THE BRITISH TRADITION OF THE DONER KEBAB......

Doner Kebabs......

Now as many of you know I am Bristish and I thought I would slowly introduce everyone to some time trusted traditions in good old Britian......

Now one thing we love is food, doesn't everyone you say! Yes that is true but we have a great love of spicy food and I remember the day well when I ate my very first and last doner kebab. The doner kebab is Turkish and literally translated means "rotating meat" which you can see in the second photograph. The meat is usually lamb and cooked by rotating around a heat source slowly. Slices of the meat are cut away and it is often placed in a half shell pitta bread with veggies and sauce......

Now I am these days a strictly chicken and fish girl and will eat nothing with four feet, I know, I know, I just feel they have the potential to be my pet. I have to be honest I have more than a problem with the chicken and the fish also but I try to not think about it!

Now the one and only time I had a doner kebab was when my sister talked me into one......

We had spent the day going round the local shops in High Wycombe and were now feeling a bit peckish to say the least. Quite frankly at that point if there had been a slow moving animal it might have been in peril of it's life. Lucky to say most of the wildlife and local pet population was fleet of foot and they were allowed to live for another day. My sister decided that she was going to take me for a local doner kebab and I was going whether I liked it or not. Now I have to say that the site of those horrendous chunks of meat cooking away would normally have sent me into a swift retreat, but as I have said I was fit to eat anything at that point......

We stood checking out the menu, my sister being the expert and swearing they were delicious made the order. It all seemed harmless enough at the time, the half of pitta bread, sliced meat, loads of lettuce, tomatoes plus some interesting looking orange sauce!......

It was starting to rain so we happily sat in the front of my sister's car steaming up the windows with our hot breath and munching away like a couple of contented little hamsters. Both our cheeks were nicely filled and silence ensued for a number of minutes. Unable to contain herself my sister turned to me and said "What do you think of the kebab". To be honest it was pretty tasty and with mouth full I turned to her and said "Great, but I can't feel my face". When I turned and looked at my sister we could not stop laughing. A large portion of our faces was a lurid orange color, it was the magic HOT sauce that had been liberally added to the meat and veggies. We were both completely numb and could feel nothing with our faces, we grinned away like a couple of fools and happily carried on munching!......

Talk about a great day!!!! I miss my sister......

BLOG GIVE-A-WAY......

Cupcake Toppers & Picks......

This is a sample of the toppers you will receive, enjoy......

I think by now many of you know that I am doing a huge clear out and de-stash and that I have been going through it for the last two years or so. It is funny how a clear out starts with one little thing and then ends up with a pile the size of a small mountain......

I have for a long time held onto the principle of getting ride of 10% of things at a time and that has worked well for me for most of my stuff. Every few months I go through a drawer or a cupboard and get rid of the things that I can now let go. When I first started on this journey there was much that I did not think that I could part with, but with time I have come to realise that if it is sitting in a drawer it is benefiting no one......

I have honestly loved the whole process and not been as upset as I thought to de-stash. Time makes a big difference as to how we view things and also what is important to us. I realised one day that I did not want to be like an Egyptian and have my own version of a little pyramid. I do not have to worry about tomb raiders but honestly what was I keeping this stuff for!......

Now I realise that at then end of my days my son is going to go through the bits that I have left and shake his head. He will find things like his first teeth, lock of hair and special little outfits that he wore as a baby and a child. These are the things that I am unable to part with, other bits and pieces are just that, STUFF!!

He will wonder about some of the other things that were special to his dad and I that have no monetary value at all but still mean something, in fact mean a lot. I also have to smile as I catch he and his wife keeping the same sort of stuff that I have. The torn half of a favorite movie seen together and the entrance ticket to somewhere special. One day he will be going through his stuff and shaking his head and wondering where it all came from! Life goes full circle......

Now onto the huge giveaway, I am letting go in one full sweep my entire collection of mostly vintage cupcake toppers and picks. The only ones as far as I know that are not vintage are the ballerina's. This is a great collection and perfect for the avid baker or altered art queen. There is honestly loads and I am sending it to one or two lucky people to have fun with and begin baking or creating......

So for each and every artist out there or devoted mother or grandmother it is very simple, either leave a comment on my blog, become a Google Follower or both and each comment or follower status will become an entry into the give away. You could if you want to split these up and give away to friends with a yummy cupcake attached to the bottom. What nicer way to bring a smile to a face, who does not love cupcakes!......

I truly hope that the person that wins this giveaway has the time of her life creating and baking with these cupcake memories, have fun......

THE BLOG GIVE-A-WAY WILL END ON 30TH JUNE, 2010, so there is plenty of time to leave comments on any of my blogs......

