tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17947769867713670202024-10-25T06:29:11.595+01:00Nicola Ripponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09227628242278711168noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794776986771367020.post-48628540780584370212011-05-17T17:21:00.000+01:002011-05-17T17:21:08.711+01:00

We have moved lock, stock and barrel to our new home at www.raggedyanngirl.com Please go there to see all the content that appears on this site, plus a huge number of brand new features, reviews, pictures and lots more! Weekly updates too! Please go over there now and don't forget to bookmark the new website and fill in your details and feedback on our 'Contact Us' page.

Nicola Ripponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09227628242278711168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794776986771367020.post-89486883269202480082010-11-30T14:53:00.002+00:002010-11-30T14:53:20.261+00:00

I've just updated the website at http://www.raggedyanngirl.com  This week: How to enjoy snow (yes, really!), How to get some Scandinavian hygge. Where to go to get in the Xmas mood & two new recipes - the best-ever cranberry sauce and Danish-style sugar brown potatoes!

Nicola Ripponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09227628242278711168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794776986771367020.post-22740691520548782282010-11-23T15:24:00.002+00:002010-11-23T15:24:45.740+00:00

New update at Raggedy Ann Girl In A Barbie Doll World. This week - all about Yankee Candle US groceries & where to get them in the UK And Happy Thanksgiving to our American friends and why I celebrate it in the UK!  Go to: http://www.raggedyanngirl.com

Nicola Ripponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09227628242278711168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794776986771367020.post-37380245834992026252010-11-17T20:24:00.000+00:002010-11-17T20:24:53.407+00:00

New updates on Raggedy Ann Girl in a Barbie Doll World 10 Reasons to Love Winter Why aren't adult colds as much fun as kiddie colds? A traditional all-natural remedy for colds, coughs and sore throats - and you can make it yourself!

Nicola Ripponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09227628242278711168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794776986771367020.post-87730565394976047822010-11-09T14:53:00.000+00:002010-11-09T14:53:04.212+00:00

This week it's a Remebrance Day special. My experience as a Poppy Seller Why I Wear a Poppy Our family was stories And 10 simple things that make us smile! See you over there! By the way, don't forget to leave a message and your contact details and I'll be able to let you know about future updates!

Nicola Ripponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09227628242278711168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794776986771367020.post-12301703825046512272010-11-02T20:40:00.002+00:002010-11-02T20:40:48.022+00:00

I've just updated http://www.raggedyanngirl.com  This week: Borough Market - a foodie paradise, St Pancras International - a destination in its own right & learning about London through nail lacquer - yes really!

Nicola Ripponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09227628242278711168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794776986771367020.post-76254622831973461202010-10-26T12:27:00.000+01:002010-10-26T12:27:51.582+01:00

Since I last updated here my new webpage www.raggedyanngirl.com - Raggedy Ann Girl in a Barbie Doll World has really taken shape! This week we have a Halloween Special, my recipe for Creamy Tomato Soup, and recommendations for handcare and winter nail polishes! If you haven't yet visited then please take a look - there's so much more over there than there is here! And don't forget to leave a

Nicola Ripponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09227628242278711168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794776986771367020.post-43662354544596228182010-10-12T16:35:00.000+01:002010-10-12T16:35:15.765+01:00

Feeling a bit down about the ever-deepening autumn? Take heart, light a candle and go to Raggedy Ann Girl in a Barbie Doll World's new home!  Latest 'blog'  - "Time to Hunker Down Again" is now up at www.raggedyanngirl.com See you there!

