There is a very cool TV programme on TV on demand by the lovely comedian and historian Te Radar, called Te Radar’s checkered past. He looks at little bits of history in a humorous way, taking shots at the New Zealand character in a totally kiwi way. Like the guy who made his own boat and used his old pyjamas as caulking.

One person he talked about was a woman who was a housewife inventor, Norma McCulloch.. we watched a reenactment of her doing the dishes while she watched one of her children pump up a bike tyre, then some historic TV interviews with her. They talked about how she saw a problem, freezers full of air, and solved it by thinking laterally – it’s a cardboard tube that takes the air out of a bag before you freeze it,l!! and that Norma thought more and later she reversed it turning it into a respirator for animal surgery.

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Months and months, possibly over a year, later Helena found one at the tip shop. She was excited and showed it to me… of course I’d forgotten. We now have one. When we got home we rewatched the episode.. then others. Like the amazing John Hart thermette – I so want one.

I had no idea Helena was paying that much attention to the TV. I don’t know why it grabbed her fancy, was it the kidspiration, what it does, that the inventor was a woman and what’s more a mum (she knows what one of those are) or was it because Te Radar who she likes rated it???

I just never know Why and When she is noticing. What else is she noticing?