Okay, so that is a bit of a general statement, but certainly the nurseries I have contacts in (not just where my daughters work) come back with similar tales. Here are just a few.

"Food" For Baby and Children: In one particular nursery, they grab various items from the freezer and throw it all together on one tray and "cook" it in the oven. It makes no difference as to differing times that such items should be cooked for. They all go in for the same period of time and then served up for the children to eat. There is little or no consideration for the healthy eating requirements of children.

Poor Motivation For the Key Workers: These are the members of staff who have direct responsibility for your baby or child. Generally speaking, these are the members of staff who do really care about babies and children but are controlled by managers under quite a tight regime. The managers find themselves able to pay the lowest rate possible to their staff (and sometimes below the legal requirement). It is common that new members of staff join for the opportunity to work with the children and have their childcare studies funded, but they often miss the clause in the contract that says that they will indeed be funded at no cost to the staff member as long as they remain with the nursery during studies and for a specified amount of time beyond. The result is that these members of staff can be treated abysmally as such members of staff simply cannot afford to pay back the costs of the course if they leave the nursery early. They are often put upon to work extra hours and receive extra duties for no reward. I personally know some such members who live in fear of losing their job and having to pay back the mentioned amounts.

The Number Of Staff Per Child: There is a law that covers this and it is a law that is broken in at least two nurseries I know about.

There are various other incidents I could report here, but to label all nurseries as the same would not be fair - or would it. What do you know about the inner workings of the nurseries near you? Do they take good care of your baby or child? Are you sure? Or do they do just what they have to and treat their staff as virtual slaves? Just a thought that you might like to investigate for yourself.

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Read the rest of this article, make your comments and read other "baby" articles at http://baby-name-most-popular.blogspot.com.

The author: Doug Harvey grants permission for this article to be freely published as long as it includes this bio.

Doug Harvey invites you to visit his site where a wealth of online dating information is available: http://www.infowithin.co.uk/recommends/dating

About the author:

Doug Harvey - for a lot more information on dance

shoes please visit: http://www.infowithin.co.uk/

recommends/danceshoes

Cut all the solid ingredients up into small pieces. The onion should be finely cut. They are not only easier to eat this way, but cook quicker too. Remember to get rid of any gristle or fat etc from the meat.

Mix the now chopped up potatoes, meat, water, onion and salt and pepper thoroughly. (That's another thing I find in those shop or store sold "Cornish" pasties – all the pepper seems to be concentrated into one spot! There you are munching away and then you suddenly hit that spot! I think you can guess the rest!)

Now we start getting toward the tricky bit. With the pastry laid out, use the ingredients to fill half of it in a bit of a pile – unless you want a flat pasty! Make sure though, that you leave about an inch clear pastry from the edge.

Dampen the exposed edge with water.

Carefully (if the pastry is too thin, this is the point at which holes start appearing – I speak from experience!), lift the empty half of the pastry over the top of the mixture. In effect, you are folding it in half.

At this point you could cheat to do the edging. If you want to, then press the edges together with the back of a fork to seal them. If you want a true-blue Cornish pasty though, you will need to master the art of "crimping".

How to crimp the edges of a Cornish pasty. Press the edges of the pastry together to seal them as before.

Now carefully turn the pasty so that the sealed edge is now along the top.

Start at the left edge of the pasty, take hold between the left finger and thumb and turn it so it points along the line of the sealed edge. This is to make sure nothing oozes out the end!

Now move your left finger and thumb over the bit you just turned.

Place your right finger and thumb on the edge immediately adjacent to it and do what I would describe as a lift-turnover toward you. Now go back to the previous paragraph until you reach the end of the line. At this point turn the end inwards like you did previously.

With that all done, make a knife slit in the top to allow air to escape whilst cooking. If you didn't get on with the crimping too well, then we will put it down to my explanation - or maybe you just have to be Cornish!

Brush the whole thing with beaten egg/milk if you want a glaze, but you don't have to.

Place the pasty on a baking tray and cook in a hot oven (about 450F) until the pastry is pale brown at which point reduce the temperature to around 350-370F for about 40 minutes. It is important to get it right as crunchy and chewy ingredients just doesn't make for a good pasty!

Enjoy it and make sure you fly the flag for a genuine Cornish pasty!

For recipes just like your local restaurants that you can prepare at home I suggest a quick visit here: - enjoy!

