Merrymoot (2013-12-16)

We played dead ants whilst people arrived.

We held a News Circle and wrote down who planned to do a turn in the Merrymoot. Magnus had been to a posh house in the country; Flora is preparing for a Tudor Banquet at school; Pip has broken through a level in Harry Potter wii; Rafiq has a skylander Voodoo character from the car boot sale; Jeff watched The Snowman; Matilda is learning about Russia and went to a Russian shop on the Cowley Road where she chose a Russian biscuit; Rana did the Christmas cards; Rayan had a tooth fall out; Izzy has a new tooth coming through; Lena was in a Nativity show; Millie's rabbit has died; Debbie enjoyed Hill End bush craft; Xanthe is learning the flute; Tegan will be taking her first break from Woodies in seven years - to have her first baby; Connie went to Oxford Spires to rehearse a performance; Millie-Maye went to Xanthe's house and Iona made her stroke a cat; Tessa is looking forwards to a second, family, Christmas in Dorchester on the 27th; Iona's birthday is on Friday; Tim cut his finger whilst whittling a model Tudor pig sty.

People needed a little while to rehearse;

then we played Snakes in the Pit.

Nia and Magnus performed the now traditional Shout Quanong the loudest competition: Xanthe was the loudest, though strong competition from Pip and Molly.

Flora played We wish you a merry christmas on the clarinet.

Pip, with volunteers Magnus, Nia and Rafiq, did a performance.

Matilda played Church Oreo on the piano.

Matilda, Lena, Izzy and Rayan sang Jingle Bells.

Tim played When the Saints Come Marching In on the Chalumaux.

Xanthe and Iona played Jingle Bells on the flute and piano.

Molly sang We three Kings accompanied by Xanthe on the piano.

Tessa and Iona performed a play with talking model animals, which ended when all the cast were dead.

We ate the party food and let off poppers.

We held our Closing Circle.

Leaders: Tim, Tegan, Debbie, Rana
Helpers: Jeff
Elfins: 16

Yearly Attendance Chart

Performance (2013-12-09)

We played a few games whilst people arrived, as Tegan was going to be late.

We held a News Circle: Matilda has chosen and decorated her Christmas Tree; Lena has hers, with flashing lights; Izzy had a friend around; Xanthe went to a ballet show on Sunday; Millie-Maye has her winter hat and scarf down from the loft; Erica was in the Big Christmas Sing which was on the front page of the Oxford Times; Iona has a sore throat and her sister had a bad cold; this is the last session of the term for Dylan and Ivo as they have a Christmas Play at school next week; Joe had a show today and has one next Tuesday; Ivo found a toy in a charity shop; Rana is glad that Rayan can go to swimming again as her broken arm is mended; Rayan is looking forwards to her birthday in January; Rafiq found a toy at a car boot sale; Pip found out he is going to get Skylander stuff for Christmas; Debbie's birthday is tomorrow; Debbie is taking Millie and some friends to do woodcraft skills at Hill End; Connie went skating at the ice rink; Molly has decorated her tree; Jay has his second wobbly tooth; Tim has been making a Tudor Pigsty with Flora and has a pussey, infected finger; Tegan has been to a parenting class.

We split into our groups to rehearse.

The first group had the Mouse Deer betting the tiger that he could win a race, through a rigged course, so saving the elephant.

The second group introduced more tigers, so the tigers were more interested in fighting than eating the elephant.

The third group suggested that they all eat bananas.

Tegan told us how the story ended in the book: the mouse deer glued herself to the elephants back with treacle and told the elephant to pretend to be very frightened and in pain when they met the tiger. The tiger heard the deer say "this elephant isn't enough, I want to eat tiger next" so ran away. The tiger met the elder monkey and told him what he had seen. The monkey said it was just the mouse deer up to his tricks, and suggested they go back and check. When they arrived the deer said "Monkey I told you to get me two tigers to eat, why have you only brought one?" so the tiger became very cross with the monkey. This is why the monkey lives in the trees, the elephant and the tiger are not friends but the elephant and the mouse deer are.

We had just enough time for a game of Four Corners.

We held out Closing Circle, singing Happy Birthday to Millie and our Closing Song.

