Our new recipe book is at number 6 in the food and drink book charts - higher than Jamie Oliver and Rick Stein. Flippin' 'eck. So if you've already bought it, we'd like to say thanks again. Thanks again. And click here to see some new web pages devoted to the book.

People power

You get what you ask for. That's what my Nan said as she made me a fishpaste and chocolate sandwich. And how right she was. For a while you've been asking us to make more of your favourite recipes available in our big one litre cartons. So we've started off with the one most of you asked for - blackberries and blueberries. As of today, it'll be in most branches of Sainsbury's, and we're working on getting it into some other shops as well. Click the picture to see what's inside the carton.

The 27th happiest person in Britain

Happiness is a state of mind. You know, the one where you smile a lot, laugh at bad jokes and are able to maintain your grin even if you stub your toe on a brass doorstop. The Independent on Sunday newspaper did a thing this weekend that highlighted the happiest people in Britain. Click here to see it. At number one was Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. She got her man and is very happy. Chantelle Doesntneedasurname was at number two, with other notable entries being Charlotte Church (8), Timothy Spall (9) and Billie Piper (19). But look who crept in at number 27 - our very own Richard. Only two places lower than Claire Rayner (pictured). Something to be happy about.

VAT's entertainment We've got the VAT inspectors in today. Our Steve has prepared a brief statement about about VAT for those who are interested."VAT is a tax on 'Flash Harry'. The logic is that if you've got enough money to buy anything more luxurious than bread then you've got enough money to give the government 17 and a half percent. Except you don't give it to the government, you give it to a shopkeeper."Next week - Steve takes us through cost-push inflation.

And finally

We mentioned last week that it's our birthday this week, and that we're going to be 7. We also mentioned that birthday cakes might be warmly received, and that they might even earn their senders prizes, but it seems that this wasn't enough to stir the nation's bakers into action. So here are seven facts about cake to fire your imaginations (and hopefully your ovens).

1. The most expensive cake ever made was the Diamond Fruit Cake, a Christmas cake studded with 223 diamonds and put on sale for $1.7 million dollars in Tokyo in 2005.

2. The world's biggest ever cake was made in Alabama in 1989, and weighed 58 tons, including 7.35 tons of icing. The world's largest gingerbread man was a puny 168kg by comparison.

3. Cake Mix was invented in 1949.

4. Cakes themselves were invented in prehistoric times when a caveman accidentally broke two Pterodactyl eggs into a pile of wheat and raisins. A marauding Tyrannosaurus knocked the whole concoction into a volcano, where it remained for 2 hours at gas mark 3 until turned out onto a rack and left to cool.

5. Cakes of soap are for washing your hands and should not be eaten under any circumstances.

6. Cakes can increase the value of your house. Bake one before potential buyers come round, and the instant homely atmosphere will cause the value to skyrocket. It's probably best to do some cleaning too.

7. The best birthday cake received at Fruit Towers, 3 the Goldhawk Estate, Brackenbury Road, London W6 0BA by this Friday will earn its sender a special prize and a mention in next week's news.

Post-Easter, we are OK for chocolate but struggling for news. We could tell you about a man called George who rang us this morning - he drinks 4 litres of our drinks every day and wants us to make something with tomatoes in it so that he can mix it with his sherry in the evening. But we'll skip George and move on to Holland...

Nick nick nick

You may remember that we told you about our office in Amsterdam being burgled. Well, we are sad to say that they were burgled again. And again. That's now three burglaries. To be honest, there was nothing left stealing after the first time. Perhaps they just liked the way it smells. It smells of cheese and ham toasted sandwiches - a smell worth breaking windows for.

Le World

Le Monde. The big one. Not only is it France's most popular newspaper, it also looks like 'Lemonade' if you glance at it quickly. Anyway, we've been trying to catch Le Monde's eye for a while, and it seems that we finally succeeded. They wrote an article about smoothies last week and mentioned us.

According to them "Chez Innocent, on interpelle le client avec des étiquettes humoristiques sur les bouteilles." And our bottles are "très graphique, gai et coloré. Et la façon de faire du business se veut en accord avec l'environnement." Our French isn't so hot, but we think that they're saying that there's some dumb stuff on the labels. You can read more by clicking here, although it seems to be one of those annoying sites where you have to pay for the full article. Le boo.

Here's a story from our Nicky...

