New Social Network for Walking Fern
I know some of you expressed interest in having a forum or social network so I have set one up for you. Complete with profiles, personal blogs, a photo section, a wiki and the forums, you guys can join the Forestlings Network now. The new addition has been added to the main site, There’s Something About the Birds, as well. I will be updating links soon.
Seriously, guys, come check it out and join up!
New Social Network for Walking Fern
I know some of you expressed interest in having a forum or social network so I have set one up for you. Complete with profiles, personal blogs, a photo section, a wiki and the forums, you guys can join the Forestlings Network now. The new addition has been added to the main site, There’s Something About the Birds, as well. I will be updating links soon.
Seriously, guys, come check it out and join up!
Aromatherapy.
Nothing beats the smell of a cedar and walnut fire!
True story!
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Just thought I’d do a quick product review for you guys. I recently purchased this item(in camo brown cause I hate pink) to use while camping in areas that have no bathrooms. I hike a lot and usually bring a ziploc bag of toilet paper and hand sanitiser but honestly, I got tired of trying to squat in secret when I was miles from the nearest bathroom but not the nearest high way. So I bit the bullet and bought myself a GoGirl from Appalachian Outdoors. Appalachian Outdoors proved to be an excellent company. Very friendly, helpful and affordable(to buy the GoGirl from their company site or from Amazon would have cost me upwards of forty dollars due to my geographic location. It cost me 20 from Appalachian Outdoors). 
Onto the GoGirl. The GoGirl is a Stand to Pee device(if we’re speaking on Trans* terms) or a FUD(female urination device). It lets you pee standing up. It’s a very lightweight, easily portable product made of medical grade silicone. Entirely hypoallergenic, and hygienic-it’s VERY easy to clean and keep clean. The main point is to allow women to stand up to pee without sitting on the ground, and getting run off onto their shoes, or having to sit on dirty public toilet seats. It’s a pretty nifty little tool. It comes in a tiny tube with a plastic wetbag and a couple of sheets of toilet paper. All of it packs away neatly into the tube. The GoGirl is hard to slide back in if you do it without the plastic wetbag(which is actually biodegradable for extra ecofriendly brownie points) for transporting used wipes out of the woods. With the bag it slips in easily. The GoGirl has a little lip around the edge to prevent spillage, but the whole at the end of the tube is a bit thin. I might cut mine to make the hole bigger to prevent overflow.
I have only tried it once so far, I only got it about an hour ago. I tried it in the shower. Because it’s so malleable, there is a possibility of spillage if you bend it the wrong way while trying to use it, so I would recommend trying it in the shower first, and definitely at home first, or maybe in a bathing suit if you are out camping. I haven’t tried it with my underpants on yet but I am worried that they may be too tight and cause unknown bending of the GoGirl. I will keep everyone updated on that though. I am going camping on Friday for three days with my Girl Guides. I can see purchasing some unisex underpants with a fly hole from American Apparel for easy use with the GoGirl. If that is something that makes you nervous, you might want to try one of the disposable one use brands or a stiffer brand such as the Pstyle. I personally wouldn’t bother with the disposables as they are cardboard and well, paper isn’t the best thing to be peeing on. 
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Shop Spotlight: Hippy Tree
Today HippyTree is a nature inspired surf and outdoor apparel company. HippyTree is dedicated to designing products and graphics that embody the “surf & stone” lifestyle. HippyTree’s rugged apparel designs and hand drawn graphics featuring waves, mountains and wildlife reflect the company’s passion for surfing and the outdoors. Marked by the “green tree” logo, HippyTree is committed to softening its environmental impact by using eco-friendly materials and manufacturing. HippyTree apparel is sold in surf, outdoor and specialty retailers throughout the United States and internationally.
All of the clothing and prints are aimed at men, so there’s not much here for forest girls, especially the more petite of us, but there is plenty for the forest boys. It’s something our Sylvan Men might quite enjoy. Take a look at some of the prints and clothing below:
Summer time! Camping, woodsy weddings, and hiking!
So the prospects for this summer are looking pretty fabulous. I’ll be married in June to the Astrophysicist, rock climbing in two weeks for our last GGC meeting and then working at Camp Wyoka as a volunteer. In September I finish my Outdoor Activity Leadership training! I am still working on my Red Pine Award but I am nearing half way there. I didn’t go hiking for a while so it put me back. Bought myself a new pair of hiking shoes and my camp shirt just in time because I just had my interview with the director of Wyoka and I’ll be leading a hike as well as doing a leadership skills retreat with some Ranger age girls. I’m also working on sewing my Camp Patch Jacket with all the badges and patches I’ve collected since rejoining GGC. Pictures of that upcoming! Since our regular meetings are ending, I will be available for Young Naturalists and Trail Maintenance to fill in my days. 
