Growing Crystals

 Ds has been wanting to do some crystal growing for ages. He is wanting to use this experience to complete his scientist badge before he goes up to scouts(no pressure!)

 after carefully reading the instructions

 He opened the packet of ingredients!

 This is what we got.

 He had to use boiling water with the sachet.

Here is the result. Now we wait for  something to happen.
Note to all homeschooling crystal growers:Please share  links to pictures of your crystal growing experiences in  your homeschooling. We are keen to try different crystals. One really cool looking crystals requires allum. Where can I get this, any ideas?

The Jungle Book Part Two

 As I mentioned in an earlier post. Ds has had to prepare a Jungle Book theme diorama.Above you can see some of the trees.

 The next step was to attach the cave(having first removed the balloon of course!)

 Some of the trees were less stable than others9note: make sure you have attached planty of paper mache to your foil!)

 Blue tac was applied to the base of each tree.

 Next the trees were added to the shoe-box

 again this required a lot of patience!!

 Ds decided to add some vines to make it a very jungly diorama. The ones we used were rafia.

 Here is the jungle prior to adding the animals.

 Add the animals.

The completed diorama. Can you tell what scene from the book is taking place?

Barmera Senior Cub Camp

Ds had a fabulous time away at his senior cub camp. The temperatures were around 39C but they still managed to do some really exciting things. His first comment'the food was good!!" is always a good sign of a well planned camp!

The Jungle Book Part 1

 As  part of his grey wolf award for cubs(which is I think the highest award you can receive in cubs) ds had to prepare a diorama of part of the Jungle Book to show to his pack. Cub scouts are very loosely based on the characters in the Jungle books(Baden Powell and Kipling were actually friends)Ds painted the inside of a shoe box a good jungle gree. Next , using advice he gleaned from the internet and other makers of dioramas(!), he made some tree shapes from foil.

 These were then covered with papermache.

 It proved quite a sticky business!

Below are the trees waiting to dry. while they were drying ds covered part of a small balloon with paper mache. This would be the cave of the wolves.

 Finally ds made the figures he was going to put in his jungle. He had to blend plasticine colours together to make just the right wolf colour!

Above you can see the painted box with the figures.

Cuboree 2011

                                                Home tired and dirty after a great weekend!

A capmping we will go!

Youngest son went on his second cub scout camp. They tented again. Apparently the weather was great and the scenery amazing.













Everyone helped with chores and the cubs cooked all the meals. I never remember camping under canvas until I was a guide and certainly we only helped with cooking.







Please note the boys also used proper knives in food preparation not like a certain cooking show where even the adults seem to have to use plastic ones (ouch I have admitted to watching a show I was determined not to...but of course i won't watch every one!!)

Back to the camp: the boys lost count of the number of kangaroos they spotted. Also some "interesting" caterpillars(glad I wasn't there!). Anyway identify them?

Ds is now very keen to go to the Cuboree later in the year. Only negative of their time away; he came home with a heavy head cold.

Cub Cook Off

Sunday saw youngest son participating in his first cub scout group cook-off.Each team had to present a three course meal cooked outside with minimum adult help. They were judged on cleanliness, safety and of course taste as well as team work. Our team finished second which was really pleasing as the first team was also from our group.Ds surprised his mother at how competently he wielded a knife.
The menu for our group was Minestrone soup with garlic bread, Barbecued chicken with char-grilled vegetables and rice, Pancakes with chocolate sauce and Mango lassi. It was enjoyed by all partakers!

District Cub Hike

The day dawned grey and steadily grew greyer!

Akela showed the cubs the route our walk would take.

We noted how green everything was.

Oh dear just a little water ahead!

One of the very few bridges across the creek, mostly we had stepping stones of sorts.

Up hill and starting to rain.

Muddy paths to slip  stroll along

The cub salute

We ate our lunch in the rain....and cold!

An enjoyable if "damp" way to spend a Sunday!