The Tingle Factor Box

Roaming Roy Rocks - Edogawa Japanese Gardens Rock Garden

A few weeks ago, Roy enjoyed a visit to the beautiful Edogawa Japanese Gardens in East Gosford, and a delicious meal at the Caroline Bay Brasserie. Roy loves visiting gardens and while he was there he was intrigued by the rock garden. Roy had heard about rock gardens where the white pebbles are raked into patterns, but he had not seen one and was fascinated by the intricate patterns. He wanted to know more!

If you would like to visit the Edogawa Japanese Gardens in Gosford, they are located on the shore of Caroline Bay in East Gosford. They are at 36 Webb Street, and there is plenty of parking available in Webb Street and George Street. The gardens are a pleasant walk, and there is a lovely restaurant, shop and even the Regional Gallery to see.

Japanese rock gardens are often called Zen gardens, because they are associated with Zen Temples, which often featured them. Another name for the garden style is the dry landscape garden as these gardens represent a landscape through rocks and carefully raked pebbles. Rock gardens date back to at least the Heian period, about 1300 years ago. In fact, rock gardens were actually described in Sakuteiki, the oldest manual of garden design in Japan, written in the 11th century.

Rock gardens are very beautiful, and a huge amount of thought and planning goes into their creation. One of the most important elements is the large rocks which often represent mountains, islands or other landscape features. Choosing the right rocks and placing them properly in the landscape of the rock garden is one of the most important tasks in making a rock garden. Then sand or, more commonly gravel or pebbles are spread across the garden surface and raked into patterns which represent water ripples and waves. These are another very important element of the rock garden, requiring raking and care to keep the patterns in place. Some rock gardens also feature plants and moss to represent other landscape features, but the Edogawa garden is simple, with just the landscape rocks and pebble patterns.

Roy Creates A Kazoo Friend

This week, Roy discovered that he had come to the end of his roll of baking paper. He found a thick, long tube of cardboard inside which was just crying out to be turned into something interesting. The question was what. Going through some of his old craft books, he saw a picture of a kazoo made out of a long roll like this, and thought it would be perfect. With school holidays upon us, Roy thought it would be the perfect thing for his online friends to make and play! So this week, Roy Creates A Kazoo Friend.

You Will Need:

• A strong, long roll of cardboard, like the ones from the middle of the baking paper or foil
• Scissors
• A knitting needle (you could also use a thick metal skewer)
• Tissue paper
• A rubber band
• Pencils or crayons to decorate

Method:

• First, make several holes in your kazoo using the knitting needle. You want to make them about 5 millimetres across and put them about 2 or 3 centimetres apart in a straight line down one side of the roll

• Next, decorate your kazoo. Roy made his into a man. He coloured about 1/3 of the roll in red for legs, then a black belt, blue jacket, white shirt, bowtie, face and hair above.

• Cut a square of tissue paper which will fit over one end of the kazoo and use the rubber band to hold it firmly in place.

• Roy trimmed around the tissue paper and fanned it out to make a hat for his man
• Now, cover most of the holes in your kazoo and hum into the other end. Try different combinations of holes being covered until you make a loud buzzing sound. If you hum a tune, the kazoo will 'play' the tune quite loudly!

Where Is The Seam? Chinese Puzzle Ball

Imagine you are living in the 1800s in China. You are a wealthy gentleman, with plenty of time to enjoy life. One of your pleasures is the collection of puzzle balls you have put together. Some of the balls only have three or four layers, but others have 10 or 12, all carved inside each other. Some are wood, others are ivory, or even the precious jade. You love trying to line all the holes up, a puzzle which can take hours, but the greatest puzzle of all is how the craftsmen are able to carve these amazing things!

When I took this jade puzzle ball (which is a modern one, not an antique) to show the children, they were very intrigued. Made from a yellowy white jade from the Guangzhou area, the ball has three separate pieces, all balls, which are layered inside each other. The children spent ages carefully turning the ball over, trying to find a seam where the ball was put together – they couldn’t imagine that someone could possibly have carved the balls inside each other without breaking the jade.

Chinese puzzle balls have been around for hundreds of years. Originally, they were made almost exclusively from ivory, or the tusks of elephants and were the playthings of rich men because of the time and effort involved in making them. Most balls have between 3 and 7 layers, but the largest known example is made up of 42 separate balls! Usually, puzzle balls are symbols of good luck, and are decorated with a variety of feng shui symbols. The outermost layer often features the phoenix and dragon, symbols of yin and yang. The phoenix represents the wife while the dragon is the husband and emperor, and balls decorated with these symbols are thought to bring good luck and happiness to a marriage. In fact, almost all of the symbols most commonly associated with puzzle balls are associated with ensuring a long and happy marriage. Some balls even have different symbols on different layers, though the most common is a highly decorative outer ball and ‘latticed’ balls inside (with geometric patterns of holes).   

Puzzle balls, which are sometimes called mystery balls, are made from a single piece of ivory, or whatever other material is being used. The mystery or puzzle which the name refers to is not actually the puzzle of trying to align the holes in the ball. In fact, people suggest you shouldn’t try to align the holes, because it all too often ends in damage to the fragile object. The puzzle is instead how the ball is created. The single piece of ivory, wood, stone or resin is first shaped into a smooth ball. This is then carefully carved by master craftsmen, who are able to carve the separate balls without ever making a break in the material. Even today, puzzle balls are so delicate and fragile that they have to be carved by hand. What’s more, the work begins with the smallest, middle ball and works out. Any mistake could ruin days, weeks or even months of work!