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Rebel badge book introduction

It has been quite a while since I wrote anything for this blog. So long that the app I had used when I started it (blogo) no longer exists. I did have a look to see if I could find another app that would give me similar functionality - given that I’m using my iPad to do the writing, but the apps I saw either didn’t have very good reviews, didn’t look like they had been updated recently or….

And this is where things may get a bit controversial. It is March 16th 2022 - and the news and the media is full of the war in Ukraine, and which companies and brands have pulled out of Russia - and which countries have applied which sanctions. One app that I looked at simply said ‘Made in Russia’ - nothing  about the developer at all. I made a decision there and then - and so I’m now writing this blog using the website - so we’ll see how that goes. If I need / want to use an app to write it in the future, I’ll have a look for one at that time.

Now for an introduction. My name is Christine, and I live in North Devon with my husband - we are foster carers, and have previously been teachers. Some people will know this already but I’m giving a short introduction for those people who may be joining me for the first time, - perhaps as a result of joining the Rebel Badge Club. I was a Brownie, a Guide, a Young Leader and a Venture Scout, - more of that in a later post. I am mainly a crafter - predominantly a quilter, - with all that that entails (patchwork, appliqué, EPP, FPP, embroidery, quilting), but I enjoy dabbling in different crafts. I remember a particular phrase being used when I just started to learn how to play the flute, and I mused about learning the saxophone too: “Jack of all trades, master of none” - and when I think about this now it seems strange coming from a peripatetic teacher who taught at least 3 different instruments. Thinking about this phrase now I wonder if being a ‘Jack of all trades’ is necessarily a bad thing…I mean, how can we find our ‘thing’ if we don’t try different things, different tasks, different hobbies?



I’ve decided to use this blog to document my progress for badges in the Rebel Badge book. I saw this book advertised on Facebook, and when I looked at the website for it, I knew I was going to have to get the book. I play geolocation games, and I run - and the apps I use to document my progress in these have badges and challenges - and I can’t help myself signing up for new challenges. When thinking about this, I wondered if the desire to get the different badges was linked to my childhood experiences - that maybe I could have done more badges in Brownies, Guides, Scouts had I put more effort in, or thought about it a bit more. It took me a while to realise that I could choose to do the badges, rather than wait for it to be suggested, or to be told I should choose a badge to work towards; my recollection of Brownies was that we would work towards a badge together. Having said that, I seem to remember that being in the Gang Show was enough to get my Jester badge at Brownies, and that when my dad took me out cycling one day he was actually testing my for my Cycling Proficiency badge - well, he was a policeman and a Venture Scout Leader at the time!

There is a lot more to me than this brief introduction, and that will be seen in the coming months. I plan to use this blog for Accountability - and that is the title and subject of my next post!

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