The One About Having Scrappers Block...

This weekend has just not gone as I'd planned.  The idea was that my new supplies would be here by Friday and I would be able to start my new project.  Unfortunately for completely unknown reasons, despite my supplies being posted first class on Tuesday, they haven't arrived.  I sat in yesterday waiting for the postman, and only moved when M's dad turned up to postie watch whilst I had a shower.  I was in a strop all day!

The new project I want to do is Document 2011.  I've seen what lots of other people have done both for 2010, and for the start of 2011, and I thought I'd like to do that.  So as part of my treat I ordered some supplies that I could use for it, intending to make some headway into it this weekend.  I've been back through my emails and text messages and diary and put together some of the things that I did January through to MArch.  Then of course I started blogging so April and May will be a lot easier.  So I'm ready and waiting, and not able to get started.

So I thought rather than waste the opportunity, I would do some other scrapping.  So I printed off some photos from when Mum and I went to Speke hall in April, and some photos from a wedding we went to last summer.  And I just couldn't get in the groove.  I chose the card, and the papers.  The problem was the layout itself, and how I was to do the journalling.  I conscious that my LO's seem to be quite samey, with the title at the top, and the journalling in strips to the side or one the right.  So, I've put it all away.  Maybe having slept on it I'll have a better idea for how it should look tomorrow, but I didn't want to force it, and I just wasn't having fun.

It must be the thought of new stash!  Up till now I've been quite happy rooting through my old supplies, and always finding something that will work. So... I'll see what tomorrow brings.

In other news, today might just be the last time that I scrap on the living room floor, so I though I'd share a photo before I packed it all away.

The reason being, my craft area is very nearly done.  All the wood has been varnished this afternoon, so tomorrow all M has to do is fit it altogether, and screw various bits in!  Yey, so I might just have a finished craft area tomorrow!  These are a few of the pictures of what has been done today:

The top of the unit in the process of being varnished

The varnish went on it different layers, three coats of deep mahogany, with one layer of maple on top

This is the fold down work-top

These will be the legs

This is the unit that goes behind that fold down bit, and can be used to house little bits and bobs if I want it to.  It would involve crawling under the table to get at them though!

So... has anyone else ever had scrappers block?  And what do you do to combat it?  I need help!

The One About Five Things....

.... that won't be around in 5 years.  Amy, that writes one of my favourite blogs has issued a challenge, to photograph/blog about/scrap 5 things that will not be around in 5 years time.  At first I found this quite tricky, but with M's input I have the following 5 things:

1

These flowers certainly won't be around much longer!  I've decided recently that it cheers me up to have flowers in the living room, so rather than waiting for flowers to be bought for me, last week I just decided to buy these myself because the tulips just looked so cheerful!

2

The dining room table.  We have decided that replacing this is on our list of things to do, its really not big enough when we have dinner parties, and M is going to build his own (when he has the time) so that you can sit four, or you can extend it and sit 6 or 8.  (He's good at building things with wood, he did the stairs to the top floor bedroom, and is currently building my craft space)

3 Yorkshire Puddings!  M insisted!  He has been trying to perfect his recipe for the last two years, and on Thursday, these were the yummy yorkshire puddings that he cooked, well they certainly didn't last very long!

4 The video machine.  I think my Mum and I are the only ones that I know of that still uses a video machine.  I only use mine when I want to do my Yoga workouts, as they are still on video, and I haven't got round to buying the workouts on DVD!

5 This is currently the spare room/where we dry the washing/my library!  Fingers crossed in the next 5 years it will become the nursery :)

Don't forget to pop back to Amy's blog to check out everyone else's 5 things :)

And if you feel like it, please do leave a link to your favourite LO, which can be done at the bottom of this post.

The One About the Exams....

