The Tingle Factor Box

If that's underwear, the dresses must have been HUGE! - Early Womens Underwear

 

Imagine, it's the height of summer. You have woken up and it is already getting warm and sticky. You need to dress ready to face the day. It is not something you look forward to, knowing that you will be wearing a full length dress, several skirts, petticoats, a corset and large, often very thick, underwear. It will be hot and uncomfortable, but, as a lady, it is just what you are expected to wear.

Roaming Roy bridges history - The Towrang Stockade and Derrick Rest Area

This week, with the school holidays in swing, Roy and I thought about the sorts of places you might be visiting for your break. Many of you might be traveling to Canberra, Melbourne, or elsewhere along the Hume Highway, and Roy and I thought we might give you an idea of where to break your journey if you were traveling from Sydney. There are lots of rest areas along the Hume Highway but one in particular, the Derrick rest area, caught Roy's attention, and he decided this was the one he wanted to talk about! It is located on the road from Sydney, 12km before Goulburn.

Roy Creates Festive French Toast

Roy and I thought long and hard about what to write today, Christmas Day. Many of you will be busy with family and friends, and it is really a bit late to give you a recipe or craft to make for Christmas - after all Christmas is already here! Then, inspiration struck - we would teach you to make a a simple but delicious brunch (a meal you have when you slept too late to eat breakfast and it's almost lunchtime) for Boxing Day. To ensure that our idea worked, we thought we should have a trial run and it was delicious!

That's not a Christmas elf - Darrell Lea Christmas Elf

Imagine, it's Christmas morning. You wake up early, running to see what Santa has left for you. You can't open your gifts until your parents are awake (and you have strict instructions not to wake them before 6:00am!), so you don't know what is in all those beautifully wrapped parcels. There is one parcel though which isn't wrapped up - a bag of sweets. Guarding the bag is a beautiful little Christmas Elf.

Roaming Roy Searches For The Perfect Christmas Tree

This week, with Christmas coming up, Roy decided to go on a quest to find a perfect old fashioned, traditional shaped, Christmas tree. We had been discussing the history of Christmas trees together, and he decided that although he already has a tree, he wanted to see where they come from and whether the 'triangle' shape actually exists! We went to visit the Dural Christmas Tree Farm (for details scroll to the bottom of the post) and got lots of friendly help from Leo. He and Roy are standing in front of Roy's favourite Christmas tree (above), though Roy's Grandma said he couldn't have it - it wouldn't fit in our house let alone in the car!

Roy Creates An Old Fashioned Christmas Garland

 

Today, we tend to buy most of our Christmas decorations, and sometimes children make their own from paper and material. In the past though, especially in the 1800's and before, many of the decorations used on Christmas trees were actually edible! People made pomanders to hang on their trees by pressing cloves into an orange, and hung fruit, nuts and biscuits from their trees. They also made garlands out of popcorn, dried fruit, biscuits and lollies, and Roy and I thought we would show you how to make the most famous of these, the popcorn garland!

OK, why do we get boring ones? - Milk Glass Christmas Lights

Imagine, it is the mid 1800s, and your family has put up your first ever Christmas tree. Christmas trees are all the rage, a new fashion which have only just been introduced to England from Germany. It is important to light the tree, but Thomas Edison hasn't even invented the electric light bulb yet. You have to use candles, but this is dangerous. After all, there is lots of oil in a pine tree to catch fire! It was this risk which caused electric Christmas lights to be invented.

Roaming Roy Gets Held Up - Bushranger Hotel

This week, Roy and I decided to visit the 'The Bushranger Hotel' in Collector (near Canberra). Although you may not have heard of Collector, it was for a long time a thriving town with the main road to Canberra passing through. In its heydey it had 5 hotels and many shops. Now the Federal Highway no longer goes through the town it is a much smaller place, and only one of the five hotels survives, The Bushranger Hotel.

Roy Creates A Gingerbread House - Part 2: Putting It Together

Last week, Roy and I made the pieces for our gingerbread house and this week, we put it all together! If you haven't made the pieces yet, visit last weeks Roy Creates post by clicking here.

Read through all the instructions before you begin so you know what to do.

I Suppose It Was Better Than The Alternatives - 4 Hole Mouse Trap

Imagine, you are a young child living on a farm. You have lots of jobs to do, but one of them is keeping the rodents, like rats and mice down. They're a real problem, they get into the stores where you keep the grain to sell, and also the stores where you keep food for yourselves and the animals. They can also make people really sick. So your job is to get up into the rafters of the barn and paint them with arsenic (a poison) mixed with treacle (a sweet syrup, a bit like golden syrup). It isn't a nice job, and it isn't a nice way for the rodents to die, but it's just the way it is on the farm.