The Two Left Wellies

TWO LEFT WELLY SITE HAS BEEN MOVED

magpieschest — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:38:58 +0000

All,

On 30th July 2010, the Two Left wellies site was moved to its new location: http://2leftwellies.wordpress.com

This change was necessary to make the site independent of other blogs that I have under my personal account.

I will not be updating this site (http:twoleftwellies.wordpress.com) anymore; please click the link to take you to the new site.

Thanks

Frog / David

TLW editor.

World Series EXTREME PETANQUE Rules

magpieschest — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 23:27:25 +0000

Petanque is a world-recognised sport/game (reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A9tanque). The official UK site is here: http://www.petanque.co.uk/

Petanque is a form of boules (a great game, played especially in France.) However – both games are played on relatively flat surfaces – be it a hard, gravel-like surface (for boules, which have metal balls) or on sand (for the lighter, brightly coloured water-filled plastic balls).

Extreme Petanque is similar – but with one MASSIVE difference. The ground is (ideally) totally random, and hilly. On a really good world series pitch, it is hilly, with bare patches of earth, divots, bumps and all manner of intriguing challenges for the players to work with.

The rules are the same as Petanque / boules (as I know them). One player throws the Jack (a small target ball). In Extreme Petanque, that person is either biggest/most sulky/passing by. It may even even be the winner of the previous round. They decide to drop/throw/lob/catapult/fire the Jack in “an” direction. Where it lands is where the players must aim for (see subclause 1). There is no minimum distance or direction.

When the jack comes to rest (as it may roll on, fall down a rabbit hole etc), the first player plays their first ball. The throw is an underarm throw to land as close to the jack as possible – where it lands is immaterial, where it stops is where it is counted from. First player is typically picked by the biggest/adult/passing by. The first player may sometimes be referred to as “the mug” as other players will then learn how the ground/earth/hill/cliff/beach is going to change where the ball finishes. Each player then plays one ball in turn, before going round (in order) again.

Once all balls are played, the closest person wins the round. No points are calculated because, well, no-one said we needed a pen and paper.

At the end of the game, the winner is the biggest/most sulky/ passing by.

Subclauses

1. If the jack thrower decides to be “really clever” and throw it somewhere that makes it wholly unplayable/ possibly dangerous to play, then players may invoke this subclause requiring the thrower to “go get it or else”. The “or else” sub-sub-clause may involve talking to parents, meeting a bigger brother, a general re-alignment of principles, or just total abandonment of the game. Basically, putting the Jack in a non-playable place is just so not cool.

2. If using plastic water-filled petanque balls on hard surfaces, there is a risk that the balls may crack and the liquid may leave the balls. At that point, the “tough Tutties” rule is invoked where the now empty ball must be continued to be played, but at the end of the game the player with said ball must apologise to the leader who provided the set. Failure to do so will lead to guilt and possibly punishment for the entire Scout Troop

3. Although there are no official boundaries for the World Series Extreme Petanque series in regard to playing area; consideration must be given where there are other campers on the Scout site who could be inconvenienced. Consequently – all Tentage is out of bounds (even if all occupants of the tent are playing) or if a Leader says “no, that’s a step too far” or similar. This will include playing across rivers, waterfalls, cliffs, Leaders areas, minefields, war zones – or the campsite wardens garden.

TLW Challenge – w/c 19 July

magpieschest — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 23:39:25 +0000

As this week will be the last proper evening befire we break for the summer, the TLW challenge this week is as follows:

You will get points for turning up. That’s it. Easy. Simple. Just be there.

As for uniform – nah, it’s a beach party themed evening. Come comfortable, but dressed – dude!

Geocaching – an evening of electronic hide and seek

magpieschest — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 23:27:56 +0000

For this evening’s activity, I had planned a hike; but a better idea was presented to me – geocaching.

we drove to Stanmore Common, where I knew a number of caches had been hidden. I set our GPS unit to the co-ordinates of the first cache – GCMN87 The Priory: Heriots Way (information can be found here: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=489d874e-652d-4078-b519-8c0059ebe2ec )

The Scouts used the GPS to get roughly to the right area; unfortunately the tree canopy caused problems in locking onto the location; consequently afterabout half an hour we had to admit defeat and move on.

