ErUpNorth

So I just wrote a nice little blog about how I am procrastinating and then managed to lose it.  Sometimes I'm not very bright!

I went down the potting shed on Sunday in search of something to store my seed potatoes in.  I'd bought three lots on the Saturday, first earlies, second earlies and main crop.  Now I don't know where to store the second earlies and main crop, they need to be kept in a cool light place.  The first earlies are currently in egg boxes in the kitchen where I am hoping they will chit nicely.  The other two sets are sitting in the dining room but they can't stay there permanently.  I will continue to ponder this problem as last year I kept them in the dark in the potting shed, but that produced long white roots which is not good. My sortie down the garden tempted me to do a bit of weeding around the potting shed and in last year's cabbage/broccoli patch.  I started to turn over the new vegetable patch but that required a bit more back breaking work, although it is turning over nicely.  I'm not impatient about creating new borders, I cover an area of lawn ...

I’m not a very prolific blogger am I? I just realised that it is nearly five months since I wrote anything. The main reasons for this being that I was very busy at work during October, November and December, as well as trying to keep up with my Open University coursework. I was really looking forward to my Christmas holiday and finished work on 17 December. My dad had not been well, he has a bone infection in his jaw, and because he was in a lot of pain it was decided that we wouldn’t go down for Christmas. This turned out to be a good decision as I started to feel unwell during the first week of my holiday. We also had a few domestic incidents which stressed me out. The fridge deciding to stop working would not have been an issue if we had been away for Christmas, but was a bit inconvenient with a turkey crown and other temperature sensitive foods to keep cool. The boiler breaking down would have been a complete disaster to come home to if we had been away as it leake...

It's nearly a month since I last blogged but I haven't been inspired to write anything, or if I have it's been during the night and I've forgotten the topic when I've woken up in the morning. I have started my new OU course and I know it is going to be a challenge for me because I am going to have to write essays, argue points and reference material, all new to me. Having said that, that is the whole point of doing the course, not just to learn about the environment and the changing world we live in, but to hone my communication skills. I started the course as soon as the books arrived knowing that I was going to be busy at work for the first two weeks of October; although last weekend when I could have been working on it I was sitting reading The Kite Runner. I really do need to avoid novels whilst doing OU courses, well page turning ones at least, but I suppose I do need something to chill out with. My student diary say's my first summative assignment...

M y son thinks I'm a sad person for using Twitter, hates that I pick up my phone and randomly giggle at it. I don't care what he thinks; I don't see the point of having hundreds of 'so called' friends on Facebook, people that you don't even know. My other-half hates the fact that I already know breaking news before he does. He told me something the other day and I acted like I'd only just heard it, but he crowed so much about beating Twitter that in the end I had to say, "Actually you didn't". I was happy to let him have his moment of glory but he just wouldn't let it go. I love the randomness of the conversations you get into on Twitter, usually with complete strangers. Although when you've been tweeting with someone for months are they still complete strangers? Sometimes I'll get a tweet to say, "Your quiet today, are you OK?"; and that's nice, that someone out there misses you. I follow celebs and oc...

I was reminded the other day about my early days in an office. I took shorthand and typing at school but wasn't brilliant at it. I persuaded mum to let me leave school at the Easter break, I had taken my CSEs and was not going on to take GCSEs. I left school with no job but was eventually offered a trainee secretarial position at International Combustion. The scheme meant we spent 10 weeks in a different office learning the ropes, in some offices it was 20 weeks. We were given time out to do shorthand, typing and audio typing lessons in their in-house training school. As the examinations were Pitman only I went to college in the evenings and took RSA shorthand and typing, using the EMFEC board of examinations as a stepping stone up. I also took O'level English Language for which I gained a B. I learnt to type on a manual typewriter and was told if I didn't make it as a secretary then my over use of Tippex would assure me a job as a painter and decorator! I...

I was over the moon to pass my OU maths course especially with a 72% overall mark. I now have an Open University Certificate in Mathematics and when this is conferred I will be entitled to use letters after my name, CertMaths(Open). Whether I do use them is a different matter as it feels a bit ostentatious but I have earned the right. Maths does not come easy to me and I spent a lot of hours sweating over these courses, the second course especially. I'm looking forward to my next course, U116 Environment: journeys through a changing world, which starts at the beginning of October. The course is an introduction to environmental studies and the issues arising from environmental change. It shows how people are seeking positive solutions to environmental challenges all around the world. If this course goes well and I enjoy it I will probably explore the possibility of continuing with this theme through my degree programme.