Advantages: HELPS TO SOFTEN YOUR CERVIX MAKING LABOUR EASIER
Disadvantages: none if you remember to take them regularly

...When I was pregnant with my first child my midwife recommended that from 35 weeks I should start drinking raspberry leaf tea. Seeing as I do not drink any hot drinks she said that they also came in tablet form. Taking raspberry leaf tea/tablets is supposed to help to soften your cervix making labour quicker and easier. You have to take the tablets 3 times a day. With this being my first pregnancy and being out at work I sometimes forgot to take the tablets regularly. My labour was quite quick and fairly easy. With my next two pregnancies I took the tablets religously every day from 34 weeks and they definately helped. My labours were definately quicker and easier. I had to be induced with the last two pregnancies and when I was given an internal the midwife said that my cervix was really soft and asked if I had been taking... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Easy drinking, unfussy
Disadvantages: Not very complex

...creates hot spots which means there's a higher level of caramelization which increases the malty flavours of their beer. The brewery started life back in 1869 as Lorimar & Clark and was saved from oblivion it 1987 after a management buy-out. The brewery was all but destroyed in a major fire in 1995, but recovered sufficiently for the mega-brewer, Scottish & Newcastle to partially take-over in 2004 although they still retain a certain amount of independence. This year, they took over the Harviestoun Brewery. But all that's history. Talking of history, the beer I'm reviewing is called Double Amber. Or to give it its full name, Campbell, Hope & King Double Amber. Apparently, it's named "In celebration of Edinburgh's fine brewing heritage". Campbell, Hope & King was an Edinburgh brewery that disappeared in the 60s, like so many others... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: an excellent muscle relaxant
Disadvantages: none

...to be put on a 'drip' until the crisis had passed. I knew the situation couldn't continue as it was because the poor little thing was in so much pain during these bouts. However, before having him humanely destroyed, I decided to experiment with my Raspberry Leaf tablets on the off chance that these might just work for him. I added HCL and Pepsin to help break down the proteins and the combination really worked! Admittedly I had to use a high dosage of raspberry leaf (8 tablets for a small border collie) but they are non-toxic. I'd thoroughly recommend them for anyone to use as a muscle relaxant - they really work and saved both Pepe's life and my sanity!... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Climate, Scenery, Value for Money Holiday,
Disadvantages: None

...My recent holiday bought through Lunn Poly’s web site (a Thomson Holiday), was to a place called Playa Dorada on the Northern (Amber) Coast of República Dominicana (Dominican Republic to us English!) I bought this holiday from Lunn Poly (Thomson) because of their reputation in the holiday industry and I must say that they were as good as they claimed in the adverts! The rep was extremely helpful and informative and she was very pleasant too. This part of the island is called the Amber Coast because of the abundance of amber found there, you will find a huge amount of amber jewellery to buy, along with black jade and the gem that is unique to the Dominican Republic, larimar, which is a gorgeous sea-blue stone. Beware though, larimar jewellery can be quite expensive but, if you are getting engaged as a couple did whilst I was there... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: You find out a lot of answers
Disadvantages: Too many add-ons!

...Having read 'Northern Lights' in three days, and taking not much longer to read 'The Subtle Knife', the wait for 'The Amber Spyglass' was .... challenging to say the very least!! I rushed out to buy the hardback of 'Amber' the week it came out, so eager was I to immerse myself in Pullman's rich tapestry once more. I was not disappointed. As with 'NL' and 'TSK' the book gripped me from the very first page and I lived the adventures of Lyra and Will almost to the total exclusion of all else. It would be peevish not to applaud Pullman's evident talent, petulant to deny that he is anything other than a master story-teller and story-inventor. However, as the climax to a trilogy in which the very fabric of heaven, earth and hell were brought into question by the questing Lord Azriel and the power-hungry magisterium, the book did fall... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Um...
Disadvantages: It's awful

...I know what you're thinking. "Why has he mispelt the word Bock in the title?" Well, you'll have to read the review to find the answer to that one. Besides, anything ciao can do...etc. You know me, I'll drink any (and/or every) beer that I come across (now there's a nasty mental image), so when I encountered a bottle of MICHELOB AMBER BOCK hidden away at the back of a dusty shelf in a dusty little shop, I quickly handed over the necessary coin of the realm in exchange and toddled off to a suitable place of consumption. Not, I hasten to add, the nearest dark alley. I'm not going to go into any details about Anheuser-Busch, the makers of Michelob because: a) you're probably not interested, and b) I'm definitely not interested. If you want to know about the world biggest brewer, have a look at their website. So, let's get... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Magical Storyline, Lovely pictures, easy to read
Disadvantages: Flimsy paperback publication and is part of a series

...All the books in the rainbow fairies series are aimed at a reading target group of girls aged 4-8 years old. This is about preschool to year 3 when they are just getting to know the basic structure of sentences and learning to recognise the longer words. These books are really great for any glitter girls to encourage them to read as the storyline and the appearance of the shiny cover motivates them to pick up the book and explore the pages. I shall be reviewing this second book in the series: Amber the orange fairy. COST: £3.99 FORMAT: Paperback PUBLISHED: may 2003 PLACE OF PURCHASE: Waterstones PUBLISHERS: Orchard books AUTHOR: Daisy Meadows PAGES: 80 Cover: An attractive shiny front cover with a watercolour themed cartoon of Amber the orange fairy on the front and ocre orange clouds pattern which extends to the backcover... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Fast moving gripping story, big twist at the end
Disadvantages: Cant think of any!

.... This puts him in more danger- the knife is extremely valuable. On another world, Mary Malone is discovering things too, and has made an invention- the amber spyglass- which allows you to see dust. With this she realises huge revelations, but she doesnt' realise her danger- Father Gomez, of the constitutional church of discipline, is tracking her with instructions to kill the tempter before she can tempt Lyra like the witches' prophecy says... The two strongest forces in all of the worlds are drawing ever closer to war now, and it seems inevitable that Will and Lyra will be hugely important figures in the battle against Metatron who has taken the Authority's position in the castle in the skies. But Lyra has something important to do first- she must visit Roger, her best friend, in the land of hte dead. She believes it was her fault he died... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Attractive for jewellery
Disadvantages: Lots of plastic replica amber for sale

...Amber has always been a popular stone. It is regarded as one of the luckiest gems and is associated with the zodiac sign of Leo. There is far more to amber than first meets the eye though. Strictly speaking, amber is not actually a stone. The majority is, in fact, solidified and fossilised vegetable resin from ancient Baltic pine trees. The now extinct trees, Pinus succinifera, produced gum and oils. When the two substances mixed together and oxidised, hard resins were formed. The trees were eventually buried under ground or in water where irregular lumps of amber developed from the pine resins. Amber dates from 40-60 million years ago and usually ranges from pale yellow to brown in colour. However, blue amber can also be found but is extremely rare. Most amber can be found in the sands along the Baltic coast and often... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: not applicable
Disadvantages: not applicable

...~~ This opinion contains major SPOILERS for Season 6 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (as well as some minor speculation for Season 7). If you are a BBC viewer, or anybody else who has yet to see the whole of Season 6, don't read this review otherwise you are definitely going to be spoiled. And I don't want any death threats or Simmer voodoo dolls being made... Like a lot of other people, I discovered the amazing acting talents of Amber Benson on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the show, let me just give you a brief outline of what the show is about.... ~*~ BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER Buffy the Vampire Slayer has entertained the world for six years - changing very much as the characters develop from high school outcasts, to being 20-somethings and needing to live in the real world. The introduction... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful