A Guiding Life

Rocking a T-Shirt

>> Thursday, August 30, 2012

Persil's current theme is Mosh and Wash, Getting kids to make musical instruments and dressing the part. For a while I've been looking a youtube tutorials on t-shirt alterations and this seems the ideal chance to share it with you.

I grabbed a T from the soon to be put out charity bag and started to cut, stretch and weave.

A boat neck definitely looks better than a crew neck.

I really like this open backed, weaved look. The end is a little too open but it was my first attempt. It looks great cut down much lower with vest tops underneath.

Heartened by the ease of the neck and back, I decided to have a go at fringing the bottom.

I think this went ok too.

I'm going to suggest to the Rangers that we have a night 'redesigning' old t-shirts with scissors.

So thank you to Persil for a being a great catalyst to another Guiding evening planned.

If you are interested to learn more Salina has the best set of tutorials I have found on YouTube.

Last Tango with Paris

>> Wednesday, August 29, 2012

This week's gallery is 'Movies' so to start the mood please press play here and then scroll on down.

I never got round to talking to you about our week in Paris this summer and now it seems too long ago to talk about.

But I do have some photos that say nothing but I rather like.

As an excuse to pull them out of the bag I decided to have a Last Tango With Paris.

I do understand that my idea of a Last Tango With Paris...

Is a lot different to Bernardo Bertolucci's Last Tango In Paris.

But actually I prefer my idea a whole lot more!

I think it is a beautiful city.

It's beauty seems to rise above it's grime.

Although nobody does roofs like Barlow.

Leaving children alone in the holidays

>> Sunday, August 26, 2012

When is a child no longer a child? When are they capable, able and safe to leave alone?

Well not when they are only 2, that's for sure. But there isn't an actual legal age on leaving children alone. As always, the NSPCC put it much better than I could.

The law does not set a minimum age at which children can be left alone. However, it is an offence to leave a child alone when doing so puts him or her at risk

Cog has been used to being in the house on her own for quite a while now, but these summer holidays she has spent many days alone. She's taken the opportunity to get her homework done and to add insult to injury I've had a tutor coming in once a week who has been giving her even more homework to keep her occupied. She'll thank me later...ok, maybe she won't.

When she was just a tiny thing, about 3, I recall her sitting on the bottom of the stairs sobbing as I told her she had to put her own shoes on or we would not be going out that day. Sometimes I have guilt flash backs about it, but then I remember how quickly she learnt to do it herself.

This summer I have gone to work with a comment of "There's food in the fridge and cupboards and emergency money in the tin if you don't like any of it".

Sometimes I think maybe it's a bit cruel, maybe at her age (14) she should have someone cooking up breakfast well if she got up before 8am I would do it, taking her out everyday and putting a lunch in front of her. But on the other hand I see a young adult that is perfectly capable of looking after herself, feeding herself, self motivating to get out of bed, sit at a desk and do work, empties the dishwasher, folds the washing and does errands to the Post Office.

So maybe it's a balance We are lucky, Grandma lives up the road, we have great friends around the corner and I know that they would be there in a shot for her. We live in a village with a village community spirit, she is safe popping to the shops and with this invisible support mechanism she is able to gain confidence in herself.

I was fretting about whether I had let her down a bit this holiday. But whilst it seems like she has had a lot of time alone, out of a possible 47 days she has only had 9. But interestingly, it's what she seems to recall most. Her passing comment to me being "if nothing else, at least I've finally mastered the tin opener this summer holiday".

She has however also mastered a mean vegetable risotto and a noodle stir-fry and has made comments like "a bit of Chinese 5 spice really picked up the taste today".

And besides, to ease my conscience a little, each day after I've got home from work we've gone out together for a long walk, to the late night shops, to bowling or the cinema. I'm pooped, I'll be glad when she's back at school!

A family day out at a maize maze

>> Friday, August 24, 2012

We have a large maze, 3 miles of paths, within walking distance of home and we go every year. It's another one of those things which mark out the passage of time.

Nature looking towards God

This year as the weather hasn't been so good it hasn't grown very tall. But they have planted sunflowers in amongst the maize, it looks lovely.

Unlike COG, who continues to grow and grow.

The lower 'walls' made it great fun to race each other around different parts of paths that split off.

Despite the heat and humidity we walked every single path. I know this because I mark the map with a highlighter pen as we go around it.

We found all the clues hidden in there and that was no mean feat. The owner recognised us as old timers, she took the map with the clues on away from us as we went in. We got a map showing only the paths and just knew the 12 boards were in there 'somewhere'. Having a path map doesn't make it 'easy' but you do need it to get around otherwise you'd be there forever.

We also spotted this beautiful partridge and her big brood of chicks, you may have to zoom it to see them they are so tiny. She was having great difficulty in not losing her babies.

I know just how she felt!

There are a lot of these maize mazes dotted around the country, if you haven't tried it I recommend you do. Here are some hints to help you:

Call in advance, they will tell you how muddy (or not) the paths are and if you need wellies, trainers or sandals. And then stick all 3 in the boot anyway!

Take a small backpack, with waterproofs, hats, and bottles of water.

Take cash - ours is on a farm and only take cash - I'm sure lots take card but best be prepared.

Take a couple of pens - they will charge you for a pen.

If you want to make it easier, take a highlighter pen and mark off the paths as you go round.

Ours is totally wheel chair and pushchair accessible unless it was really really muddy. They have lots of viewing platforms and helpers, you won't lose your toddler (for long) no matter how hard you try and they have quick exits so you can get out to the loos and then go back in again without having to walk a million miles.

