Sparkle & Ice is Girlguiding’s big winter survival camp event. This was its third year and also my third year there. Sparkle & Ice happens at three training & activity centres simultaneously – Waddow in Lancashire, Blackland Farm in Sussex and Foxlease in Hampshire. I took my Rangers to Foxlease and the adventure started with … More Sparkle & Ice 2019: Sparkle & Ice was sparkly and icy!
Last year, I wrote a book. You might not know this because I don’t advertise it as heavily as maybe I should. I was inspired by TV’s Alexander Armstrong, who made a documentary series on ITV on a similar journey, Norway to Alaska via the Arctic, and then wrote (or possibly “wrote”) a tie-in book. … More I wrote a book: an update a year on
I don’t talk enough about my outdoors adventures here – actually, the truth is I don’t have enough outdoors adventures. In 2019 I’m going to have more of them, I promise. You may or may not know that I have an archery qualification and more recently, a fencing qualification and recently the opportunity came up … More “It’s an emergency. We need some salads carrying”
Back in 2002, I went on a school trip to Russia. I’ve written about part 1 (Moscow) here and part 2 (St Petersburg) here – but there’s more! Earlier in the year, I rediscovered a stack of boxes under my bed, containing assorted precious things from my schooldays, mostly. If I’d stopped to think about … More Documenting Russia 2002
Last week I told you about becoming a British Fencing Core Coach but at the same event, Try Inspire Qualify, I also – much to my own surprise – became a tennis coach with She Rallies. This is Sunday. So, with the fencing qualification done on Saturday, we still had another day. Part of this … More I’m a tennis coach!
I spent last weekend at a training event and the upshot of it is – I’m now a qualified fencing coach! It’s the most exciting thing to happen to me since I attended the same event two years ago and became an archery instructor. I can now reach teenagers two weapons and I have the … More I’m a fencing coach!
I wasn’t going to bother with this post because I stuck a picture of my diary/scrapbook/journal at the beginning of every diary entry but this thing is my baby and I want to share it. I find that if I don’t have things to look back at, I forget things. There are huge swathes of … More Keeping travel memories: my Laugavegur scrapbook
I spent last weekend at Girlguiding’s flagship annual event, the massive festival-themed camp Wellies & Wristbands. I’ve done quite a lot of camping and quite a lot of Guide camping but Pixie, my other leader…. is not very experienced. So here are ten things you should know before taking your Guides to camp: 1 Guide … More 10 Things You Should Know Before Taking Guides to Camp
I went to Wellies & Wristbands last weekend. It’s Girlguiding’s huge annual festival camp and I’d been looking forward to it for weeks. It was a bit of a washout. (I didn’t take many pictures. I did a few videos and put them on Instagram Stories and they’re now saved as a highlight on my … More Wellies & Washout 2018
I do have a book review blog but it’s been neglected for a long time now and besides, this ones kind of relevant. You know by now that I love Iceland Scandinavia. You may – although you probably don’t – know that I’ve read some of the “important Scandinavian medieval literature” that survives today, that … More Review: Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
I Am A Polar Bear 