I'll huff and I'll puff

I've been to Trefoil Guild today.  Trefoil Guild is supposed to be Girlguiding for Grown ups but sometimes we're more like Brownies.

Today's activity was sugar paste flowers.  Or at least it was supposed to be sugar craft flowers. Something like this.  I think this was Karen's first attempt.  It looked quite easy when she did it.  The rest of us weren't QUITE so competent.  Ann made this duck which I think looks as though it has aspirations to be a pop star.

I decided to make a pig.   Then I decided to make the Three Little Pigs and a house which looks as though someone has already tried to huff and puff and blow it down.  I don't think the Brownies would have me!

Every day is a thinking day but 22nd February is Thinking Day!

Robert Baden Powell (founder of Guiding and Scouting) and Olave, his wife, shared their birthday.  He was born on 22nd February 1857 and she made her appearance on 22nd February 1889.  In 1926 the Girl Guides and Girl Scouts of the world decided they's like to share that special day too and so Thinking Day was born.  Each year on 22nd February Girl Guides and Girl Scouts are encouraged to think about their fellow guides and scouts throughout the world.

When I was a little girl we used to join up with about twelve Brownie Packs for an evening of activities reminding us of Brownies throughout the world.  There was always a parade of world uniforms, always decorated biscuits to eat and there was always a collection of Thinking Day Pennies.  These pennies had to be polished for the occasion and they were laid out on the floor in the form of a Guide trefoil badge.  Later all our pennies would be gathered up and sent to Brownies overseas to help with the development of guiding and scouting.

Today I shall be meeting up with fellow members of the Trefoil Guild and together we will have a bring-and-share lunch and there will again be a collection but I think that most of us will give rather more than a penny!

So, greetings to everyone who has ever been involved in Guiding and Scouting, wherever in the world you may be!

Singing along Memory Lane

One of my favourite bits of being a Guide was camp fire singing.  There was little finesse about it. Silly songs.  Loud and enthusiastic singing.  A tasty hot dog.  

Last night I went to a camp fire again, my first for over thirty years.  This time it was with the Trefoil Guild - GirlGuiding for Grown ups.

It started with a barbecue.  Bit of a change there - everything was perfectly cooked unlike the burnt sausages and near raw burgers of my earlier days.  But that's what happens when it's grannies who do the cooking.

No balancing plates on knees whilst sitting on the ground.  These days our local camp site has proper picnic benches (and showers, and flush loos, and even some electric lighting).

Then to the campfire area.  Twenty first century Guides want proper benches to sit on.  But many of the old favourite songs were sung and the laughter was as wonderful as ever.

This was just getting ready - about thirty of us sang our hearts out

Sadly one thing thing has not changed.  Midges still bite!

Trefoil Guild

I loved being a Brownie!  I was a keen Girl Guide and became a Queen’s Guide.  After that it was Rangers and finally I became a Guider (Guide Leader).  And I found it all wonderful.  

That's me on the left!

I enjoyed the games, the badges, the fun.  I relished the idea of being part of something.  When I became a leader I had a clear sense of giving something back.

But then I moved house, went to a new Guide county and although I tried to carry on, it just wasn’t the same and I gave the whole thing up.  That was thirty years ago.  (The picture was over fifty years ago!)

But now I’ve made contact with Guiding again, this time with the Trefoil Guild and I’m hoping that again I will delight in this aspect of my life.  Today I was at a small meeting at which we made some tote bags, next month a member will share some Thai cooking.  It feels good.