American Expats In The UK is a very helpful and friendly site for Americans living in the UK or for Americans who are contemplating a move to the UK.

The site is owned and managed by Kerry, an American who is from California. Kerry created the site, American Expats in the UK, when she lived in England for a while and even though she returned to California, and then moved again - to the Netherlands - she has decided to keep the site going:

American Expats In The UK was launched on the world wide wed in February 2001. This site is dedicated to assisting Americans living in or planning a move to the United Kingdom.

The site is packed with information, practical advice and links to related websites. There is also a very friendly forum where Americans eagerly offer their help and support to their compatriots. The forum is very popular and it's well moderated so any "trolls" are spotted and dealt with very quickly.

The forum is free but your access will be limited to certain sections - to News, Introductions and General Chat. In order to get full access you will have to pay a $15 subscription fee (for 12 months) via PayPal. I'm a member and I definitely recommend the site and confirm that it's well worth subscribing to.

Crash Test Kitchen is a fun food podcast and video blog rolled into one. The blog is written and hosted by Waz and Lenny,"... a couple of foodies with a video camera."

Each podcast/video is a delight to watch and listen to as Waz and Lenny set about demonstrating a recipe step-by-step from start to finish (including sitting down to a taste test afterwards) and including their amusing comments and observations during the lesson.

Waz and Lenny are Australian (relocated to London) and their Australian accents and expressions as well as their friendly and genuine banter, makes the podcast impossible to resist. They are just so utterly charming! Even if you hate cooking/baking, it's worth watching Crash Test Kitchen because they are always so entertaining. You may even decide to try one of their recipes!

If you like crafting, you will love CraftBits - a fantastic resource for all kinds of FREE craft projects and ideas!

The CraftBits website was created by a mother and daughter team, "located in sunny Brisbane on the east coast of Australia."

I think it's one of the best craft sites on the web. Be sure and check it out! I highly recommend it.

WannabeTVChef is a very impressive blog written by chef and food writer, Kevin Ashton.

"Celebrity stories-Great recipes-Mouthwatering photos-Humorous stories about the restaurant business-Ask the Chef-Advice on ingredients and equipment"

WannabeTVChef is a blog you will want to read regularly for Kevin's expert advice, interesting stories and his delicious recipes.

The BBC provides a comprehensive selection of "Consumer guides to buying and renting property, cars, employment law, goods and services, and more..."

Promoting Green Companies & Brands: GuideMeGreen

The site is, "... a growing resource for the ethically and environmentally friendly conscious shopper who cares about where they work, what they eat and what they buy!"

GuideMeGreen actually offers three useful directories: The Green Directory, The Ethical Directory, and The Jobs Directory.

This useful site is self-explanatory:

Vinegar Tips - 1001 uses for white distilled vinegar.

French Word-A-Day is both a fun and informative blog by an American expat (from Arizona) living in France. Kristin Espinasse always writes in an entertaining way about her life with her French husband and children and the challenges of learning the language. The added bonus of reading Kristin's blog is her French "lessons" in each post which are a fun and easy way to learn French along with her.

Buried in the Slush Pile is a very interesting blog written by an editor with a small press. Writers will find it useful.

This is a fantastic resource for anyone interested in art or history:

The Timeline of Art History "is a chronological, geographical, and thematic exploration of the history of art from around the world, as illustrated especially by the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection."

If you are considering adopting a dog (in the UK) you will quickly discover there are many rescue centres and it's difficult to know where to start looking. That's why a new blog called DogsBlog is such a great idea:

"DogsBlog.com is a new and exciting resource providing a simple, easy to use, centralised location for people interested in adopting a rescue dog."

The blog is easy to use. You can find a dog by the rehoming centre where they are located or by their age, sex or breed type. The blog doesn't use nearest location as a criteria because "It is our firm belief that the ‘right’ dog is not neccesarily the nearest dog."

The Yellow House is about how George Marshall and his wife, Annie, set about turning a house into an eco-house:

"This is the story of how we took a very ordinary English terrace 1930s house and set out on a limited budget to turn it into our dream eco-house: comfortable, clean, healthy, beautiful and a model for low impact living."

The site is set up so you can easily explore the house and the eco-features room by room and there are also tips and ideas provided that anyone can try.

Crocus is the biggest (and I think, the best) gardening website in the UK.

In addition to a huge selection of plants (over 4,000!) and all the gardening accessories you need - pots, garden machinery, tools, water butts, water features, compost bark & mulches, etc. - Crocus also offers very useful guides to help you find the right plant for your garden.

The Literary Saloon is the literary weblog at the complete review.

The Literary Saloon offers,"opinionated commentary on literary matters"

Recently, I've discovered the wonderful world of podcasts and I think my latest discovery is a real treasure. Although the podcast is called KnitWit: Rantings of a Rabid Knitter it is not neessarily about knitting! In fact, Carry talks about lots of different topics.

On her 'about' page, Carry says: "I started this blog to share a podcast of my stories of knitting, spinning, living with fiber animals and general observations on life. I hope you enjoy it."

So far, I've only listened to her last two podcasts, KnitWit 58: Abernathy and KnitWit 59: And Then.

Wow - Carry has a way with words! I love the way she tells her stories. Listen to her podcasts and I know you will agree. This podcast blog is absolutely wonderful. Enjoy!

(By the way, there is no need to have an ipod or any other kind of .mp3 player to listen to the podcasts. You can listen through the speakers on your computer)

Bill Thompson's Eye on Books offers "Author Interviews You Can Listen To" and also features The Writer's Craft - "Authors on the art of writing" which is a great resource for aspiring writers.

Do you enjoy reading poetry? If you do, I know you will like reading the blog, Sticks and Stones by Marian Barker, a very talented poet.

According to Marian's profile, her blog "is an attempt to bring together a collection of my poems written over the last thirty years."

Cyberfret.com - "Your source for free guitar lessons on the web"

Learn to play the guitar online, through a variety of free lessons and articles. Guitar lessons use video, audio, flash, MIDI, and tablature.

Free Printable Posters from Print - A - Poster.com

"All of our free Print-A-Posters™ are 5"x7" in size, and each is ready to print right now from our website."

Motor Fix It is "the ultimate car care guide" on the web (UK specific).

PetrolPrices.com is a "a web site to help UK motorists save money on their motoring."

Use the site to search - simply enter a postcode (or town)- for the cheapest petrol in your area.

The Guide to Grammar and Writing is a very useful website.

PaperToys.com is a wonderful site that offers numerous FREE patterns to make paper toys: "Just print, cut, fold and glue!"

The eSkeletons Project is an excellent educational website which "is devoted to the study of human and primate comparative anatomy."

I'm not a fashionista - far from it in fact since I'm a blue jeans, T-shirt and trainers (sneakers) kinda gal - but I do like vintage fashions so I was thrilled to find a site called Martha's Closet, a site that provides "reasonably priced, individual vintage clothing that's honestly described & promptly delivered."

Are you an aspiring writer? If so, you should check out a great site called The Scriptorium, "a virtual room for writers" with lots of helpful articles, writing exercises and very useful printable forms.

If you like cycling:

Bikeforall.net is a site that tells you "Everything you wanted to know about cycling but were afraid to ask"

This is a fun and informative blog about what's happening in the blogging world or "blogosphere":

Bloggers Blog - Blogging the Blogosphere: reporting on blogging news and trends.
There is also a very handy link list of blog resources and a useful list of blogging news links.

VegetableExpert is a comprehensive site all about growing and eating vegetables:

"Save money and eat well by growing your own vegetables. We tell you how to plant, grow, harvest, store and cook them."