Exams

Revision cards - hundreds of them

I have been studying for an important exam - and in those moments where I become distracted, or weary, I gaze out of the window and remember all the other times in my life when I was preparing for, or sitting, exams.  There have been many; I seem to have chosen a path in life which has required many exams along the way.

• When I was sitting my GCSEs, I spent the morning before my English Literature paper sitting in the Oxford University Parks, kissing my boyfriend in the sunshine.  Not to the detriment of my studies though - I rocked up to school at lunchtime, sat the exam and still got an A.
• When I was studying for my A-levels I took things more seriously.  I think they still remain the exams I studied the hardest for. 
• At University I only sat exams in my final year.  Graham borrowed some of my notes to revise for the Cold War paper, and was very tardy at giving them back to me.
• A week before my University finals, I packed my little tent into my car, drove to the Norfolk coast and stayed there for a few days to revise in peace, by myself.  I lay in my tent, with the doors pegged open, reading American history textbooks and American war poems in the breezy sunshine.  I was very content and came back to campus to sit my finals with a nice suntan.
• It took me just under three years to qualify as an accountant.  During that time I sat sixteen exams, and passed them all at the first attempt, whilst working full-time as a trainee accountant.  Even though I am no longer an accountant, I am still very proud of that achievement.
• It felt a bit as if life was just one long exam at times, though.
• The tax exam was a bit too close for comfort - I got 51% and the passmark was 50%.
• During my very last accountancy exam, which I sat in Hackney Town Hall, I felt my first baby move in my belly for the first ever time.  I sat there, beaming to myself, and the invigilator quietly walked over to check if I was okay.

Now I am back at University for the second time, and sitting exams for the umpteenth time.  They don't get any easier or more pleasant, but the revision drill at least feels familiar; I know what needs to be done.  Even with all my experience of taking exams, this will be my first ever biology exam and the first time I have sat an exam in a church crypt.  

The nerves are starting to kick in.

My exam venue

Chickens and eggs

My new little hens are all settling in very well.  I have introduced new hens to the flock many times, and know that it is normally a loud and quite vicious process, but for some reason this time, the eglu and run have been very harmonious.  No shouting or bullying or pecking at all.  I am not sure why; perhaps because my older two are now very elderly - nearly 8 years old - so they are not as bothered about the arrival of three young upstarts as they would have been a few years ago.

The older ones have not been laying properly for a few years now - Maud not at all, and Queenie only intermittently. However, with the arrival of the new ones, Queenie has rediscovered her egg-laying powers and is currently giving me an egg a day.  Ethel, the young, black, maran-cross hen is also now laying every day.  Bertha and Adelaide look ready to lay, but haven't produced anything yet.

So most days, this is what is waiting for me in the nest box.

 

An enormous pale egg from Queenie, and a little dark one from Ethel.

On Saturday I used one of Ethel's little eggs to make digestive biscuits.  The recipe (from the wonderful Peyton & Byrne baking book) called for "1 small egg", so I knew immediately which one to use.  I cut the biscuits out with my chicken cookie cutter, and had a whole flock of buff-coloured chickens, cooling on my kitchen table.  I decided I wanted chocolate digestives, so I painted the chickens with melted Green & Blacks milk chocolate (thereby making them more Ethel-coloured, which was fitting).

I'd not made digestive biscuits at home before, and was delighted to find out that they are very quick and easy, and satisfyingly authentic.  It's a good job Ethel's laying regularly, because the biscuits only hung around for a couple of days. Yum!

Seen on the streets

Seen on the streets of Soho, in central London, on the first sunny Saturday afternoon of spring:

•  Hundreds of people, standing outside pubs, drinking wine and pints and turning their faces towards the sky, like sunflowers.
• Two little girls, pony-galloping up Carnaby Street doing a complicated hand-clapping game together.
• Three young dudes, zooming past on longboards.
• A pretty young lady, wrapped in a gold pashmina, photographing her boyfriend's pint of beer with the biggest Nikon camera I've ever seen.
• Three teenage girls, all wearing very high-heeled turquoise pumps, and with huge Primark bags hooked over their arms, teetering along the road singing Abba tunes together.
• Three German tourists, wondering how many millilitres were in a pint.  Nobody could tell them.
• Bubbles in my prosecco, as I enjoyed an afternoon out with some of my nursing friends.

 

Springtime in London

The sock spring

I sat outside in the sunshine, on the last day of my holidays.  I finished knitting one pair of socks, and started another pair.

 

I reflected on a great day spent with my sister yesterday, and then a lovely phone call with my brother.  It doesn't take much to keep me happy - socks, siblings and some sunshine. 

It feels as though spring finally came to East London today.

Influences

I often don't realise the level of influence I have over my children.  On a quiet afternoon this week, Olivia pottered into the kitchen with her arms full of fabric scraps and said in her typically quiet way, "I thought I'd make some bunting for my room - can you show me how?"