Nicola Ripponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09227628242278711168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794776986771367020.post-76347320446012719782010-10-08T16:57:00.000+01:002010-10-08T16:57:00.642+01:00

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS PAGE IS NO  LONGER BEING UPDATED. THE ENTIRE BLOG ARCHIVE HAS BEEN COPIED OVER TO OUR NEW WEBSITE; RAGGEDY ANN GIRL IN A BARBIE DOLL WORLD AT WWW.RAGGEDYANNGIRL.COM WHERE NEW UPDATES, MORE FEATURES, PHOTOS, REVIEWS AND BLOGS ARE BEING CONSTANTLY UPDATED.  PLEASE GO THERE NOW AND BOOKMARK THE NEW SITE. ALSO, PLEASE LEAVE YOUR DETAILS ON THE CONTACT PAGE AND I WILL

Nicola Ripponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09227628242278711168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794776986771367020.post-88864330167973144502010-10-06T15:00:00.000+01:002010-10-06T15:00:07.315+01:00

For a while now I've been getting ready to move this blog to a new location. This will be the last update posted on this Blogger page. My new site, a more expanded, more varied website can now be found at www.raggedyanngirl.com. For those of you that are regular followers, and for those who just pop by from time to time, I would like to ask you to join me over at the new site. There'll be the

Nicola Ripponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09227628242278711168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794776986771367020.post-55833641064971034402010-10-06T14:45:00.000+01:002010-10-06T14:45:56.926+01:00

I've always thought it rather ironic that religion, the one thing that should  surely bring humanity together, is so often the tool used to prise us apart.That some of the people who you would hope were preaching universal love and respect for our fellows are instead encouraging mistrust and even hate. Jonathan Swift, the great Irish writer and satirist of the early

Nicola Ripponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09227628242278711168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794776986771367020.post-75089080175657019032010-10-01T10:53:00.002+01:002010-10-01T10:55:03.652+01:00

I'd like to say "Hi' to the many new people who have popped by over the last few weeks - it's all very exciting to have new folk over. Very soon I shall be moving, yes, lock, stock & barrel, over to a new home complete with its own domain name: www.raggedyanngirl.com. This will allow me a lot more scope to develop Raggedy Ann Girl in a Barbie Doll World into an even better place to visit.

Nicola Ripponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09227628242278711168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794776986771367020.post-5939457058021835082010-09-28T17:28:00.000+01:002010-09-28T17:28:47.587+01:00

Neighbours … everybody needs good neighbours … so the song tell us, but is it true? 'Of course it is!' I hear you cry. But do we all mean the same thing? And has the good neighbourliness of the past been replaced by a more modern version? There's a tendency for us to believe that everyone else lives in a fabulous community of neighbours who leave their back doors open for one another, deliver

Nicola Ripponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09227628242278711168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794776986771367020.post-37712792235619284902010-09-23T11:35:00.003+01:002010-09-24T09:43:09.545+01:00

p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Let me begin by saying that I have dozens of cookbooks. And a very small bookshelf. I already have to do a seasonal rotation four times a year to accommodate them all, so to get a permanent place on my shelf, and become splashed with the traces of the

Nicola Ripponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09227628242278711168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794776986771367020.post-75835141434098324672010-09-21T17:33:00.003+01:002010-09-21T17:40:02.834+01:00

You might notice I've compiled a list of my current top ten films. I say current, because this tends to change dependent on my mood, the time of year and what I've just seen etc. Now I'm always a bit wary of putting out lists of favourites as if my opinion should matter one jot to anyone else - but I've done it anyway because these are some of the films I love and the ones that, in my very humble

Nicola Ripponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09227628242278711168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794776986771367020.post-74536110808776954582010-09-21T15:44:00.001+01:002010-09-21T18:07:26.154+01:00

It was one of those dinner party conversations. The wine was flowing, good friends were nattering. We were mickey-taking, philosophising and reminiscing. We'd discussed the comparative merits of old films and new ones, debated whether nuns or metalworkers made the scariest teachers and tried to remember every FA Cup winning team since 1946. Perhaps no surprise then, that the random chat

Nicola Ripponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09227628242278711168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794776986771367020.post-74685631077008701882010-09-13T11:10:00.003+01:002010-09-14T12:38:56.149+01:00