FLOWERPOT......

This is the only way at the moment that I can get a picture of Flower, when she is snoring her little head off cradled in my husband's arms. Life does not get any better than this......

MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH THE RAT TERRIER......

The Truly Adorable Rat Terrier......

My love affair with the Rat Terrier as a breed began a little under three years ago. Now the fact that we even own a dog so small is nothing short of a miracle in itself. Our little dog looks like the one on the right.....

We as a family always had a great love for big dogs and I mean BIG DOGS! In fact our last dog was a beautiful 140 lb Rottweiler called Beau, he was truly magnificent and glorious and not fat just enormous. After he passed away we were sworn off dogs and decided that because of my husband's ill health with Multiple Sclerosis that we would now forgo any future dog ownership. My husband and I had seriously sat down and weighed up the pro's and con's for us and come to the conclusion that our dog owning days were now far behind us. Our Beau was beautiful but huge and as my husband could no longer take part in the daily care of a dog it was decided in a sensible and democratic way that there would be no more dogs in order to try and relieve me of the inevitable work that comes along with such a commitment......

That was until a cold evening in late January of 2007, even here in Florida it was considered a cold spell as it was in the 30's at night time. I had come to know a little dog that used to run around our lake and visit our house in the evening. My son had taken on a new dog (that is another story, as he and his wife live with us) and this very sweet little dog came running around to visit my son's dog who was on the screened in patio enjoying the cold weather. On one of these visits I opened the screen door and let the little dog in in order for it to get closer to Mowglie the German Shepherd (Believe me it is a good story about Mowglie). The up shot was that Mowglie and this little dog got on like a house on fire. At the end of the visit I opened the screen door and off it went back to its home......

Go forward about two months and my son happened to tell me that the people whom owned the little dog were leaving the development that day. So needlessly to say I thought that was the end of the visits from the little dog. That night at 10.30 my son and I went out with Mowgli for his last walk of the evening, when low and behold the little dog appeared from out of the bushes. She followed us home and we brought her in for a moment in order for my husband to meet her. My husband took one look at her and uttered the famous words "She's not staying" and said that she had to go back to her home. We thought we had the date wrong that the owners were moving, so off she went back around the lake......

Later on that night we were all still up at 1.30 in the morning and commented on how cold it was outside. The talk then got around to the little dog and my son said that he thought he would just take Mowglie out for another quick walk before finally going to bed, he was worried about the little dog. Needless to say as soon as my son got within a short distance of the house the little dog came running out again from under the bushes. She was very cold and scared and again followed big Mowglie home. We brought her in and she stayed the night and was so grateful to be out of the cold. We found out the next day that the owner's had in fact moved away and left the little dog behind. Can you believe it! I just about had a fit!......

At the time we thought the little dog was a Jack Russell and called the Jack Russell rescue society (remember we were having NO MORE DOGS). They arranged that they would come and collect the little dog in three days. Needless to say long before the three days were up we could not let this sweetheart of a little dog go, so Flower or Flowerpot as I call her is now an active member of our famiy along with big FURRY Mowglie!!!

One thing I have come to learn is that there is a number of differences between a Jack Russell and a Rat Terrier. We in fact now own a Rat Terrier and now I can spot one a mile off once you know the breed. The breed comes in FOUR sizes and we are now the proud owners of a Standard Rat Terrier. She is now a slightly chubby 22 lbs (blame my husband) and is truly a joy to own. She was named Flower after the head meerkat of Meerkat Manor as she will sit up just like the meerkat and survey everything around her. She has sweet little tipped ears and uses them to great affect......

I can honestly say with hand on heart that I believe this dog to be a gift from God because of the joy she has brought my husband. She will happily spend all day on his lap and receive her little treats, I said it was his fault. At night time she will plaster herself along his side and keep him company when he has trouble sleeping. We now have a list as long as our arm of people who want her but my husband says it will be over our cold dead clammy bodies!!!!

I cannot imagine a day without our dear little Flower and I will try and get a photograph up for you one day. She is terrified of camera's, thunderstorms and any bang noise and will quiver for ages after. This gives my husband an extra reason to give her lots of cuddles, not that he needs any. Maybe this dog will be our last dog and we could never have seen ourselves owning a twenty two pounder but she is a little dog with a big dog's heart!

So thank you God for sending little Flower over to this house, I believe she was interviewing us and looking for a new home. She was not looked after by the previous owners and they had been reported for cruelty (we found this out after she became ours) so it was truly meant to be......

I will tell you about the cat that we now also have in another post, I know, I know, I cannot help it!!!! I will have NO MORE PETS! put on my gravestone!......