Things I like!

Over the years, I've collected all sorts of things - and still have many of my collections

around the house. From my teens, for about 15 years I collected the little 'Pocket Dragons' - we even had the bride and groom pair on top of our wedding cake! Sadly they're no longer made, but I have a collection of around 20 or so I think; it's hard to guess how many as they're not all displayed together but are spread around the house. There's even one sitting on the base of the monitor on my desk, which was a gift from my second child as they went off to university, to help make sure I miss them!

Recently I've started somewhat inadvertently collecting cancer fiction and books about dying. There are less than half a dozen books in each category so far, but I'm sure they'll continue to grow. These are topics close to my heart since my diagnosis with stage 4 ovarian cancer back in late 2019; although I'm hoping I've got a few more years in me yet, I'm very aware that there isn't a cure and I find it both cathartic and helpful to read other people's experiences. The generosity of others in sharing wisdom and knowledge they've gained through working in palliative care, through supporting a partner, or through their own diagnosis, is something I find very valuable. I'm sure I'll write more about living with cancer another day...

But today, I'm going to share a collection which is both deeply personal and also designed for showing! I became a Brownie Guide when I was around 8 years old, then moved up to Guides and stayed there for a couple of years. Having left the movement before my teens, I didn't have any further involvement until my elder daughter became a Rainbow. Somehow, a couple of years later I volunteered as a leader, and spent more than 10 years involved in first Rainbows, then Brownies! My camp blanket is a wonderful reminder not only of the places I've been and activities I've done, but also of the fantastic people I've met along the way.

It's very carefully organised - (replacement) badges I earned as a Brownie and Guide are placed front and centre, with my Nights Away badges beneath; left of centre are the badges I did with my Rainbow unit, and further to the left with or through the Trefoil Guild; to the right are badges earned by my Brownies, and Thinking Day badges. The back is slightly less coherent, with a lot of centenary badges, my (original!) swimming badges, swaps, badges from friends, unofficial and non-guiding challenge badges I've done alone or with my kids, BOGUK badges (of which more anon!), and now Rebel badges!

This little cluster of badges are all very meaningful: Launch100, the start of the Girlguiding Centenary celebrations back in September 2009, was the first event I went to in leader uniform; Race 100 at Newmarket Race Course was where I first went beyond my comfort zone and tried new skills (in this case, stilt-walking which I'd never been able to do as a child at all, but suddenly discovered I had the knack for!). The Campfire Challenge (a beautiful badge!) reminds me of the joy of sharing campfires, toasting marshmallows, and singing campfire songs, passing the traditions on to new generations of girls. The Pengui Challenge was the theme for the first Rainbows sleepover I attended, and the Night at the Museum (another gorgeous badge) was the sleepover at which I gained my Overnight Licence with Girlguiding.

Many of the badges in the Trefoil Guild section have bittersweet associations. I did several of these while in isolation at home in the early months of Covid. I was freshly out of hospital after major surgery and was still going through chemotherapy, so we followed the full shielding protocol strictly and I spent 12 weeks separated from the rest of my family while being in the same house. The difficulty of those weeks, the isolation, loneliness, and fear obviously make up the bitter - but the sweet? The sense of community I found online, the opportunity to just indulge myself in what interested me (and helped to pass the time!), and the fun I had doing these activities and learning new things. And my younger teen saw how much fun I was having and got drawn back into it too, which was an unexpected but very treasured bonus. The May 2020 Camp Challenge may have been the start, in which we each made dens in our own separate rooms, and slept in them instead of our beds. And the midsummer sleepover in the tent in our garden was precious - we love camping together, just the two of us, and hadn't been able to go since the previous autumn. So much fun and laughter!

The challenge badges in this section were all done with my teen, mostly over that summer. Even the walking challenge, as I was taken out almost daily to walk laps around the private gardens which we were fortunate to have access to! And the 'smore fun with friends' and 'thank you' badge were from my dear friend in response to me getting her and her daughter involved, and all the fun they were having as a result!

And here are three obvious and self-explanatory badges from a trip to Our Chalet with my sister - who was the driver behind getting my first daughter enrolled in Rainbows, so this is all actually her fault! Oh, she's also the one who introduced me to BOGUK and the Rebel Badge Club. Such a bad influence! (Just kidding - she definitely knows I'm so grateful for all the joy and opportunities!)

There's a row of Standard badges, which again all have some personal connection. And the very newest addition - the start of my Rebel badge collection!