From

1. Where is your cell phone?
Next to me on my desk because I have no life without it apparently

2. Your significant other?
In Caithness and in Glasgow. Wow, I'm so complicated and speshul

3. Your hair?
Too damn soft. You left your shampoo behind Chaz and my hair won't stay in it's plait anymore!!!

4. Your mother?
The one woman farming machine

5. Your father?
Getting up at 6am

6. Your favorite thing?
My laptop. It's my precious. Probably followed by my phone and my books.

7. Your dream last night?
Last night....was dreamless. Last dream I had though involved me being ridiculed for not footnoting properly

8. Your favorite drink?
Coke at the moment, and cider. Not in the same glass obviously

9. Your dream/goal?
To be happeeeeeeeeee

10. What Room are you in?
Me bedroom, stealin your brainz

11. Your hobby?
Googling. Does that count? Finding things I shouldn't buy. Reading stuff which isn't educational. Oh, and scouting stuff - that sounds reputable.

12. Your fear?
Failure, dying before I finish things, parasites

13. Where do you want to be in 6 years?
Rich? Lol, I settle for happily graduated and post graduating or sommat

14. Where were you last night?
On my laptop typing an essay

15. Something that you aren't?
Good at managing my time

16. Muffins?
Are great when homemade, horrible when store bought but store bought English muffins are nice toasted.

17. Wish list item?
Jolly Sailor Tobacco tin
[link]

18. Where you grew up?
Surrey/Caithness

19. Last thing you did?
Sent a txt

20. What are you wearing?
Jeans, blue t-shirt, maroon roll-neck jumper

21. Your TV?
Downstairs...

22. Your pets?
None. There's barely any animals down here except for the dogs on walks and morbidly obese squirrels

23. Friends?
They're great, buy some on ebay - you'll never look back!

24. Your life?
I have essays to finish. I have no life.

25. Your mood?
Concerned and concentrated

26. Missing someone?
Quite a few people

27. Your car?
I have a motorbike because I am cooler than a caterpillar. A big red one too.

28. Something you're not wearing?
heels

29. Your favorite store?
Primark aaaaaaand borders

32. Your favorite color?
Red and blue

33. When is the last time you laughed?
Em...might've been today.....laughed a lot last night

34. Last time you cried?
Couple of weeks back

35. Who will resend this?
Meh, whoever is as bored as me I suspect

36. One place that I go to over and over:
The University, because I pay to do all this work...

37. One person who emails me regularly:
My Dad....and facebook

38. My favorite place to eat:
Lounge, being lazy in front of the TV

39. One place I would like to go right now:
Home

40. One person I think will respond:
Chaz might, she'll never pass up the chance to rip the p*** out of me

41. One TV show I watch all the time:
*sings* Frasieeeeeer

Greetings all,

Not sure if anyone's noticed or particularly cared but I've sort of dropped off the edge of my internet for a bit as I've been starting University.

Most of you may know this, but that's why you may not get the fastest response from me or why my deviations may sit and rot for a while.

For the interested I am study Archaeology and History at Reading (pronounced red-ing) which is up the road from somewhere called Earley (pronounced early) which cracks me up when I see the sign post:
Earley
Reading.

Simple things I know.

This is pretty much the best update I have time to write at the moment. I'll be getting photos of the campus and my motorbike (I'm commuting to uni) up on facebook/bebo soonish for anyone on there. So yeah.....take care everyone


xxx

Okay, have waded my way through the mountain of messages, journals and deviations and can now bore you with holiday photos.

If you couldn't care less about scout camps, turn back now.

First couple of days are pictureless as 1) I kept forgetting my camera and 2) it was rather wet and miserable. Staff arrived two days before the sottish scouts arrived and I spent sunday moving pioneer poles. You'd get cold waiting and then it was a sudden flurry of excitement when the tractor came along with the trailer again. Morrison subcamp was lovely and supplied us with juice and sweeties when we did their pioneering poles.

Monday saw me help direct the coaches and cars arriving full of scouts and while it started off bumpy (as I had no idea what to do)I finished the day with the all powerful radio in hand.
My goal for the day had been to see Caithness arrive and they arrived when I had my half hour lunch break which was just bloomin' typical.

Tuesday was boring as I didn't really have much to do. Hung around reception for a while with Emma (who was awaiting the overseas scouts) before being told to skedaddle and wandered around aimlessly. Helped out with the Maclean subcamp lunch and then helped set up my activity.



Wednesday was the first day of activities and I was picking scouts up from Morrison. I think collecting scouts has to be one of the best bit because the yellow and black leader neckie makes the scouts listen to you. Anyway, a day of twisting wire for woggles, dinner with the scouts and then disco in the evening. The disco was great but really hot. The Kross (The main tent we'd had in years before was in the shape of a cross) hax fallen into a state of disrepair from which it could not be rescued and so the new main tent was called the Kastle (Three huge marquees in the shape of a U). This new tent is PVC coated instead of canvas and the ceiling was literally -dripping- with condensation after the disco.