This year has been sort of messed up for me. I went from having the ambition(which tbh still exists) of being an Archaeologist to being too poor to finish my degree and dealing with my inability to become employed in a new city 3000 km away from where I’d been living for four years. I’ve been hitting the quarterlife crisis way too hard…being a “grown-up” but not feeling like one at all. I decided to play up my strengths and push myself in ways I never thought possible(I’ve done a few scary things I never could have done in the past, due to having a mental disability) and it seems like my life trajectory is changing. I took a single online course for Naturalist Career Management which is going to become handy now since I am running a leadership camp in the wilderness.
In the flurry of it all, my other science blog has been a bit barren the past few months and I feel guilty…but I have no relevant development to add to it being that I currently can’t pursue Archaeology. At any rate, things are changing, and I have some future plans that didn’t really fit with my old ones…but summer is going to be good. I hope to have more than one award by the end of the summer and hopefully get some of my poor financial situation figured out.
Camping Season and Being an Outdoorsy Girl Guide
So camping season is starting. Winter camp was a while ago but already I’m getting prepared for the summer, summer camp and all kinds of outdoor activities. I’ve been working toward my Red Pine Award for Hike Ontario and the other day we did Night Ops at the Warplane Heritage Museum. My unit slept under one of only two flying Lancaster Bombers. Anyway I thought I’d give you guys some GPOY of my GGC exploits to date.
GPOY, bad photo of me in my Guides uniform with my current badges to date.
A closeup of my pintab with my Outdoor Activity Leadership badge 
My sweet Night Ops crest, and my Girl Guides International Flash
My patch collection that I’ve been starting, and a survival bracelet I made. The other Guides crest is for Camp Adelaide.
With summer camps coming up, I have applied to be a volunteer for Girl Guides summer camp, we have our own unit’s camp coming up and we just did an overnight camp at the Warplane Heritage Museum with the Scouts, and another Guide unit. In September, I will be finishing up my Outdoor Activity Leadership badgework so I can get the full badge.
Back!
I’ve been away for some time. Just busy with life. I earned myself a “badge” through Girl Guides while I was away. I went to an OAL training, “Outdoor Activity Leadership”. It was a 2½ day intensive of training, coursework and fun stuff. We woke up roughly around 7 am, for some of us earlier, and started right away. We went on three hikes around the camp, including a trail blazing hike and a scavenger hunt. It was in Haliburton, and there was still snow on the ground. We also made firestarters and survival bracelets. I haven’t earned the full badge, but in September after summer camp I will be finishing my training and earning the full badge. I got the first part though.
Return/Camp love
So I’ve returned from my overnighter winter camp with the Girl Guides. The usual occurred such as fights, the odd child crying but all was swiftly remedied. Winter hit us hard on the bus ride there, temperature dropping to -20 degrees celsius and it began to blizzard. All of these girls are urban girls and for the younger ones, they’d never been on a camp in the wilderness so the close copses of trees and wild animals walking right up to your doorstep was a new experience. We played Night Eyes in the trees in the dark, went on a wilderness hike and scavenger hunt, did an owl pellet demonstration and played a card game involving mushrooms and a survival prey and predator game. The girls loved it, and they all had a healthy obsession with nature. One girl commented that her favourite part of camp was “seeing a dead fox”, in a way that only a 9 year old can. My solar charger performed its duties well, and so did the girls.
If all goes according to plan, I will be heading 8 hours to Northern Ontario for an Outdoor Activity Leadership course camping weekend. This one is for residential and I’m hoping to upgrade to the wilderness level. Tomorrow night we’re doing the Nedic Love Yourself challenge for valentines day, and the girls are going to make feel good valentines for themselves. I’m also all set to go to summer camp and we’ll be teaching them to set up their own tents beforehand. Thinking Day is coming up so that meets more outdoor adventures, a festival, skating, etc… All in all, it’s been pretty awesome.
Young Naturalists and Solar Power
So I have officially started as a Young Naturalists club leader along with the naturalist interpreter, and in addition to my new position, I’ve also received my first solar charger!
Our first meet up saw about 12 excited kids who were all given binoculars and a mini field sketch book. The oldest was about 13 and the youngest was about 5. We did a scavenger hunt for tracks and saw the tracks of coyotes, raccoons and various other animals, but the highlight was the chickadees. Black capped chickadees upon sighting a group of hikers joined in, many of them landing in the hands of the children. I can honestly say there was nothing more satisfying, easing and therapeutic than the presence of those birds.
Photo from National Geographic
/personal
So I’m officially a Guide leader. I went to the first event last night and met all the other Guiders and the girls who cooked a supper for a hostel for families of patients in critical care and later my mentor bought me white hot chocolate. Winter camp is in February and in between that time I have a lot of trail work to do.
