Earlier this month, I posted about a new nutcracker I had bought. The only problem was that, by the time we got it, supermarkets had put their shelled nuts away. I wonder what happens to them? Dumped? Sold onto other outlets? Relabelled for Christmas 2021? I’ve no idea but I couldn’t pick up shelled nuts in either Morrisons or Lidl, my two main grocery destinations.

In the end, I ordered a couple of packets online from Healthy Supplies. Those arrived yesterday morning – left in a bush outside by the courier (okay with today’s glorious sunshine but I don’t know if they would have tried in the rain earlier this week… Hermes, I’m watching you!).

I’ve now had the opportunity to use the nutcracker a bit more and I remain quite happy with it. I’d like a few refinements though. A gearing system to increase mechanical advantage is probably beyond my artificing abilities but I could mount it on a larger block of wood (although that affects how easy it is to store) and I think I’ll also look at using a plastic bottle to create a shield to catch the shrapnel.