Blogging full time is hard

 So I think I may need to restart the count on the Writer Badge as I haven't been able to frequently add to this. I know I could update on my phone but I found it a bit too hard and I forgot that I have my mum's old tablet I could attempt to use. Hey ho.

I've just worked on the last few points of my Codebreaker badge this evening as far as research goes. I just need to read my choose your own adventure book which will be later. Whether I can stay awake is another matter, I'm exhausted. Pretty sure I'm coming down with a cold.

The Classic Substitution, or Caesar cipher, is very simple. Each letter is replaced by the letter 3 positions after it alphabetically so A B C becomes D E F. X Y and Z become A B and C being at the end.

The Homophonic Cipher is possibly the most complex I've looked up, even though it seems sort of easy to explain. Each letter is given a certain number of symbols (letters and numbers, or just numbers) based on their frequency in language. E is the most common in English and so often has the most substitutions. The substitutions themselves, however, are random, making it one of the hardest to crack.

This week my mum hopefully is going in for the surgery she had postponed last month due to having covid. Because of that, we're going into isolation tomorrow so I'll have a lot more time to do more.

Yesterday I tried calligraphy with not too bad results. Will be having another go as I have more templates to try.

I also organised my file to display the certificate cards that come with the badges too which I'm quite proud of.

But now I'm utterly exhausted so I'm gonna turn in, despite it being so early. Definitely feel that cold coming on.

Gratitude diary:

1. Being able to take my Cubs out to the lake for the first time in a long time to do kayaking and paddleboarding.
2. Not being at work when I feel meh
3. A break in the rain to take my dog for a walk (after getting soaked right through at the lake!)
4. Yummy food
5. Coffee! I've needed it today

7th April - Week 1 done!

 That's one week of daily blogging complete. Surprised I've been able to keep it up as long as I have! But it's only one week. Hopefully I can keep it up.

Today I was helping the Visitor Services Manager to price up new stock for our shop ready for the weekend. We have a big Falconry event coming which is fully booked and we're anticipating much higher than usual visitor numbers. Higher than usual, try in the region of 1000 give or take. We're happy at a couple hundred on a weekend. It's really exciting!

After lunch it was out into the car park to get some refresher training on running the car park for the weekend. Have I mentioned I'm excited about it? I really hope they let me get close to the birds.

I helped to lock the site then when I got home I had just enough time to sit for dinner (pizza, nom) before I was out again to do a Cubs termly planning meeting. We got the next half term sorted.

That doesn't really look like much at all, but I'm exhausted! Feel like I haven't stopped!

I'm grateful for...

1. Premier Praise. They're a lovely radio station and play some amazing Christian music. And they chose me to receive a signed CD which is awesome!
2. Local companies. I used a local florist to send my mum some flowers and they're gorgeous! She needed some cheering up and the bouquet is beautiful. She really liked it.
3. Pizza. Cos pizza is awesome.
4. My Cub Pack. I enjoy doing the planning with the other leaders for the next term.
5. Climbing into bed when you're really sleepy

4th April - A day of painting

 Today I was up early, despite it being my day off, because I went for breakfast with a friend of my mum's. Lovely lady and it was nice to have a good catch up with her. The breakfast was nice too. If anyone is local to me, I recommend Dolly's, especially for breakfast!

We came home and I checked my Rebel Journal definitely had everything I wanted to include for the month. I had missed out a few things so that's up to date now. Hopefully. It's probably gonna be quite fluid though in case plans change. This Thursday for example. I think I've put stuff down to do after work, forgetting that I have a Cubs planning meeting.

Once I was all sorted, though, I decided to make a start on a painting kit I got myself with a birthday discount from Hobbycraft. I can't remember if it was the last birthday or the one before, but I'm 3 weeks away from my next one!! 😅

I'm going to put this towards my artist badge as the painting of a landscape. I know it's not quite the same, but this is my level of capability. I also already had this resource, I can't buy too much towards badges. I've already bought calligraphy books and plants so far.

This is the design I'm doing. I love the colours, they look really amazing and I'm rather fond of horses.

I find it amusing how as you paint one shade at a time, it just looks so random until the blocks start to fill.

This is how much I got done today while we watched NCIS. I had to down my brushes to go to my friend's house. I take her daughter to Cubs after her tumble class, but it was nice to see her boys too.

At Cubs, we played a version of Blind Man's Buff which is apparently Chinese in which instead of being blindfolded, everyone covers their face (we used Easter Egg shapes because it was the last meeting before the school break) and one person is chosen to speak. It was an exercise in recognising voices rather than feeling a face as in the traditional version.

Then we had an egg and spoon race using Creme Eggs (my team won!) where we also checked our pulse before and after, followed by making Easter cards and electric circuits.

So that's my day. Fire evacuation training at work tomorrow!

Five things...

1. My Cubs. They're a great Pack of young people and we had lots of fun. A few of them asked where I'd been as I missed the last two meetings because of my back. One of them said she hoped my back felt better. What lovely kids!
2. Painting. I might not be very good at it, but I enjoy doing it. It's nice and relaxing.
3. Breakfast at Dolly's. Forget Tiffany's, Dolly's does the best breakfast!
4. My bosses at work. I still struggle a lot with my back but my bosses are so good to me. They're reassuring and always help me.
5. Our Firestick. It's a bit first world of me, but I am grateful to have it for days when I'm off, especially when I'm off on my own. I put my favourite radio station on through the TV. Today we watched NCIS through Prime on the stick because it tends to work better than streamed through the Virgin