A Guiding Life

Girlguiding Midlands Mayhem CityDash in Paris

>> Sunday, August 30, 2015

As a part of our recent international adventure, 600 girls from the Midlands Region went to Paris for the day to play a wide game!

Paris couldn't have known what was about to hit them.

Whilst we travelled there as a large group from my area, I was responsible for a team of 10 senior section girls. I've been really nervous leading up to it as we hadn't had a huge amount of detail about the game, surprise is part of it, there's no point doing it really if it's all fully planned in advance, it loses the challenge.

It was a City Dash game. We had maps of areas, grid references and clues, there were guards patrolling so you lost points if they spotted you and your number or if you were very stealth like and got their number first, you could gain some points.

We did very well. We found a lot of the clues, managed to spot some guards and went to 4 different zones out of 6 possible. We covered the Eiffel Towel, Notre Dame, Jardin du Luxembourg and the Pompidou Centre.

Dashing plant pot to plant pot and hiding behind them at the Jardin du Luxembourg was the highlight I think. I was amazed by how unconcerned the other tourists were, they just completely ignored us. I was slightly worried as we darted past solders fully armed and hid behind statues peering around them. I can only assume they had been briefed to expect teenage girls and puffing leaders in bright pink t-shirts to be stalking them like terrorists and to hold fire!

The weather was incredibly hot, into the 30s. We were all wet with sweat, we didn't stop to eat and only drank water on the move for 4 hours. And not one of the team moaned once, we were all fully engaged and happy.

I think we hit a good balance, we did do some sight seeing, we did get to take some photos and we didn't actually break out into a yomp at any point.

We came 15th out of 50 teams with 315 points. Not bad going I think. I do know that 2 of the guard spots we got did not register on the app and one clue we found wasn't on there either so I think we probably did better than it registered.

I can't imagine how we could have done any more than we did, so I'm in total wonder of the teams that came so far above us. I do wonder if they split up and did zones separately.

After time was up and we made it back to base (Invalides) we had a presentation and made a lot of noise. We were a sea of pink and blue.

It was an amazing day, the Rangers had a great time and were fantastic. I was really proud of them.

Girlguiding Midlands Mayhem in Paris 2015

>> Friday, August 28, 2015

I want to show you this amazingly professional film put together by the Rangers in my group on our recent international adventure.

They were a great group of girls, they are all going far in this world and in the right direction.

I had 10 girls in my group, 6 from my Rangers and 4 from another local Ranger unit. 6 of them decided they wanted to make their promises as a part of the adventure, 4 from another unit and 2 from mine.

I admit I cried as they did it.

Going away with Guiding is an important part of the program we run. It is a controlled environment away from what they are familiar with, it pushes them to meet new boundaries, it allows them to develop, builds confidence. As leaders we probably give them wider boundaries in many ways than parents might allow, despite the constant risk assessing, head counting, checking, rechecking and double checking that goes on in my head the whole time.

But above all else it is great fun.

And if it's not fun, it's not Guiding.

Horse Head

>> Wednesday, August 26, 2015

I took my mum and Cog out for a drive. Mum enjoys the experience. The highlight of the trip was her try to explain to me that something was not "made out of wood wood, it was made out of tree wood" M'kay.

We did however stumble across this Nic Fiddian-Green sculpture. It's at least 20 feet tall.

Cog loved it, I'm not so sure. I suppose if I have to have a horse's head somewhere I'd prefer to find it in my garden rather than my bed.

I wonder if each time the hunt horses turn the corner and see it they say to each other "OMG, it doesn't matter how many times we go past that thing it still scares my hooves off." (I hear the horse saying it in Marengo's voice.)

A Guider's Husband

>> Saturday, August 22, 2015

'When is all this camping gear moving?"

"What do you mean it's not?"

"No, no, it's fine, nothing wrong with climbing tents to get to my golf clubs"

"Can I take the 4 man tent in the garage to the festival?"

"Yes I'll look after it"

"Yes, I'll replace it if it gets harmed"

"Is my festival flag pole STILL in your Ranger kit?"

"No I don't want the Guide flag, where's my skull and cross bones gone?!"

"What do you mean pirate party, when?! Oh FFS"

Rhodes Old Town

>> Tuesday, August 18, 2015

It is an easy trip into Rhodes from the resort we stay at on the island.

The boat comes straight up to the beach and stops at a few more beaches before heading to port near the Old Town.

Having been so many times now I like to blend in and not stand out as an obvious tourist....what?!

It amazes me how Australian HWMBO always gets spoken to in German but me, always English. How do they know I'm English?!

Given the current economic mess Greece is in, I was surprised to see the signs that this is being restored courtesy of 1.2 million euros (I'm doubting myself now that it said this much but I stood pondering for ages so I'm pretty sure) from the European commission.

