The Tingle Factor Box

Roy Creates A Delicious Lemon Myrtle Fruit Salad

This week, Roy decided that with the weather warming up and summer entertaining just around the corner, he wanted to make a light and delicious dessert. We decided on a fruit dish of some sort - now the only question was exactly what? We have a wonderful lemon myrtle tree in our garden, and I suggested we make a fruit salad of strawberries and and oranges with a lemon myrtle infused syrup. The syrup was beautifully fragrant and the salad was absolutely delicious served with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. In fact, it was so tasty and easy to make, that Roy had to share the recipe! So this week, Roy Creates A Delicious Lemon Myrtle Fruit Salad.

Note: if you don't have access to lemon myrtle leaves, just use some lemon rind. It won't taste the same, but it will still be absolutely delicious!

You Will Need:

• 2 punnets of strawberries
• 6 to 8 oranges (depending on the size)
• 4 fresh lemon myrtle leaves
• ½ a cup of sugar

Method:

• Start by putting your sugar into a small saucepan. Set the sugar aside until you have gathered your juice. 

• Peel the oranges and cut them into segments. Roy made 'supremes', by cutting between the membrane and just getting the juicy flesh. Cut your oranges over a bowl (or the cup) to catch all of the juice, and squeeze the juice from the remaining orange left behind when you've cut away the flesh (which will be the membranes and 'core' but still has plenty of juice!)

 

• When you have ½ a cup of juice, add it to the sugar, along with the lemon myrtle (or lemon zest)
• Heat the juice, lemon myrtle and sugar, until the sugar is completely dissolved. Set aside to infuse and cool 

• Cut the remaining oranges into slices, and remove the green stalk from the strawberries and cut them into quarters. 
• Combine the orange slices and strawberries in a large bowl. Add any juice you get from the remaining oranges to the bowl too. 
• When the syrup is cool, pour over and stir everything together
• Allow the fruit to marinade for a few hours (up to 12 hours)
• Enjoy with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream (or yoghurt if you want a deliciously fancy breakfast!)

They're Massive - Old 'Castle' Keys

Imagine, you are living in the early 1800s. You are from a wealthy family and you are lucky enough to enjoy lots of luxuries, including beautiful furniture and china. Of course, having beautiful things means that you have to look after them too - you don't want to loose them to a thief! Luckily, your doors, and the beautiful objects behind them, have vert solid locks so any thief would have a lot of trouble getting in. You're just glad it isn't your job to carry the keys - they're huge and weigh so much!

These keys are one of the most popular items I share with children, and they are often used to accessorise imaginary play scenarios. Indeed, many children suggest that 'they're so big, they must be toys. There aren't any locks that big!' Children today have never seen such big, ornate keys before - to them, keys are small and lightweight, easily carried in a pocket or handbag. These keys though are like nothing they have seen before, because not only are they massive, they are very heavy. Not only that, the keys appear to be handmade, which makes them even more intriguing - just imagine the effort which went into forging these individual, beautiful keys!

The history of keys is, of course, irrevokably tied with the history of locks and since people first had nice things which they wanted to keep safe, they have needed locks and keys. The history of keys and locks dates back thousands of years, right back to the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. The oldest existing lock is about 4000 years old, was Egyptian and was probably quite common at the time it was made. It used a wooden bolt as the lock securing the door, and then had a series of holes in the wood which would be filled by wooden pegs to stop the lock being opened.In fact, it was this which was the forerunner of our modern locks! The pegs fell into the holes automatically, like the tumblers in modern locks, and they had to be lifted back out again to allow the lock to be opened. At first a handshaped hole in the door allowed the lock to be opened (so the hand was the first 'key') but later long, thin, wooden 'keys were used. The Greeks used locks to keep Temples and sacred places safe, and women carried large angular 'keys' over one shoulder. In fact, it was apparently the Greeks who invented the keyhole as we know it, though the Romans are the ones who refined it. At this time, particularly in Rome, having keys was quite a status symbol because it showed you had things which were worth protecting.The Romans also improved on Egyptian locks by adding 'wards' which the key had to get past before the tumblers could be removed. Apparently the portable lock (padlocks) were also invented by the Romans, though they were also independantly invented in China.

