Lord of the rings

Despite its rapid growth and huge size now - the Lakeland mail order centre sends out over 10,000 orders every day - the company has always prided itself on its close contact with customers who bombard it with suggestions and pleas.

Lots of bright and cheerful gizmos and gadgets to solve problems before you'd even realised they were problems.

But do they work?

Like a child let loose in a toy shop, we plunged into the world of Lakeland and sent for an entirely random selection of their goodies.

BEECHWOOD SWIZZLE STICK £1.99 BEAUTIFULLY simple - long stick with a star shape at the end. Twirl it between your hands to make frothy coffee or hot chocolate. It is also good for getting lumps out of pans of custard too small for a whisk.

Does it work? Yes, but those who will find it most fun are children who will make the most chaotic mess with it, as well as being tempted to use it as a sword.

COLOUR CHANGING EGG TIMER £4.99 THIS seems like a great idea - an eggshaped timer that you pop in the pan with the eggs. It changes colour with the heat, and as it gradually turns from red to black, the grid shows whether your egg will be soft, medium or hard boiled.

You can put four or five eggs in the pan together and get each one out at the right time. Well, that's the theory.

Unfortunately, eggs have to cook in boiling water. And when water is boiling, or even just simmering, it is very hard to spot the exact changes of colour. You either peer through the steam or fish the thing out every few seconds. Whatever you're meant to do, we couldn't manage it (and our specs got steamed up). So our soft boiled egg still had a runny white and our medium egg was solid.

Does it work? No. Hopeless. Stick to an old-fashioned egg timer. Or guesswork.

LIQUID THREAD £3.99 "A SEWING machine in a bottle", it says.

It's glue that you then iron into position.

It's messier than we thought (maybe that was just us). Good for trims and brilliant for trouser hems - which so far have survived a couple of washes. They suggest you use it on patchworks which seems (a) too fiddly and (b) cheating.

Does it work? Yes. It's worth having if only for trouser hems.

MAGIC BALLS £3.99 TINY little jar of what looks like goldcoloured cake decorations. You put them in decanters, clear vases, bottles with a bit of soapy water, swirl them round and hey presto! All the mucky marks and build up of slimy old flower water vanishes.

And you can use the balls again.

Do they work? Amazingly, yes.

MAGIC ERASER BLOCK £2.99 CHUNK of melamine foam that you can cut to any shape and use to remove stains.

Does it work? I suppose so, but no better really than a cloth and cleaning liquid.

MAGI RING-PULL OPENER £1.99 IRONIC, really, that ring pulls were meant to make opening cans simpler and easier and have ended up causing a whole new load of problems, not least the number of bent forks in our cutlery drawer.

This is a dinky little plastic gadget that hooks under ring pulls and then levers them off.

Does it work? Yes, but if you have a really stubborn ring-pull you have to be quite strong to hold down the can.

ORANGE PEELERS 60p OK, these were only 60p a pair - little plastic bits that slice through the peel.

But they were absolutely hopeless. You still needed a knife or your fingers - which would have been much quicker in the first place.

Do they work? Not really.

PINEAPPLE CORER AND SLICER £6.50 OH, we loved this. It seemed so improbable.

Slice the top off a pineapple, then just press down and turn with this gadget and - lo and behold - the pineapple emerges from its shell in a lovely corkscrew shape.

No mess, no core. We could live off pineapples for ever.

Does it work? Yes, brilliantly.

ROAST AND SERVE RACK £18.99 INGENUOUS device to help with that tricky moment when you transfer the roast from the roasting tin to the carving plate. Simply cook the joint on this rack, transfer it to the plate and then remove the pin that holds the two sides of the rack together. The result should leave the meat nicely positioned with no risk of drama.

Does it work? Well, yes, but it has a weight limit of 11lb - which is pretty easy to transfer anyway. What we need is something that can cope with an 18lb turkey - now that's the real challenge.

SONIC SCRUBBER £14.99 IF you're the sort who saves old toothbrushes to clean tiles, skirting boards and awkward places then the sonic scrubber is made for you. It's exactly like a battery-operated toothbrush only a bit bigger. Great on grouting.

It's also good on gas rings and on the bit between the hob and the work top where all the gunge gathers.

Does it work? Yes, but I'm not sure if I could be bothered to remember to buy the batteries.

■ There are Lakeland stores in Harrogate, Newcastle and York, or shop online at www.lakeland.co.uk.

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS...

DURING the Christmas and New Year period many people look for both an alternative to Christmas pudding and for easy-to-serve desserts.

Doddington, the dairy ice cream maker, has come up with three festive flavours as an alternative to the traditional but heavy Christmas pudding.

Cranberry and Orange is a delicate blend of the two fruits, while Yuletide Pudding is a mix of port wine, brandy, luxury dried fruit and spices - the frozen alternative to Christmas pudding.

Mulled Wine is pale pink in colour and oozes those culinary Christmas aromas such as red wine, port citrus fruits, cinnamon and spices.

They are available in 500ml cartons from delicatessen throughout the region.

A full list of stockists is available from the Doddington Dairy Ice Cream website: www.doddingtondairy.co.uk

Bouquets of the Week

Dear Sharon, IWOULD love to surprise Nicky and all the hardworking team at the Durham Dales Action for Carers in Barnard Castle with a public thank you and praise for their care over the last few years.

Their knowledge amazes me and has helped sort out a number of stressful times.

At present they are undergoing their own unsettling period and I'm sure that everyone who has benefited from their patience and friendship will join me in wishing them well.

Shirley, Barnard Castle.

■ Carers do a brilliant job, often unrecognised and unsung, so it is good to know that they, in turn, have someone to call on for help and support. Well done to Durham Dales Action for Carers for all their help and they get this week's bouquet.

MANY thanks to Debbie who has been a good neighbour to Mrs E Bennison of Stokesley. "I had a nasty vertigo attack and called Debbie for help as she was taking her children to school. She got someone to help until she came back from school and then she looked after me, coming across all during the day to make sure I was all right. I am very grateful for her kindness."

Susan Bailey of Darlington came a cropper while on holiday in the Algarve and broke a bone in her foot. It didn't spoil her holiday, but the thought of the journey home with the plaster cast was pretty daunting. Luckily, she found kindness all the way.

"I should like to thank the staff at Faro airport and the wonderful gentleman at Gatwick who put me in a buggy and whisked me through like royalty. Also the GNER staff at King's Cross and Darlington who saw me struggling on crutches and found me a wheelchair.

"Also my neighbours and friends for their kindness, the ladies of Pet Pals who walked my dogs, and lastly my wonderful daughters who have been so helpful over the last few weeks. Many thanks to you all."

And we hope Susan is now hopping along nicely.

■ If you want to say a public thank you for good service or to a helpful neighbour, kind stranger or efficient business, then just write with all the details to Sharon Griffiths, Bouquet of the Week, The Northern Echo, Priestgate, Darlington, DL1 1NF. Or e-mail sjgriff111@aol.com. Each week the person nominated in our main letter gets a real bouquet of flowers or a box of posh chocs.