How to get those bad bad wapsies

At Space Camp this summer I caught a glimps of a wasp trap like this, that makes good use of old PET bottles

At home we made two attempts, one out of a half litre bottle and one out of a bigger 1 1/2 litre one. They worked well. I have been told that raw meat is the best bait, but I went for the less smelly option of jam.

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Outdoor cooking

This week we had a visit from our fire expert Markus AKA Linx. After some quick games he talked about fire safety and showed us three different fires, and how to light them most efficiently.

The Blowtorch is great for cooking. You should have the cut in the direction of the wind to get maximum effect.

The Pagoda and the Pyramid are great for a campfire, and especially the Pyramid for making charcoal for a good BBQ.

Then the Cubs gathered around the tables to bake out the 'Stomp' bread, and filling bananas with bits of chocolate. This we cooked on the 'Murrikas'. Yum!

We were done just in time to sing the Scout song, before all the parents came. There is a rumour that there are pirates about next week!

Recipe for Swedish 'Stompa Bread', 35 pieces

500 ml natural yoghurt

100 ml treacle

2 tsp aniseed, roughly ground (optional)

2 tsp fennel seeds, roughly ground (optional)

2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tblsp salt

1500 ml sifted rye flour

100 ml water

Mix the ingrediences and kneed to a smooth dough. Keep in a plastic bag until use.

Divide into little balls and roll or press, 'stomp', out into roundish cakes, 1/2 cm thick. Bake on a flat surface, like a frying pan. Eat freshly made, warm and with some butter.

Baked Bananas with Chocolate

Cut a banana lengthways, but not through the "bottom" skin. Put bits of chocolate in it's flesh and wrap in aluminium foil. Put on the side of the fire to cook slowly. When it is soft when you press it, it is done.

Exercising democracy

Every other year the parlament of the Swedish Scout Association meet and all the districts send representatives to debate current scout affairs and issues. Every other year, starting this year, everyone is welcome to come and meet the "government" in a slightly less formal setting, to get updated on what work is going on, and what progress has been made.

This first meeting took place on Vässarö, an island in the archipelago north of Stockholm and the Stockholm district's campsite. We were 12 people from Halland, the oldest 72 years of age and the youngest 11. We drove up and it took 13 hours with two stops. The last 10 km were on tiny, wriggly, little roads. Then a parking lot in the middle of nowhere, and a little harbour.

The boat ride took almost 30 minutes between small, rocky islands, and even though we where late they had saved us some dinner. It was still reasonably light when we put our tents up, and we found a spot that wasn't too wet. It had been raining quite a lot resently.

The café was open late, and people kept arriving until midnight. The next morning activities started after breakfast. It is always a powerful feeling, sharing breakfast with 300 others, there for the same reason you are, everyone looking slightly rough but nobody care about hair or makeup and everyone so very friendly.

Down at the square the committee's various subgroups were informing us about the progress made on the new leadership training programs, what the discussions were like with the other scout organisations about program and mutual intrests. Appearantly the Salvation Army scouts are dwindling and are thinking about joining forces with us, while the new Muslim Scouts have liasoned with a Christian scout organisation to strengthen their resources.

While all this talking, lobbying and discussing went on, you could also try the Respect game, vote on the new age group names by building lego blocks, take a vertical certificate on the climbing wall, try tanning, wood carving, black smithing or help the outdoor Thai chef with some gorgeous cooking.

Cassandra trying Thai

I had an unexpected sightseeing trip of the island the next morning, when I managed to get lost in the woods when I went for a jog at six. Having planned to be out for 30 minutes, it took me the best of two hours to get back. It also started tipping it down with rain. I saw many wonderful things, among them the end of the rainbow, and several of the permanent activity trails. The committee chairwoman laughed when I told her in the shower that I'd got lost:

-It is certainly an achievment, getting lost on an island, 1km x 2km, completely stung through by trails and paths, she said jokingly, hoping that I wasn't too cold.

After a meeting with the other Educational officers in the Boathouse and lunch I packed up my things. The meeting ended and we managed to get on one of the first boats for the mainland. Nevertheless it was midnight when we got back to Falkenberg. My daughter was very happy with her weekend, even though she hadn't really made many friends as most people were about 10 years older than her or more. Now she has another great scouting memory to tell her friends about.

Yohoooo! Off we go!

First meeting for the season, and I forgot to take any piccies! We were 16 cubs and three leaders. So we have room for some new chums!

We played some steam release games, but it still felt like the boys, because there were only boys there this time, would have needed even more steamed released. Then we made eskimo games from toilet rolls and paper balls. The kids had great fun with them.

Materials: 1 empty toilet roll, one paper ball, 2-3 cm diameter, 1 m household string, paint.
Make a hole through the paper ball with a joist. Let the cubs paint the toilet roll and let it dry. Help them make a hole in the top end of the roll with the joist and ask them to tie the string to the edge with the knot of their choice. Then to thread the other end of the string through the paperball. Now the Eskimo toy is ready. The object is to get the ball into the roll as many times in a row as possible.

