Up Helly Aa

Fantastic evening with the Brownies celebrating Up Helly Aa.Some came dressed as Vikings, including me and we made torches ,wrote our names in runes , made a brooch and decorated a shield.
We made a tiny Galley and marched round the outside of the building to the sound of the Lerwick brass band and squad playing the Up Helly Aa song. Safely standing by the wall ( I had done a lengthy risk assessment ! ) Gwyneth lit the little boat which eventually went up in flames to the delight of the girls.Some were a bit disappointed as they wanted to set fire to the large cardboard box Galley they had made indoors , a great opportunity to talk about Fire Safety ;)
The girls tried to blow the fire out , all the oxygen ignited the fire again so another learning experience.
All this had to be carried out twice now that we have two Units and it’s interesting to see how differently they use the resources provided.
Back home and I watched the coverage of the Up Helly Aa taking place in Lerwick . I sent a message and got a reply back :) The winds had stayed away this year so the flames from the Galley went straight up in the air , very impressive and must kick out quite a heat which I’m sure was appreciated by all as it’s freezing cold .
Ps, we had two pine marten in the garden this morning :)