We picked the next location GCMN7W The Priory; In the Line of Fire (http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=0253cffa-a1a2-40e2-aa0a-cde4e00a23fe) partly to give us a bit of a walk, but also because our knowledge of Stanmore Common meant we knew we would be more clear of tree canopy cover – so the GPS units would be more effective.

On the walk to this location, we passed the deer enclosure; the deer were being really friendly and coming up to the fence (I think they thought we had food). They seemed to be quite young, especially given the fur covered antlers; it was quite nice given that in the past it has been difficult to see the deer at all. Moving on, we also passed the 23rd Harrow Cubs who were hiking down the path; nice to see so much of the District on the hike!

Alec was holding the GPS and brought us to the spot. The Scouts (having been given the clue) located the box – so were very pleased with the result! We logged our find, then walked back to the bus – a challenge as we endeavoured to walk cross country than follow the marked, concrete path (there are unofficial footpaths all over the common). But we got back and back to the church pretty much on time.

I know that there are loads more caches on Stanmore Common to find; hopefully the 1:1 ratio (found/ not found) will give the Scouts some idea of the fun and will join us again when we try to find some more!

A Scout has Self respect and respect for others

magpieschest — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 09:47:20 +0000

It’s not often that I write an article for the Two Left Wellies about how a Scout should behave. Good Scout behaviour is ultimately guided by the Scout Law - a very simple set of rules. One of those Laws is that “A Scout has Self Respect and Respect for Others”.

On camps this year, I have been surprised by the Scouts definition of Respect. The current way of thinking (if I am to believe what I am told) is that effectively no-one starts with any respect and that it is earned every time. You can’t just “demand” or “expect” respect from others – so that Teachers are put in a difficult position as they will not earn respect as they get the kids to do homework and punish them.

So how do you get respect? Well, it seems that peer-pressure and being cool (that is just doing stuff that you agree with) is the short cut. But is that the right way?

I had a think about this over the weekend. When I was growing up, teachers and people in position of authority would be automatically be given an element of respect because of the position that they held. A teacher would have respect as they had a wealth of knowledge that they would pass on to me and which I might find useful in later life (20+ years later I can now say that some of those things are not of use for me now, but I recognise if I had gone for a career in woodwork they might have done). Then, as I spent more time with that teacher I may then give them further personal respect for the way in which they instructed me (and again, many years later there are still teachers who I recall by name)

So, starting from zero respect – is that a good thing? I don’t think so, and that’s because of the other part to respect – getting respect back.

When you give someone respect, there is a silent agreement that you will receive some back. So if you give someone no respect – how can you expect to get them to give you respect either?

From a teacher / scout leader point of view then: a new Scout (or student) joins the class. Initially the leader will give that student some respect – a hope that they will want to learn or study and that they will do so in a way that will also allow all the others in the class (or Troop) to learn as well. Then, over time, the leader will then get to know that Scout better. If the Scout is showing a willingness to learn (constructively) then the Leader will give that Scout more respect; it may be that respect will be shown by promoting them to Assistant Patrol Leader or even Patrol Leader; or they may suggest opportunities that they feel a Scout may benefit from. Note that from a Scouting perspective this willingness is shown in the Scout wanting to learn themselves, not to show off to the leader.

However, if a Scout should decide that they don’t wish to be constructive or helpful, then it is natural for a Leader to lose respect for that Scout – and this can be demonstrated by taking some action (which can be talking to them about their behaviour or more extreme actions such as not allowing them to take part in evenings and activities).

However, this isn’t a one-way road. If a Scout misbehaves and the Leader does caution them then some respect will be lost – however, if the Scout then listens to that caution and decides to change their behaviour then the Leader will start to give that Scout more respect; again, a recognition of the Scouts willingness to learn.

The Scout Law refers to two types of respect – respect for others and a respect for self.

The second part to this is a topic big enough for an article in itself, but it is worth noting that both are linked together; a Scout (or indeed Leader) that shows little respect for themselves (which could be their conduct, the state of their uniform) will find that others will lose their respect for them also.