So Tuesday morning very quickly came around.  And I was rudely awakened by the wind and the rain well before the alarm was due to go off.  It sounded like a hurricane, and a down pour all at once (it always sounds worse in our bedroom that we would expect as we're right at the top of the house directly under the roof).  My first thought was oh o, I've got to go down an unfamiliar motorway to the exam venue in torrential rain.  So all I could do was hope that the rain would hold off later on.

Because I had to be at the exam venue for 9am, and I didn't know how long it would take me to get there in the rush hour, I raced around the house, and was off at 7:30am (I know it sounds mad to leave an hour and a half for a 40minute journey, but last time I went down this motorway in the rush hour it took me over an hour just to get to the motorway, so I was being cautious!)  Luckily the rain had eased off, and the traffic wasn't so bad so I was worrying for no reason (I worry about everything - its very difficult to turn it off!)

Photo courtesy of Ashton Under Lyne.com

The other issue was that the exam venue didn't have a car park, and I had to kind of follow my nose and hope for the best when I got there to find a car park, as I didn't know Stockport at all!  Well as I got closer to the town centre, all I could see were big signs telling me where the car parks were, and how many spaces were left!  So again, worrying for nothing!!!  I can't parked just around the corner from the venue, and arrived at twenty to nine - I know miles to early but what could I do!

So as it was the first exams I've taken for my AAT I had a lot of questions.  It turned out that we get our exam results about ten minutes after the exam finished, so that really pleased me as I hate waiting for anything!  And I was told that the other students doing their exams in the room might be sitting different exams to me, so I mustn't worry if some of them finish before me (I'm quite glad I was told this as in the second exam someone left after 30mins and I would have panicked!)

Well the exam was due to start at 9:30am, and I was starting to get nervous, I'd read and re-read my prompt cards and just wanted to get in the room, and get it over with!  But, someone hadn't turned up, and we had to wait for them to sort that out before we could go in.  Ten minutes later, still feeling nervous, and we were shepherded in.  I was quite relieved to find that the first exam included questions similar to the practice papers I had done so I was able to just get on with it.  I had plenty of time to check over my answers, and left early.  And..... I passed!  You don't get a numerical result with these exams, you get either a pass or a fail.  (To pass you have to get 70%)

So I had a couple of hours to kill before the second exam was due to start, then it all started again at 1:30pm (each exam was 2 hours long), and this exam was far more difficult than I was expecting.  The questions were not at all like the past papers that I had done, and so I had to take educated guesses with some of the questions.  And, I hadn't even got halfway yet when the first student left after half an hour.  Because I knew he wasn't doing the same exam I didn't let it get to me.  I plodded on, until I was the last one in the room (thats doesn't sound so bad there were only 5 of us taking the exams) and when I had checked everything over I walked out, knowing I had done everything I could.  I didn't feel very confident at all about this one, and while I waited for the result, I had butterflies in my tummy, and my heart was racing!  But... I had passed, and breathed a sigh of relief!

Competent means a pass, not competent means a fail.

Yey, half of the Level 2 qualification complete, only half to go!!!  I'm now just waiting for the next batch of study materials to arrive so I can get started.  You would think I would want a break from it, but it feels like I've been revising forever for those last two exams, and now I'm just keen to learn more new things :)

In other news, because I passed the exams I treated myself to an scrapbook stash order from Sarahs Cards (I was thinking about it last weekend, and I haven't bought any new stash in 18 months!)  I'm just waiting for it to arrive now, fingers crossed it comes today so that I can open it this weekend!  Will share piccies when it comes!

Don't forget if you haven't done already to leave a link to your favourite LO at the moment at the bottom of this post here.

The One About More Weekend Scrapping...

I think I may have well and truly caught the scrapbooking bug again!  After my late night scrapping on Friday, Sunday afternoon turned out to be another scrapbooking session.  This time I focused on using photos from my Race for Life last Year, and M's Bupa Run last weekend.

I knew all along that I wanted to use the pretty pink butterfly paper for the Race for Life page, I've got a thing about butterflies at the moment.  Plus I needed to get last years photos scrapped before we do this years run in July!