Leaders: Tegan, Debbie, Ranna, Tim
Elfins: 17

Drama (2013-12-02)

We played Dead Ants whilst people arrived.

We held out News Circle: Dylan is starting latin next term; Ivo made a rainstick for his Rainforest project; Tessa's brother is coming back from Edinburgh; Iona went to the Winter Fair and has 18 days until her birthday; Xanthe went to the Winter Fair and showed us some of the things she bought; Erica joined us for the first time, she had been to the Winter Fair; Millie has a birthday in eight days and showed an illuminated Christmas decoration she had made at art club; Debbie is looking for her Christmas tree; Lena stayed up until half past ten at the neighbour's party; Rayan went to a Christmas show; Matilda went to the first of her two Thanksgiving parties; Pip has a blocked throat and a toy called Rocky; Tegan had an injection in her bottom as she is pregnant and rhesus negative; Connie has lego all over her bedroom floor; Millie-Maye went to the Winter Fair and bought a dressing gown; Rafiq got a dalmatian onesie on his sister's birthday; Joe went to his School Fete on Saturday; Tim is making a Tudor model.

Tegan read us the first part of a Malaysian folk tale, we had to think of an ending for our drama.

We decided to play Linked Disease, Tessa explained he rules.

We split into groups to rehearse the story so far and think of an ending.

An Elephant and a Tiger were walking in the forest when they were taunted by a monkey in a tree. The elephant bet the tiger that he could trumpet the monkey down, the tiger said he could and would eat the elephant if he won. The elephant tried but the monkey only laughed. When he tiger roared the monkey fell from the tree in fright but the tiger said he wouldn't eat him because he could now eat the elephant instead. The elephant was very sad and begged to go and tell his family. The tiger agreed as long as the elephant returned in a week. On his way home the elephant was discovered by the mouse deer who asked what was the matter. When the elephant told him the mouse deer said not to worry as he would sort out the tiger ....

My group's continuation:

The mouse deer found the tiger and bet him that he could beat him in a race. The tiger laughed and said that if he could he could have anything he liked. They agreed that the monkey should lay the course, which he did but through very dense jungle. When they raced the tiny mouse deer won as he could squeeze through. "Now I ask for the life of my friend the elephant" said the mouse deer.

We just had time to sing Manchester Rambler and Back of the Bus.

We held our Closing Circle and sang our Closing Song.

Leaders: Debbie, Tegan, Tim, Rana
Elfins: 15

Banner Making (2013-11-25)

We played Dead Ants whilst people arrived.

We held a News Circle: Ivo and Pip watched Day of the Doctor which was both scary and silly; Joe went to a laser tag party on Saturday; Dylan made butternut squash soup with soda bread; Rana and Rayan planted oak trees at the school tree planting day; Iona had her four year old friend over at the weekend; Millie-Maye has a sore throat; Xanthe had a sleep over as an evacuee at cubs; Flora was in a crane making team with Katy and Magnus and won the competition; Connie has new shelves in her room; Millie has gone up a book in cello and will be playing in a concert; Izzy had her first christmas party on Sunday; Matilda met Santa Claus on Sunday and learnt that reindeer drop their horns; Tegan discovered that a friend has been poorly but is getting better and is going to visit her; Lena is going to swap rooms with her sister and is going to paint her new room turquoise; Tessa is going to Edinburgh and will sleep in a fold out bed; Molly went to her brother's birthday party; Debbie planted bluebell bulbs; Rafiq has a new Skylander character Gill Grunt from a car boot sale; Jay had a very nice new teacher today; Tim cooked chicken for grandparents and flora's aunt and cousin and helped her make a life sized sheep from a white woollen blanket.

We voted on which game to play: Four Corners.

We continued colouring letters for the banner.

We sang A mighty Song of Peace, Red river Valley, Stewball, The Hammer Song and the round Wouldn't It Be A Wondrous Thing.

We held our Closing Circle and sang our Closing Song.

Leaders: Debbie, Tegan, Tim, Rana
Elfins: 18

Parachute Games and Singing (2013-11-18)

As it was a rather wet day less people than usual made it to the session, but those that did were full of beans. We started the de-bouncing by a game of Octopus.