Throughout history, locks continued to be improved, and although by Medieval time locks were a little more complicated, the main innovation in lock and key history was to make them beautiful. They made exquisitely embellished locks and beautifully decorated keys which were not only secure, but also attractive. These early locks were still quite easy to 'pick' for a determined thief. In the late 1700s and early 1800s though these locks were improved upon. In 1778 Robert Barron created a lock which had two sets of tumblers which had to be raised to exactly the right height to allow the door to be opened. In 1818 Jeremiah Chubb further improved on this by adding a spring which would catch and hold the tumbers if they were lifted to the wrong position by a thief. This not only made the lock more secure, only able to be opened by the correct key, but it also made it possible to tell if a lock had been tampered with.

 

Rover Is Wrecked By History - Wreck Of HMAS Parramatta In The Hawkesbury River

Recently, Rover was enjoying a beautiful day out and about on the Hawkesbury River. Rover loves being on a boat, travelling along some river, because you can often see such surprising sights - things that you could not see otherwise! Rover was intrigued to spot what looked like a ship wreck in amongst the mangroves, and amazed to discover that it was the wreck (or at least part thereof) of one of our famous war ships - the HMAS Parramatta. 

If you would like to see the wreck of the HMAS Parramatta, it is located in amongst the mangroves of the Hawkesbury River. Rover recommends seeing it while aboard the River Boat Postman, which leaves from Brooklyn each day. The cruise along the river is not only beautiful (and includes a yummy lunch), and intriguing (being a working mail boat), but has a fabulous commentary which explains some of the sights along the river, including the HMAS Parramatta. 

 

The HMAS Parramatta was an important ship in Australia’s naval history. She was one of six River Class torpedo boat destroyers, and was built at the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in Scotland. On the 9th of February, 1910, the Parramatta was launched, becoming the first purposely built ship to be launched for what would become the Australian navy. The Parramatta was commissioned as the HMS Parramatta (the Australian Navy didn’t officially exist yet - hence the HMS) and left Portsmouth in late 1910 along with her sister ship, the HMS Yarra. The destroyers arrived at Broome in Western Australia on November 15, 1010, and passed officially into the control of the Australian Government. 

 

When war broke out in 1914, the Parramatta and her sister ships Yarra and Warrego made up the destroyer component of the Australian naval fleet. In the first years of the war, Parramatta and her sister ships patrolled Pacific waters, particularly around New Guinea, Malaya, the East Indies and Philippines. At other times, the destroyers patrolled Australian waters. Finally, in 1917, the Parramatta formed part of an Australian Flotilla, now made up of 6 Australian destroyers. They were bound for the Mediterranean and by 1918 Parramatta was patrolling waters off Gallipoli. Finally, in 1919, along with her sister ships, the Parramatta set sail for Australia, and for the remainder of her life, she patrolled Australian waters. In October 1929 she was handed to the Cockatoo Dockyards for dismantling, with her hull later being used as accomodation for the NSW Penal Department. Finally, the hull was sold to Mr George Rhodes, of Cowan, for scrap. Until 1973, the Parramatta lay derelict on a mud bank in the Hawkesbury. Then, the stern and bow sections were salvaged, with the stern being used as a naval memorial at Queens Wharf Reserve and the bow mounted on Garden Island. The remainder of the ship though remains on that mud bank in the Hawkesbury River.

Roy Creates A Mediterranean Style Stuffed Lamb Shoulder

This week, Roy wanted to try out something new for a delicious dinner. He had a beautiful piece of rolled lamb shoulder in his bag, and wanted to make some sort of delicious stuffing to go with it. He had a lot of mediterranean ingredients on hand, and decided to combine them to make his stuffing. The results were delicious, and he decided he would share the recipe with his online friends. So this week, Roy Creates A Mediterranean Style Stuffed Lamb Shoulder. 

