Mowsley mid month

 For the first time since joining the local hill walking club I went on a local mid month walk.  I was tempted by it starting quite close to home, a walk-able distance.

So I walked a mile up to the starting point and from there the group walked across towards Mowsley.

 I know these fields but have never been through them,  it was good to be local but be on paths I'd never walked before.

It was also the best weather for walking, in my opinion.  Cold enough to be wrapped up but not sweating whilst walking.

 The ice was forming on the water hidden from the sun.

 And the tractor paths were wet.

 Mowsley church has an ancient thatch mud wall around it still.

 We sat in the church to have a mince pie and a warm drink from our flasks.

I was wondering about how unusual it is not to have stained glass at the back of the altar.

 But then why would it be needed when nature gives the best reminder of God's work.

 We walked onto Laughten, then turned towards Foxton then the familiar paths from Gumley towards home.

 I run around here a lot, but for the first time I saw 2 red kytes flying around the gorse hill.

I see a lot of buzzards and the odd barn owl regularly.

 We were back on the Leicestershire Round

 It's so nice up here, not far from towns but it feels like it's a long way from anywhere.

A good morning's 10 mile walk. And with out the bus travel  of the longer monthly walk it didn't fill the whole day.

I'd go on a mid-monther again.

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The Bethlehemian Rhapsody

Merry Christmas Everyone.

Don't forget:   'Jesus is the reason for the season'


 

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The run up

 It's been a bit of a lonely lead up to Christmas with Cog away.

I helped out at the Division's Christmas campfire event for Rainbows and Brownies, so saw lots of Guiding friends.







I finally, after her asking for years and years, went to Thursford with my mother to see the Christmas Spectacular.

It was a lovely, if rather long, day.  It is a long way from here. But it was pleasant company all day.

 I wrapped gifts with the help of the cats

 Who also miss Cog.

 A real tree was bought, it's been many years since we had a real one.
















And for the first time in 20 years, I decorated it alone.  But with White Christmas on the TV and sending photos to Cog as I went along, it was still lovely.

Christingle was lovely, and the fun added to by the children in the pews in front of me having a fistycuffs moment and a singeing of hair!

And the advent candle is finally at the end, cog is home and we are ready.

Family are on their way, crib service and midnight mass will finish off Christmas Eve.


Happy Christmas all.

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Ladybower

 The day started in mizzle somewhere near Hathersage and the weather forecast was for downpours but not cold, about 7C, even though this was our December walk.

I'd been umming and ahhing about what coat to wear: storm proof unlined or the lined waterproof.

I opted for lined water proof.

 But it turned out to be a mistake, I was hot.

In fact despite the mizzle I went down to long sleeved t-shirt with short sleeved t-shirt over and ploughed on.

 But the on and off rain was soaking into the cotton t-shirt so I put on my 'fleece' which sheds water quite well, but I was hot again.

I tried long sleeved t-shirt and fleece.

 But I was getting soaked, so I moved to long sleeved t-shirt and coat and stayed that way for the rest of the day.

 I had my water proof over trousers on right from the outset and even though duckboards were around in places they were still wet and muddy above gaiter level.

 We went up and down a lot, it is a hill walking club after all! But I actually paid very little attention to where we were and we only went through one village the whole day.

 At times we had to come off the path and find ways around some drops, they were just too steep and slippy to be safe.  I think the first few hard rains after the dry summer were just laying on top of the ground making the dying back heather, bracken and the exposed mud a skating rink.

 The light was dying by the time the decision about win hill needed to be taken, we decided not to do it and walk further along the reservoir instead to make up the distance,

 It was nice, although it was shame not to 'do' the last big hill, hopefully I will 'bag it' another day.

 There was hardly any water in the reservoir at all.

 Fingers crossed for a wet winter or we will be in trouble next summer.















And the light went just as we made it to the pub at Ladybower.

A nice walk, with a really good walk leader, she has a good pace and an easy manner that suits me well.

Oh yes, and I came home and bought a new coat to see if I can find a happier medium!

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Rangers Christmas Tree Festival

I've been helping out at our local Christmas tree festival for years (8 it seems.) I've helped my mum do numerous entries and we've put Brownie trees in across the years like 2011,  2013,  2014 but I've never done a tree with Rangers.  So this year I thought I would try.

It started out as a simple idea

with a bit of lashing

and a few props the idea was formed.

And the Rangers made paracord christmas trees

with lights in amongst logs
a mock mulled wine in the dutch oven (a set jelly with cinnamon sticks, dried orange slice and cloves on), ladle and cup
Smores
pine cones and leaves

A necker and promise badge at the top

It all staged very well.

It looked lovely and got a few votes.

