1st Cuffley Scouts- The Reincarnation
Sunday, 11 January 2009
Photos from Christmas Eve '08
Here are the Photos from The Dorchester onwards, however, I'm still waiting for the Ice skating photos!
Labels: Christmas, Cuffley, Photographs, Scouts, The Dorchester
Monday, 5 January 2009
Christmas Eve 2008
On Christmas Eve we went to London (quite an adventure with Skip's leg in plaster). Ten Scouts, including myself, attended and Skip (later accompanied by my Dad) had the joyous task of looking after us. Our first experience was the trip to South Kensington to the Natural History Museum where we were going Ice- Skating. We arrived half an hour early and an extremely nice young lady let us on the ice straight away. I'm not sure if it's because we were Scouts or that Skip was very nice to her! We had a lot of fun skating (guess who fell over first!) and were all exhausted by the end of our extended session. But it wasn't over yet...
After a short bus ride we arrived at our second destination, The Dorchester Hotel, Park Lane where we were shown round some of the exclusive rooms. I was amazed at the size of it all, let alone the cost! None of us lot could even afford to sit down in one of those rooms! Some of the views out of the windows in the Penthouse suites were spectacular, though. Panoramic scenes of London, over- the- rooftops views of Hyde Park, it was amazing.
We were then taken to the Kitchens, given aprons and hats to help prepare lunch. We were put into three groups. My group started by making pizzas. We were given a piece of dough, some tomato sauce, cheese(!) and various toppings and the assistance of a Chef. Next we made pancakes with the Executive Chef and his apprentice. The heat coming off the range was almost unbearable, and the frying pans got so hot we had to hold them with the corner of our aprons! Our final activity was making chocolate truffles and decorating mini chocolate cakes. Needless to say, this was the messiest, and most enjoyable, task!
We were then treated to a three-course meal in the Krug Room, a room to one side of the kitchen which had frosted glass walls to hide the room from our view. When the Executive Chef flicked a switch the glass changed to clear and we saw a magnificent dining table set for twelve. The meal was fantastic and we were all given a goody-bag to remember our day. Two of the boys also had Birthdays (one that day, one the next) and they were each given a birthday cake to take home too!
Afterwards Skip and Dad agreed on why it was called the Krug room; their champagne never stopped flowing! You can experience The Dorchester online by visiting their website. The address is: http://www.thedorchester.com/ but the real thing is better.....I know, I was there.
When we arrived back in Cuffley, just before four 'o clock, we 'legged it' (Skip hopped) to the Church. We were met by our District Commissioner and his mother and sat down 'quietly' to join a Christingle service. All in all, the day was a sucess. I'll post some more of the pictures from London later, there are too many to include this time. Merry Christmas!
Labels: Christingle, Christmas, Cuffley, London, Scouts, skating, The Dorchester
Later in the Winter Term 2008
In the last half term we have been studying emergency First Aid for our badge. We have covered burns, slings, major and minor bleeding and, thanks to one particular Scout, nose bleeds.
Half the Troop was then tested on what they knew while the rest of us learnt Semaphore, knotting and tracking techniques for an MI 5 training. We did the training by following one of the leaders on a ten minute walk around Cuffley. Unfortunately, stealth and silence deserted a certain unsubtle scout and we were seen on several occasions!
One of the other things included in our MI 5 training was to test our observational skills. A man (the son of one of the local teachers) walked into the Scout meeting one week, talking on the phone and walked around for a few minutes. twenty minutes or so after he'd left, we were asked to describe him as best we could from what we'd seen/ noticed. I thought I did quite well, but I can't be too sure.
The last meeting of the year was a Fun and Games night. The first activity was The Chocolate Game, a favourite at parties of children aged nine and above. The general idea is to roll a six or a one and then scramble into a hat, scarf and gloves, pick up a knife and fork and eat as much chocolate (with the knife and fork) as you can before someone else rolls either a one or a six. This being Scouts, it wasn't that simple...
To start, we had to roll a double six to start, that was hard enough in itself. After that you had to put on a hat, gloves, scarf, jacket, skirt and wellies! Then we had to pick up the knife and fork and start eating the chocolate. Then the rules were changed and it became a double one or a double six, then any even double (double two, four or six).
We also played a tournament on the Bagatelle, had a Jenga competition and tried a Christmas wordsearch!
Labels: chocolate, Cuffley, First Aid, games, MI 5, Scouts, training, winter