St George and Easter redux

Two things this week on the blog thanks to scheduling and fixed dates one being that Last Wednesday was St. Georges Day, our patron saint here in England.

As the Eternal Brownie, I marked it too here as did thousands of brownies and guides, many march with flags, even more read about and create things about St Georges life passing on that knowledge about a part of our identity.

No, he wasn't caught on the hop this year just that Easter was a week later when we all got together after arriving on Friday having gotten a taxi and caught the train down so I would be less rushed which also had the benefit of enjoying a fish and part battered chip meal was people talked.

Saturday was the start of events proper and I was up just after six, possibly the earliest cos I go by British Cat Time - when you can see things you get moving - so after the last person arrived we started with an Easter Egg Hunt which the first step was to assemble your basket and having done that I found seven of them hidden all over the place.

We then retired for home made burgers with onion that we ate outside that were most scrumptious .

We then had to throw a bean bag at the rabbit to score points which wasn't my strong point  before the egg and spoon race which you could I was more slow and steady before the outdoor darts which I wasn't too bad at  

Then each time had to retrieve a deck using a pole with chain but it soon transpired the chain was too long and heavy although one person did seem to develop a knack for it.

Then we had Tin Can Alley where one team member managed get a ball through the centre of the tins leaving those around the edges in a perfect inverted V shape and I knocked most of them off which was something!

We were treated to small creme eggs and a gingerbread bunny.

We then enjoyed an enjoyable bring a long a few things buffet  which I had B-B que chicken, pork pie salad and sausage roll before playing Easter bingo  and Family Favourites.

After much talk we got to sleep - for me opposite the fire - just before midnight and I was up for oatcakes and bacon before we went to the local pub for a meal which for me was a turkey roast and sticky toffee treacle pudding.

After that we made our ways home with Debbie kindly providing three of us a lift to the station.

Thanks to Jennifer for organizing the party and everyone contributing to a highly enjoyable event.
 

Easter for Brownies

Brownie units and their leaders can incorporate Easter themes and activities into their programs, often by completing an Easter-themed badge or challenge. Activities can include crafts like decorating animal jars or creating Easter egg treasure hunts. Brownie badges may also include information about the Christian holiday of Easter and its symbols. 

Here's a more detailed look at how Brownies and Guides might celebrate Easter:

Badge and Challenges:

Easter Badge:

Girlguiding offers an Easter holiday woven badge, which Brownies can earn by learning about Easter traditions and symbols. 

Easter Challenge Badge:

Some local Girlguiding groups create specific challenge badges for Easter, like the "Eggstraordinary Easter Challenge Badge from Girlguiding Hertfordshire". 

Take Action Make a Change:

Some challenge badges can be linked to the "Take Action Make a Change" program, allowing Brownies to work on a project with a specific Easter theme. 

Activities:

Crafts:

Brownies can make Easter-themed crafts, such as tissue paper animal jars to hold treats. 

Treasure Hunts:

Plan Easter egg treasure hunts, where clues lead to chocolate eggs or other rewards, or even challenges to complete. 

Egg Decorating:

Brownies can decorate eggs using various methods, like blowing out the egg and then painting it. 

Learning about Easter:

The Easter badge and challenge badges provide opportunities to learn about the Christian holiday of Easter, including its symbols like eggs, candles, and lilies. 

The way across Easter

There will be a bit of a delay in just over a weeks time as I'll be away for a few days which is pretty much my want although parts were not in my original plans and that does have a bit of an knock on effect when it comes to making and getting blogs published.

A lot of that really stems from perhaps unlike a few you read, this is very much the blog of a for real little sissy gurl who has a life beyond social media and the internet and chunks of this blog are about actual real life happenings that have actual meaning to me.

With blogging I don't write to order or for the entertainment of others it is more about me, my life and my feelings as someone who accepts freely they are a sissy and that is that.

It is highly likely that this sissy will have to spend a chunk of a day as a sissified school gurl doing her work for a school mistress, having school dinners, having hur work and behaviour corrected and that will be a wonderful thing.

Plushies and food

After last weekends activity and some follow up stuff like sorting the Outbound ticket for Easter's get together we're taking things a bit steadily and resting the paw after mentioning it to one person this week and combing my dollies hair a bit as they soon get tangled (and that's not as good as the movie!).

One great thing about small plushies is you can indulge your inner little girl side with cuteness without taking up loads of space and the other is they fit well between the sheets when you need something to hug at night.

People have been talking a bit this week about school dinners (din-dins to me) which varied a fair bit as at school one, they were brought part cooked and reheated so fleshy things like fish tended to be a bit dry and we carried them to a table in a community centre.

School number was a lot better as we had somewhere to sit in school, cleared tables and generally one or two of us would be given the food in order and then serve the children on tables first on real plates. I liked the fish cakes and semolina pudding and jam.

School three was similar except you ate at tables in a hall and there exceptions for diabetics and certain religious customs  and was first place I encountered Manchester Tart.

I still have cravings for school dinners.

Eat out and play!

 

Well I did get away this weekend although the best laid plans of Mice were rather turned on their heads not by the taxi that was dead on time but by the startling discovery upon arrival at the train station my train, the only valid journey on the ticket, was one hour and 8 minutes delayed that really messed up my arrangements. 

