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While the northern hemisphere freezes over, Christmas down south is all about
sunning yourself at garden parties. But as Barry and Alison Langrish of
Eastleigh, Hampshire, point out in their patent (GB 2349065), the event is no
fun if children run around spilling drinks that guests have put down on the
grass. To prevent guests having to “lever themselves out of chairs” to pick up a
drink, they propose a tall, thin, plastic-coated steel stem that sticks in the
soil or sand like a shooting stick. The stem holds a variety of cup and bottle
rests held by screws at…