It's all happening

Well, well, well. What a couple of weeks we've had.
First a lovely holiday with my mucker and her family. Very relaxed and lazy - I was!
Then Little Fink returned from Denmark/Sweden, with many tales to tell of trips to Copenhagen, long boat racing, she was blown away by the jamboree and came home with lots of badges from around the world, Japan, USA, Sweden, Norway, Kowloon to name a few. Apparently the next one in 4 years is in Japan and she tells me, "I'll be old enough to go." Oh really?!
Little Fink has taken an interest in ice-skating so her and some pals went off to skim the ice at Wally World.
I bought an electric bike with the intention of cycling to and from work but have realised I am more unfit than I thought so, more work needed.
Mr Fink has been working hard and also enjoyed a couple of long weekends in the static with Mr Hammer playing "Twack"! (that's golf to you and me)
Last night I enjoyed the company of my bestest bud KT Wong, over from Oz, we chin wagged, put the world to rights and had a lovely evening - hopefully to be repeated before she goes home next month.
Tonight The Finks will be heading North to see The Foggs and The Cadwalladers for the annual Meteorite BBQ and outdoor hot tub experience in York. I hope the skies are clear to see the meteors - having said that, last year we got so drunk we were all in bed by 11pm! I will of course be providing some liquid refreshment made by my own fair hand.

Denmark update.

http://www.hemel-scouts.co.uk/district-news/
All the Denmark updates can be found at the above link. Little Fink is due back late on Saturday, she will begin her 26 hour journey later today.

This is my first mobile blog! Hey, get me!

Meanwhile, I've been on holiday with The Hammers, much cider, dog walks, food and banter.

Little Fink update 29 July

http://www.hemel-scouts.co.uk/district-news/denmark-blog-29th-july

Ti dage i Danmark

Well, she's off on her travels. Little Fink heads out with the scouts for 10 days in Denmark with a trip to the Scout Jamboree in Sweden for good measure.
The coach/ferry/coach trip will take around 26 hours, when they arrive at Naesby Centret Scout Camp, Zealand, Denmark http://www.naesbycentret.dk/about-us.aspx they will have tents to put up before they can chill out.
I hope all the young people (and leaders) have a terrific trip, make marvellous memories and create friendships that last a lifetime.

In these times of uncertainty when sending your children off to foreign lands to camp in the great outdoors used to be happy and safe thing to do, it is hard to relinquish the care and control of my 11 year old. I wish you all back safely very soon.

(My thoughts and heartfelt sympathies go out to the families of the young people tragically killed in Norway recently - there but for the grace of fate, go I)

End of an Era

Today is Little Fink's last day at Primary School. Some children take chocolates or flowers as a present for the teacher on the last day of term - Little Fink bakes a batch of chocolate brownies for the class.
I can't believe how quickly these years at primary school have gone by. It doesn't seem that long ago when she couldn't do up her shoe laces (she still doesn't do them up even now, but that's not because she doesn't know how!) We are all looking forward to the next adventure of secondary school and all that goes along with it.

Busy times ahead, I'm off out to see a former school pal's band play tonight (Waiting For Katherine - you guys ROCK!), mudlarking at the Tower of London on Sunday (only allowed on that beach once a year), my surrogate son, J1 is coming to stay for a couple of days then Little Fink is off to Denmark with the Scouts for 10 days. http://www.naesbycentret.dk/frontpage.aspx The itinerary is immense...viking longboat racing, night hike and sleeping out in bivvies in the Danish countryside, trip to Copenhagen where they buy their own train ticket, lunch and see the sights, trip to Sweden to join the Jamboree and off to a Danish theme park. Phew.

You bought WHAT?

Saturday the Fink clan descended on the Scout hut for the annual 50/50 auction. Anyone can donate an item and choose to either receive half the sale price or let the scouts have the whole amount.
Mr Fink was part of the IT crowd, helping log the bids and prices as they happened. Little Fink was mostly listening to her iPod and I was mostly trying to win one of the lovely bikes for her. There was also a golf trolley that Mr Fink was interested in - right at the end of the list.
The bike came up and I won it for a very reasonable sum, smiles all round. I then tried to sign/mouth to Mr Fink that I was keen to leave and go but wanted to know if he wanted me to stay and bid on the golf trolley. Mr Fink is not very good at charades and sign language. As I mimed 'golf' and 'trolley' and 'I go' getting more and more frustrated at his blank looks, the auctioneer said, "Madam, are you bidding?" "Erm, no, er, sorry." says I.

How embarrassing! The scouts did raise over a thousand pounds so all was well.

My baby's back

Little Fink is back from Scout camp. It always strikes me how grown up she is when she returns. Lots of wonderful camp stories of her with her friends, hiding bedrolls, getting battle scars, having police motorcyclists out on alert searching for them when they got lost on a bike ride (Sooooo glad I didn't know about that one till she got home), visiting theme parks, the railway museum "Don't talk to me about that!". The junk she's eaten, "I think I've had cake EVERY single day". The viking longboat Debbie spent 72 hours painting - she didn't realise it was to be the finale of the Viking battle and Ragnar The Red's final resting place - yes, they set it on fire - oh how scouts love fire! The friendships, talks and experiences.

What wonderful memories she'll have.

Am I jealous? No, because I have all my own memories from the camps I went on as a child.

Keep in touch with Little Fink

http://www.hemel-scouts.co.uk/

If you know Little Fink, you can send her a message while she is at Scout camp in York using the above link.
You can email her - be warned, the messages are shown on a screen which everyone else can see too, so nothing embarrassing - please.

You can also check out a podcast/short video of what they have been up to each day. Saturday's isn't too exciting but Little Fink features in Sunday's one, especially at the end - look out for a lime green hooded top.

It's hike day today (Tuesday) so they'll be tucking into a hearty hot breakfast before heading off across the moors of Yorkshire for a day's hiking (fal da reee), later they'll be treated to a film in the marquee where they can rest their limbs and drink hot chocolate.

Never a dull moment

Well, where to begin.
Little Fink had her first sailing lesson this week and really enjoyed it, next lesson on Thursday, she has also been preparing for her SATs next week.
Mr Fink has been playing squash and doing Ju jitsu.
I've been excited as my first 5 gallon batch of wine plop plops away fermenting.
We've received the kit list for the Scout camp in Denmark/Sweden - HOW MUCH!!!
Last night Mr Fink, myself and Mr and Mrs Hammer (Mrs Hammer also known as Louise...can you guess who is Thelma?) went to a Biker Club in a nearby town to see Waiting For Katherine, our local punk/ska/indie band - I was at school with the lead singer too. We managed to outstay the bikers who, by midnight were mostly drinking coffee! We had a brilliant time and the band were amazing.
Today we had Sunday lunch at Nanny and Shouty Grandad's.
Little Fink has been sent to tidy her room - she has 'previous' for getting distracted and not finishing (read 'starting') the job. She came down just now and advised us...."When I get distracted, I draw a line on my arm (hmm too much Doctor Who methinks?), each line means I must spend one minute in a cold shower." She already has three lines, she's only been up there half an hour.

Proud mum!

Little Fink was awarded the highest badge a Cub can get, the Chief Scout's Silver Award at Cubs today. She has worked hard for it and I am very proud of her. She also moves on the Scouts in September.
The parents and Cubs spent the early evening playing Non-Stop Football Cricket in the nearby playing fields. Great fun and I even got 2 runs!
Little Fink is also going to be one of fifteen scouts that travel to Denmark for 10 days next year as a visiting party to the Scout Jamboree in Sweden. They'll camp on the island of Zealand in Denmark and have a day trip to Sweden! She's really looking forward to it.