For M's page, I went rooting through my paper supply, and I couldn't decide what paper to use until I came across this blue one with the birds on.  I've had it for years.  It came in a scrapbook kit from Scrapagogo a long time ago!  I love how this LO turned out, its one of my favourites I think :)

I'd be interested to see what your favourite LO's are at the moment please leave a link:

The One About the Very Nearly Finished Craft Space...

So M did lots of work on the construction of the craft space yesterday, and tested how it would all fit together, and I thought I would share some photos, so you can get an idea of how it will all work.  I'm so excited about it!

With the desk out

A look at the cubby holes under the table

How it will look all folded away

So all it needs now is for the lighter wood to be varnished to match the drawers and shelves, and the various bits screwing in place properly and then it will be finished!

I'm also going to have some shelves put up on the wall on the right hand side, and I'm thinking of getting some clear glass jars & pots to put things in.

Then on the wall that runs at right angles to the craft area I'm going to put up some frames LO's, I just need to find some 12x12 frames.  Any ideas please let me know.

The One About my Late Night Scrapping...

So last night was my scrapping night while M was out at boys night, and goodness I really was up late - for me anyway.  I packed it in and went up to bed at 1am, and by that time my back was really sore, because for now I scrap on the living room floor, and it doesn't half hurt after a while bending over on my knees!  Luckily though I have a yoga mat that I can sit on as we have laminate floorboards in our front room!  (Fingers crossed it won't be long until my craft space will be ready - M has been dispatched outside while the weather is dry to do some more work on the wood :)  I think all it needs is some sanding, then the worktop and leg mechanisms need varnishing, and it all putting together).

So after nearly 4 hours of scrapping, I finished one LO, and one DLO.  (It took me a while to find the photos - some are on my PC, some are on M's laptop, and some are on the portable hard-drive.  It turned out that my PC doesn't recognise the hard-drive which was a bit of a pain as I had over 200 pictures from our holiday in madeira that I wanted to put on it.  I know this all sounds rather complicated, but the printer is currently downstairs and I print from the laptop).

Anyway, back to the LO's.  The first one was of our trip to Alton Towers shortly after we first met.  I had completely forgotten that I had taken photos whilst we were there, so it was a nice surprise to find them!  I took inspiration from Shimelle's 6x4 Photo Love class, and the LO came together really quickly.  I had a bit of an accident with some glue, but managed to cover it up with a co-ordinating red circle embellishment!

Next up was the DLO of our trip to the rugby league final of Wigan Warriors versus St Helens last February (?), so can't remember the date, now that I'm blogging hopefully I won't forget things like that now!  M's dad printed photos off from the trip a while ago, so I just decided to scrap them (all that faffing about with the printing of photos, and I only used three that I printed myself!  What am I like!  Think it was the wine that I was drinking that had something to do with it!!!)  Anyway as it was a special occasion and we didn't know whether the Wigan Warriors would make it to the final again, P (M's dad) decided to make a proper day of it and go to one of the hospitality suites first.  It was fab!

Bit of a dilemma about what to wear (well we were advised to dress smartly, but then I had to factor in we'd be sat outside in the cold to watch the match!), but after a yummy three course meal, we went out to find our seats.  We were up in one of the corners, quite high up, and with a good view of the screen to see the close-ups.  I can't pretend to understand all of the rules, but I got quite excited every time they scored, and cheered them on.  And it made our day that they won!  M and his Dad are season ticket holders so they try to go to all of the home matches, and some of the away ones (means I get to scrap on a Friday night!)  and sometimes, for exiting matches I tag along, or if there is an away trip somewhere nice I tag along there too (last year I went to the game in Hull, and we had a nice look round the town before the match).  Only if it's in the warmer months of the year, during the winter months unless it is going to be a really spectacular game I stay at home in the warmth!  Not really a cold weather person!!!

So I was thinking about how long it took me to put just two pages together, and I wondered... how long does it take you to put a page together?  And does it bother you that it might take three hours to do just one SLO?