You Will Need:

• ½ a large onion (or a whole small onion)
• A clove of garlic
• 10 large green olives. Roy used stuffed olives, marinaded in a Chilli and Garlic mix. 
• 1 piece of stale bread
• ½ a red capsicum
• ¼ of a cup of grated parmesan cheese
• The leaves of 2 small sprigs of rosemary
• The leaves of 3 or 4 stalks of parsley
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

• Chop the olives up into small pieces and place them in a bowl
• Finely chop the onion, garlic, capsicum, rosemary and parsley. Roy did this using a small food processor. Add to the olives
• Process the bread to make fine crumbs. Add to your bowl with the other ingredients
• Now add the salt, pepper and parmesan cheese
• Mix the stuffing together and set aside
• Open up the lamb, and remove any large flaps of fat
• Try to even out the width of the lamb, by cutting any thicker pieces open and laying them flat

• Spread the stuffing mix over the lamb

• Roll the lamb up
• Use cooking twine to tie the lamb into a tight roll (Roy suggests you might need two people to do this!)
• Transfer the lamb to a baking tray and bake until cooked to your liking (Roy recommends roasting the lamb at 180 degrees celsius)
• Slice and serve with roast vegetables, or salad
• Enjoy!
• Note: leftovers of this lamb are also delicious sliced and used as a sandwich filling!

It’s not a real model train, because it’s not right - Clockwork Train Toy

Imagine, you are a little boy living in the 1960s. You are absolutely fascinated by transport of all types - cars, planes, boats, even bikes. Your favourites though are trains. There’s just something about them which you think is almost magical. It doesn’t matter whether they’re diesel, electric or even old steam trains, you love them all. You have a birthday coming up soon, and you really hope you might get a little model train to add to your collection!

When I showed the children this little clockwork toy train, they thought it was very cute, but a little strange. They noticed that it was a steam train, but some of the children who are very interested in such toys also noticed that it’s smoke stack was far too short. They were intrigued by the toy though, and by the fact that it had clearly been made reasonably cheaply, to enable lots of people to buy it. As one child said ‘it’s not a real model train, because it’s not right’

 

Although toys have a very long history, toy trains are comparatively recent, mainly because trains themselves have only truly been part of our lives since the 1800s. Of course, when trains did not exist, neither did toy replicas! Yet it didn’t take long for toy makers to being to make miniature toys of these wonderful new modes of transport. By the 1830s toy makers in Germany had begun to make small metal models. Trains were a great new novelty, and toy trains were extremely popular. Such was their popularity that toy trains were soon being produced across Europe, not just by toy makers, but by tin smiths, instrument and music box makers, and even by clock makers! 

 

Early toy trains were very expensive to make though, and often they were ‘one off’ toys made by an individual craftsman. As a result, toy trains made at this early time were far too expensive for the average child. In fact, many were toys used by adults (as many model trains continue to be today!) Yet these were not model trains as we know them and in fact they didn’t move, unless they were propelled by hand. The first powered model trains did not begin to appear until the late 1800s, with the first mass commercially manufactured and self powered, toy train set, made by the German company Marlkin, appearing in 1891. The little train I showed the children dates from the 1950s or 1960s, and shows just how far train toys had progressed in the decades which followed. The train, which once worked with a clockwork mechanism, was manufactured quite cheaply, and would not have been particularly expensive. 

Rover Finds A Stitch In Time - Changi Quilts

This week, Roy decided he wanted to share a visit to a location which would be appropriate for the recent Remembrance Day commemorations. Australia has played a role in both World Wars, and in many other conflicts, and we have many places dedicated to remembering war and sacrifice. The Australian War Memorial, which turned 75 on Remembrance Day, is one of these places. Yet it is a couple of items within the collection which Roy decided was going to be the focus of his post today - The Changi Quilts. 

 

If you would like to see the Changi Quilts, two of them are located at The Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Roy recommends that the easiest way to find the quilts in this amazing and huge collection of artefacts of war, is to ask at the desk in the entrance foyer. When Roy visited, they were able to give very accurate instructions for finding the quilts!