The Scout Law is a simple set of rules for good living. Whilst all the rules are very simple in what they ask us to do they will also provide us with a great challenge to make sure that we live by them.

TLW Challenge w/c 12 July

magpieschest — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 21:34:26 +0000

A simple challenge this week, as once again we’re out and about next week.

Scouts must tie their scarves using a friendship knot. The scarf should NOT have a woggle.

TLW Challenge w/c 5 July

magpieschest — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 22:23:01 +0000

I was really pleased to see the effort put in by the Scouts at last week’s Community Challenge night.

This week, we are heading off for a firelighting night – so the challeng e is simple – bring a working torch!

You need to dress appropriately for the weather – I would recommend boots over trainers most days – you may want to bring a jacket as it will get dark before we leave!

TLW Challenge – w/c 28 June

magpieschest — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 20:00:29 +0000

So this Friday we will be embarking on part of the Community Challenge Badge – for some the last part to getting the badge; but for all it’s the bit that we’ve had the biggest challenge organising.

So the TLW challenge for this week is:

Scouts are to bring the following 2 items to the Troop Meeting:

1. An old newspaper

2. A T-Towel (this will probably get used and mucky… you have been warned!)

A New Tent for Me! (also, found a sale!)

magpieschest — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 17:06:00 +0000

I was in St. Albans today having a wander round, and noticed that Millets were having a sale, with many things half price (you’ve been told folks, stock up now for the camping season!). I also saw that their tents were also in the sale.

My current 2-person tent is now about 15 years old, and is really starting to show signs of age, so I’d started to think about getting a new, shiny tent anyway. We already have a 3-person tent, but when camping you should try to consider the amount of ambient air that’s in the tent – after all, it will mostly be your body heat keeping it warm in winter. Additionally, the 3-person tent is still looking clean and neat – and I know I would get into big trouble if I got that dirty too!

So, back to now – and I’ve bought the Eurohike FlashFuze II. A 2-person, pop-up tent! Unlike other pop-ups, this is a double layered tent with a hydrostatic head of 2000 (for those wondering if I’ve headed into techno land… most popups have been single-skinned – that is only one layer, so if the water comes through you’ve had it. The hydrostatic head should mean it can put up with a downpour without problems)

The important shopping bit… instead of £60, I paid £30.

Right – now the fun bit. This is the tent ready to go:

I unzip the bag, take off the retaining strap… and in about the time it’s taken you to read this….

The tent’s ready for the pegs (the picture is before I put the pegs in, in case you wondered). Four on each corner, four on the guys and job done!

So the tents up in seconds. There’s no “porch space” as you would get on a standard tent, so everything will have to go inside the tent (not so good if your kit is muddy) – but I did notice that there’s a sliver of space by the door to get a couple of boots there should you need. Ultimately though, I’d suggest making use of a Welly bag or a car boot liner – I think it’ll be easier in the long term.

As with all 2-person tents, it’s 2-people with no kit; so this should be ideal for me and my typical failed attempt at lightweight camping (although I’m sure if I went camping on the moon I could consider my average kit weight lightweight ). Also because of its shape, it is of no use to the lightweight backpacking camper – this will not roll up smaller and kit cannot be distributed amongst the walking party. It would be of use for those heading out to multiple camping festivals (and don’t want to leave the tent there) or do the occaisonal camp (and so really don’t want the faff of working out whether the pole they are holding is for the front or the back of the tent).

Dropping the tent was a little longer – about 30 seconds or so – but there is a knack to getting the metal hoops to fall into place. Once done though it all drops into the bag and you’re ready.

As to how it fairs… well, I’ll be testing it later this year, so I’ll update then

Two Left Wellies Travel Bug Released!

magpieschest — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 00:02:39 +0000

http://frog101.wordpress.com/2010/06/13/granger-goes-geocaching/

Earlier this year I set a TLW Challenge (http://twoleftwellies.wordpress.com/2010/05/07/tlw-challenge-10-may/) to give our Travel Bug a “mission”. The intention was that I would release it at camp… unfortunately camp didn’t really present the opportunity I would have liked, so I had to abandon that idea. However, I did manage to release it today – you can track it by going to:

http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?id=2162840

Let’s see what happens!