The One About All the Blinds...

So last weekend we finally got both of the blinds up, I say we, I mean really that M put them up!  I did have to decorate my purple one first though!

A few weeks ago I ordered a roman blind for our downstairs loo, and a roller blind for the kitchen, and last week they finally came.  The kitchen blind was pretty straight forward, a simple case of M putting it up on the wall (and the little pull string is rather pretty too):

The purple blind however was another matter.  I wanted something purple to match my colour scheme, but any interesting blinds were just far too expensive or didn't come in the right size.  So I ordered a plain one with the idea that I would use my KandiKane to add some silver gemstones to give it some interest.  So I spent an hour last Saurday morning measuring out the spacings for the gems, and sticking them down.  And actually I'm quite pleased with the result:

Tomorrow night M is out having a boys night, so I might just get some scrapping done :)

The One About The Bupa Great North Run...

So today is the day that M and his friend K have been working towards.  All those Monday night runs, which obviously have really helped as M knocked quite a few minutes off from last years time.  And I am so proud of him.  We got a few pictures of the boys before they walked down to race starting area:

We made it a trip out, with my Mum and M's dad, and K's other half N.  We got there in time for the warm up, so left the boys to it, and went and found a spot just further on from the start to wave them off.  We managed to see them and got some pictures, although M's dad got some much better photos with his lens, I'll try to remember to post them when I get copies, so for now mine will have to do! :

Then we wandered down part of the course, watched the big screen for a bit.  There was so many people everywhere, and so many people doing the run.  Just M's wave alone, he was the white wave starting at just before 11am, had hundreds of people in it, and there were four other waves that ran today!  We spotted a couple of famous faces, the actor from Taggart, the man that always gets into trouble in the drama, it was rumoured that Bob Hope from Emmerdale had been spotted, and Jonathan Edwards (the triple jumper) was up on the commentating podium.  There were other famous people taking part too, but we didn't see them.  We had to fight through the crowds to find a spot near the finishing line, and I'm a little bit claustrophobic so it wasn't great for me.  But we found a spot, just behind one line of people, so we could see through the gaps between their heads (if that makes sense?), anyway, there were these podium type things behind us, and I was keeping a watchful eye on them (well I knew I wasn't going to spot the boys from where I was, I'm only little, 5'4"!) and someone got down and I was there an instant later, only when I tried to get up I thought it was lower than it was, so I kind of tripped/stumbled up it (so embarrased), my legs just wouldn't work after the yoga workout I did yesterday!  (Me thinks I need to stretch more often!) oh and I scraped my leg and its been sore ever since :( but it was so worth it because first I spotted K, and shouted and waved madly (and got a funny look in response - but apparently he was just focusing his eyes), then a couple of minutes later there was M, and just like last year he s=didn't hear me or see me, he was on the other side of the road and he had his headphones in, so what hope was there really???  Anyway, they checked their times when they got back and M did his in 52, which is four minutes less than last year.  So so proud.

After the race with their medals

Sometimes I wish I could do a long run like this, but with my back the pounding on the floor just aggravates it.  M keeps telling me that I need to change my shoes, but who knows.  I'll be happy doing my Race for Life with Mum as a walk in July.  But maybe I'll do a run someday.

So did anyone else do the run today?  Or do you know of anyone that did it?

The One About the Race for Life...

This year Mum and I are doing the Race for Life at Arley Hall in July.  We did it last year, at Tatton Park, mainly as a way to get involved in something that makes a difference, and to spend some quality time together.  This year it means so much more to us, because the money we raise will actually go towards helping someone we know, someone close to us, my sister's new husband.

These last couple of months have been tough, on T, on my sister, and on everyone close to them.  There have been some low points, where T's had a headache that turned out to be a blood clot in his brain that was caused by a side effect of the chemotherapy.  Theres been the car accident that they had whilst he was out of hospital, caused by some silly woman not looking where she was going (luckily nothing but the car was damaged).  The hardest thing is that we can't really do much to help.  All I can do is be there when my sister needs to talk.  I'm quite good at distracting her with every day mundane things to help keep her mind off things, even if its only for an hour.

