The last Travel Library of the year is a suitably seasonal cold & frosty one – it’s called Frigid Women by Sue & Victoria Riches (affiliate link to bookshop.org, not to Am*zon) and it’s the story of the first all-woman expedition to reach the North Pole. Sue Riches was the speaker at the Trefoil Guild … More Travel Library: Frigid Women by Sue & Victoria Riches
Over the last ten or fifteen years, Girlguiding has cultivated four flagship events, held simultaneously at anywhere between two and four of its Training & Activity Centres. The really big one is Wellies & Wristbands, a festival camp for Guides & Rangers, the 10 to 18-year-olds. Then came Magic & Mayhem, a circus-themed fun day … More Sparkle & Ice 2024: the one in a shepherds hut
I like churches. Like some of the people who appear in this book, part of the heart & soul of their particular churches, I’m not a believer and I don’t even find any sense of peace or inner tranquillity in a church. It’s merely my chosen favourite art form, one which contains, usually, a few … More Travel Library: Steeple Chasing by Peter Ross
Now, this is a book of two halves, because for the first few chapters, I was shaking my head and going “Yet again, I’m going to have to write on my blog that I read a travel-themed book that I didn’t particularly like”. But it got better. This month’s book is also the Rebel Readers’ … More Travel Library: The Salt Path by Raynor Winn
This has been on my to-read pile for a while and finally I decided it was going to come off that list and get read. The subtitle for it is “sea kayaking the Shipping Forecast” and now I’m helping at the boathouse, I’m taking more interest in sea kayaking, which is why this caught my … More Travel Library: Moderate Becoming Good Later by Toby and Katie Carr
A Chip Shop in Poznan by Ben Aitken has been sitting on my bookshelf for probably more years than I care to think about it. It’s always my “I’ll read that one next” before I find myself picking up something else. Turns out that was fate staying my hand because when I realised my Eras … More Travel Library: A Chip Shop in Poznan by Ben Aitken
This wasn’t my original plan for my July book but the one I’d planned to read sounded like even its own author hadn’t enjoyed it so off I went to the Kindle shop where I came across I’m Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself by Glynnis MacNicol. It’s the tale of a woman in her 40s … More Travel Library: I’m Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself by Glynnis MacNicol
This last year has been like nothing I’ve experienced ever. I’m up to about five Girlguiding roles and this summer term, I’ve been out four nights a week plus the weekend quite a few times. So I thought, as possibly the busiest volunteer in the country, I’d talk a bit about each of those roles over … More Girlguiding 2023-24: a review
Just for the avoidance of doubt, I’m not actually a kayaking instructor. I volunteer at our Girlguiding boathouse where we have one qualified leader and three assistants. I’m kind of hoping to be an actual qualified instructor by next year maybe but for now, I’m using “instructor” in the sense of… well, my job is to go out … More My second season as a kayaking instructor
It’s been a while since I did a Girlguiding post (last November when we went to Sparkle & Ice, in fact!) so it’s definitely time to do another. Last weekend, I went to GLOW! GLOW is Girlguiding South West’s new flagship event for girls. With the selling-off of our Training & Activity Centres, our big … More Campfire singing for 8 hours at GLOW
I Am A Polar Bear 