 

The Changi quilts, as you might imagine, were made in Changi prisoner of war camp. In 1942, when Singapore fell to the Japanese, thousands of allied troops, including Australians, were taken prisoner. Yet civilians who lived and worked in Singapore were also taken prisoner, and imprisoned alongside soldiers in the camps. This group included 400 women and children who were crowded into Changi Prison along with hundreds of soldiers and male civilians. Changi was built for just 600 people, but during the war housed over 2400 in cramped conditions. Women and children were housed separately to the male prisoners, though boys were moved to the male section when they were just 12 years old. 

 

It was the women interred in Changi who created the quilts. Three quilts were made during the internment, and the three quilts are now known as the British, Australian and Japanese quilts. Yet it was a Canadian, Ethel Mulvany, who had the idea of creating them. Making the quilts was a way to prevent boredom, to boost morale, and even to pass information to people in other camps, letting men know that the women and children were still alive. The quilts were to be sent to the wounded who were in the Changi hospitals and in order to get the quilts out, Mulvany made a shrewd move, organising for a quilt to also be made for wounded Japanese soldiers. This quilt eventually fell into the hands of an Australian medical officer. Each woman involved in making the quilt was given a square of white fabric (often from a sheet or flour bag) and asked to put a little of herself into it. She was also asked to sign the square. After the war, the Japanese and Australian quilts came to Australia, with the Japanese quilt being given to the Australian War Memorial in 1968 by the wife of the medical officer to whom it had originally been given. The Australian quilt is officially owned by the Australian Red Cross, but is on permanent loan to the War Memorial, where it can be properly preserved and displayed. 

Roy Creates A Beautifully Simple Poppy For Remembrance Day

This week, with Remembrance Day falling tomorrow, Roy decided he wanted to share with his online friends something suitably themed. Yet the question was, what to make? I suggested a pattern I had seen some time ago in an old craft magazine. The pattern was for a poppy, but it was also a beautifully simple design which even the youngest could successfully achieve. What’s more, it suggested that the basic design could be adapted to use paper, felt, or even rolled icing! Roy decided to use felt for his poppy, and put a safety pin on the back, so he could wear it as a badge. You could do all sorts of things with the design though - the sky is the limit. So this week, Roy Creates A Beautifully Simple Poppy For Remembrance Day.

You Will Need:

 

• Red felt
• A black button
• Scissors
• A needle and cotton

Method:

• Start by cutting out four heart shapes from the felt. The hearts need to be approximately the same size as one another (but you can make them as large or small as you like - it will just depend on how big you want your poppy to be!)

• Arrange your hearts so that the pointed ends all face towards the centre of the flower, and overlap

• Place the black button over the overlapping petals
• Use the needle and cotton to sew the petals and button together

• If you like, attach a safety pin to the back of your poppy, and wear it proudly on Remembrance Day!

It's Like Magic - Himitsu-Bako Puzzle Box

Imagine, you are a beautiful Japanese woman, with lots of beautiful jewels. You travel quite often, and you are always concerned that somebody might steal your jewels. Luckily, you have a beautiful little Himitsu-Bako, which keeps everything safe and sound. If you didn’t know it was a box, and know the secret of opening it, you could never access the valuables inside!

When I showed the children this Japanese puzzle box, or Himitsu-Bako, their reaction was hilarious. They refused point blank to believe that it was a box, declaring that it was just a ‘pretty lump of wood’. When I showed the children that the box was indeed just that, a box, they were amazed, and told me ‘it’s like some sort of mysterious magic!’

A puzzle box is, just as the name suggests, a box which presents a puzzle for people who want to open it. In essence, a puzzle box can only be opened through a trick of some sort. Some puzzle boxes are reasonably simple to open, while others require a sequence of specific movements. Even boxes which require a specific sequence of moves vary widely, with some just requiring a few moves while others can demand over 100! The history of such boxes dates back at least 3000 years, to Egypt. From Egypt, the interest in boxes which were secured with a puzzle style ‘lock’ spread, making its way to places ranging from Japan to Poland to Persia. By the 19th century, they were a popular form of entertainment in Victorian England, and the must have tourist souvenir to bring home from a journey to Switzerland. 

