Halfeti's black beauties

A black rose in full bloom is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and you will be wondering whether you are in a world of make believe.

But if you happen to visit the tiny Turkish village of Halfeti you'll really be entering this unbelievable world full of gorgeous black roses.

Turkish Halfeti Roses are incredibly rare. They are shaped just like regular roses, but their colour sets them apart. These roses are so black, you'd think someone spray-painted them. But that's actually their natural colour.

Although they appear perfectly black, they're actually a very deep crimson colour. These flowers are seasonal - they only grow during the summer in small number, and only in Halfeti. Thanks to the unique soil conditions of the region, and the pH levels of the groundwater (that seeps in from the river Euphrates), the roses take on a devilish hue. They bloom dark red during the spring and fade to black during the summer months.

The local Turks seem to enjoy a love - hate relationship with these rare blossoms. They consider the flowers to be symbols of mystery, hope and passion, and also death and bad news. Unfortunately, the black roses of Halfeti are an endangered species. They have been under threat of extinction ever since the residents of the village moved from 'old Halfeti' in the 1990s, when the Birecik Dam was constructed.

Old Halfeti and several other villages were submerged under the waters of the Euphrates, when the dam was made. The new Halfeti village was re-built on the grounds of Karaotlak village, merely 10 kilometres from its former location.

This short distance proved fatal for the beautiful black roses. The villagers replanted them in their new gardens, but the flowers didn't take to their new environment very well. There was a steady decline in the number of black roses grown in the region.

The district officials have made efforts to save the roses. They collected seedlings from village homes and replanted them closer to their original surroundings in greenhouses. They have been doing slightly better, ever since.

The generous lottery winner's story

Will you do the same as Tom Crist of Calgary, Canada?

If you have won 40 million dollars in a lottery, will you give away all your winnings to charity?

Tom Crist, a widower of two years, won the Lotto Max jackpot this year in May. He retired in September, and he says he had always known what he was going to do with the money. "I was fortunate enough in my career to set myself up and my kids anyway," he said. "There was no doubt in my mind where that money was going to go."

Crist's lost his wife, Jan, to lung cancer in 2012. "She was fairly young and stuff," he said. "She beat it for six years before it finally caught up to her." Jan was 57 years old when she died. So Crist is definitely going to give a part of his winnings to the Tom Baker Cancer Centre where Jan had been treated for cancer. But he is still undecided about where the rest of the money will go.

Crist is a regular player of Lotto Max and Lotto 6/49, both conducted by Western Canada Lottery Corp. He has been playing for years by subscription, which means that his numbers are checked automatically by the company after each draw. In the past, he has won up to $20, but this prize is something he never expected. When he received the call informing him about winning the largest lotto prize in Calgary, Crist was playing golf in California. "I wasn't even sure which game I'd won, or what the numbers were," he said. "I've paid for the subscription when I get the renewal notice every year, and then I just file it."

"As soon as I hung up from my cellphone call from Western Canada Lottery, I never thought about it," said Crist, retired CEO and president of electronics company EECOL. "I've kept it a secret, even my kids didn't know until today," he said. I've been fortunate enough, through my career, 44 years with a company. I did very well for myself. I've done enough that I can look after myself, for my kids, so they can get looked after into the future. I don't really need that money," he said.

When asked why Crist didn't tell his children about the lottery and the plans sooner, he said he felt reluctant. "I just didn't know how to deal with it. I was hoping that I could just somehow move it into, you know, from the lotto corporation into my trust account and not have the media." For now, Crist will be on an extended holiday in South-east Asia. But when he's back next year, he will start his donations with Tom Baker Center and set up something in the memory of his wife Jan.

Crist seems to be a wonderful, generous man. It isn't easy giving away such a large amount of money, even if you're rich.

What would you do if you won $40 million?

Lampshades made out of bread

They are called Pamshades!

Pam (Japanese for bread)+ lampshades = pamshades

Yukiko Morita, a 27-year-old corporate employee from Kyoto, has a unique hobby. She combines her love for bread and her love for art into a special product: Pampshades. These lighting fixtures made from real bread and can light up a room, filling it with the warm tones of a fresh loaf.

"I think loaves are really cute," says Morita. "I love their round curves. I wanted a bread display in my room so I could admire it all the time. That's how I came up with this shape." The idea for pampshades first came to Morita when she was a student at the Kyoto City University of Arts. She was working on a project in a studio one day, playing around with a French baguette. She pulled out and nibbled on the soft parts, leaving the hollow outer shell intact. When she held it up towards the sunlight and let it stream in, that was her 'aha!' moment.

Morita made 300 more prototypes before she came up with the perfect pampshade.

Luckily for her, she worked part time at a bakery so she had a lot of leftover bread to practice with. She makes the pampshades by hollowing out a baguette made of flour, water and salt.

Then, she dries out the shell thoroughly and applies a resin coating to prevent mildew. She places LED bulbs inside the completed shells, mainly to prevent the bread from getting scorched. And that's it! A perfect pampshade is ready. What started out as a hobby is slowly becoming Morita's business. Several Kyoto shops have noticed her work at crafts fairs where she puts up displays. They've picked up her products and sell them at 35 dollars to 50 dollars.