Space Camp 2008

Today the Akelas went to visit the Falkenberg pack at camp in the nieghbouring district. At Apelhult, the district campsite of Södra Älvsborg, numerous spacecraft had landed, inhabitants from all the planets in the solar system had gathered, but unfortunately the place also seemed infested with evil little black and yellow aliens that made life difficult in some cases.


The wasps was the only disadvantage of the day. The weather was lovely, the campsite was gorgeous, the kids were ... as kids on camp should, and the activities were fun. Today was the "middle day" for the older scouts, who came on Saturday, and the Cubs', who arrived yesterday, first real day on camp. The groups had been given the asignment to build a spacecraft and to dress up, using camp equipment and some things brought from home. The amount of alu foil used!

The Falkenberg group, who competed with their Marsian mates Sandared Scout Group, came in third place. The brave pilot of the craft is unfortunately not visable in the picture, but he was a sight to be seen in a binbag tunic, gasmask and alufoil helmet!

Other activities during the week has been various science experiments, like building water power stations and wind mills, cannoe trips, swimming and making a camp wall paper, where each group has been given the task of completing a "news item", an interview or "tip of the day", complete with pictures, that have been posted on a wall by the tuck shop for everyone to read.

The Adventure Scouts have been given a course in democracy and the organization of the movement for them to feel equipped to make their voice heard within the organisation.

The Akelas were very sad that they couldn't come for the duration of the camp, but felt that they'd come back again, soon, and were very inspired for the new scouting term.

Sweaty work - but someone has to do it...

...or perhaps not. But it was great fun, albeit slightly warm and a little bit tough on the old legs.

Akelas Marie and Lotta decided to do a 5km fun run in our uniforms, to show off a little bit. We walked to the start as a warm-up and waited in glorious sunshine together with the other 90 people who had signed up for the 5km run and the almost 1000 people who were going to run 10km in the summer heat.

In the picture you can see Lotta in the new, green, uniform, that is the same for the whole Swedish Scout Federation, and Marie in the beautiful, old, blue uniform, specific for the SSF, the Swedish Guide and Scout Association.

Our strategy was to keep in the back of the field and at a most modest pace, just to finish the race, and we let the hotspurs and the serious runners fight for space across the old tollbridge. It proved a good plan, as when we passed the commentator's tower in the centre of town we got everyone's attention, and our names and the groups name was mentioned loudly and clearly over the sound system, and everybody cheered us on.

We had to break our pace and start walking for a little while after a long uphill slope, but then we spotted some handsome young fire fighters, who were watching the race at the roadside, and found the strength to start jogging again. But after another uphill bit, in relentless sunshine, we felt a bit drained and walked for a little while again. Just when we felt the most tired we were cheered on by some people sitting on their stoops, and their warm smiles and waves did the trick and carried us up to the water stop.

In the shade of the trees down by the river we spotted the 10km runners across the water comming up for their last kilometer, led by police escort. They looked almost as warm as we felt, but they were running a whole lot faster. (They did all have a lot longer legs too, I think!) Marie's husband met us by the white water rapids and cykled behind us, as we plodded on along the river path into town and the dreaded Brewer's slope, a short but steep, cobbled street up from the river path, where the 10km runners merged with the trickle of the remaining 5km runners. There were quite a lot of people watching by Brewer's slope and they cheered everyone equally, which was well needed, as the hill is well known for breaking amateur runners' spirits.

With renewed strength we took on the last uphill slope, not as steep as the one before, but double in lenght. The crowd cheered us on as we got close to the home strech. At the top of the hill waited Lotta's husband and Marie's daughter, whose enthusiasm gave that last little boost of energy that, together with the commentator's and the crowd's support made us able to give that little bit extra past the finishing line.

The picture was taken just after the finish, just after we had caught our breath again. As you can see we were very pleased with our effort. Later in the evening we learnt that our times were just about 35 minutes, which is great considering that we are NOT adement runners and that we walked, however briskly, about 1 of the 5 km! The fact that we were among the 10 last to finish is not relevant, as we did our best, and we had fun doing it. (We laught and joked most of the way)

We also had a very encouraging message from our group leader, who congratulated us on finishing the race, and giving the scouts good publicity. This was just a test run, and we hope that we next year can encourage more scouts of all ages to join in.

Keep your fingers...

...crossed!

On Saturday some of us Cub leaders are running a 5km fun run. It's a spur of the moment thing, and sponsorship for charity is not a big thing here in Sweden, but perhaps we can get something going for next year.

We're running in our uniforms, just to show off. If you're in Falkenberg between 2 and 3 on Saturday, come root us on! We hope to survive, and for some not too hot, but nice, weather.