We all know that chocolate is delicious. But do you know where it comes from? How it is made? Chocolate is made from cacao beans, which are the seeds of the cacao tree. By Chianti , from Wikimedia Commons The history of chocolate begins in Mesoamerica and dates back to 350 BC. The Aztecs believed cacao seeds were the gift of Quetzalcoatl, the god of wisdom, and the seeds were used as money. The Cocoa tree Cacao flowers grow on the trunk or main branches of the tree. The Cocoa Pod The flowers ripen into big golden
Illustration ©Ken Wilson-Max 2018 There is a photo of an American woman called Tess Thompson Talley posing with the dead body of a giraffe on social media. She made the kill in South Africa in 2017 and wrote; “Prayers for my once in a lifetime dream hunt came true today! Spotted this rare black giraffe bull and stalked him for quite awhile.” Can you defend that action? She defended her actions, saying that the animal was old and not that rare. There are quite a few people who agree support with her on Twitter, too. But for those of us who love
In the beginning Think you know your football history? Think again! This sport was alive and kicking way before the English Premier League or the Italian Serie A. Over 3000 years ago, Mesoamerican people played a team game involving a ball which was made out of a rock. The ball symbolised the sun and the captain of the losing team was be sacrificed to the gods! You can image that the games were quite exciting. China The earliest version of soccer is from China in the second century BC. It was called Tsu’ Chu. Players kicked a leather ball filled with feathers
There was a time before texting, you know. While the world has become enchanted by the mobile phone and its unchallenged convenience and up-to-the-minute-ness, we’ve lost the charm of the hand-made message. Following on from the land lettered nursery rhymes project which is now underway, here is something a little more grown up. Here is a request too; send me your bet, funniest, saddest, memorable text message and I’ll try to give it the respect it deserves.
Hear, hear! Long live hand made letters.