StrangeSights

• A woman in England is offering people the chance to sleep in a stable - complete with ‘optional’ donkey - to experience the “true meaning” of Christmas. Fiona Turton, who lives in Sussex, has reportedly fitted out the stable with a double straw bed, manger and tea making facilities. Shepherd costumes are available for an extra charge. “By providing guests with an authentic nativity experience, I hope they can rediscover the true meaning of Christmas and all money goes to a great cause,” Ms Turton told the BBC.

• The world’s tallest Lego Christmas tree was unveiled in London last month. Standing 12.2 metres high, the tree at St Pancras Station in the city’s north features 600,000 bricks and took two months to build. It’s 172 branches are decorated with 1,000 baubles which are also made of Lego.

• Eighty chefs in Shanghai have created the world’s longest yule log - and it measures more than a kilometre. The 1,068 metre long cake was more than five times longer than the previous record-holder and reportedly contained more than 1,000 kilograms of flour, 904 eggs, 209 kilograms of sugar, 401 kilograms of chocolate and 34 kilograms of vanilla. It was unveiled at the city’s Pudong Shangri-La Hotel.

• The promises contained in the song the Twelve Days of Christmas cost more than they used to. The annual Christmas Price Index shows that buying all of the items mentioned in the song - everything from a partridge in a pear tree to seven swans-a-swimming and 12 drummers drumming - will set you back $US23,439, up 9.2 per cent or $US1,974 on the previous year. The jump is the second highest in the index’s history and is largely attributed to the rising cost of gold which rose 30 per cent over the year. Created by financial company PNC Wealth Management, the index has been running for 27 years.

• We know how it goes. You see the parking ticket on your window and open it with trepidation to see how much you owe…only to find that “you’ve parked beautifully”. Londoner Will Sandy has launched what he calls the Fine Parking Company which aims to bring a smile to people’s faces - a reversal of the usual emotional response people have when opening a ticket.

• Still in the UK, and a Cornish village soccer team, Madron, had been given the label of ‘worst in the UK’ after losing 11 games in a row including a 55-0 thrashing. Manager Alan Davenport has reportedly said that despite only kicking two goals during their 11 games (and conceding 227), morale in the team remained high.