"I walked into a little pub in Falmouth on Sunday night and found a drunken man in a kilt running a pub quiz and he was just launching into a question about innocent smoothies...and I thought 'we've really made it now if we're pub quiz material'. Then I went outside and drunkenly laughed at seagulls."

So now you know what Nicky did at Easter. Ha ha seagull.

Respect overdue

We just got our PLR (public lending rights) statement back for 2004/2005. It shows that 532 people borrowed our old recipe book from the library, thus earning us £29.63. Thanks for borrowing it.

Other stuff

• There have been more cow abductions
• What do you buy someone for their 90th birthday? It's Nana Chapman's birthday on 28th April but Rowena is struggling for gift ideas.
• It's our birthday on 28th April too (7 years old). Cakes welcome at the usual address. Best cake gets a massive prize. You've got to try, haven't you?
• These people won juicers, smoothie makers and recipe books because they know what 'zeitgeist' means. Well done to Paula G, Alice B, Harry P, Hugo B and Eileen M. Ten runners-up will also be getting copies of our lovely new recipe book.

Sign of the Times

We almost dropped our coco pops when we opened the paper on Sunday morning to see three whole pages of recipes from our new smoothie book. You can read the full Sunday Times Style article here. Apparently we are part of the zeitgeist.

And if you'd like to get hold of a copy of our recipe book, we have a special offer for you. You can buy it for £10.99 including p&p (rrp £12.99) by calling 0870 787 1724 and quoting reference 847G. Offer only valid within the UK. Please allow 21 days for delivery. Offer expires 31st December 2006.

Thirst Division You're playing away at Manchester United. It's 60 minutes before kick-off. Have you got everything you need? Kit? Check. Flip chart? Check. Firm massage from a man in fetching sock and sandal combo? Check. And if you're West Ham you've also got a fridge full of innocent smoothies to keep you going.

Ruby's Shoes Day We'd like to say a big thank you to Janet at Starchild shoes. After reading in last week's news that our Dan had become a dad she sent in some lovely strawberry slippers for little Ruby. If you're after a pair yourself, the shoes pictured can be found here.

And finally...

• Congratulations to Kelly for naming our new cow van, Belle. We had a few people suggesting the name but she was the first. The smoothies are in the post.
• Our Mel's dad has just got a new cow. He's called Hamish and is a Highland Steer (the cow, not Mel's dad). Apparently his horns are six feet from point to point (again, the cow, not Mel's dad).

No new drinks this week, but we’ve filled the void with some daffodils, a sprouting twig and an unconvincing Bucks Fizz impersonation. What more could you want?

Currant affairs

A little while ago we told you about the little blackcurrant cuttings given to us by Edward the farmer. And we told you we’d keep you up to date with any progress. Well, boy has there been progress. It is recommended that faint-hearted botanophobics do not click here.

Flowers of the week

It is 25 years to the day that Bucks Fizz clinched the Eurovision 1981 title, and in recognition of their momentous achievement, we have dedicated this week’s FOTW to them. Below, our own Raz, Louise, Geoff and Nicky have recreated the bands eye catching line up, surrounded by Cheryl Baker’s favourite flower*, the daffodil.

Bucks Fizz, c.1981	innocent drinks, c.2006

*probably

Water palaver

While we were listening to radio 4 in the power shower on Sunday and hearing about the current water shortages, it occurred to us that we could probably do more to help out. Click here for a few simple tips about how we can all do our bit. If that’s not enough to lure you in, there’s also a nice picture of Alan Titchmarsh with bed hair and a rather fetching red fleece. Bless.

And finally...

Just in case you were starting to think it may have been a slow news week here at Fruit Towers, all this other stuff also happened...

• Fulham Football Club has started stocking our smoothies.
• Our office in France had its first visitor, Stéphanie (see below, left).
• Our office in Holland had its second break-in.
• Someone called Jigs made a toothbrush holder out of one of our big cartons (see below, right).
• We’ve got even more jobs going.
• And finally our Dan has had a baby. Lots of love and congratulations to him, Tara and little Ruby.

You write the news

We figured that it might be quite a nice idea to have a bit in our news that's actually your news - you send us in things that have happened to you, or maybe some advance warning of your village fete, and then we can spread the word to like-minded innocent people.

There is one proviso - we maintain the right to not shamelessly plug other people's products or pass on any news that could be deemed a) a bit rude or b) a bit boring. But we reckon that it might just work. Just send your news to mynewsis@innocentdrinks.co.uk And we'll reward anything that we use with a big fat case of drinks and a knowing smile. Thanks.