We held a News Circle. Jo had his birthday party on Saturday; Dylan cam fourth in his karate competition; Rana taught Rayan the Arabic alphabet and her first Arabic sentence; Rayan had a sleepover at a friend's house; Rafiq has started a new thing at the Pegasus; Nia is learning about Aladdin at school and her group has chosen the Lamp Cave as their project;

Matilda went to her grand parents; Lena's fifteen year old cousin baby-sat at the weekend; Izzy's Uncle's birthday party is at her house tomorrow; Iona went to church at 7.30am to rehearse for an 8.10am slot on Radio 4; Tegan has her first day off work for three weeks tomorrow; Xanthe watched Billie Elliot; Millie-Maye had Xanthe over to play; Pip has felt unwell all day; Connie has a new Winter coat; Magnus did science at school; I cleaned out the African Land Snails (let me know if you want some tiny ones!).

We played Parachute Games of Mushroom, Greenhouse and Roll the Ball.

Also Shark Attack and Cat and Mouse.

We sang Black Socks and Charlie was a Pigeon in the Greenhouse.

We held a Song Circle and sang We are the Woodcraft Folk, Axes and Blue Lake and Rocky Shore.

Tegan taught us Stewball and then we sang Red River Valley.

We held our Closing Circle.

Leaders: Tegan, Tim, Rana
Elfins: 15

Banner Making 2013-11-11

We played Octopus whilst people arrived.

We held a News Circle: Rayan went to friend's house, who had a new baby; Izzy had a school photo; Millie went for a four hour walk; Debbie is doing an IMPS session at the hospital; Xanthe and her friend Anna had written to the Queen five weeks ago and has had a reply which she read out; Millie-Maye performed a magic trick she has learnt; Connie has had a cold for the last two days; Flora made a project on Sloths which she has sent to Blue Peter to get a badge; Tegan got a Blue Peter badge when she was little for a drawing of one of the presenters; Tessa is going to have a Climbing Wall party at Brookes; Jay had Multi-Skills at school; Ivo bumped into his friend at school and now has a wobbly incisor; Tim saw a bat this evening; Pip fell out of bed this morning; Joe's birthday is tomorrow; Dylan is going to a Karate contest; Rafiq went to art class today; Ranna cooked pumpkin soup.

Tim handed out badges from Woodcraft central office.

We decided to play Wink Murder. Everyone had a turn either as Detective or Murderer

Whilst Tegan supervised making the banner everyone not involved played Dead Ants

Everyone cut out and decorated a letter.

We held out Closing Circle.

Leaders: Tegan, Debbie, Ranna, Tim
Helpers: Emily
Elfins: 14

Sparks in the Dark (2013-11-04)

I would like to pretend I knew it was Devahli, but actually Iona told me, but we held our session by candle light!

We played a game of Pass the Keys. We sat in a circle and passed keys behind our backs whilst the person in the middle tried to guess who was holding them.

We told our News: Pip has a Drobot and Ghost Swords from Skylander; Lena is now seven and had a halloween birthday; Jeff went to windy bonfire on Saturday; Matilda had a surprise visit to the dentist who pulled out two of her teeth; Izzy has lost her two top front teeth; Molly's mum has bought fireworks; Tegan had friends to stay; Connie and Flora had a fireworks party at Flora's house; Kay and Flora went to Oasis in Swindon; Magnus has a ghost in his bedroom; Anna, new to the group, has a brother who kept his teeth in a jar; Dylan had a birthday last Sunday and was given Skylander toys; Ivo was bitten by a spider on his palm; Kathy, Anna's mum, has broken ribs; Jay has his birthday coming up; both Nia and Arran went trick or treating with their best friends; Tessa had a sleepover at her best friend's house; Iona saw new born piglets at a family friend's farm, though two died it could have been much worse; Xanthe watched fireworks which she found a bit scary; Tim lit fireworks on Saturday and pressed apples on Sunday.

We talked about sparkler safety before going outside. Four adults lit the sparklers, everyone had two.

We also played with the cold sparks: the fire steels.