Thursday was more activities and then the Kastle Karnival. Got face paint and played on the bouncy things.

On Friday I went to the pub in the evening and nursed the blisters the pliers had given my hands.

Saturday was the country fair/open day for visitors and we had a morning session for satellite campers (small camp over the weekend for younger scouts and explorers who didn't get it). Had a quick wander in the afternoon around the fair after I'd done my shift of gate duty and got a free pancake from Caithness. People came through in their hundreds! Well not really, I was on the back gate and I think all of five people came through in the hour I was there. Opening campfire in the evening.





Sunday I got sunburn. My activity involved me sitting in a tent all day and while this meant I wasn't burnt, it also meant I was still white from my months or revision. Fell asleep after lunch in the sun and woke up with burnt legs. Camp cousins (all leaders who weren't directly involved with subcamps) were required to help with the BBQ dinner and I helped get the fire started, mangle a log of wood and then got stuck doing washing up. It was amazing, there were about 10 cousins lazing about after dinner and when they called for washing up volunteers it was just Gavin, Tom, Calum and myself who were remaining.
Better than houdini honestly. Halloween party in the evening and as everyone was dressed up I pretended I had a costume and went as a cowgirl. Not got any photos of this so if you've got them, I'll be stealing them shortly.
*hints that you should upload them*

Monday was activities again and I then did a staff session of canyoning. 1) I realized that a week of having big lunches and then doing little exercise by sitting in a tent may be taking it's toll 2) this jump is -really- high up. You see, canyonying seems to consist of walking up a hill, being eaten by midges and then jumping into pools. There was a big one, maybe 20ft? I dunno, I'm bad at measuring heights. Anyway, I did jump of that one and there was an awful lot of time to think about the landing on the way down. After we'd done the falls of Bruar they took us to Old Blair and the crazier (most of the men) jumped off of the flippin' enormous bridge there. I sat in the water with the more sensible people and then we floated down river through some tame rapids before arriving in the scout swimming area.
All in all, a lot of fun.

Tuesday was the gameshow night and international showcase in the staff club. I fell asleep after dinner (late nights were catching up on me) but got woken up in time to catch some of the showcase which was good.

Wednesday I missed my flag duty in the morning (because I thought I was doing the evening) and instead did security from 10.30pm to 12. Skipped the scout ceildh in the evening to go to the pub (as I didn't think any leaders were going. Emma was a gem and found me someone to dance with but I wasn't there and I still owe you a box of doughnuts for that) where Jim was being brought in a tent bag after being kidnapped after dinner. It was his 21st you see and tipsy leaders aren't very good at being quiet. Security was quietish. Spent 10-15 minutes staring at a light in a field trying to work out if it was just a light or a cigarette from one of the guys we'd had to scare off earlier.





Thursday was the day we took down the subcamps, had the athollantics and had the farewell campfire. Morrison had a big conga line when they came over for the Athollantics and Stewart was the noisiest subcamp. Maclean came last in the comp, but it's the taking part the counts, right?



Friday was goodbye to the scouts with a lot of rain to bid us goodbye. Helped take down the Kastle in the morning and then helped take the pioneering poles back to the graveyard (place where all the poles are stored in the intervening years). My jacket is still mucky from the amount of mud and sap I got covered in and there was a long line of people waiting for "turbo showers" after everyone had finished.
Reception in the castle ballroom was good, cheese and nibbles with the wine were to be had and I took some silly gormless photos of people.



Cold meat and other such stuff was the dinner fare and we got to see John Kennedy go bright red when the Quarter Master (who's name I can't remember) was reminiscing about previous Blairs. Good fun. Staff Ceildh after in the staff club and I learnt a very important lesson. When wearing a kilt and drinking wine it is a bad idea to dance two rounds (one after the other) of the dashing white seargent. It was so damn hot in the tent as well and as I had a whole bottle of water to myself I just nursed it in the slightly cooler night air. After the ceildh we got treated to some songs including dead skunk which hadn't been sung at either campfire.



Saturday was the final striking of tents and then homeward bound.

I'm off again this Saturday and shan't be back until the 2nd of August so if your noting me, don't get annoyed if I dunnae reply.

If you're interested as to where I'm going, its a Scout Jamborette held at Blair Atholl every two years ([link]). I'm helping out with one of the craft activites (Dookin' and See) and have tried unsuccessfully to get the Caithness scouts to promise to visit me.

Ho hum.

One day I'll get my photos downloaded for your enjoyment and then I'll have to remember to upload them....

I'm off down to Englandshire tomorrow and will be pretty much offline until the 25th-26th of June (email's about the best I can do via my phone).

With luck I'll have some things to post when I get back or at the very least, something to jabber about. Got a couple of quiz things queued but unfortunately I don't have time to finish them before I go (Ta Paisley for tagging me though).



Ciao