The doctors at Christie's have been really good (not that I've been, my sister has asked that our family don't go to visit at the hospital as it would cause her to crumble), but they're doing their best to give T the treatment that he needs and to keep him pain free from the headaches.  The good news is he came home today after his last week of intensive treatment.  The other good news is that his blood markers are way down (for a healthy male they should be less than 5, when he went into hospital, his was more than 200,000), less than 5 now.  The next step is surgery, and scans to see whether the spread has shrunk, if not more surgery.

So this year when we do the Race for Life, it will be for T, and for my sister.  I have set up a sponsorship page, if anyone feels able to spare a few pennies for this really good cause, we would all really appreciate it xx

The One About Yesterdays Post (All the Studying)....

So there has been a problem with blogger this week, and it would seem anything that was posted in the last couple of days has been removed due to maintenance work.  Fingers crossed it will all be resolved and it won't go down again.

Back to yesterdays post... several people, on a Wednesday share whats on their craft desks that day.  Well my desk hasn't got craft supplies on it, its got books and notes and pens.  I've been studying, all week, for my first two AAT exams which are on the 24th May.  I really want to be prepared, and pass first time, hence going over things again and again.

In other news, I've had my first week at work, and I'm absolutely shattered!  It's such an unsettling thing to change jobs, and put yourself in an unfamiliar situation with unfamiliar people.  And having to concentrate so hard to learn the new job.  I know it was the best decision for me, and it will be worth it in the end.  But at the moment, I have that feeling of not quite fitting in yet.  But I've been through this before and I know that it will get better, I just have to be patient (not one of my strong points, patience!)

The One About All The Studying...

So I've noticed that on Wednesday various bloggers take a photo of their craft space.  Well this week I haven't had time to do any scrapping as I've been concentrating on my studies.  My exams are fast approaching (24th May) and I want to ensure that I'm fully prepared.  So my desk space at the moment (and for the next two weeks or so) can be seen in the following photos:

It's also been the first week of my new job, and do you know what I'm just shattered!  I don't know why as my day is the same as hours as before, but with a shorter journey home, so why is it that I'm so tired???  All I can think of is that I'm concentrating a lot and learning so much that it requires far more energy.  Anyway, so far its going well, I can do the journey now without the sat nav, and the people I'm working with are lovely, and helpful.  Its always unsettling starting something new, and having that 'new girl' feeling.  I'm sure I'll feel like I belong in a short while.

In other news my blind is being delivered tomorrow (fingers crossed), and as M is at the rugby tomorrow night, I'm going to get out my gem's and attempt to decorate it.  Hopefully I'll be back later this weekend with piccies.

The One About Scrapbooking Day...

Those of you who scrapbook will know that National Scrapbooking Day was yesterday, (for the record it's always the first Saturday in May).  Well yesterday I was studying, and then due to not feeling well I spent the afternoon on the sofa, so I wasn't able to participate until today.  But better late than never!  Unfortunately, I realised too late that I had run out of photo paper, (I've always printed my own photos, I find it easier that way to print them at varying sizes.  I know that a lot of people have theirs printed professionally, but don't they always come back 6x4???), so I had to use photos already printed, and wasn't able to do the page about last year's Race for Life (post about this to follow soon).

Yesterday Shimelle posted some challenges on her blog, and this one inspired me to do this page:

The challenge was to scrap a page directly onto some patterned paper.  This page actually came together really quickly, far more quickly than normal.  And I'm wondering whether it was due to starting out with a piece of patterned paper.  So I will try it again sometime soon, and keep you posted!  The page is about a photograph I took some time ago, whilst out with Mum at Dunham Massey Park.  I loved the photo so much I had it blown up onto canvas and now it is displayed on our living room wall!  I have another picture that I took, of the Eiffel Tower when we visited Paris in November 2009 that I also want to put up on the wall.  But I just haven't got round to it yet!

