The Girlguiding fun never ends (or perhaps I should say that the Region events team are gluttons for punishment) because this is my third Region residential event in a single month. A week ago we had 60 adults camping on the field at Dartmoor Zoo, two weeks before that we had Try Inspire Qualify and … More The Brownies had a sleepover at Longleat
Has anyone else ever been woken up in a tent by a lionness roaring at quarter past three in the morning? On Dartmoor? This was my second Girlguiding adult-only residential in September. Two weeks ago I was at Try Inspire Qualify and now I’m pitching my tiny yellow tent in the rain at a zoo! … More We snoozed at the zoo!
Three and a half years ago, and more, I sat down one weekend and sewed a bag to Icelandair’s exact personal item size and it’s still going strong. I was tired of hunting the house for a bag that maximised the limited space allowed. People criticise the likes of Ryanair and easyJet for being too … More I made my own custom personal item
Second weekend in a row of uniformed adults having adventures in the woods! But this time, we’re not pretending to be Scouts and the neckerchiefs aren’t a festival costume; we’re the real thing – Girlguiding adult volunteers and the neckerchiefs were mostly Region ones. Try Inspire Qualify is an adults-only event run by Girlguiding South … More I made a knife at Try Inspire Qualify 2026
Last night I had my ninth out of ten lessons in the Norwegian for beginners: module one class. I knew that I wanted to write this before it even started and I’ve written pages and pages about it and deleted it. So now, with the end in sight, I’m starting over. I’m not actually a … More I spent 10 weeks learning Norwegian
I’ve talked a little about the Rebel Badge Club/Book before – some of the badges I’ve done and especially Summer Camp and apparently the first ever Meet Up but after going to my sixth nearly three weeks ago, I thought it was time to talk a bit more about it. The initial plan was to … More What happens at a Big Rebel Meet Up?
First thing, straight up – in case you thought I got all dressed up in a harness and tied myself to a couple of hundred metres of dynamic rope, I climbed Tower Bridge from the inside, not the outside, using a ticket I bought online last week, just like every tourist who’s ever visited it. … More I climbed Tower Bridge!
A couple of weeks ago I ran into Esme (Creator Collective aka official content creator for Girlguiding; Brownie leader; Our Chalet volunteer; future Chief Guide probably) at Girlguiding HQ while buying Ranger badges. She’s one of a very small number of people I know in real life who also knows about my secret online life … More I celebrated 100 years of World Thinking Day six times
This is an exciting Christmas activity that I saw Sandy Breitmeier, aka sandymakessense, do a month or two ago and the moment I saw it, I knew I had to give it a go. It’s a lampworking workshop, where you use a blowtorch to melt and twist glass to make a Christmas tree ornament. I … More Lampworking: making a Christmas tree using a blowtorch
On Monday/today, Girlguiding launched its new interest badges. Let me backtrack a little so you understand the significance. It’s been the messiest roll-out that was supposed to be a massive PR show – the BBC put out their news article somewhere around 2am, CBBC, Wales Online and the Telegraph somewhere around 6am, which is about … More Brownie leader reacts to the new Girlguiding interest badges