The Bank Holiday round up

 

Well today is officially a Bank Holiday over here although in practice many things such as shops are operating as normal so I'll be out playing for a bit so long as any rain and wind holds off

Molly the brownie dolly is downstairs on a shelf and amazingly the grump has laid a rug that is at least four years old down that had been brought by Mom and then left behind the dining room television which is as well as the old one was frayed with duct tape at the edges.

Last week there was some fun and games at Fur Affinity, the Furry related arts site some of us have an account at where an individual had hacked two X (previously known as Twitter) accounts and redirected the main site itself for a good two and a bit days to various alt-right/anti furry,anti lgtq+ sites which was frustrating as I had a few posts to make there where were time critical just when I was going to be out.

It appears the groups this person placed redirects to were not very happy at all being "played" for this stunt as much as they have issues with us.

In the end a holding page came to say it everything was being prepared to restore the site to normal and inviting us to join their Discord accounts that were carrying updates on progress and actions regarding investigating what had gone on.

This I end up not for the first time via the Furry establishment with something else on the social media front  this  time with a discord account not that I do much chatting as between my paw joint issues, migraines and dizzy spells I don't spend all day online and someday's it's less than an hour across several.

I don't care for the interface to be blunt but it's okay as back up and "What is happening guys?" thing.

Tiny snaps

While I'm away no doubt I'll be busy taking pictures of the different events taking place but where might you learn a bit about photography when you're younger?

You might in GirlGuiding or for Americans Girl Scouts and as odd as it may sound today there was in the 1950's actually an official camera made for units which as was normal for a long time used film and that funny thing with a bulb in it is the flash gun as unlike modern cameras it didn't have built in flash.

By completing a number of photograph assignments you could gain a badge too and some examples from over the years issued to Brownies in the UK are shown below.

Those would be sown on to your uniform, worn with pride.

Mother's Day weekend

While the silliness in the groan up world continues unabated, yesterday when I was working away on writing this was over here, Mothering Sunday/Mother's Day which obviously meant that I got mine a card - pretty funny in an affectionate way actually - and a present.

There's something in the argument that thanks is best served frequently when it is often our Moms do things for us typically when they have other things to be doing to and it can be in the form of things we do for them but it's probably as well to have a focus for showing our appreciation such as a nationally recognized day.

That said I did channel my Inner Brownie too as I was doing things for the community such as delivering a magazine when I faced a pretty big challenge as making way around putting them in letter boxes I noticed a large temporary structure outside one property.
This structure on wheels with brakes started from the upper storey windows and came right to the ground totally obstructing access to the door and letter box being low and not having much height between the individual bits so I wasn't inclined to crawl under it to get to the door!
I started to think what I had on me as there didn't seem to be much activity so knocking on the rear door wasn't going to be an option and I had this idea that involved taking an elastic band the magazines had come bundled with, wrapping it around the magazine  which I could roll up into a tube shape and hooking that on the far end of the door handle.
There was just about a metre and a quarter I could just about stuck my hand through to get to the door handle so having rolled the magazine up and wrapped the band around it on the second go I got on and was able to pull it back toward me to make it secure.
A great example of resourcefulness and being prepared I'd say as I don't know many who'd go to that much trouble to deliver their magazine.

Scouting and me

The one organization I'd love to have joined when I was a chronological child would of been the Brownies, the younger side of Girl Scouting but it was never to be. In fact my folks never enrolled me to any part of the World-wide Scouting movement which was a pity for although I have disabilities it wouldn't of been hard for them to accommodated me (and I'm sure if asked nicely they'd of been happy too).
This is the Brownie uniform I'd of been proud to have worn, learning more about self-reliance, serving others and improving my poor confidence at the time.

Taking the promise, one I'd of been happy to made in 1972 as I had no problem uphold the principals and pledging my allegiance.

Here's a 70's vintage uniform with  badges but can you see that oh so  1970's smiley face yellow badge. I used to have loads of them then!

Guides and things

It's the height of summer as we get this slice of life blog going notwithstanding the many issues I have with my internet provider whose connection seems really rather erratic, prone to coming to a grinding halt at times.

 

I did write something a few years back around guiding and most probably will write a bit more as we get going (and I'm well enough to type) but I love reading about guides not least reading old annuals of the sort your parents or great Aunts would of bought you as they knew you were, taking an interest in what you do.

This is good example of the kinds of things they'd cover, accounts of special days like World Thinking Day, Pack camps with your friends putting into practise what you know while having fun and the badges you can earn.

I do have dolls and might write something about them at some point on this blog as I don't have a digital camera so any pictures I take need to be scanned from film taken on my Olympus SLR before uploading but I'd truly love to have a Brownies Doll in the 1979's, 80's uniform I remember so well.

Birthday musings

Sometimes you tend to ask yourself "What if..." and chunks of my life have indeed been rather like it for a variety of reasons like having the physical and intellectual disabilities I have you might wonder how it would of been for not having that not least upon my education and how such things play into socialization and so on.

One "What if..." is what would of been like had I of been a Girl Guide or Brownie as unlike many of my siblings and cousins I never got asked nor introduced to scouting in any way shape or form almost as if they though I'd be too much of handful for them to look after even if Guides and Scouts did have disabled members back then.

Personally as I reflect this birthday week upon it I think it would of helped with socialization which I struggle with, learning what today we call life skills as my parents never taught me any and provided a much needed sense of identity.

Sometimes I do wonder if I could go back and "do" two and bit years of Brownies with a Brown Owl, following the program obviously outside of anything involving actual children with safeguarding and that.

A bit like grown up role playing but without any "adult" stuff in it, in other words as if they were being an actual Brown Owl leading a session with me as the member.

It might do me some good.