Next up is a page about a PJ Party that we held for our Brownies.  This wasn't for a challenge, just a set of photos I had always meant to scrap!  Due to the pictures being of lots of little Brownies, I don't feel it right to show the whole LO here, so I've tried to take photos of it, whilst not including their faces.

The journalling reads:
'At the end of every term we liked to do something different to mark the end of term.  And Spring 2009 was no different.  I came up with the idea of having a PJ Party, (I think I was more excited than the girls were!), where we would all wear our PJ's to Brownies that night.  We played the chocolate game (you know, the one where you throw a six, put on hat and gloves, then have to cut the chocolate with a knife and fork), we had a story with the girls' teddy bears, and had lots of dancing.  (And what was even better was when Alesha Dixon's song 'Wash Up, Brush Up' came on, the girls grabbed the brooms and started sweeping up!  Less tidying up for us leaders!)'

I was very lucky to have been a Brownie leader for three years, with this unit, and was really sad to say goodbye to them last Summer.  Unfortunately as I moved in with M, it was too far away for me to commute back every Tuesday.  I did try a Brownie unit closer to home, but I didn't agree with the way it was run, so gave it up.  It was run by a lady that must have been in her late 50's, who had obviously been running it her way for years.  After coming from a unit where the eldest leader was 30, where we had a vision of all Brownie meetings being fun, it came as a bit of a shock!  I just didn't agree with the way the Brownies were made to work!  I know it was activities in their Brownie book, but even so, Brownies is meant to be fun!!  I'm sure that I'll go back to being a leader again the future as I got so much out of it, and it never failed to put a smile on my face (and it allowed me to be a big kid, which was a bonus!)  Has anyone else got any thoughts on this?  Or have you ever been a Brownie leader?  Or even a Rainbow or Guides leader?  Do share :)

The One About my Last Day.....

So today was my last day at work.  And this last week has just dragged.  The department in is in the middle of Year End and my boss in particular has been very stressed, and that has made him even more grumpy that normal, so the last few days have been very difficult.

But today has been nice, I spent the day tying things up, tidying my desk, throwing away a lot of paperwork that I seem to have hoarded (I think this is a family trait, my Mum hoards things too!), but most importatnly I got to say my goodbyes to my friends.  And that meant a lot to me.  I'm going to miss so many of the people that I've worked with, and I have got a couple of lunch dates pencilled in so fingers crossed we'll still all keep in touch.

My department all clubbed together a bought me a few things, including these gorgeous gerberas, and they didn't even know that they were my favourite flowers!  But there is a bit of a story about the flowers.  THey were meant to be a surprise.  My friend A, who had co-ordinated the whole thing happened to be coming up the stairs after purchasing the flowers as I was going down to see one of my friends.  So A had to explain that they were for me!  But they were presented by my manager, and I didn't tell him I'd already seen them!

And now I just feel relieved, it feels like such a weight off my shoulders.  And now I'm looking to the future, and my new start :)

The One About my Newly Put Up Photos...

Over the bank holiday I have finally got round to printing and framing some of my favourite photographs and putting them up on the wall.

First up is my display of family and friends on the wall in the living room.  They are on the right hand side of the room as you walk in down the corridor from the front door.  My intention is to continue the haphazardness of the photos all the way along the wall (going to the right), adding to them in the future as the twins get older, and as we start our own family, and of more family occasions.  M doesn't agree.  He thinks that a whole wall of photos would be too much, but a few clumps like the one I have already done would be better.  So I need some input from you all today please, let me know your thoughts!

