Lucky Spin

So you’ve always wanted a cuckoo clock, but you simply don’t have the space? I’ve been there, brother. Try the mini varieties from inventor Hubert Herr – the smallest is just 5 inches tall and can fit on your hand! How cute. If you cannot abide tiny time-keeping devices, don’t worry, we hear you. Get yourself to the Hornberger Uhrenspiele, featured in the 1997 Guinness Book of World Records for its sheer size and magnitude. Approximately 11.5m wide and 10.8m high, it comes complete with musicians, a mechanical waterwheel and even a chimney sweep. That’s bound to impress the neighbors.

If you’d like to improve your memory, you should cut down on the all-nighters and get a good night’s sleep. Sleep will also help you with learning new things, particularly those that involve motor skills. Your piano performance will improve after you have hit the hay.

It was King James VI and I who began the mulberry craze in Britain – he actually imported 10,000 to make silk but ordered the wrong variety. The silk worms wouldn’t eat the leaves but the berries made awesome jam!