Snowdrops

 Where I stayed was a large Manor house that dates to the Tudor period with extensions and has a grade II listing and within the extensive grounds leading to farmland, I noticed these Snowdrops that had come up notwithstanding the generally cold conditions so far this year.

Tintern Abbey

 

Making ones way to the south west frequently takes you to where the England and Wales borders intermingle so having got close to Bristol, South Gloucestershire we went on the Welsh side of the Wye Valley as a driving and food break was needed.

We decided to go to Tintern Abbey (Welsh: Abaty Tyndyrn) was founded on 9 May 1131 by Walter de Clare, Lord of Chepstow along the Abergavveny road in Monmonthshire which like many was "desolved" by King Henry VIII and used by suppers as a place or just building materials.

There was extensive renervationwork on it as it wasn't until the eighteenth century that any meaningful restoration was done and indeed during the Georgian and Victorian eras it more remodelling with new materials so some of the original features were lost that today we would not of accepted.

The abbey provided for a kitchen, an  area for washing clothes and other linens, accomodation and reflection with there being a chapel for worship.

Nearby are the Black Mountains.

The off begins...

Winter brings with it frosts, ice and snow and so while trees be bare and nothing much is flowering at least here even even though we have a Snowdrop Walk views are often memorable such as this scene near Honiton, East Devon.

I'll be away for a few days around them parts, while familiar with Cornwall, never a place I ever visited as a child so blog won't be updated until my return as I go off line when away.

 

Layering

 

Layering is at the core when it comes to staying warm outdoors in winter and the choice of material makes a big difference when it comes to the outcome.

Keeping the heat in and not cold damp moisture is a must.

Fundraising

 

Different branches of Scouting have their own take on what makes for good fund raising with one american Girl Scouts are famed for is Cookies.

While some do make their own and sell on the street, others come prepackaged with colourful boxes to be sold on their behalf.

While the presentation is great, I can't but wonder if something that has more direct member involvement might not be more suited.

Brownie Scout uniform

 

I don't usually have much to say regarding Girl Scout uniform not least for not being British or Commonwealth, it is an intereresting offshoot of the based and expanded across the modern Commonwealth GirlGuilding movement that kept some Anglophile program names like Brownies but created Girl Scouts rather than Guides.

Here we have some of the equipment an American Brownie would have wih her such as her green tunic rather than the brown until the early 1990's brownies had here, her purse, sash with badges, watch, headwear and branded swimsuit.

The sash is something you never saw in scouts over here where your jersey had your award badges on and as far as I'm aware Girlguiding here uses the sash.

At one level it does enable you to display them without needing a jersey and for somethings you probably don't need one on not least in summer but does add to the uniform item count.

Staying warm at night

 

The things we learned from our nights under the stars at this time of year included a lot about dealing with the cold so I often wore a hat to bed as that accounts for a high proportion of heat loss and thick dry pj's taking care to remove any damp sweaty stuff from the day as that just leaves you cold and having thick woollen bedsocks.