On the rather snowy weekend of the 23rd - 24th February, we took over Egton Guide House and inadvertently made it look like a murder scene, complete with blood, miscellaneous organs and saws. Despite appearances, it was a productive couple of days with lots of new skills learnt, including joinery and how to turn Thumper into less of a pet and more of a meal.
The less blood-coated aspect of the weekend (i.e. joinery) consisted of making and staining birdboxes to sell at a later date at Danby Antiques Fair. The boxes themselves were made on Saturday and polished to a sellable standard on Sunday morning. Some were more successful than others, but the wonders of filler and wood stain provided a real-life Photoshop for any less-than-perfect birdboxes.Learning how to gut, pluck and/or skin various animals was the other hands-on element of the weekend - needless to say it was the more messy of the two activities. After watching several demonstrations on various animals, groups of three were given a bird to pluck, gut and quarter. Such a job can’t be portrayed as the most pleasant thing to learn how to do but everyone participated regardless, even putting up with the distinct odour during gutting. The fruits of our labour were enjoyed on Saturday night for tea and the general consensus was that the arduous task of preparing the meat was worth it.Alongside the practical elements of the weekend were several sessions in which we learnt, amongst other things, about the rest days, the relaxation period, travel dates and security arrangements. Sunday morning also saw the group joined by Dr. Parkin to discuss sexual health and general wellbeing in Kenya.All in all, the weekend lived up to the expectations set by others in terms of the copious amounts of fun had whilst gaining new skills. Just don’t tell the Guides we were cutting up chickens in their dining room.Sarah
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