I'm about to do something I've never done before. I'm about to stick up for the Prime-Minister-before-last Tony Blair. Not for his policies, you understand, and certainly not for his decision to take Britain into the war in Iraq. But for his right to publish his memoirs and, in particular, his right to attend book signings in this country. Believe me, as far as I'm concerned the less we see of

Nicola Ripponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09227628242278711168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794776986771367020.post-44885108624737676192010-09-10T11:45:00.002+01:002010-09-14T12:38:31.338+01:00

They say your forties are a time of discovery, when you finally begin to understand who you really are and what drives you. I've always thought it ironic that you finally get to grips with life just as you start to realise you aren't going to live forever. I've written before about that disquieting sense that you are turning in to your parents. When you realise you haven't a clue what's at Number

Nicola Ripponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09227628242278711168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794776986771367020.post-19343344165994473212010-03-22T12:28:00.001+00:002010-03-25T21:46:26.002+00:00

"It" happened a couple of days ago. I reached the point where I wondered whatever had gone wrong with the world. I usually kid myself I'm way too young for such pessimistic musings, but sitting on a bus, surrounded by argument and aggression, I finally reached the point where I admitted that some days I'm not too fond of modern society. Please don't misunderstand: I'm naturally liberal-minded,

Nicola Ripponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09227628242278711168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794776986771367020.post-43137649938615103862010-01-29T12:25:00.000+00:002010-01-29T12:25:00.653+00:00

In 2008 Prime Minister Gordon Brown made a promise at his party conference to grant free prescriptions to all those in England with chronic, long-term and serious conditions.(those in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales either already get this, or are about to) Time is now running out to getting this into and through Parliament before the next General Election (likely to be in May or June).

Nicola Ripponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09227628242278711168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794776986771367020.post-30064284320540302532009-12-16T12:19:00.004+00:002009-12-16T13:03:18.377+00:00

Dear ThiefYou know who you are, even though you probably do this so often you won't even remember my name. Well, let me remind you. I am the British tourist whose credit card you cloned when I paid in a restaurant in Berlin last week and used it in Russia to buy from an Italian website. I don't know whether you are the cheerful and friendly waitress (who I tipped generously for your excellent

Nicola Ripponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09227628242278711168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794776986771367020.post-46436424613772193912009-09-15T19:11:00.004+01:002010-09-14T11:41:45.936+01:00

In a complete change of tack from my usual blogging, here is a recipe for a lovely (and definitely alcoholic!) Christmastime drink. I have been making this with enthusiasm for several years around this time of year and consuming it during the Holidays with even greater enthusiasm! I recommend it as an accompaniment to pre-dinner nibbles - I'd choose blini and caviar! Enjoy and go steady - it's

Nicola Ripponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09227628242278711168noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794776986771367020.post-83368129363335268572009-09-10T09:19:00.005+01:002010-09-14T12:33:14.038+01:00

National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week is held annually in September and is part of a worldwide effort to bring together people who live with invisible chronic illness and those who love them. 1. The illness I live with is: asthma 2. I was diagnosed with it in the year: 2008_ 3. But I had symptoms since: my teenage years. 4. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is: carrying my

Nicola Ripponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09227628242278711168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794776986771367020.post-21753739493094473242009-06-17T11:45:00.002+01:002009-06-17T11:47:40.223+01:00

Because the likelihood of me adding to the Derby Telegraph blog page is small at the present time, I have copied over (and pre-dated) blogs from that list to this one. Those blogs also appeared in the Derby Telegraph's print editions.

Nicola Ripponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09227628242278711168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794776986771367020.post-7670708015308191832009-04-30T17:27:00.004+01:002009-04-30T17:39:53.459+01:00

From 2 to 10 May Asthma UK is having a fundraising week - please take time to see whether there are any local fundraisers.On Tuesday 5 May 2009 it is World Asthma Day. This year the focus is on children and young people with asthma. I was one of the 40 percent of asthma sufferers diagnosed in adulthood - my diagnosis was last year. Although I’d guessed what might be wrong with me, I was a little

Nicola Ripponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09227628242278711168noreply@blogger.com0