At ours there are lots of other games and mini mazes to do as well, picnic tables and plenty of parking. It is an easy, fun day out and I thoroughly recommend it for a family few hours of togetherness and exercise....oh yes and ~~yelling at each other~~ debating about which way to go!

If you enjoy mazes, I also recommend you try Plantasia - lots and lots of smaller mazes, a great trail for kids to follow, some animals and a hands on interactive indoor area - great fun in all weathers.

Icarus and the vertical rainbow

>> Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Icarus was a little further from Crete than expected.
But he was here, as bold as brass.

I guess the microlight pilot will never know what a beautiful picture he created.

These 2 pictures were first published by me in September 2011 but seemed perfect for this weeks Gallery.

Whereas, this picture was taken only recently, again with an iphone. It was very bright sunlight, no rain clouds anywhere and yet there was a small vertical piece of rainbow in the sky. It's not a camera effect, it was there, but hard to see without sunglasses so I was pleased my phone actually managed to catch it.

A day out at Bletchley Park

>> Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Bletchley Park near Milton Keynes is a quite incredible place. Thousands of people worked there during World War 2 but nobody spoke about it until the 1990's. I mean absolutely nobody, it was the ultra secret. Some of the most advanced code breaking and computer science work took place there and it's all still there. It really is a walk back in history.

A lot of it is focused on the enigma but there is so much more.

I love history and the inevitable war references, as the code breaking story is told, hold my interest.

But there is the social side, the 1940s life style, the toy museum, the personal stories.

There is also Colossus which truly is quite incredible. That number of valves and still working when they stopped making them more than 40 years ago.

It is a big site, with something to see in each part. We took the teens in tow on the children's tour, which was enough to get them interested and keep them engaged without boring them to death. I've been on the full tour before and think it's great, they are often done by people that actually worked there but it's not for anyone with a short attention span.

But for me Bletchley is so great because there is still a rawness to it. Even 10 years on from when I first went there are still crumbling parts. This is the original entrance. It's not been Disney'd, it's just how it was/is. Right next to where a bomb dropped. You need to picture the history, it's not handed on a plate. This is a place that makes your brain and imagination work.

It's a museum that is still growing and evolving into something, but for now it is a collection created by enthusiasts. I thoroughly recommend you get there before commerce takes hold.

I read so much on the displays and learnt so much but the thing that really grabbed me this visit as truly awesome is this whistling milkpan. It whistles like a kettle as it boils. Brilliant, why don't they make these anymore?! Seriously, if you haven't been to Bletchley and you have any interest at all in the war, logic problems, code breaking, computers, just a day out that's a bit different do go. There are no rides, little interactive - you do the brain work - but it is so worth it.

They have a great cafe and often run family days with brilliant kids activities, they are definitely running for the next two Wednesdays. To find out more visit http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/content/museum1.rhtm

And if you are even slightly interested in this then also have a think about going to the Secret Nuclear Bunker at Kelvedon Hatch.

Dr Seuss the Anti-Fascist

>> Sunday, August 19, 2012

We do Dr Seuss is our house. I told you about The Lorax a long time ago and was surprised about how many people hadn't heard about it. It is the ultimate ecological warning about how we are destroying our planet and as individuals we can make a difference to it's future.

We went to see the film and thoroughly enjoyed it, despite being the Seuss purists that we are. HWMBO can quote The Lorax word for word. COG is more Fox in Sox. I prefer the slightly less rhymey books like the King's Stilts. But 'I had trouble in getting to Solla Sollew' resonates with me all the time I feel a post coming on about that one.

Dr Seuss isn't just about children's easy readers. In each story he gives a clear and concise message. Whether it is about differing perspectives 500 hats of Barthomew Cubbins, vanity Gertrude McFuzz, appreciation Solla Sollew, racism Sneetches. There is quite often an underlying positive message that remind us all about how great we are, the fantastic things we can achieve and taking the opportunities to do them.

But did you know he was a political cartoonist. He won a Pulitzer for his anti-fascist cartoons of the 1940's. His cartoons railed against racism and anti-Semitism

Pushing America to support the war and against isolationism.

If you are interested this is a great book both for the cartoons he drew and the story behind them.

But if you fail to do nothing else read your child The Lorax, teach them that it is important that someone speaks for the trees.

"UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."

Never give in--never, never, never, never

>> Saturday, August 18, 2012

I am stubborn, I have the world record in stubborn, you really shouldn't ever try to out-stubborn me, this lady is not for turning.

You see, I cook a meal and often eat leaving HWMBO's in 'the cooking implement of choice for the evening' for him to reheat and eat when he finally gets home from work. HWMBO tends to then try to cremate rather than reheat my efforts, which is fine I suppose - he's eating it BUT what really gets my goat is when he starts adding to the pot. A little bit of this, a little bit of that.

This says to me that the food I cooked wasn't good enough, that my cooking tastes bad and needs more work. This to me shouts disrespect.

It has finally come to a head with a stubborn out where he refuses to acknowledge it as important and I will no longer be cooking.

There is another problem here, he takes the silver in stubborn but there's all to play for at this stage of the game.

Of course I hold more cards in my hand which include the shopping (from which he is currently feeding himself), the washing, ironing (oh dear Dear, are there no shirts in the wardrobe? Well you just need to APOLOGISE and it will all be over as quickly as it started).

Surrender is all that is required.

Churchill said:

Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.