Wednesday 27 March 2013

The Easter Holidays Are Approaching!

As the Easter Holidays loom towards us I can't believe what a crazy term it's been. So much seems to have happened in only a couple of months. At our unit babies have been born, Indoor Camp Licences and Adult Leadership Qualifications have been achieved, another Thinking Day flies by and we've seen 5 more young Guides make their promise with us. 
Last week at Guides we had a games evening with the usual suspects, Wink Murder and the Key Game (Where they sit in a circle, one person on a chair blindfolded in the middle, with a set of keys underneath and some one has to creep around the outside to collect the keys without being caught)before we settled them down to find out what they wanted to do next term, and for them to go through our existing unit guidelines and see whether there was anything they wanted to change or add about them. 

At Senior Section this week, the girls also sat down and planned their spring term. There were some really interesting results in there. Things like silent discos, hot air balloons and many more adventurous activities. It was also nice to see my old Brown Owl who popped in for a brief visit with a box of biscuits. Anyone who brings food to me is always in my good books :)
We also tallied up the sponsor money for our onesie walk and, despite it not all being collected in yet, we are estimating that the total sponsor money is to be over a whopping £600!!!!! What a great result from everyone who took part there, well done girls :)

This week at Guides we have a person coming in to teach the girls Kickboxing . . .this should make for a very interesting evening. It's something completely different for the girls to try so it should be great!



As I mentioned in previous posts I am taking on the challenge of the Queens Guide Award before I get too old. I am just in the process of filling in my application form to attend Innovate in Cardiff for a weekend in September, and I am possibly taking on a new role in the Division which I am contemplating using for my 'take on a new challenge for 12 months' module. So watch this space. . . 

So that's it for this term unfortunately, but the girls will be back in a couple of weeks with more tales to tell. I hope you all have a great Easter Break. xx

Wednesday 20 March 2013

Busy times!

So weather has been playing havoc with everything recently. On a Monday I also help with the running of the Senior Section unit. Last week we had it planned that the girls were going to learn to make sugar paste roses and decorate cupcakes with piping bags, with someone coming in to teach them the technique. However thanks to the snow it got cancelled and I soon found myself with 60 freshly made cupcakes on my hands and a very full freezer. . . 
With some careful rearranging however we managed to squeeze them in and save them for this week... shame could have quite happily munched my way through them. 
I had however picked something to do with them that I didn't know how to do, so the only sensible option was to learn how to make sugar paste roses myself, they taste good too! Following a YouTube video I quickly picked it up, and once you've done one you've definitely got the hang of it - the senior section girls will be fine. Here's our attempt - 
So of course Monday came this week and it was time for the cake decorating showdown. There were the usual grumbles when we showed them what they were doing when the realisation hit that they were to do something that would take a bit of concentration, but again once they'd done one and realised that it wasn't that bad they soon got into the swing of it and enjoyed themselves. They were able to get a bit messy too when it came to mixing up the buttercream icing - some great icing sugar clouds, and as each of them had a different nozzle on their piping bags, all their cakes had their own personal twist to them. Of course their finished pieces put ours to shame - there were some fantastic cakes at the end - they almost looked too good to eat . . . almost. Here are some fantastic examples - 





Over the weekend the Senior Section girls also completed a 10 mile walk for comic relief in a onesie. Unfortunately the heavens opened and the half way point we had some miserable drowned onesie walkers - waterproofs on under onesies! But the girls did brilliantly and everyone completed it in approximatly 4 hours. The team was made up of 11 s/s girls, 3 friends, 1 parent, 1 8 year old and 2 dogs. There were a few little perks along the way, lots of motivating toots from passing cars, fresh hot donuts at the Pier and bumping into David Walliams - many thanks for the donation - a perfect photo opportunity and some very happy girls. Below you can see a couple of photos from the walk, to protect the girls privacy I've had to black out their faces, but you get the idea. 


At Guides last week we took the girls out for a night walk over the track to the next town - a nice brisk 1.5 hour walk on the cool night air. Thankfully it wasn't raining or even snowing, it was a nice still evening, if slightly chilly - but with plenty of layers on we were all fine. Wellies and torches at the ready we set off. The girls all seemed to have a good time walking through the puddles, using the torches to guide their way. All in all a successful walk.

What excitement will this week bring . . . 

xx

Friday 8 March 2013

Making new things from old things - that's what Guidings about isn't it?

A few months ago we had a mass clear out of our store cupboard. It's only an average sized thing, double door, floor to ceiling jobby, but it took us 4 hours to take it all out, tidy up and put back in!!
Whilst surrounded by all our treasures we came across 6 big containers of powder paints. As we already have an ample supply of acrylic and poster paints we decided we no longer needed these, and they were taking up way too much room. So we put our heads together and came up with the idea of using the powder paint to colour sand and fill up glass bottles. Even better, we incorporated this to be a Mothers Day craft.

