration.
To compensate for the delayed arrival at Titan, NASA also provided additional funding for a heavy-lift launch vehicle to shorten the mission’s cruise phase.
Dragonfly is being designed and built under the direction of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, which manages the mission for NASA.
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Rescued cat caught on camera bringing random bits of rubbish home!
By Faye Mayern
A mischievous moggy has turned his back on hunting mice - and has been bringing back pieces of litter through his cat flap instead.
Nine-month-old Tofu has been bringing plastic containers, a roll of poo bags and even a lamb shank bone back to his home.
His owner, Jane Sweet, has caught the white and brown kitten on a camera bringing back rubbish through his cat flap and proudly placing them around his home.
He was taken in by Miss Sweet, from Stevenage, Herts, after she found him as a stay kitten in the pouring rain last September.
Miss Sweet, 41, said: "Tofu started to bring back leaves and worms after I first started letting him out into the garden again in the run up to Christmas last year.
"Before long, he bought me some parcel tape, fish food pellets and a Nutella lid.
"It's just carried on since then with mostly food related things but once he did come back with a cigarette filter tip."
Miss Sweet added that she thought that Tofu had been copying his adopted brother Kimchi who would regularly bring back mice.
However, Kimchi was sadly hit by a car a few days before Christmas, prompting Miss Sweet to install the Ring camera.
Over the last few months, Tofu's trophies have become increasingly more adventurous.
Miss Sweet said: "He bought back a lamb shank bone over Easter - I have no idea where he goes to find these things.
"A few days ago he came back with a large tub of cat treats which were still half full.
"He couldn't fit through the cat flap and I could hear all the treats rattling.
"It's completely random when he'll come back with something - sometimes he won't do it for a week or two weeks.
"My dad jokes that it's Tofu's way of paying rent."
Miss Sweet said that Tofu's adopted sister, Sushi who is six, is unimpressed with his finds most of the time.
She said: "Sushi is a bit bemused by it.
"She'll walk up to it thinking it’s something good like a mouse but then she seems to think ‘what is this piece of plastic?'
"I don't know how long he was outdoors before I came across him. Maybe he had been scavenging and it just stayed with him.
"He’s a bit of a strange cat."
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Funny moment gran realised she won after betting on Grand National winner
By Leo Black
This is the moment a racing-mad grandmother found out she had won after betting on the Grand National.
Video shows Margaret Harding, 88, getting the news on the phone - gobsmacked that she picked the winner.
Margaret, of Northampton, East Midlands, can be heard saying: "Crikey! I can't believe it!" as she gapes at her granddaughter who is recording.
The retired receptionist passionately follows and bets on the horses and even gives her family advice on how to place their bets.
She had placed the bet on I Am Maximus ridden by Paul Townend, who took the spoils in Saturday’s showcase Aintree race.
Margaret had bet £5 so took home £35.
Granddaughter Maisie Stanford, 27, a marketing executive from Northampton, said: "All the family ask her for tips on betting on the horses including me.
"I won £20 from asking her the week before."
According to Maisie, her grandmother is mad for horse racing and follows all the races and news to keep track of the sport.
Maisie said: "She loves to read up in the newspaper about the latest stats and odds and races and she often does pick a winner.
"She got my aunty to go to the local bookies and put a bet on for her. She bet £5 and won approximately £35.”
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Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce spotted KISSING at Coachella afterparty
By Ben Barry
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce were spotted kissing at a Coachella after party.
Taylor Swift and her boyfriend Travis Kelce were spotted at Neon Carnival - an invite-only party on Sunday night (14/04).
The couple arrived at 2:15am and partied in a private VIP section near the stage with a group of friends.
Footage shows the smitten pair dancing and sharing a smooch while sat at a table surrounded by their friends.
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Bridgerton superfan spends 300 hours hand crafting dolls of show's characters
By Elise McGrath
A Bridgerton superfan has spent 300 hours hand-crafting dolls of the show's characters and prefers it to leaving the house.
Mimi Bassant, 49, became obsessed with the Netflix series during lockdown and found comfort in making models of the characters after losing her brother, Edwin Lopez, 43, to Covid.
She has made 30 dolls including - Eloise Bridgerton, Mother Violet, Colin, and Lady Danbury.