A word with the Avanti West Coast person on platform, approaching from a diplomatic niceties angle than four letter word coated rant secured a result - talking with the guard of of London North Western trains go me accepted on their train, a telephone call to the person due to pick me up from a different station the one I was now on my way to 

I caught a cab to their place, texted them and duly waited. 

This was as well as the original train was cancelled later on!

After a quick  tidying up, we settled down Faggots and Pies before settling down to watch a bit of tv.

Saturday was when it was all going to happen as we'd planned for a leisurely drive to Buckinghamshire but having had breakfast, picked up picnic food such as pies from the local butchers but no sooner than we'd left their we encountered tailback traffic from outer Wolverhampton, through Stourbridge to Pedmore before getting to Hagley and the approach to the M5.

Over forty-five minutes to get just under ten miles!!!

Fortunately a few roadworks and diversions aside  we did arrive on time, actually we got there before the host did.

I elected to wear a plaid school skirt and opaque white tights given this was a public setting so anything too "short little girl dress" would stand out in a bad way but sufficiently little sissy gurl for me to comfortable being me.

An enjoyable time was spend talking about various things, the tenth anniversary of the of Lillian our common friend, as we eat and had drinks as Mr Paul, Sammy and few others fly a kite and Dizzy want around chasing toys and meeting other dogs.

It got a bit windy, a good job we erected two windbrakes, but by half three temperatures had started to drop so apart from holding my skirt so it didn't balloon up, we were starting to feel chilly so we said our goodbyes before making our way back for fish cake and chips.

Sunday was affected as it was the start of British Summer Time so all the clocks and my watch needed setting and we lost an hour. 

I was up at just past seven, fixed some breakfast  and made plans to be out to drop me off at Wolverhampton station and undertake a few things of their own.

Thanks Sammy for the event and my friend for arrangements.

Changes at Blue Peter

The weekend started pretty much with waking up to reports from various weekend newspapers that the long running children's tv program, Blue Peter will cease to make live programs from its studio at Salford, Lancashire and instead be entirely pre-recorded.

Shockingly last Friday's show was actually the last live one although neither presenters, the children taking part or us the viewers actually knew as none of us were informed.

It remains unclear as to what exactly the role of all three presenters, Abby, Joel and Shini will be beyond being in any pre-recorded clip as each will need to be "anchored" to form a cohesive program whither or not it is shown first on iPlayer online or transmitted on a traditional 'linear' tv channel.

It is understood that the BBC is planning on axing the BBC CBBC channel for 6 to 12 year olds and going digital only at some future point, a channel that was first established in 2002 and the movement of all children's programming to it in 2012 after the "digital switchover" 

It's not as if Blue Peter has never had pre-recorded segments shot on film or tape from the 1960's onwards as those of us can recall things like John Noakes climbing Nelson's Column, the many summer expeditions that of necessity had to be or trips to various places but being live gave it an edge, the sense o f not knowing what was going to happen next.

It made for memorable interviews on set, the possibility of a fluffed line or a animal misbehaving that as children we just laughed out loud at.

One memorable live show had people on from GirlGuiding in December 1970 where a camp fire was light as brownies and girl guides all sang around as nobody noticed until it was a bit late the campfire was getting out of control right next to them!

Things like "The Big Badge Wall" that celebrates achievements from posted art and details of challenges undertaken take on more as presenter show the weeks outstanding recipients as children cheer as they do for an artist performing or a live presenter challenge.

That is very stuff that will be lost from now on, the edge of the seat feel we get and which as children we so compared to a continuity linked series of pre-recorded items.

As ever the groan ups show their lack of understanding of what makes great tv even though we all know the world has changed since we first started watching not least how we do but we all saw saw things at the same time for very first time live.

Anyone who reads the BP Fan Club pages knows seeing and chatting about these live bits gets them so excited and happy. Many adults love live shows too for similar reasons but middle age preduces seem to think glorified podcasts are all we want.

This is a very retrograde step.

bb

Observations

Another week and a bit of  a follow up from last week in some respects following on from the period just before I was away.

Interestingly since the week before and the period after Camp I have been getting up a good deal earlier  by at least a good hour which isn't just a matter of things such as bright mornings although at the end of the month that finger turning ritual of setting every clock and watch to Daylight Saving aka British Summer Time Begins where we kid ourselves the night is so much brighter.

It's not a trick I fall for but when official time is altered you can't live as if it hasn't really as transport goes to it - railways being what moved the UK to a standardized time in the first place - and shows on the radio and tv are listed to that too.

No it's something that has been talked about in the context of high school children,  namely the tendency to check before bed and then having taken a device to bed to start waking up around three and rationalize looking around the likes of news sites saying I'll just have a quick look and soon a few hours goes by and maybe you crash to sleep.

Then you wake up quite a bit later as you've hit deep sleep later than you would of so you start the day late having had less sleep.

Given my spoon issues anyway it's not good so I'm keeping the electrics downstairs at night.

Perhaps I need old school parenting?

Tammy needs the swish of the cane at times.