We went back inside and sang songs, Arran chose Bubmlebee as he is leaving for Sri Lanka and will not be back for six months. We sang Dorcas and Black Socks before singing our Closing song.

I realised that for the first time I had taken no pictures, but it was a dark session.

Leaders: Tegan, Tim
Helpers: Jeff, Kathy, Meriem
Elfins: 19

Tin Can Cooking (2013-10-21)

In preparation for the evening we bought some cans of Sainsbury's Ginger Beer, which we found has 43g of sugar per can (Coke has 10g). So we weighed out 45g of sugar.

I made eight can cookers and brought paper plates, oil, parsnips, cheese, bread red pepper, potato and carrot.

On the evening we played four games of Octopus before holding a circle. We counted around the circle to get our total of twenty one elfins. Tim explained in detail the safety procedures: children with long hair to tie it back and if anyone got burnt they were to run to the water bucket FIRST and only when the burn was in water to start screaming. A lively question and answer session followed about what to do if various bits of the body got burnt but the answer was always the same: wet first, scream later!

We divided into groups of three to cook together, each group had a cooker and candle on a paper plate, a selection of food and cocktail sticks to cook with. There were quite a few sprints to the water bucket, but miraculously none resulted in blisters.

The leaders topped up the food and oil as it was consumed or spilt.

We cleared up and held a song circle in which we sang The Mighty Song of Peace, Red River Valley and Blue Lake and Rocky Shore, even without Tegan, who has hurt her back, we managed a very creditable effort.

We ended with our Circle Song.

Leaders: Debbie, Tim, Rana
Helpers: Liz
Elfins: 21

Hand Prints (2013-10-14)

We started with a little drama, as Tim had forgotten the keys, and had to come in through the open door from the playground, Brian saved the day as he had the key for locking up.

We played Octopus, a little too roughly and words had to be had about games not working if the rules are not followed.

We held a circle, this being a singing week we were not due to hold a News Circle but the clamour for News was strong! Whilst other people's news sometimes fails to fascinate everyone it is very important to some members who prepare what they are going to say well in advance.

It will soon be Dylan's birthday; Kobe's Dad's birthday; Ivo is going to his cousin's house; Jo is going to Dorchester; Rafiq went to the zoo on his mother's birthday; Pip is going to the school Halloween disco next Thursday; Tegan's partner has had his birthday; Arran has had his jabs in preparation for going to Sri Lanka; Xanthe had a sleepover; Millie-May went to a toy shop; Gena is going to York; Jay has been to Croatia; William went on a school trip; Matilda has a wobbly tooth; Debbie has to buy new tyres; Millie has gone up a level in cello; Tessa went for a sleep over at a friend's house; Iona hopes to have the first class pet: a rescued goldfish; Hazel went to see a 3D movie; Lena will soon have roller skates for her birthday; Connie and Flora were filmed at dance, the film will be shown in Japan by their teacher; Flora discovered her Mum when she fainted and told Tim; Tim spent four hours in A&E on Saturday, as Ruth had fainted on Saturday morning and hit her head after breaking her toe on Friday.

We decided to play Duck Duck Go whilst people went in pairs to draw around their hands in preparation for decorating them for the banner.

We then decorated our hand prints.

We sang We are the woodcraft folk, Campfires burning and Bumble Bee.

We ended with our Circle Song.

Leaders: Debbie, Tim, Tegan
Helpers: Liz
Elfins: 23

Banners and Sparks (2013-10-07)

People arrived early, early enough to see the biggest pumpkin ever!

The weather was so nice we played outside. Valerie decided to come and join us for the evening.

We held our News Circle in the willow dome. Tegan explained the meaning of our Banner. It is to have our name, our motto and all our hand prints on it.

Most of us seem to have been working hard this last fortnight. The most dramatic news was that Iona had been to London Zoo, where the donkey that her sister had adopted had died three days earlier.

We played Grandmother's Footsteps and played with the new Fire Steels making sparks in the dusk.

Tim saw and heard two bats using the bat detector, but only briefly so was unable to share.

We returned to the hall. We did not have enough time for everyone to have their handprint drawn, but we will carry on next week.

We ended with our Circle Song.

Leaders: Debbie, Tim, Tegan
Elfins: 23