They take her three days to craft by hand and Mimi will spend all day perfecting their hair and outfits.
Mimi, an employment agent, from Sebring, Florida said: “I decided to watch Bridgerton during the pandemic.
"I didn’t think anything of it but when I saw some of the outfits they were wearing I fell in love with it.
“It’s one of my favourite eras of time. I started watching it around the same time I started collecting dolls again.
“I kept imagining what the dolls would look like if they were dressed in that era – then I got hooked on the show and outfits.”
Mimi needed something to put her energy towards after losing her brother in 2021.
She makes the dolls for her own personal collection and does not plan on selling them.
She said: "My mum tries to get me out of my home but I refuse because I would rather be crafting the dolls and dolls house.
"If I am not making a doll, I am building a house from the inside."
Mimi added: “Before he passed away, he gave me a gift of a Barbie doll. It has sentimental value, so I won’t turn it into a Bridgerton doll.
“At first my mum thought I was a little crazy – she said things like everything to be focusing on and you’re focusing on that.
“I just kept making these dolls and thought I should make the whole Bridgerton cast."
She has spent roughly $500 on the dolls and the materials for their outfits and has over 1000 dolls in boxes that she collects.
"I will make a few dresses cut the patterns and decide which doll looks like the characters.
"I have over 1000 dolls, mostly in boxes."
Mimi also is half way through doing up a doll house for the Bridgerton dolls and owns eight doll houses.
"I bought the house for $35 and started constructing it and making my own furniture.
"I own three cars and carriages for the fancy Bridgertons."
Mimi said: “It’ll take me around one to three days to make the dolls and I am about to finish the 30th character.
“It’s hard to decide who my favourite character is – I feel like I relate to Daphne with her first-time having sex.
“It reminds me of my first time and how parents didn’t talk about sex and stuff.
“I really love the storyline of season one between Daphne and Simon.”
Mimi said the storyline and the outfits inspired her to start creating the dolls.
She said: “I have made my way through season one – I've made Eloise Bridgerton, Mother Violet, Colin, Daphne and Simon.
“Last night I made Daphne’s baby – I have made Lady Danbury from the other season as well as Marina Thompson too.
“I am just in absolute awe of all the outfits, and I haven’t seen anyone else making Bridgerton dolls.”
Mimi washes the dolls' hair and uses straws to curl it.
"If I start making them as early as 8am I will finish around 9pm, if I make them on a weekday I will cook dinner at lunch so I can start them as soon as I get back.
"I will go to second hand stores and ebay to find dolls with no clothes especially if they look like my characters.
"When I get days off work - I will sit and finish my projects."
Mimi said her friends and family have been supportive of her Bridgerton obsession and her friends help her choosing the right materials for the outfits.
She said: “I am so excited for the new season – I go on social media everyday to get little glimpses.
“I want to get ahead of the game and start making everybody’s outfits.
“I have already made Violet’s daughter according to the outfits I’ve seen on the internet.
“I tell them how much I love that era and the storyline is so amazing. I find it so interesting how girls weren’t allowed to be with boys without a chauffeur.”
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"I'm eight months pregnant - my extreme morning sickness turned out to be cancer"
By Hannah Van De Peer
A mum-to-be was diagnosed with cancer at five months pregnant - when her extreme morning sickness turned out to be a symptom of the disease.
Caitlin McAlinden, 24, put her cancer symptoms - including a golf ball-sized lump on her neck, nausea and fatigue - down to morning sickness.
But after losing two stone in four months she was referred to a haematology team at Arrowe Park, the Wirral.
They gave her a neck biopsy and diagnosed her with stage one Hodgkin lymphoma in March 2024.
Caitlin is expected to make a full recovery but has to take a steroid injection and a blood-thinning pill every morning.
After her baby boy is born, on May 8, she’ll start a four-week course of chemotherapy.
Caitlin, a primary school teacher, from Wirral, Merseyside, said: “This isn’t the pregnancy I was hoping for - I haven’t felt well this entire time.
“Everything I want to do after my baby is born has to be put on pause due to the chemo.
“My odds are really good - but having my baby will be a good distraction for everything I’m going through.”
Caitlin found out she was pregnant on September 16, 2023 - after feeling nauseous at her birthday dinner the week before.
