Big Kid Summer

The July monthly badge was titled Big Kid Summer, and it really was quite appealing. The first part of the badge requirements was to complete as many clauses as you wanted to…well, this was fine by me! No having to get as many clauses as possible, except that the way my brain works is that is there is a definite requirement then I tend to do the least amount possible, whereas something open-ended like this, I end up doing more! 

This element of the badge requirements was also ideal for me currently as I feel like I’m in a bit of a rut, feeling a bit down, not really finding much joy in things, and finding it difficult to…well, finding it difficult. Running has stopped for the time being, due to various parts aching and hurting, and me finding it difficult to get going. I suspect perimenopause to be the reason behind it all. I am able to get up and do things, but I just don’t have much enthusiasm for them.

As you can see there are a lot of fun activities on the list. The first one I attempted was colouring in a picture - this was easy as I have a load of colouring books from about 7 or 8 years ago, and some Relax With Art magazines. I opted for one of the Relax with Art pictures, as it was a picture of an ice-cream sundae, which was one of the clauses for the bonus points for the Rebel Cup. I did jump in a puddle, although not with wellies on - I did it in trainers at the end of a run. Those were the first two clauses and then things went a bit quiet. That was until later in the month when I thought that the activities would be great for doing with a young person coming for respite.

As it was - I was right. I threw myself into the other activities - the finger painting, the papier mâché, blowing bubbles, flying a kite, bouncing on a trampoline, attempting a handstand, doing a forward roll, rolling down a hill, making a blanket fort, making an ice-lolly, swinging on a swing, playing with a skipping rope, trying a new flavour of ice-cream, having a picnic with favourite childhood foods, and going on a fairground ride.

Flying a kite was an experience - we had a basic kite that we got at the Lincolnshire Mega event, and the instructions were not particularly great, so I don’t know that I managed to put it together quite right. I am blaming perimenopause brain fog for this. We managed to get it in the air, but I did (and Keith did too) get a bit frustrated with it. Whilst going out doing this, I also did the handstand, forward roll, blew bubbles and rolled down a hill. My belief in my abilities to do things, and my ability to picture myself doing such activities far outweighs my actual ability to do them!

I made party bags for the North Devon Rebel meet up - and included some items that would help with the Big Kid Summer - like water pistols, pavement chalk, bubbles, a little paint pad - suitable for finger painting, a lolly, a glow stick, streamers, a sweet whistle and sweet lipstick - sweets we used to have as children.

The ice-cream flavours; well, you would think that living in a seaside town you would be able to find quite a variety of different flavours…not so much the case. It was not like some of the flavours I’ve seen in other places. I tried Cherry Bakewell, which was very tasty, and also Blue Candyfloss - which was okay, but not something I would go out of my way to try again. A little note about the party bags - I made them in blue with the word ‘Rebel’ on them - to match the Rebel logo on our badge books - fabric bags, and they will fit the badge books in!

The blanket fort was made with a sofa at the back and dining room chairs on either side. The covering was made from quilt tops (and bottoms) that have not yet been made up. This made sure the fort was not top heavy, and made it a little less warm - which was ideal as it did get quite warm in there. Using quilt tops meant that it was also quite light. The ice-lolly was made from a cocktail recipe that my sister and I made on a visit to our aunt in Cardiff many years ago. We called it Cardiff Storm Surprise, and it used lemonade, vimto squash and orange juice. We had quite a hunt trying to find ice-lolly moulds - eventually I located some in our area, not not before hunting round several shops. The fairground ride almost didn’t happen. The fair was due to be in our area for about a month, but a week or two after setting up they left - due to problems with some travellers. I started to look around for other fairs near by and had an idea or two - and then the fair returned (after the travellers had moved on). Another activity to do with our charges - and we went on the Hulk ride - it last quite some time, and it was only at the end as we were coming down and seemed to be going faster and faster that I got a little worried. We also went on the dodgems and in the fun house. I would have liked to have tried hooking a duck, but no-one was manning that stall. Still - we had a good time, and we had candyfloss as well! The trip to the fair was quite a special one for me, as I felt I was doing it especially for me. When I’ve taken other people to the fair, it has been for them, whereas this time it was for my enjoyment as much as anyone else’s. Also - I suppose it felt like I had permission to do it, as when I was younger mum wouldn’t let us go to fairs and wouldn’t take us to them - I think she was worried about the safety of them.

I don’t think I’ve ever been in a bucket swing before, and it was certainly an experience. Truth be told, I think I prefer the more traditional swings, but I need those to be a bit longer so that the ropes don’t confine my thighs (which can be quite uncomfortable). It was great to find an outdoor trampoline that I could use, although I did feel a little conspicuous at times, and I felt that I had to be a little cautious - to not be seen.

The picnic was quite fun to do: we had to have white bread, and I made egg and salad cream sandwiches, ham sandwiches, jam sandwiches, and jam and cheese sandwiches. I made a tomato salad with tomatoes, vinegar and salad cream - just like Grandma Allen used to have! I chose favourite crisps, and the cakes were cappuccino swiss roll (as I hadn’t made a coffee and walnut cake), French fancies, snowballs, Viennese whirls and Battenberg cake. I remember not really liking Viennese whirls - unless they were the ones my mum made, and this experience did little to change my view. We also had cherryade to drink - and this was a bit disappointing too, as it tasted nothing like the cherryade I used to have - it was nowhere near as nice.

So - all in all, quite a successful month I think. In addition to this I wrote a poem for the Rebel Cup bonus points, and I also made a pecan pie and some ice-cream for the pecan pie pina colada ice-cream sundae - also for bonus Rebel cup points. The ice-cream was cream, coconut milk, pineapple juice from tin of pineapple, pineapple piece from tinned pineapple and desiccated coconut. To make the sundae we had pecan pie on the bottom, then a slice of tinned pineapple, the ice-cream, mini marshmallows, topped with salted caramel dessert sauce, squirty cream and more desiccated coconut milk. I made the pecan pie from scratch - including the pastry, and I managed to burn myself on the hot sugar needed for the pecan pie.