Advantages: Plenty to see,Good break from the coast.
Disadvantages: Lots of hills.

...I first visited the provençal town of Grasse with a friend who needed to renew his passport in a hurry,  in time for an urgent business trip. Those of you who have come across french bureaucracy will be well aware that this left me with plenty of time for some sightseeing. The first thing I noticed about Grasse was the freshness of the air, whether this was the change from the traffic fumes of  Nice or the scent of flowers or just that it was a shade cooler here at over 300m compared to the coast I am not sure. Probably it was a combination of the three. Grasse is only a half hours drive west of Nice and is about nine miles south of Cannes. You may hear that Grasse is on the Route Napoléon do not spend your time searching for a motorway , this is a reference to the route taken by Napoléon after his escape from Elba and landing... Read review

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Advantages: None.
Disadvantages: Horrendous, heart breaking, potential fatal disease

...I am going to assume a basic level of equine knowledge with this report. I will try not to assume much veterinary knowledge, but if I am confusing or unclear, please leave questions in comments and I will try to answer them all! Overview Firstly, why did I rate this as very poor? Well, this is a potentially fatal disease for horses and ponies. Pretty poor I would say. Grass sickness, (or Equine Dysautonomia to give it the veterinary name) is a degenerative condition of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). The nervous system is the control system of the body, the ANS, specifically, is involved in maintaining a constant, stable state in the body. If the ANS is affected, the movement of the bowel is affected (known as paralytic ileus) and so the guts become paralysed. Background Cases are presently restricted to the UK... Read review

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Advantages: Classic fragrance.
Disadvantages: None in my view!

...**Review of Elizabeth Arden Blue Grass Eau de Parfum for Her** Elizabeth Arden products have been a long time favourite of mine as they evoke memories of my mother and aunties. When I was 5 (I'm almost 50 now!) I was a bridesmaid for my auntie, I recall being allowed a dab of her Blue Grass as it was a special occasion, even now the scent reminds me of that lovely day!! This particular fragrance was first developed in the 1930's and has undergone a revival having been re-introduced in 1989. Fragrances of this style have never really been out of fashion. **History and Background of Elizabeth Arden (December 31, 1878 - October 19, 1966)* * Elizabeth Arden, originally named Florence Nightingale Graham, was born in Woodbridge, Ontario, Canada. She was the fourth of five children of a Scottish grocer. She worked a host of odd... Read review

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Advantages: Chance to keep your purchases and get paid to shop
Disadvantages: Assignments are not that regular from my personal experience

...Grassroots is one of two mystery shopper agencies that I have used; the other is Retail Eyes which I have already reviewed a few weeks ago. The two are very similar in operation and while this review is not about comparing the two my own personal preference is for Retail Eyes as the one major difference between the two companies is that with Retail Eyes you go to the website and search for assignments you want to do while with Grassroots you have to wait for an e-mail invite to carry out an assignment and even then you are not guaranteed to get the job. About the Company Grass Roots PLC is one of the top online UK market research agencies. Having a solid reputation is important, firstly it gives you confidence that you will be paid for your efforts and not taken advantage of and secondly market presence means... Read review

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Advantages: Good taste, good value for money, great with cocktails, something different with good history
Disadvantages: Not good if you just like vodka and coke!

...The first time i tried this was a couple of years ago when my dad bought a bottle back from Poland having been there for business. They apparantly often close business deals with a shot of vodka, something you cant imagine happening in England! Zubrowka (pronounced Zub-ruf-ka) is a quality vodka combined with spirits infused with Bison grass from the Bialoweiska Forest in Poland. Packaging Clear Glass bottle, with a white label with a picture of a bison on. The obvious giveaway is in fact the piece of grass from the bison field from the products native poland. Bottle Size 70cl Price You'd be looking at around £14-£15. I have seen it in Uk supermarkets and off licences. Taste The flavour of this vodka is quite unique i've never tried anything like it! It tastes of herbs, mixed with vanilla, but also has a hint... Read review

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Advantages: Marlene and Boycie play these parts so well.
Disadvantages: Nothing can compare to Only Fools and Horses!!!