Her first trimester was “rocky” and she originally believed she had a severe form of morning sickness.
She was vomiting at least once a day and would fall asleep intermittently throughout the day.
But it wasn’t until Christmas Day that she first noticed the pain in her neck and after weighing herself, noticed she’d lost two stone.
She said: “I went back to County Armagh to visit my family for Christmas.
“I remember Christmas Day, falling asleep on the sofa and waking up with a really sore neck.
“I thought I’d just slept funny, but I started massaging my neck.
“That’s when I found a lump, about the size of a pea.”
Caitlin didn’t want to see a GP at first - believing the lump was just another “weird” sign of pregnancy.
But in just a week, her tiredness became worse and the pea-size lump tripled in size.
“I was so, so tired,” she said.
“Walking up the stairs alone would make me need to go for a lie down.
“I felt my neck again one day and the lump had become golf ball-sized.”
Her partner, Connor, 27, a procurement manager, told Caitlin she needed to see a doctor as soon as possible.
She visited her GP on January 2 and was referred for an initial ultrasound on her neck.
They gave her a biopsy on January 16 and the clinician asked Caitlin if she had any family history of Hodgkin lymphoma.
She told them one of her second cousins had gone through it years before and they urgently sent her for more blood tests.
“My doctor’s whole demeanour changed when I said I had a family history of it,” Caitlin said.
“I went for a blood test on the same day.”
Caitlin was diagnosed with stage one Hodgkin lymphoma on March 12, 2024, and instantly started steroid treatment to shrink the mass on her neck.
She was told she won’t need surgery and doctors are confident she’ll be able to start chemotherapy after her due date on May 8.
Despite the cancer being treatable, chemotherapy will stop Cailtin from doing things she wanted to do after her baby boy is born.
She says she won't be able to hold a Christening or breastfeed - which isn’t advised while on chemotherapy due to the chemicals passing through the milk.
She said: “In Catholic culture, we’re expected to christen our baby within the first few days of birth.
“But that coincides with chemotherapy - so I can’t.
“I really wanted to breastfeed, but chemo is stopping me from doing that, too.”
A haematologist needs to be present at all of Caitlin’s obstetrics and gynecology appointments - and doctors may try to induce her earlier than her due date.
She said: “They might try and induce me next week, as I’ve got my cervical sweep booked.
“The waiting times back home in Northern Ireland for treatment are a lot longer than here, so I’m really lucky with how fast everything has moved.”
Caitlin says Connor has been her “rock” throughout the ordeal - and the pair have since found out they’re going to have a baby boy, but will be keeping his name a secret.
“Connor has been amazing,” she said.
“My family have also been making lots of trips back-and-forth from Ireland to England.”
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"I spend more than 30 hours a week on dating apps - but my love life is still disastrous"
By Emma Dunn
Meet the dating addict who spends more than 30 hours a week swiping - but still has a "disastrous" love life.
Damon Birch, 52, regularly spends up to four hours a day on apps and websites like Tinder, Match.com and Ourtime.
But he says he's still unlucky in love - and is waiting for Mrs Right.
Damon, a project engineer by trade but currently between jobs, said: “I’m on the apps for three to four hours a day.
"I’m addicted. When I was working I’d go to the loo and sit and swipe.”
Damon, from Leicester, met his ex-wife on early social media site Friends Reunited.
The pair were together for 12 years before their marriage ended in November 2022.
Damon then took to the dating apps again to combat his shyness.
He said: “I wasn’t overly self-confident. Going up to strangers was a bit daunting.”
But he hasn’t had so much luck this time round – and has had to navigate catfishes and scammers.
Damon said: “It makes you really suspicious of people. I keep them engaged.
“I had one who wanted to meet up but kept asking for me to send her money.
“Another sent absolutely gorgeous photos but I did a photo search on Google and found out she was using a photo of an American porn star.”
Damon says he’s been on four dates since getting back on the apps - but they have mostly been “disastrous”.
He said: “One date broke her nose falling down the stairs. That was the end of that one.”
Damon is still hoping his time on the apps will help him find love again - and is currently splitting half his time on them and looking for a job.
He said: “Sometimes it’s just boredom. I’ve got more self-confidence now.”
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