So at the sleepover the last weekend we got the older Guides involved and asked them to prep the sand for us, getting nice and messy mixing it with the powder paint. The sand has to be completely dry before putting it in the bottles, which was why we did this in advance, however Chief Leader did spend her week putting the sand through the microwave and the oven in desperation to get it to dry out in time. I never knew you could microwave sand!!

Last night we had our weekly meeting, and the girls seemed really excited about the sand bottles, it was something completely different, not anything we'd done at guides before so it was great to try something new.
We had the sand laid out in trays on two tables, and four girls at a time coming up to fill up their bottles and create a great little gift for Mothers Day.



The final results were great, they looked really nice and most importantly the girls were really happy with them. To add the finishing touch they tied a piece of curling ribbon around the top and added a butterfly tag.
During the evening, they also got the chance to colour in some Mothers Day cards aaaand we had three promises to make as well as put all the equipment back in the cupboard from the weekend! It certainly was a busy evening!!

Tuesday 5 March 2013

What a fantastic weekend

Well we made it through to the other side unscathed - what a fantastic sleepover that was. A brilliant group of girls with a huge range of personalities who all brought their own share of hilarity to the weekend - along with of course their love for One Direction! 
We had a great range of activities for the girls including decorating their own premade masquerade masks, crafting their own badges to sew on their camp blankets, decorating photo frames, cooking, games, and a walk to the seaside. 
However the only slip up occurred on the walk. We took the girls out with the promise of donuts on the Pier, but when we got there the donut shop was shut!!! So after a lap of the pier we ducked the girls down onto the beach to try and forget about the lack of donuts - which soon became a distant memory.
They were also adventurous - after cries of 'I don't like this' and 'I don't like that' we won the large majority of them over with the Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake and other foods. 
Earlier in the term they had been asked what they wanted at the sleepover in terms of food and activities so it was largely what they had asked for, but of course you always get the ones who don't like something. But they all gave it a go and they largely enjoyed their new experiences.
On the Saturday night we had a masquerade ball. The girls got themselves all glammed up, pretty dresses on, hair styled and had a great time. We put on a buffet for the girls and they had a great time playing lots of games and having a dance. I think it's safe the say the chocolate fountains were their favourite part!

At the end of the evening there was a competition for Prom Queen. The winner was the girl who had put most effort in over the weekend, had made a good job of decorating their mask and had been an active member of the group - as voted for by the girls themselves. 

The leader who was doing her licence did a great job, and we formed a great team to help her do so. The girls behaved themselves and allowed for us all to enjoy our weekends. They even slept brilliantly and were out for the count both nights before midnight!

A huge congratulations to her for passing - here's to the next one. x

Friday 1 March 2013

Packing my life up for the weekend

So last night I frantically packed my life up ready for this terms sleepover starting tonight. One of the Leadership team is working towards her indoor camp licence and this is the big event. The theme for weekend is Masquerade Ball which I think is fantastic, something completely original and right up the girls street as they get to put a fancy dress on and have a party. For once we've even allowed hair straighteners to come with us!!
Although I have to say it did seem funny packing my fancy dress and a pair of heels into my Guiding rucksack that goes on all the camps, along with my camp blanket, sleeping bag and waterproofs!


Despite having a kit list I always manage to forget something and I'm pretty sure that I'm not alone in that. But this time round I was so confident I had packed everything, three checks of my kit list later, yep still convinced . . . but then . . . this morning I was having a conversation with my mum and suddenly 'PILLOW!' I yelled in her face. . . oops. How do you forget a pillow of all things, thankfully it wasn't too late and I was able to fling it on top of the growing mountain sitting in my hallway ready to go. How is it possible that you need so much stuff for a couple of nights away I'll never understand. 

So here's to a great weekend away with a big group of Girl Guides and here's to a couple of uncomfortable nights sleep on the floor and good luck to she who is doing her licence, it'll all be grand. 

See you on the other side. . . 

Welcome

I gained my Adult Leadership Qualification once I'd turned 18. I'd spent 4 happy years as a Girl Guide at a brilliant unit on the South East coast and went on  to become a Young Leader and eventually a qualified Assistant Leader. I've been a Leader now for 8 years and feel like I'm really growing into it, taking on new challenges and learning new things. 
I also took it upon myself to achieve my Camp and Holiday Licence two years ago, and now to top it all off I have decided to start my Queens Guide Qualification with only 22 months to complete it in. (Expect some interesting articles as I take on that challenge).

The leadership team I am part of is great, we are like a little family, coming from various walks of life with a huge range of skills. But that's what makes a great leadership team right?

As I say I thoroughly enjoy what I do with each new Guide comes a new challenge. Each one has their own personality, their own level of abilities and their own vocal range - some incredibly higher than others. . . Each new lot bring a new phase to the unit and we are currently going through the One Direction and JLS phase at the moment. At every opportunity there will be I <3 Harry Styles or I <3 JLS scrawled across a craft, even if we are doing something unrelated, like traditional Indian hanging decorations...

I hope you enjoy this little insight into the world of a Guide Unit and its team, however no real names will ever be used and my name is not Doris Smith but that's all part of the fun and mystery :)

Enjoy x