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About the author:

For recipes just like your local restaurants that you can prepare at home I suggest a quick visit here: http://www.infowithin.co.uk/recommends/goodfood - enjoy!

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/home-and-family/pets/how-to-care-for-pet-rats.html http://www.articletrader.com/home-and-family/pets/how-to-care-for-pet-rats.html Wed, 20 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0500

If you haven't already bought your pet rats (sometimes referred to as "fancy rats"), then here is a bonus tip: Only buy female pet rats (check they're not pregnant first!). The reason? Simple. They don't smell. Male ones do - sorry guys. This makes it a lot easier to care for them in terms of keeping the cage all fresh and wonderful.

Let's start with the pet rats themselves. First of all in a way, they are like little humans - they thrive on love and affection, cuddles, being taken out of the cage and even being taken with you when you go out anywhere, though you might get some odd reactions! They are very sociable animals.

Despite what you may have heard, pet rats are clean creatures. In fact ours have been so clean that we kept them in the living room with us as they love company. They do not like mess and can even be toilet trained by providing a special litter tray and keeping it cleaned out for them i.e. removing their droppings reasonably frequently. They "enjoy" the occasional bath too - well sort of - I think they enjoy being dried off with a towel more. Incidentally, they are natural swimmers. Use a shampoo from the pet store that is suitable for rats and it will help keep down any mite problems.

Buy the largest suitable cage you can afford. By "suitable" I mean a cage designed with rats in mind. Rats can suffer from something called "bumble foot" which can be rather unpleasant for them. The right kind of cage can help to prevent this. We purchased a "Jenny Cage". Cages with wire bases are definitely not suitable. Similarly wheels that they run around in should not be wire ones. Inside the cage, make sure they have plenty of things to do. Provide tubes, ladders, climbing ropes, etc., so they can have fun whilst they are part of your family. Rats do not live very long - around three years is good.

This has just been an introduction to how to care for pet rats. Further excellent advice is available

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Doug Harvey and his family have enjoyed the company of and cared for pet rats for a number of years. Further excellent advice is available here:

http://www.infowithin.co.uk/recommends/ratcare.

The benefits of these two specific oils are many. In some uses, these oils may be interchangeable. For the purposes of this article though, the following suggestons are offered.

Lavender is a soothing and healing oil. It is an analgesic, antiseptic and antibiotic. The strong effects of Lavender's healing properties in connection with burns was first noticed by Rene Gattefosse who covered his hand in the only available liquid as a result of a laboratory accident. In your first aid kit, it may be considered for the treatment of burns (including sunburn) and scalds, jellyfish stings, colds, influenza, tickly coughs and many other ailments. As a sedative, it's use as a few drops on the pillow to aid sleep is another common use as is it's use for treating muscular pain. There are very many uses for Lavender.

Believed to originate in use from the Aborigines, Tea-Tree attacks infection, bacteria, fungi and viruses. It stimulates the immune system in the face of an attack. It is also good as an insect repellant and is the scent takes a little getting used to, it may even keep people away! You need to be aware however, that some people might find Tea-Tree to be an irritant and would therefore need to blend it with a base oil or dilute in the various other ways that are available.

For first aid kit purposes, this aromatherapy oil may be considered for cold sores, atheletes foot, veruccae, warts, acne, and many more

Either of these oils may be used for various bites from animals and insects, cuts, grazes, insect bites (though I would use Tea-Tree).

Do remember some important facts when purchasing aromatherapy oil:

• 1) They should be "pure essential oil", not fragranced oils.
• 2) They should be purchased and stored in dark glass bottles as they are affected by heat and light. Plastic bottles affect the oils.
• 3) They should be purchased from a source where they are not stored beneath hot lamps or blazing light.
• 4) Aromatherapy oilsAromatherapy oils have a limited shelf life, so you want to purchase from a source that has a reasonable turnover.

This short article does not do the use of aromatherapy oil justice and you - the reader - are encouraged to research for yourself and discover the wonders of healing that nature provides. That's how I began years ago.

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Doug Harvey is a qualified masseur frequently using the benefits that aromatherapy oils provide. To obtain further easy-to-read, detail-packed information on the use and application of aromatherapy in your life and home, go to: http://tinyurl.com/2chzna.

In an unchanged format, including "About the author", this article may be freely used and distributed.