The end of the year at No 36

Tom Smith invented the Christmas Cracker. Yep a Smith as I know some who have a thorn
in there side about the Smith name. He was adventurous and forward thinking, often travelling abroad to search for new ideas, it was on a trip to Paris in 1840 that he first discovered the 'bon bon', a sugared almond wrapped in a twist of tissue paper. It was a simple idea which, over the next 7 years, would eventually evolved into the Cracker. His original factory still supply crackers to this day and is one of the biggest Christmas Cracker manufacturers in the world.

One other interesting fact I found out this Christmas, was that 3 lemons can produce 2.7 volts of electricity and will light a small LED bulb, like those on small Christmas trees. If you want to impress your friends let me know and I will send you the instructions. Great experiment to play with the children of all ages. Also works with potatoes, tomatoes and bananas. Before you ask Gary, it will not power a laptop or iPhone unless you used about a million potatoes, don't even go there!


Humility is the mother of giants: one sees great things from the valley; only small things from the peak. (GK CHESTERTON)

Just seen that Perth is the place to be this New Year, sunny and warm while Pretoria will be see heavy thunderstorms and rain, both around 27 deg C. We will be a balmy 10 deg C and patchy rain but the 24 mph wind will do the damage.
It seems strange that yet again we are far from our loved ones, Angela is 8 hours ahead of us and it is New Year long before us. When it is 6 pm here it is 8pm in SA and New Year in Perth. Not sure what time zone Russell is on but you can rest assured it will be wine time.
It is just a date, a time, a different place but on all this the same time, the same place. I miss you all. We will be better in the New Year and all the New Years to come. We will return those calls, answer those texts and acknowledge those emails, we will, we will.

Dan and Travis are now motor cross riders, breaking their own records time after time. This is breaking news and will be reported on, when the satellite feed come in from South Africa.


Opened an interesting bottle of red wine we received as a present from a colleague of Susan who took us to London for a 'piss up'. Actually sent us a case of reds and whites from South Africa. This is the 2014 Malbec. It says on the label 'An elegantly structured wine with deliciously intense flavours of ripe plum, blackberry and a hint of spice.' Well Glenn and Geraldine, what it says on the bottle comes through to the glass. Stumble Vineyards, produced by Flagstone Winery. I would recommend this as a easy drinking red that lives up to its promise.

Now on a more sobering note, this is the time I wish you all a Happy New Year. I hope it will be happy, sometimes, “happy” may seem very far away. Just about everyone has a minute or a day or a year when they have had great sadness and think they will never be happy again. It doesn’t stop the happiness from existing. Locking it inside a tower doesn’t mean it disappears, just that it is harder to get to, for a while. Being unhappy can hide the tower inside a cloud, but the tower is still there and the safe is still protecting the “happy”.
So all the best and comment when you want or do not want, be happy and be yourselves.





Comments

  1. Lemon electricity can be one of our holiday projects.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I would recommend the potato version as it is easier to work with.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Missed you guys like crazy this Xmas!

    ReplyDelete

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