HC One Daily Sparkle

The Ashton Grange Daily Sparkle

TM

The Reminiscence and Activities Newspaper

Saturday 10th December 2011

TODAY IN HISTORY

THE WAY WE WERE

On 10th December 1901, the First Nobel Prize was awarded.

Nobel Prizes are annual international awards chosen and presented for cultural and scientific advances. The Prize was set up by the Will of a Swedish chemist, Alfred Nobel. He made a fortune during his lifetime, mainly from 355 inventions. The one he is most well known for is dynamite.

What a jolly time of year this is! I remember how excited Cathy and Jane used to be about Christmas. We used to sing all kinds of Christmas songs together. Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer was a great favourite. So was When Santa got Stuck in the Chimney, which always had Jane in hysterics.

Nobel had a link with Scotland. The British Dynamite Company, advised

by Nobel, built their first factory at Ardeer in Ayrshire.

Nobel himself made the first batch of nitro-glycerine there.

Neither of the girls liked I saw Mummy kissing Santa Claus.

It used to make Stan and me laugh, knowing that they didn’t understand the humour of it. We used to like songs like Bing Crosby’s White Christmas.

Copyright © 2011, Everyday Miracles Ltd. All rights reserved. www.dailysparkle.co.uk • 10 Dec 2011 • Page 1

DO YOU REMEMBER?

OVER TO YOU

Dear Mary and Jimmy Back in 1956 Britain’s Egg Marketing Board introduced a little Lion logo that was stamped on eggs as a mark of quality. It got lots of publicity in a series of TV ads featuring Tony Hancock using the slogan "Go to work on an Egg” I don’t think any of us in our house took the slightest bit of notice of this. To us, eggs were a staple food, dished up most days of the year in a variety of fashions. Ma presented eggs that were fried, coddled, scrambled, boiled or poached.

She used to store eggs in a bucket. She laid them pointy side up and poured Isinglass over them, repeating the process until the bucket was full. They lasted for months.

I wonder if other Sparkles’ Readers remember making toys for the children in the family. At this time of year, my sister and I would be busy knitting dolls clothes, making rag dolls or other soft toys. It was always rather furtive once the project had progressed enough to be recognisable. There had to be a cushion handy to plonk on top of whatever I was knitting or sewing, in case the children came in.

My husband made toys for the boys - a fort and a garage were two of his best. We enjoyed it, and it didn’t matter if there wasn’t much money to go around.

Best wishes from Ellen

Copyright © 2011, Everyday Miracles Ltd. All rights reserved. www.dailysparkle.co.uk • 10 Dec 2011 • Page 2

CHRISTMAS SONGS QUIZ Supply the next line of these Christmas songs: 1. On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me ---2. I’m dreaming of a white Christmas ---3. The holly and the ivy ---4. Jingle bells, jingle bells ---5. Rudolph the red nosed reindeer ----

SINGALONG I'm ---- of a white Christmas Just like the ones I used to ---Where the treetops glisten, and children ---To hear sleigh bells in the ---I'm dreaming of a ---Christmas With every Christmas ---- I write May your ---- be merry and bright And may ---- your Christmases ---- white

6. God rest you Merry Gentlemen ----

ANSWERS ANSWERS 1. dreaming 2. know 4. snow 5. white 7. days 8. all

3. listen 6. card 9. be

1. A partridge in a pear tree.

2. Just like the ones I used to know 3. When they are both full grown 4. Jingle all the way 5. Had a very shiny nose 6. Let nothing you dismay

Copyright © 2011, Everyday Miracles Ltd. All rights reserved. www.dailysparkle.co.uk • 10 Dec 2011 • Page 3

The Daily Sparkle Carer’s Notes

The Daily Sparkle • Carer’s Notes

17 - 23 Jan 2011

Saturday(10th(December(2011 PAGE(1(•(TODAY(IN(HISTORY(•(through the years •(10(December(1901 First(Nobel(Prize Background: One of the first recipients of the Nobel Prize was Wilhelm Rontgen for his

work on X-Rays. Marie Curie was one of only 4 people to be awarded the Nobel Prize twice.

Questions: Which inventions do you think have had the biggest impact on people and their lives? If you could award a prize to someone famous, who would you choose? Why do you think they deserve recognition? Which of your friends would you choose to win a prize?

PAGE(1(•(THE(WAY(WE(WERE(•(from Mary’s point of view Christmas(songs Background: As well as traditional Christmas hymns and carols, there are all sorts of

songs that appear around Christmas time - some of them funny and some a bit sentimental.

Questions: Do you like singing Christmas songs? Which ones do you like best? Where did you first hear them? How many funny Christmas songs do you know?

PAGE(2(•(DO(YOU(REMEMBER?(•(from Jimmy’s point of view A(little(lion(on(every(egg Background: The idea behind this campaign was that having an egg for breakfast was the

best way to start the working day. Not everyone had access to fresh eggs every day so many stored them using ‘Isinglass’ (Sodium silicate). It seals the shells so that bacteria which cause the eggs to spoil are kept out and water is kept in. Using this method eggs can be kept for up to nine months.

Questions: Do you like eggs? How do you like them cooked? Did you keep chickens? Did you ever store eggs? Can you remember the little Lion on the eggs?

PAGE(2(•(OVER(TO(YOU(•(Readers’ Letters Christmas(toys Background: Toys today often seem noisy, complicated, expensive and in need of

batteries! When Sparkles readers were young many toys were simpler and sometimes home made.

Questions: What was your best toy when you were a child? Who gave it to you? What was it made of? Did your parents or friends ever make toys for you? What did they make?

What do you think of children’s toys today?

PAGE(3(•(QUIZ(•(Christmas(songs PAGE(3(•(SINGALONG(•(White(Christmas

Copyright © 2011, Everyday Miracles Ltd. All rights reserved. www.dailysparkle.co.uk

• Page

4