More home cooking!

You are never too old to learn how cook in the open and scouts do learn this not least at camp.

It is quite probable I may well be assisting with cooking while away tomorrow for a halloween get together.

Here we have one I suspect a German Scout doing just that with a portable oven and his improvised saucepan 

A spot of cooking

A spot of simple home cooking for these Scouts out of doors done with wood from branches lit by tindering in a clearing.

It may be something like sausages or beef burgers given one boy is moving and testing they are well cooked inside as well as outside with his fork and is using an oven glove to avoid burning his hand .

I just love cooked food outdoors.

The 1978 BSA uniform redux

Today I'm looking at uniform but from across the Atlantic when tasked in 1978 with giving the Boy Scouts’ uniform its biggest overhaul in nearly 60 years, Oscar de la Renta designed its iconic olive-and-tan look.

There can be little denying a uniform makes a group stand out, it is one point of having one, but practicality in the field matters too so things such as easy to access pockets are a must as is being hard wearing.

It is interesting to note the historical resistance to short trousers as part of the uniform and how it was in 1947 that for cubs even a more "Western" influenced design with long trousers had become the norm.

Making the most of it Friday

When I was typing this I was rather more wishing you could look up a few places and maybe go on an adventure but it won't be this week as the weather really has been pretty bad for it with gusting winds and lots of rain.

It's been more of a week for reading things such as my comics such as the Beano which I read when I was first young, things like the Animal Planet magazine for nature and natural sciences and an adventure story magazine all of which I subscribe to.

Something I have been reading a fair bit of are a few old Cub and Wolf Cub annuals, I don't collect them in the way most grown ups do with every single copy sealed up in shelves with more of an eye to investment but more because I find as their original boy owners did adventure and inspiration from the facts and stories around what it means to be a cub.

That's the kind of thing I love to read as much as I still laugh out loud to Rodger the Dodger and Dennis and Gnasher's schemes that go awry in the Beano.

They will always be opportunities to act on inspiration later on.

On being out all year

 Monday was a pretty gloomy dark day here which isn't my idea of fun but sometimes the bigger thing isn't fair-weather exploration but that dogged seeing it to the end with your waterproof jacket and gloves sense of persistence and resilience.

Sometimes at this time of year we can have two or more different types of weather while you are out so while it may start of rather "meh" then the sun came come out as it starts to dry up so you start to feel more glad you made the effort, seeing it through.

I love the autumn sun a lot, as you may of noticed the bare legs soon feel the warmth as with me at least it doesn't take much time for my circulation to get going and so I'm seldom cold out, just with head and sometimes hands covered so I don't lose head at the extremities.

This life is the one I love.

 

More Cubbing 2021 style

 On what has been sadly a weekend of much reflection across the country, nonetheless I felt it appropriate to continue with last weeks exploring and posts.

The preferred way to hold a camera, providing it has a viewfinder for the most stability and hence sharpish images involves cradling it against your face, using a camera reliant totally on the screen means tucking your elbows well in while holding it straight while hoping for the best!

I was out exploring the woods which is more challenging with the light but with the colours of the Fall around well worth it using a spot of fill in flash as needed.

The majesty of trees in the fall against brilliant sunshine is a great sight to behold as as here a few leaves have utterly fallen.

Meanwhile near the woods that golden autumnal sun illuminates these leaves well as you feel invigorated for your exploration.

Paddling away

Water holds a fascination for most boys not least floating on it and here the scouts are literally putting their oar in propelling their boat along the river with their flags at the rear making their way upstream.

Messing about in boats was something I loved although I had to fight those who'd sooner wrap in in cottonwool to let me do everyday boys stuff and learn to handle risks.