The box I showed the children is a box which requires a specific sequence of movements to reveal the secret opening. It is called a Himitsu-Bako and is probably the most famous type of puzzle box in the world. Himitsu-Bako are Japanese boxes, and evolved from earlier boxes which were made in the Hakone region of Japan. These earlier boxes were not ornately decorated, but they were practical. There were even very large, chest sized ones which were used by tradespeople to keep their tools safe! Then, about 100 years ago Takajiro Ohkawa, Tatsunosuke Okiyama and Kikukawa created a new, highly ornate box decorated with a craft known as Yosegi Zaiku. Yosegi Zaiku is a way of using different coloured woods to create intricate patterns. Thus the intricately decorated Himitsu-Bako which we see today was invented, and continues to be produced in the Hakone region today.

Rover Finds The Bell That Tolls For Peace - Australias World Peace Bell, Cowra

This week, with Remembrance Day approaching, Rover decided it was a perfect time to share his visit to an extraordinary symbol of peace - Australia’s World Peace Bell. You might expect that the Australian World Peace Bell would be in a major city, or even in the Nations Capital. Yet the World Peace Bell is situated in Cowra, a town in Central West NSW. 

If you would like to visit the Australian World Peace Bell, it is located in Cowra, in Central West NSW. The bell is situated in Civic Square, in a lovely pavilion, which is edged in tiles which also call for and remember the ideals of peace. Civic Square is on Darling Street. There are plenty of other things to do in Cowra while you are there, from seeing the hologram show at the Tourist Information Centre, to visiting the Japanese Garden and Cultural Centre. 

The Australian World Peace Bell is a huge, and very beautiful bell, which represents the need for world peace. It is not the only World Peace Bell, with 24 countries having chosen a site for their peace bell, and 22 having been installed, but it is the only one in Australia. The World Peace Bell found in Cowra is a replica of the first World Peace Bell, which was installed in 1954 in the forecourt of the United Nations building in New York. The bell was created following an appeal to 65 member countries of the UN, who then donated medals and coins which were melted down and cast into the bell. Thus all of these countries contributed to the bell, and believe in the ideal of peace which the bell represents. 

Usually, a World Peace Bell is installed in the capital city, or at least a major city in the country to which it is awarded. Yet the Australian World Peace Bell is not in any capital city in Australia. Cowra was awarded the honour of housing Australia’s World Peace Bell because of the amazing, long-standing contribution they have made to world peace and international understanding. Cowra was the site of a Prisoner of War Camp during World War Two, and during the war, Japanese prisoners escaped. Many lost their lives in the escape, including Australian soldiers who were acting as guards at the camp. Yet in the wake of the war, Cowra dedicated itself to remembering the terrible losses, not just of Australians, but of Japanese people. Cowra became dedicated to peace, and remembering the terrible losses which had occurred. They forged strong international relationships, including with Japan. The Australian World Peace Bell was cast using coins provided by 103 member countries of the United Nations.

Roy Creates Deliciously Savoury Honey Mince

This week, Roy decided he wanted to make something quick, easy and delicious for a speedy weeknight dinner. We often have a quick dinner before going out, or off to do something else, so quick meals are always popular choices. When I suggested he share the recipe for one of our favourites, a savoury honey mince, he thought it was a wonderful idea! So this week, Roy Creates Deliciously Savoury Honey Mince

You Will Need:

• 500 grams of mince
• 2 teaspoons of curry powder
• Salt and pepper tot taste
• ½ a cup of orange juice
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• 2 teaspoons of seeded mustard

Method:

• Fry off the mince and curry powder until the mince is cooked and the curry powder is smelling fragrant

• Add the orange and lemon juices, honey and mustard, salt and pepper to taste
• Cook until the liquid reduces (or if you are in a real hurry, add 1 tablespoon of cornflour, mixed with a little cold water)
• When the mince is cooked and the liquid has reduced to your liking, serve with rice.
• Enjoy!