Rebel Badge Work

While it might look like there's a gap, there isn't. Well, there is but I've been doing badge stuff - and sewing. Lots and lots of sewing.  So let's go to Happy Valley. We were late to the party, big time. So late that we only started watching Series 3 in the last month, bingeing it every night we could to check that Catherine Cawood is okay. (we watched Series 1 & 2 at the start of the year) So we had a vaguely fresh look at it all - remembering plotlines and characters easier - this is something I always struggle with and thank authors who do those little character updates at the front of the book so forgetful people like me can cross-reference. When you forget stuff you can really forget it - it has taken until today for me to realise it's only Wednesday, not Thursday, for example - because I started my new blood sugar log book on the wrong date. So I need all the help I can get.  Which brings me to Happy Valley. Having started the series at the start of the ...

I think I dismissed this badge as I knew I wouldn't get to the cinema, though DUH. Here we are at home with several streaming services so I think maybe I can do this badge after all? Anyway, if this doesn't apply it can sit in limbo.  Yesterday my sister and I went to the cinema to see 'The Unlikely Pilgramage of Harold Fry' - a title I was wary of as I knew the general plot. Harold Fry walks most of the country to see his old workmate and friend Queenie who is dying of cancer. With everything I'm going through at the moment I wasn't sure whether it might upset me, fortunately friends reassured me that it's part of the plot (obviously) but doesn't go into any detail. So with that information we went to check it out.  Harold Fry is a retired pensioner - he gets a letter from his old friend Queenie who lets him know she has terminal cancer. Harold replies straight away - by letter of course, and heads out to post it. At this point he meets someone who insp...

Yep, I'm getting through these programmes fairly quickly I think. Although today's, which is 'Four in a Bed' is on fairly continually during the day and early evening - so this one isn't as challenging when talking about the programme. Though actually, what I've noticed instead is that the programme follows a fairly similar journey each week.  Firstly, let's describe 'Four in a Bed' - there are four families, they all own a B&B style place and they're all being judged on how clean their B&B is. Each family visits each B&B and judges it, checks the room for dust and overall cleanliness and then at the end of their stay they grade everything out of ten.  There are all sorts of categories - whether their hosts were welcoming, did they sleep well?, how clean it is and then the BIG question at the end, would they stay there again. Then when the anonymous grading has been done the hosts read through it all - and work out who has scored thei...

I'm out of practice reviewing things and waffling coherently, so let's see how we get on with Extraordinary. Extraordinary is streaming now on Disney + - it's a story of people who get various magical powers when they turn 18 which may or may not be useful. The story centres around Jen who, in her twenties still doesn't have her power. Jen shares a flat with Carrie, Kash and finally Jizzlord, a cat who shapeshifts into a human who has no recollection of his previous life. Mainly as he has been a cat for several years.  Each episode is around the 30 minute mark, enough time for a plot, conclusion and a decent story arc running across the eight episodes. Nothing is too dragged out. I found myself laughing out loud a lot - and also feeling sympathy with some of the characters.  Some turn their powers to their advantage whereas others don't quite as much. This bodes well for Series 2 and other characters coming into the story when they find ways to use their powers.  If...

This is one I'm still mulling over - what exactly is my brand? I mean, currently you could say "Brain Tumour Person" but that seems a bit blunt and awkward for anyone who might see it.  "Undecided Me" maybe? As in, I can't decide what my brand actually is. But then that could change and I could become "Decidedly Me" maybe? So probably not the best brand badge.  Let's have a look at the clauses. The first one is to write a list of 10 words that I'd like other people to use when they describe me.  Talkative Likes her music Tottenham supporter York City supporter Women's Football (ooh maybe could be onto something for this one) I'm actually struggling now - and I've just had a look and I haven't ordered a My Brand badge yet so I knew this one would be tricky - one to add to the next order I think. The good thing is I have all the time to complete this so that gives me a lot of time to think about myself.  I can see one of the c...

