London Cycle Chic

London Cycle Chic is a blog directed at women who cycle in London.

Caz is a London cyclist and through her blog, she "offers tips and advice on how to combine safety, practicality and style to achieve true urban cycle chic."

In addition to her fun, informative blog, Caz offers a selection of bicycle accessories through the Cyclechic shop.

So if you need cycling tips and advice, cycle safety tips, cycle fashion ideas, or information and suggestions about what bike to buy and where to buy it, then London Cycle Chic is for you!

Laughing Hens

If you enjoy knitting as much as I do, you will appreciate the delightfully named site, Laughing Hens where you can purchase yarns, kits and patterns plus a lot more, such as fabrics, books, a range of hand made items and even special occasion cakes.

There is also a Laughing Hens Knitting Forum where you can discuss knitting and seek advice if you need help with your knitting.

Laughing Hens also offers workshops (like a retreat for the day) which are held in Burwash in East Sussex in a rural setting. The workshops cost between £60-£75and include lunch and afternoon tea. Their beautiful rural cottage is also available for location hire.

Garden Swap Shop

GardenSwapShop is a new online community for gardeners where you can swap your surplus plants/bulbs/seeds on the website.

You can register for free and browse the different items on offer. Then you can choose to swap (only 20p per swap) or use the 'Buy Now' feature.

Rocket Gardens - Instant Kitchen Gardens

If you would like to have a vegetable garden but you are short on time or you just want it to be as easy as possible, you will love Rocket Gardens, "the UK's only supplier of Instant Kitchen Gardens."

You can choose an instant small vegetable garden (£39.99) or a large vegetable garden (£54.99) or choose an instant patio container garden (£36.99).

There are other sorts to choose from too such as a compact herb garden or window box garden (£24.99 each), childrens garden (34.99), or instant Salad, Mediterranean, or Herb gardens (£36.99 each).

They also sell gardening equipment, some other plants (strawberry & rhubarb) and gift vouchers.

Supermarket Wine: The easy way to find recommended wine at your supermarket

If you like wine and like to read wine reviews in the newspapers for the latest deals and recommendations, there is a site that provides all that information for you. It's called Supermarket Wine.

All the wines listed on the site have been reviewed and recommended in the (UK) national press - The Guardian, The Independent, The Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Observer.

There is a Supermarket Wine Blog too.

Captain Rupert Rabbit & the Higglety Pigglety blog

Higglety Pigglety is the charming name of a charming blog by Joanna Twinn.

Her delightful blog is about life in England with a rabbit named Captain Rupert and her artistic inspiration for her range of greeting cards, notelets and prints that she paints for her business selling Joanna Twinn paintings and cards.

UK Safari - about the wildlife and countryside of Britain

UK Safari is a fun and informative site about the wildlife and countryside of Britain.

The impressive site contains more than 1,000 pages of information and around 3,000 photos!

You can also purchase supplies for wildlife watching from the UK Safari Nature Shop via the website.

Dressed and Pressed - a blog about fashion

Dressed and Pressed is the name of a fun and informative blog about the latest fashion trends and where to buy them. Be sure and check out the "Outfit of the week" feature for inspiration and links to the shops where you can purchase each item in the ensemble.

Lulu's Vintage Blog

Anne of Portland, Oregon, owns Lulu's Vintage Blog and Store.

Anne writes about vintage fashion, collectibles, housewares, and advertisements. She also provides links to sites where you can purchase vintage items

House to Home - interior design ideas

If you are thinking about re-decorating and need help and inspiration for interior design ideas, House To Home is the site for you!

There are numerous (2590) photos of different rooms for inspiration - sorted by category (bedroom, kitchen, etc.)and style (contemporary, formal, etc.) - to view and links to the shops where you can purchase the items for the look you like.

The site also provides a handy Decorating Tools section, with a colour planner, room planner, garden planner and project calculators.

The Expert Advice section of the site provides more useful advice, tips, and guides.

