Cheat mark II

Remember the cheat I told you about? Well it turns out that the second entry she submitted wasn't her work either!
I doubt that her name is real too now,she entered as Carole Moxon but I can't find a trace of her.
So what do I think? Do I think that someone entered with copied work and a fake name to try and get free stash out of me or has someone done it to try and cause trouble for me?
Stunned, totally stunned!

BBQ

Came home from the shop a bit early today and found Nasser marinating some meat, he decided to have a barbecue. So he gets the gas one we bought at the end of last summer and had never used (it's the kiss of death for nice weather whenever we buy something garden related!!). But it needs assembling, so that took another hour, then we needed a gas bottle so he pinched mine from the shop heater (hope I won't need it again!!), then it won't fit, so by now it's 8 o clock and everyones hungry so I use the blumin cooker and guess what?
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I burnt it!!!!! LOL!!

Oh well, tomorrow is another day and we still have meat marinating!!

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..

After cleaning the cooker yesterday, I decided to use it!!
Being so busy all the time we resort to take aways far too often than we used to and I am now fed up of them!
So,yesterday I decided to try a new way to cook rice - the Iranian way and it was yummy. You have to par boil the rice (basmati) first, then in a separate pan melt some butter and oil and add sliced potato to the bottom in a layer, then add the drained rice on top, put a clean tea towel on the pan then the lid, turn down low and leave it for about 20 minutes. The result is perfectly cooked rice with a crispy crust of potatoes, everyone loved it and I think I'll be making it again. We had chicken and mushrooms in a sauce to go with it and me and Layla made a pudding. We were looking through some cook books and drooling over the recipes for Lebanese milk puddings, Nasser usually makes these, but me and Layla decided to make one,it was so easy to make and it was gorgeous. Layla wanted to eat all 10 dishes and pretend that we never made it!!

Good luck Layla

Layla starts her SATS this week, if anyone is reading this please send her "do well" vibes!! I personally think they are a bit of a stupid idea, especially as they put young kids through so much stress and worry when the only thing they should be worrying about at age 11 is where their next choccy bar is coming from! But,Layla is a tad competitive and just doing well will not placate her she is aiming to get the highest marks in the school! I suppose that sort of attitude will do her well in the future - we may see her on The Apprentice one day!!
I do wish children were allowed or encouraged to be children for longer, society and everything they are exposed to tells them to grow up fast,I remember when I was Laylas age I was still playing with dolls, her Barbies have been in the loft for the past 5 years. She also has a huge collection of baby dolls she hasn't played with for years and it's not fair cos I love dressing them!! We have dolls that you can feed, that snore,that cry, that grow, that roll over, that crawl and I can't play with them! I think it's time I had another little girl!
While we are on the subject of growing up fast my little Layla started her periods last Monday, although I had an inkling they were on the way it still devastated me to think that at just 11 she has this huge responsibility every month for the next 40 odd years!
She wasn't fazed by it at all,thought it was a great opportunity to demand chocolate cos apparently that's what I do!!
I spoilt her a bit, took her to town for some supplies, a book all about it and I bought her a silver locket to sort of mark the day-bit daft but she might remember it as a pleasant experience when she gets older.

Happy National Scrapbooking Day

I think I'm starting with a cold,hate colds, hate having a snotty nose!!
The weather has been gorgeous for the past 2 days, I actually shaved my legs for the first time in months - nearly broke the razor!!
The kits I put together for National Scrapbooking Day are going very well and I love to see what people have made with them too. You will be able to see all the entries in my gallery,so check them out.
Off to bed now to nurse my cold!!

Cheat

Well, the call for my Dream Team finished and I finally decided on Jakey Walker, Debbie Nicholas, Maria Horton and Laura Godfrey,all fabby scrappers who I am honoured to have on our team, the standard was very high and with over 11 pages of entries it was a very difficult decision. After I had announced the Team I received an email from someone saying that she had seen one of the entries on sale on E-bay under a different name. Sure enough, the photo was exactly the same as one entered, looks like the person had just right clicked it from Ebay and entered it in my comp-cheeky mare! I didn't like to think someone could do that so I emailed her and asked her outright if it was her work but I have not had a reply at all. Meanwhile I thought it only best to contact the person who did do the work,Delaney Gates - she is a fantastic scrapper and quite well known so it was very stupid to copy her work!!! Anyway, after lots of emails back and forth I am so pleased to say that Delaney Gates is now a permanent International Dream Team member of mine!!! So what a wonderful thing to happen after such a nasty start.

Heres some of her work:

Welcome to my Dream Team

Well, I had to decide but it was soooo hard. They were so mant great entries to my call for a Dream Team, but please welcome:

...Jakey Walker
Deborah Nicholas
Laura Godfrey and
Maria Horton

I will be asking some others if they will be a Guest Dream Team member some months, so all is not lost if you did submit.

I would like to thank everyone who took the time to enter and can't wait to see what my Dream Team comes up with.

Thank you to Steph, wo not only helps me for nothing but also brought me some beautiful flowers today to cheer me up after a horrible weekend.