Had an email from a fellow cat fan Jo White:

Our two cats are developing increasingly sophisticated appetites….they still have canned food but do occasionally like to have the food that comes in small foil trays. I’m loathe to throw them out and I don’t have a garden so re-using them for plant seedlings isn’t a solution unfortunately. Can they be recycled anywhere in the UK?

If they’re just foil, I think they can be recycled along with aluminium foil – is that right? if not, can they be recycled any other way?

And what about reuses? Any non-gardeny suggestions for Jo?

(Photo by Jo)

Annie sent in a suggestion at the weekend:

I have an umbrella cover – it’s a pretty black and pink tough fabric, originally from Accessorise. Unfortunately i left the umbrella that went with it on a train… any ideas what i could do with the case?

I usually have the opposite problem – losing the cover – so I’d probably just stash the spare cover in a drawer until I lost the one from my new umbrella but aside from that, any other ideas? Ones that would take advantage of the cover’s prettiness and water resistant would be best but obviously any suggestions are welcome.

(I couldn’t find a photo of one hence the generic umbrella shot but for those that don’t know, the covers are sheaths of fabric that fit over the closed up umbrella to protect the fabric of the umbrella and if the brolly is wet, to stop water getting all over the contents of your bag etc. They’re usually made from the same fabric as the umbrella and sometimes have a tie/toggle at the open end to tighten it around the base.)

(Photo by vale)