...If you are a fan of John Sullivan's Only Fools and Horses you will love this spin-off' called Green Green Grass' also written by John Sullivan. Even if you have never seen Only Fools and Horses you will still enjoy as it is full of fun and originality. First let me introduce you to Boycie and Marlene. For those of you who know them from Only Fools and Horses they are the best duo of the sitcom. Boycie is a stubborn and snobby business man who owns a dodgy second hand car show room. He sees anyone as 'having a pound less than him as a peasant' as described by Del Boy. He has been married to Marlene for many years who is the merry, yet dopey one of the couple. She ignores his grumpy moods and manages to keep a smile on her face at all times. Before they were married, Marlene was the girl all the men knew well..... When... Read review

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Advantages: effective all in one lawn treatment, kills weeds and nourishes lawns
Disadvantages: could be better at killing moss, however does reduce moss re-growth

...on newly sown grass or newly laid turf for the first year. Don’t apply when the grass is wet or damp with dew or when rain is imminent - as you will risk scorching your lawn. Don’t exceed the recommended application amounts. Don’t mow your lawn for 3 or 4 days before or after application (I left my lawn for 3 weeks before mowing, to ensure that the feed had settled well into the soil). Don’t allow the feed to come into contact with concrete, tarmac, slabs or garden furniture as stains could occur. Don’t put grass cuttings on the compost heap for the next 4 cuts. Don’t apply during drought or freezing conditions. Don’t use if the grass is under stress due to lack of rain. I started to notice a real difference about 3 weeks after I had applied the feed. Slowly the weeds were starting to turn brown and die, the grass became one shade... Read review

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Advantages: Interesting assignments, reasonable pay
Disadvantages: Not a great deal of work, poor website, takes ages to enter results

...I have been with Grass Roots (GRG) for a few months now and work is spasmodic, but it is with all the Mystery Shopping agencies I work for. Allocation of work by email is fine but quickly snapped up, it can be quite frustrating phoning to accept a job because it's all automated and you have to spend several minutes going through the various options and are then told that the job is no longer available! I had no luck getting replies to emails sent to their general email address, but then managed to get the email of a particular person, and have had no problems since. Probably the easiest agency to sign up with, although they do ask for bank details when you register and I had no acknowledgement at all, so I was a bit worried about having revealed bank details. The first I heard back from them was when I was offered the first... Read review

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Advantages: Fun Varied and Paid to do the things we love.
Disadvantages: Quite impersonal customer service.

...don't meet the criteria as they dont email you unless you do! You are given a phone number to ring and a ref number to quote, unfortunately it is automated which means that if you have any questions regarding the assignments you can't ask there and then like with Retail Maxim, you have to ring a different No. The website. The website doesn't play a particularly big part as you only need to visit it in order to change details of your profile and to submit your report when you have completed an assignment using your panellist no. However, it is very helpful in my opinion as it has an FAQ section a Contact Us section in case of any queries and also explains thoroughly about the art of Mystery Shopping and the role of Grass Roots. What equipment will I need? You need to have easy access to the Internet as reports have... Read review

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Advantages: Cheap, very efficient, easy to use
Disadvantages: A few problems assembling

...Another Bank Holiday has passed and with it the compulsory need for us humans to carry out some sort of DIY or home improvement, no Bank Holiday would possibly be the same if we didn’t. So….yep you guessed it, I too took part and one of my missions was to give my new(ish) turf it’s first trim. As we only have a small area of turf laid out in the back garden that is too small to justify getting the bulky flymo out for and with nooks and crannies to contend with, my grass cutting skills moved to a new level of expertise and thus it was time to get my new grass trimmer out (jump for joy - NOT!). MODEL: Challenge 350W Grass Trimmer SPEC: Model number M1G-ZP-250 Rated voltage 230 VAC 50Hz Input power 350 Watts Cable length 10 m Weight 2.4 Kg Cutting width 250 mm No load speed 11,000 rpm Cutting line 4.5 metres max Measured... Read review

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