Scouting Songs - A Confession

Ever so often in Scouting life you will hear everybody singing a good ol' sing-along and you will be part of it.

With camp-fire songs, repeat-after-me songs and action songs, time passes by, the program fills up and moments that stay in the minds of all the scouts are created.

It's loads of fun but its not something we can all do. What I mean is that some of us are more self aware than others, especially when it comes to opening our mouth to sing. I think it took me a year or so before I loosen up enough to enjoy a sing-along.

Come to think of it, it was always a difficult one for me, even as a young scout I found it hard, hating being on the spot with my shouting voice and gold-fish memory for lyrics...

Nevertheless I will try my best and find enjoyment even in things I am not too good at. It's all part of the game!

As a scout leader the trick was to find songs I enjoy singing and Kumbaya was not one of them, let me tell you. So every time I listen to a song that I think it's weird or silly enough I make sure I find the lyrics and get it to the meeting for the scouts to try it out.
Now have a few songs that "Won Tolla does".


The first song I came across was the classic do as I do song, the Penguin song, with actions and everything. Sometimes when I think I found a new exciting song, it turns out to be an old scouting staple. Old scouts tend to say "Oh Yeah! we know this song!" but what they don't say is that they are glad to find someone silly enough to do it!

Lately I have been trying to remember the 2-3 Greek Scouting songs we used to do with my patrol on camps and around the fire. I seem to remember there were not that many of them and the single more popular one we used to do every time was the "Θυμήσου όπου πας / Remember Wherever You Go" one, which Ironically I had forgotten completely...

What I haven't forgotten is how it made us all feel warm and together around the camp fire.

Stitch in Time or Badge

I felt like writing about stitching a badge, after a short comment on a forum turned out to be an exercise  in written instructions.

A lot of people ask me, WonTolla where did you learn how to stitch, and I reply, Scouts! therefore I only stitch badges, badly and nothing else.

I have a cheap small sewing kit, i think I found it in a Christmas cracker or at a hotel some years ago but you can buy some from the pound shop!

If I run this as an activity I'd have a small first aid kit handy, for pierced fingers or worse.

So what you'll need is needle, thread, a threader and of course the badge and your shirt/top.

Use a thread length long enough to circle the badge outline (as if you circle it with a pen) 3 times. (yeah I just made this up but use enough till you figure it out)

Thread the needle: Push the threader's thin wire loop through the needle. Push the thread through the threader wire now poking out of the needle, pull the threader, thread is through the needle now. Make it hang equal lengths.

Knot the thread: Make a nice knot at the end of the thread. To do that take the two hanging ends, lick them stuck to one, coil them 4-5 times around the needle, pull the needle as if you stitch the coil, you have a good wet knot and fast too.

Stitch it: Place the badge on the shirt. Start with one thin stitch just inside so the knot is easy to hide under the badge.

You always work on the up side, the good side, no need to feel or pull needle under and over, just think of it as if you try to pick some threads from the fabric, work the needle almost parallel on the surface of the fabric, point in and almost immediately out, two three strands of the fiber --)))-->
Then follow through picking the badge's decorative edge, if you look closely and you'll see it's all a coiled thread too

So in one push, pick a bit of shirt and a bit of edge; it should go through without resistance, no need to try push through the badge's body. Work in parallel to the surface.

Continue all around, pace it as loose or as close stitched as you like. It doesn't matter it's your world, it's your tree!

To finish just pull the needle two/three times though the same final stitch and if you do it hard enough the third time it will snap and you are done!

There, who said you need a bucket of inspiration to write a blog entry eh?