I guess it being a UNESCO World Heritage Site has a lot to do with it.

I could only assume it was a different budget or I'd be like "here have your damn money back, now get off our backs"

There is a massive area full of back streets like this. It's lovely to get lost in.

Although the main tourist areas, whilst busier, are even more beautiful.

But the Knights of St John didn't take it all, the Islamic presence is just as beautiful (as is the Jewish Synagogue where I met an Auschwitz survivor)

The modern mixes with the old.

The East with the West

And religion sits side by side.

An Evening Walk

>> Friday, August 14, 2015

Even after my exercise class it was still a lovely evening so we went for a walk across the fields whilst the sun set.

Cog is still photo averse, so chasing her around is good sport.

Some you win, some you lose.

The fields are about ready for harvest.

There is a weather front coming in that is going to leave us very all very soggy.

So maybe this was one last chance of summer.

We'll see.

Family games for a holiday evening (with and without major warfare)

>> Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Many years ago friends bought Cog a card game. It has gone on every excursion abroad ever since and is our go-to game to spend a bit of family time together.

HWMBO is Australian. He must win. It is written in his genetic code.

He can just about manage Maunz-Maunz without it resulting in family warfare.

What I learnt this holiday is, that despite it being almost exactly the same game, he cannot play Uno without behaving like he is playing for the ashes. Many families around us were playing Uno without shouting at each other. I pondered how they managed to do this whilst watching my family stomping off (one to bed and one to the bar.)

In an attempt to bring back harmony a few nights later I introduced them to Crazy Eights. This is Uno, Mau-Mau and every other similar card game in its original form. We made it through play still intact.

I thought we were ready as a family to move onto Knaves.

I was wrong.

In another desperate attempt to negotiate an evening of peace (I should work for the UN) we moved to Tier-Yatzi. The whole coloured animals thing makes it a much less contentious game than yahtzee proper. The real dice cause us massive issues but animals we manage not to kill each other over. I'm not saying it's easy, just less bloodshed. I think political negotiators should take a lesson from this.

I really needed a night off from peace keeping so I moved to one of my favourite past-times "wind up the teenager". She really didn't want her photo taking.

Not from any angle.

At least it gave HWMBO and I a common target for once. 5 minutes of marital harmony before we shuffled the card deck again.

πανίδα - Fauna

>> Friday, August 07, 2015

Last year I showed you a picture of a fairly small lizard from our holiday on Rhodes.

Well the little fella has all grown up now!

This chap had spotted lunch

but then he spotted me spotting him, lunch took the opportunity to live another day.

And the lizard went back to fooling ants into believing he was bark.

Fish from a glass bottom boat that gave the illusion they were swimming upside down.

The moth on the seat of the glass bottom boat. Cog hardly took her eyes off it for fear it would move, I'm sure she would have jumped overboard.

I spent quite some time deliberating whether to point it out to the tiny french girl, she would have been about 3 years old, whose foot is in the shot, to see if she would also jump over board.

The best type of animal watching though is the human kind. Forget the beach bronze babes that were wearing bits of string inadequately leaving anything to the imagination. Consider the order (I'll refrain from calling them subclass) that seek shade.

Swim suits intended for channel crossings and towel shawls.

Or even the full on towel hat (I promise none of these people were British either!)

But the ultimate subclass is the one holding the double espresso on the rocks in one hand and Jeremy Clarkson in the other. Steer clear of that one, it bites!

Maze Time

>> Monday, August 03, 2015

It was annual visit to the local maze this week. The theme this year is The Rugby World Cup and the picture is a rugby player scoring a try. The point where you were going over the bridge to enter the centre of the picture we were also walking into the backside of a Rugby Player - I place I thought I would never need to enter!

The crop was a really good height this year.

The trusty highlighter pen got us on every path in a very efficient manner and we covered all 3 miles and found all 10 boards in under an hour.

I cannot not walk every inch! It is a tradition but I am worried that I now see the time we can do it in as a challenge too! Slightly concerned it takes a little away from the relaxed fun!

But we did have time afterwards to play some of the games in the picnic area. Some of the puzzles were really hard.

Some were easy.

I like that they aren't posh - just good fun.

I love to see the photos of Cog year on year, so for my benefit, not yours, here is the growth (or shrinkage as I'm in reverse order) of Cog.

If you want to know more about how a maize maze works then go have a look at this post where I gave all the tips you need for a fun day out.

2014

The weather couldn't make up it's mind, warm, sunny and wet at different points of the walk.

2013

This was the best crop they'd had in a long time.

2012

Dreadful crop year. But the sunflowers meant it was still well worth seeing.

2011

The owners said it was a bad crop year. It seemed pretty tall to me, but maybe it's about the size and number of the maize itself, not just the height of the plant.