It was called 'Campmas time, paracord and wine'


















I did think it was going to be a one off entry as it is a hard weekend for me generally working the tea and mince pie sales for a solid 10 hours across the 2 days so adding the building your own tree and taking it down makes it doubly so.

Some of the Rangers also did long kitchen shifts, they are good girls, there is no 'benefit' directly to them for doing it, it is good of them to care.

But it was fun, I might have a think about doing another one next year if I can come up with an idea.

We'll see.

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Girlguiding GOLD (Guiding Overseas Linked with Development)

One of my (ex) Rangers has recently come back from Rwanda where she went with Girlguiding GOLD. 

I am intensely proud of her.

GOLD is described by Girlguiding as:

Guiding Overseas Linked with Development (GOLD) enables young women to develop their potential and make a difference in the world
From joining campaigns to end violence against women and girls in Malawi, to encouraging young leaders in Latvia - GOLD empowers young women to work in partnership with other guide associations around the world. It's great for our GOLD teams, who have fantastic adventures overseas, and it's great for the guide associations too.
GOLD has been working with member countries of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) for nearly 25 years. So far, we've given over 600 members of Girlguiding an adventure of a lifetime.

The experience was described by my Ranger as:

For me personally, GOLD has had a huge impact. Although there was a big commitment and lots of work in the run up to project and alongside my final year of university, I graduated earlier this year feeling a little lost and with no job, and GOLD has helped me find my feet and confidence again. At our debrief weekend, I described GOLD as ‘one of the craziest but best things I’ve ever done’, and that is absolutely true. Girlguiding tells us to expect the unexpected on GOLD projects, and at times, we certainly got the unexpected!

From playing with a parachute and bubbles with nursery children, to teaching first aid skills to disadvantaged young women studying to be tailors on a course funded by the Rwandan Girl Guides, to teaching teamwork games to teenage girls, long taxi rides on bumpy roads, being gifted a peace pot filled with peanuts, teaching first aid to over 400 young women at the national camp, listening to the stories of Rwandan Girl Guide’s favourite memories of guiding, and as we drove on the buses away from camp, pulling up next to another bus and hearing the girls sing songs through the window that we had taught them, each and every day was filled with special experiences for both the girls we met, and for us.

I think our team truly embraced the spirit of Rwanda, and this helped us to be successful. We got involved and showed an interest in the Rwandan GOLD team who acted as our translators and guides, they taught us some Kinyarwandan (the language of Rwanda), we learnt that Rwandan people are always happy and smiled with them, and we visited local markets and stalls to support local business. Everywhere we went we were greeted with singing and dancing, and whole villages turning out to meet us. On the last day of project, our leader, Katie, showed us a video of us experiencing this greeting for the first time (let’s just say that our faces were a mixture of shock, confusion and happiness), and for the last time (where we’d learnt the moves, and even the ones we didn’t know we embraced, tried our best, and joined in).

I have too many ‘best bits’ to share them all, but one of my favourites has to be when Super, the Girl Guide who translated our 2 hour first aid session for us at least 10 times, used the recovery position at a wedding she attended. By the end of the project, we were able to donate our bandages and a CPR doll to the Association des Guides du Rwanda for her to use to teach first aid in the future, and she cried when she found out. Although we knew all along that what we were doing was having a positive benefit, it was quite moving to see the physical results, and it’s one of my favourite moments in the 3.5 week experience.

And finally some words from their official report:

After 3 weeks in Rwanda, one of the most important lessons we have learnt is how international travel can have an impact on the self.
...
Overall our experience in Rwanda was insightful, inspiring and packed with amazing encounters. We discovered first hand how much of an international sisterhood guiding is. Rwanda has a different way of guiding to us and we have a different way of guiding to them but we both share an equally huge passion for providing opportunities for girls to truly thrive.

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Hartington

 The November walking club outing was an 11 miler to Hartingdon.

We were around this area before when we walked to Flash so I knew Chrome and Parkhouse Hills were a likely part of the walk.  That was a hot clear day when you could see forever.

 Today was not one of those!

We went over (not literally) Leap Edge without seeing more than 20 metres in front.

 The new waterproof trousers and gaiters were out from the start and even the backpack cover had its first outing.

But slowly the mist cleared and autumn started to show its face.

Parkhouse loomed large but we went around it rather than over it.  I was pleased, it was a bit of a scramble coming down it in the summer, I didn't fancy the thought of the wet stones today.

We saw other members of our coach party coming over Chrome.

 We went up Hitter hill instead. Which is high but easy.

 We circled past Pilsbury castle.

 And continued into the mist.

 Through many farms and past many mineshafts.

















To Hartington, a nice town with nice carrot cake!

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