The second lot of photos was to add some interest to my downstairs loo.  It has a colour scheme of purple (I mentioned previously of the imminent delivery of my purple roman blind), and it was decided rather than putting up four different photos that I had taken, M was going to edit a photo of my gerbra (brought home all the way from Madeira last April) which started out as orange, and put it into various shades of purple.  Now as M was putting them up on the wall for me, I was only half listening to what he was saying (more than likely I was catching up on someones blog and was engrossed) and when he said did I want them in a line, I (very stupidly) said yes.  So when I got up to look at them when they were up and realised M had literally put them up in a line rather than the 2 by 2 square I had envisioned, I was not best pleased (my own fault completely - lesson learnt, always pay attention to what M says!).  I still don't like the current arrangement, but M says I have to live with it for a few days to see if it grows on me (so far it hasn't).  So another question... should I leave them as they are or ask for them to be altered to the 2 by 2 square arrangement?

I hope everyone has had a lovely bank holiday weekend?  I know that I for one am not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow!  But, I only have 4 days left then start my new job next Monday.  So it can't be all bad!

The One About the Different Christmas Dinner ...

Since last months Storytelling Sunday, I decided to have a little nosy on Sian's blog to find out where the original idea for it came from.  Well, because it started with Christmas stories, I've decided to share a Christmas story this month (I know its May, but I can't possibly wait till December to share this story as it has been going round and round in my head all week!).

So... a couple of Christmas's ago, when I still lived at Mum's Christmas lunch was going to be for Mum, my sister C, my brother R, C's partner S (not the one she recently married by the way) and myself.  It was the first time my mother had cooked a turkey, and understandably she was a little nervous about it.  The turkey (which was quite large to feed us all, and to feed us again the day after with some salad) was taken out of the freezer the night before and put in the fridge overnight to defrost.  (Mum had decided to buy a frozen turkey well in advance from the local supermarket rather than having to battle the crowds on Christmas Eve to pick up a fresh one).  On Christmas morning I came down to find Mum mopping the kitchen floor as the defrosting of the turkey had caused the fridge to flood (Mum has always been an early riser, and as I was home for Christmas from Uni, I was still in sleeping in mode - yes even on Christmas Day!).  So the turkey went into the oven slightly later than planned due to the floods.  It didn't matter, it just meant Christmas lunch a little later on, and who minds really, waiting till later for their dinner???

Mrs Beeton's cookbook was consulted and the time the turkey to be in the oven was calculated based on the size of the turkey.  Very sensible I think.  So the rest of the dinner was cooked according to the turkey finishing time.  About quarter of an hour before said turkey was due to be cooked we took it out of the oven to have a look at it.  To cut into it and check the colour of the juices, as you're supposed to do.  The juices, did not run clear.  So we cut a bit deeper into the turkey.  It turned out the middle of it was still properly pink (quite possibly the turkey had not defrosted properly in the oven over night.  Who knows.)  So with the rest of the dinner practically ready a decision had to be made.  Mum has never liked cooking, whereas whilst at Uni I seemed to have developed an enjoyment for it.  Plus that day I was quite level headed and not prone to panic (nowadays I am prone to panic - the other day I got into a complete state because I couldn't find the battery charger for my DSLR), so I took over, (not the whole cooking - I've never actually cooked a roast dinner myself, just the problem with the turkey).  It was decided that we could not eat the turkey with the rest of the dinner because we ran the risk of giving everyone food poisoning, and if we continued to cook it, it would take too long to cook and the rest of the meal ruined.  So I started rooting through the freezer, and luckily Mum is one of those people that buys things on special offer and puts them in the freezer for another day (now that I live with M and am in charge of the meal planning I do it too!)  I found sausages, lots of them.  Enough of them to feed us all.  So using a trick I'd learnt at uni to defrost things quickly, I submerged them all in a bowl of boiling water, they were all still in their freezer bags (I'm sure that plenty of readers would be horrified by this, I know my Mum was, but it works!)  Then I cooked them.  That year was Christmas dinner with a twist, Christmas dinner without the turkey but with sausages instead!  And it's one that I will never forget!!!

For other Stories head over to Sian's blog.