Welcome to my
online journal...

My name is Alexander Gordon Smith, and I'm the author of various books including The Inventors series and the brand new Furnace series.

This is my blog, and is where I talk about books, writing and, well, probably other stuff too...

Back to School :-@

Well, this is the last weekend before dratted school stars again! To try and get the most out of summer (I can't believe how fast it's flown by, seven weeks in the blink of an eye, that's scary!) we headed out to the beach yesterday. It was late by the time we left, and it was raining, but that shouldn't stop you enjoying the seaside! We went to Cromer because we all fancied fish and chips, and to be honest Mary Jane's Fish and Chips are the best in the world. We gobbled up our fish suppers in the restaurant because it was so miserable outside, then headed for the arcades to play basketball, guitar hero and the quiz machine. Great fun!

What was great about it, though, is that Lyns brought a pack of cards with her. Now, we quite often play cards when we're eating out, usually Old Maid because it's so easy to play. But when we were eating our fish and chips Lyns suggested playing Cheat. I haven't played that since I was at school, and I'd forgotten how addictive it is! For those who have never played, the pack (minus Jokers) is dealt out evenly to each player. Players must lay cards face down on the table in a certain order: they have to lay a card which is the same, one higher, or one lower than the card that has just been played. For instance if the first player lays two sixes, the second player must lay fives, sixes or sevens. If they lay a seven, the next player must lay sixes, sevens or eights. The great thing about the game, though, is that because the cards are laid face down, you can cheat if you want to. So if you don't have any sixes, sevens or eights then you can lay a queen and say it's a six. It's all about bluffing, and trying to work out who's telling the truth and who's cheating. If you don't believe someone then call 'Cheat' and their last card is checked. If they were cheating, then they get the whole pile, if they weren't, then you do. The winner is the first person to get rid of all their cards!

It's a fantastic game, and the best thing was that when we got back to the house nobody wanted to watch TV or movies, nobody wanted to play computer games or go on Facebook. Everybody, especially Jamie and Lucy, just wanted to play Cheat. And the same thing today! It's so wonderfully refreshing! If you've got kids who won't tear their eyeballs away from the screen, get out the cards and give Cheat a go – but maybe check the rules as my instructions aren't great!

I also read out the finished Bogey Brothers as a bedtime story and it went down very well, which is a good sign!

Anyway, enjoy the last weekend of the holiday!!!!!!!

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