The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men

I had this brilliant idea that when I turned 50 I would create a blog and use it to document my 51st year on the planet.

Well, it started ok - I think that I made it to the end of the first three months before I took my first pause.  After that I took another break of almost nine months due to work load and various other factors that in the next few weeks I may elaborate on.

In the meantime, before I do a post on what I've been up to and stuff here's a picture of some food!

Is it really so long since I posted?

Obviously it is.

The first couple of months of 2014 have gone by in an complete haze of (1) work & (2) Scouts.

Its been busy, busy, busy at the Academy as we prepare Y9 & Y11s for their GCSEs in May & June - loads of Controlled Assessments to mark (think I have about 60 to do just for my classes).  Then there's preperation for this and that.

Then we get to Scouts - worked out that, even if you ignore the weekend camps, that I spend around 8 hours a week doing Scout stuff.  Good for the soul and the possible MBE (nominations accepted) but the time always seems to slip away.  So far, with Scouts, the big events have been a trip to London to so Runaround (a bit like giant Monopoly), a training trip in the Peaks (complete with rain/lightning/thunder) and bivvy camp - plus all the other stuff that we have done in the evenings.

In between all of these there was the odd bit of family time including the annual trip to the Lakes in February, something I have been doing since I was 14.  The Lakes trip this year was different in several respects; firstly (due to school holidays) we were down several members and secondly it rained a lot limiting any high level stuff although we did have a cracking morning on Seat Sandal before the rain closed in!

Helen near Tegness Pinnacle 

The Explorers at Doncaster Station before embarking on Runaround

Horse Guards Parade

Expedition Training near Castleton

Presentation Evening

Bivvy Camp

Peter in hut near Carrock Fell

Looking up towards Great Gable etc with Mellbreak on the right.

Review of the Year 2013

Tradition dictates that every year we send out a review of the year with our Christmas cards - this helps us keep up to date with people who we don't see from year to year (and remind them that we are still around).  

Just to make my life a bit easier I thought that it was worth reproducing here with a few additional photos and bits of text.

January

Welcomed the year in down in the flat lands of Suffolk.

London with the Scouts to play full sized Monopoly.

Lovely winter training weekend in the Peaks complete with snow – slept in a large tin tent.

February

Annual (rainy) bivouac camp

Lakes trip – Tom came up with us and, with Gary, had a couple of epic cycle runs before Tom went back to York.  Then the car died near Penrith and had to be towed to Carlisle to be fixed!  Gary was ill but got well enough for crampon assisted ascent of Great Gable.

March

Gary & Pete off to Scammonden with the Scouts – Pete doing some Gold D of E Training whilst Gary is off with the youngsters GeoCaching.

Early Easter meant an early (and very cold) Silver D of E Expedition for Gary and Helen to supervise (Pete came along for the jolly and loved the cold weather).

April

A quick trip up to the Dales for Gary to take some fellow teachers around the Three Peaks in pleasant winter conditions (if you ignore the thick snow and howling gale).

Then to South Wales for Pete to complete his D of E Gold Residential whilst Gary and Helen decided that there weren’t enough hills down there!

May

The St Leonards Way for Gary & Peter, Gary happy to be back in the top three finishers.

The Bronze D of E Expedition that Gary was assessing clashed with the Sheffield Half Marathon so it was an epic dash around so he could do both.

June

Back to the Dales for the Three Peaks with Explorers, awful weather.

July

Busy couple of weeks as Gary & Tom completed the Saunders Mountain Marathon – Tom’s knees giving up 200 yards from the end.

Then to Gilwell 24 with the Scouts.

The month finished with Pete off to walk Hadrians Wall, including a 20 hour walk as they had miscalculated where the campsites were.

August

Helen, Gary and Pete off to the Lakes for an odd summer holiday.  After a few days on our own we were joined by the rest of Pete’s D of E Gold team (who were nicknamed the Dream Team) as they completed an East-West crossing of the Lake District finishing at Seascale.  From there the family holiday headed North to Carlisle then onto Nortumberland.  Quite odd in that there was only one wash out day.

September

Gary is 50!  And we have a barbecue to celebrate – he got a new camera (finally)!

Growing old doesn’t involve growing up and it’s another Great North Run (sadly Tom injures his knee a few days before and can’t compete).

Pete and the Dream Team present their expedition findings.

Then to Trent Lock for a weekend of watersports – again Gary breaking off, this time for the Yorkshire 10K.

October

To the Lakes (Ashness Hut) with the Scouts and a cracking ascent of Great Gable (Pete taking a sporty line).

Tom turns 21 and his party means that he misses out on the OMM.

Pete completes a canoe course and is invited back next summer to help out on the courses.

Gary, together with his reserve partner, head to the Brecon Beacons (despite the fact that storms are forecast in the area).  The weather on the second day is awful and the poor weather route is used.

November

Pete discovers a new Scouting event in the Dales and puts together a team.  Sadly one of the team collapsed and the team had to retire.  Pete then joined another team to complete the course.

Helen off to York on a course (making sure Tom has a proper meal while she is there) and stays over with the Rambos (thanks Steve for re-locating her several times!).

Couple of caving trips in the Peak District.

Pete completes his D of E Gold, the youngest Explorer Scout to do so.

Remembrance Sunday was on Kinder Scout with the Explorers.

Another night under a tarp!  At least is doesn’t rain.

Gary is nominated for a Community Award for his volunteering (finishes runner up).

December

D of E Training weekend for 30 odd Explorer Scouts – Gary, Helen & Peter all involved in supervising the trip.  As ever, we had rain!

Pete finishes off the year by receiving his Queen’s Scout Award –the second ever Explorer Scout in Rotherham to receive it (you can fill in the gap with who the first was!).

At the Scout Carol Service Team Bacon dominate with Peter & Helen getting presented with Awards and Gary running around trying to make a PowerPoint work.

Last run for Gary is a pleasant 10K in Bolsover.

As we said, a bit rushed.  Next year normal service will be resumed!