Signed off work for a fairly long time, I have more than enough time to watch tv right now. This makes the TV Critic badge quite an easy one to achieve - I have been off work for over three months now which means I know which channels to switch to when I need a certain daytime tv fix.  Clause 1 is to choose five different tv shows to watch over a four week period. They need to be different genres as well - and fortunately we've had a bit of a Netflix/Disney+/Amazon/BBC style mix of programmes of late. So my five different tv shows are.... 1. Wednesday 2. Happy Valley 3. Extraordinary 4. Four in a Bed 5. Harry & Meghan  Ted Lasso I think that's a good spread of the shows I've been watching.  Now I need to write a review... to keep this challenge going I will only review the shows we've finished - though Four in a Bed is week to week so is the exception.  Wednesday. This is the story of Wednesday Addams and her starting Nevermore Academy, the place her parents Mort...

This one was another easy one to achieve, mainly as I've been working on this for so long now - My Collection. Which, obviously, has to be my cloth badges on my camp blanket. The badges cover several years of collecting - from some dating back to 1977 when I first became a Brownie, to 2023 when I've picked up badges along the way (hello National Trust). So... the clauses. I have to put together a collection over six months. Well I think the above covers that - and way more than six months too. Since I've been signed off work I've done little bits around the house, and one of those tasks was getting the sewing machine out and getting all the badges since July onto the blanket, and the teen's too. Which is surprisingly tiring - I was managing around six badges sewn on a day before having to have a rest.  Which covers part two of the clauses too - finding an attractive way to display the collection. Because who can resist a well populated camp blanket?  Part three is s...

My Roots was another fairly straightforward badge to earn. I took out an Ancestry subscription and managed to find my dad's 1960s/1970s family tree he had worked on for years. I got all the information and created a brand new Ancestry family tree, trying to get back as far as possible to learn more about my family - and while I'm not sure how much I've learned (as I've forgotten), it took us to Lancashire, wandering around graveyards finding old ancestors graves and letting the teen see that we've got a lot of history in this country too.  I also found out that my Great Grandfather remarried - something nobody knew for sure - I was able to get a duplicate marriage certificate. It was interesting stuff and keeps me in touch with my dad's cousins as well.  I've since stopped the Ancestry subscription though it's there if I want to restart and do more work on it. Can you see the tree ?

I back dated this one. I've been volunteering with Girlguiding since the teen was five (she's thirteen and a half now) - so I figured I've earned this one. Girlguiding is fun - it's hard work too. With the head stuff I'm having to take a break, but usually I'm a Brownie and Guide leader helping at two units locally.  The teen is now building up to her last couple of terms of being a Guide and has decided she wants to be a Young Leader rather than a Ranger too - that'll be interesting.  With my head issues and memory, I completely forgot I'd ordered and sewn this badge on my blanket, what with it being the first one I earned. Fortunately Charley who runs the Rebel Badge Club was able to swap my badge before my order was dispatched - and now I have a load more badges to work on!  Community Service is quite a good one, the volunteering can be challenging but it's always rewarding. 

SO. Let's start as we mean to go on - the Love Challenge. I bought the badge already to make myself complete this - and each challenge isn't too difficult but gets me doing different things than I usually would.  "Make a rose from a medium of your choice" was the first part I went for. Now, I don't think this looks like a rose, maybe I need more work, but this is the work in progress of my rose which I quite like.  Except it doesn't really look like a rose. Teen says I should try curling the flowers a bit - I suspect we'll try and make more over half term to be honest. I'm happy with that.  Another challenge has been done, though this is over the month - Once a week treat yourself. Well, I'm good at that - I set myself a challenge not to buy anything unless I really need it - so my first weekly treat was to get myself three (pay postage only) Wild deodorants. They smell good, I don't react to them, and while some might find it a bit odd, it...

Some time ago, before my head went wonky I bought the first volume of the Rebel Badge Club book. Merit badges for adults - winner! I mean, I have a camp blanket full of my Brownie and Guide badges and there's plenty of space too.  So I've set up this blog to keep my Rebel Badge Work separate from the other stuff I'm going on about. Especially as I'm finding I have a bit more energy these days - so I can do a bit more badge work.  I'm not going to list everything I'm working on as I'm doing bits from a few badges - but when I complete something it'll appear here in its own post with tags.  Let's see how I get on... fortunately I'm good at taking photos of badges. Alas, I can't remember what half of these ones are other than I chose them wisely!