Burning rubber — On Friday I picked up three casserole dishes covered in foil from my mother-in-law and put them in the downstairs fridge. I almost forgot them for our Christmas supper so I hurriedly put them in the oven to warm up. I heard a couple of loud snaps. Later there was a burning rubber smell. My MIL had put elastic bands around the foil!

Charred wood — My wife got a new four candle windmill turning thing. She put the old one on one table and the new one on the other and lit the eight candles. I was in the kitchen at the time and I started to smell burning wood. The new windmill was only an inch or two above the candles and it had started to char. The old windmill was a good 4 or 5 inches above the candles.