Sausagefans - "your complete guide to the great British banger"

If you love to eat sausages, you will really like the site, sausagefans.com , where "...you'll find details of some of the finest sausage shops in the UK."

In addition to the search engine to find a sausage shop, there are reviews, recipes, information about sausage and other food events, and news about "...the latest goings on in the world of sausages!"

Events, clubs & expert advice about outdoor sports & activities

If you are keen on outdoor sports and activities, or you are thinking about starting a new outdoor sport, timeoutdoors is the website for you!

timeoutdoors offers free access to 1,000+ pages of events, clubs & expert advice on outdoor sports & activities.

You need to register (simply provide your name, email address, choose a username and password) for free site access. I strongly suggest you do register and discover all the useful information and advice available to you on this huge site.

Shoewawa: "We don't sell shoes, we just talk about them"

If you like shoes, you will love Shoewawa, because Shoewawa is a blog devoted to women's shoes! It's fun and it's useful. The blog features shoes from both the USA and the UK.

There is always a detailed description of the shoes, (they do wax lyrical about shoes!) and/or a photo plus handy suggestions of what to wear with the shoes, the price, and a link to the site where you can purchase the shoes.

Information about local car boots sales in the UK

carbootjunction.com - "the UK's fastest growing car boot sales directory of car boots throughout the UK"

In addition to helping you find car boot sales via the directory, the site also offers information about laws and other car boot advice.

The Big Project:(lots of!) links to the most useful sites

TheBigProject is a comprehensive site that provides links to the most useful websites.

The site is massive and an incredibly useful resource for everyone.

Search for plants on a free database with Find Me Plants

Find Me Plants is a great website for gardeners because it provides a free database to help you find the right plants for your garden.

You can use the quick plant search which allows you to "make selections that best describe your garden and preferences..." by choosing Plant Type, Flower Colour, Soil Moisture, Soil Type and Light Levels or you can do a Full Plant Search which involves completing a questionnaire to make the search even more specific.

I really like the way the search results will produce a list with both the Latin and the Common Name and an image that you can click on to view the full plant profile.

BigGreePurse: Save Time, Shift Money, Make a Difference

BigGreenPurse is a site that suggests ways for American women to shop 'green'. The links on the site are for American products of course, but the idea to empower women by suggesting they spend their money on green products, is certainly something for everyone - everywhere - to aspire to.

The founder of the Big Green Purse site, Diane MacEachern, "is passionate about empowering women to use their marketplace clout to protect the environment."

Diane also has a blog, Diane's Big Green Purse, with the tagline, "Making our money matter for a greener, cleaner, safer world."

When I explored the BigGreenPurse site, I discovered they also have a link to a sister site called The World Women Want which "helps women, their children and their families live healthier, safer, more rewarding lives." It's a very good site too - although it also links to just American sites.

(BigGreenPurse link via an article in The Christian Science Monitor)

GuideMeGreen: a useful resource

Promoting Green Companies & Brands: GuideMeGreen

The site is, "... a growing resource for the ethically and environmentally friendly conscious shopper who cares about where they work, what they eat and what they buy!"

GuideMeGreen actually offers three useful directories: The Green Directory, The Ethical Directory, and The Jobs Directory.

Crocus - the largest online gardening site in the UK

Crocus is the biggest (and I think, the best) gardening website in the UK.

In addition to a huge selection of plants (over 4,000!) and all the gardening accessories you need - pots, garden machinery, tools, water butts, water features, compost bark & mulches, etc. - Crocus also offers very useful guides to help you find the right plant for your garden.

Vintage & retro clothing & accessories from the 50s-80s

I'm not a fashionista - far from it in fact since I'm a blue jeans, T-shirt and trainers (sneakers) kinda gal - but I do like vintage fashions so I was thrilled to find a site called Martha's Closet, a site that provides "reasonably priced, individual vintage clothing that's honestly described & promptly delivered."