 

On the other hand, when Moss Stitch and I took all our children on a longish walk in Epping Forest a few days later, we had to bribe them into participating with moderate enthusiasm and not moaning, by lugging along heavy bags full of chocolate biscuits and flasks of mocha coffee in order to keep them stoked up with sugar and caffeine at all times.

 

My love of long walks and being in amongst the trees has clearly not had as much influence on them as my love of fabric and cake.  

When we got back home, I said to Olivia, "You know, in years to come I bet you take your children on walks like that."  She looked me straight in the eye and replied, "I would never be so cruel."

 

In the school and university holidays

New things:

• The new sense of optimism and energy in our high street these days; Graham and I like stopping off for an espresso on our way out, if there's time.

•  Three new hens! Including this blue-egg laying beauty, who we've called Adelaide.  They are settling in very well.

•  The novelty of having early mornings to myself - the children now sleep in until nearly 10am if left to their own devices. 

• Visiting the Cutty Sark in its newly restored splendour at Greenwich.  It was a fascinating day, and the boat has been restored brilliantly.  We all loved the 'audience' of figureheads at one end of the boat.

•  New tea towels from Snowden Flood, who designs such beautiful things. 

And amongst all this newness, there is still the stability of well-known, familiar things. Days out with old friends and with grandparents. Watching some good tele.  Favourite meals.  Baking with friends.

Good times.

10 good things on a Good Friday

• All alarm clocks switched off.  I still woke up at 6:20 though - force of habit.
• A peaceful couple of hours in the kitchen, first thing.  Strong coffee, freshly baked soda bread, omelettes and spicy tomato sauce for breakfast.
• A solid three hours studying, while I listened to my iPod.  I need to make some more study playlists - I know the current ones too well.
• Graham and Cam watching Battlestar Gallactica on LoveFilm.
• A couple of new eye pencils - making my life that little bit more glamorous.
• Cam and Olivia gazing at Easter Eggs - embargoed until Sunday.
• Slobbery baby kisses with my niece.
• Playing trains with my nephew.  I am impressed I still know my Percy from my Toby, and can even tell Annie and Clarabel apart.
• Forgetting about cardiovascular disease for a little while, and heading to the pub for a quick drink with my friend.
• We had whitebait as a bar snack - I LOVE whitebait!

Cheers!

  

Study time

Studying is hard; all of us at University have competing claims on our time, it's freezing, and I find the mechanism of the kidneys just really difficult to understand.

Thermal tights and a hot water bottle for my feet - reading textbooks makes me COLD!

But then, at the same time, it is also one of the most satisfying things I've ever done.  Sometimes I sit with my cup of coffee and a textbook and wonder at my luck.  I am allowed to be here, learning these strange things and talking about my experiences with other student nurses.  When I was 20 I never thought I'd be doing this at 40.

You need a healthy snack if you're reading about cardiovascular disease

I'm finding the juggling hard right now - there is so much reading I need to do, and I urgently need to prepare for exams that are looming fast.  Domestic life massively reduces what time is available to me and so juggling could easily become an exercise in resentment.  However, I refuse to let it.  Everything that matters to me will get done.  We all end up prioritising what's important to us - it's just that for everyone that list of priorities is different. 

For me, at the moment, what's important is making good home-baked bread, understanding pharmacology and how to look after someone with acute kidney failure, making sure the children have a relaxing and interesting Easter holidays, getting some perspective on my exams, knitting a couple more rows of sock every night and putting dates in the diary to spend with family and friends.

It will all get done.  It always does, somehow.  Even blogging.

Fuelled by coffee

 

Lounging

 

Sometimes when I go to an art gallery, I just get too weary from all the wandering around.

   

 It's tiring being this cultured.

   

So you might as well sit down.

   

Take the load off your feet, as it were.

   

 Ah, that's better.

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Miss Moss Stitch and I went to see Wool House at Somerset House - it's on only until 24 March, and I would highly recommend it.  That shaggy chair in the last photo was very comfortable.

Shoreditch street art

 

This morning Moss Stitch and I reprised our London walks of early 2011, and went to Shoreditch in search of street art.  Street art is flourishing in this part of East London, and we filled our cameras with examples of every imaginable size and colour.

 

 

The wit is what I like most.

 

Oh, and the colour and bold design too.  

   

If you go walking long enough you start to become familiar with the different artists - there were a few collections of phone boxes which I liked, and some detailed line drawings by the same artist.

Shoreditch is a small area, full of coffee shops and cafes - when I first lived in East London it was a very grimy, derelict part of town, and is now incredibly and self-consciously trendy in a polished grime sort of way.  Film makers now live and work in Shoreditch.  We zigzaged around and covered the whole area in barely a couple of hours (and this time included a record THREE cafe breaks because the weather was so arctic we needed warming up with frequent cups of coffee).

As Shoreditch gets trendier and wealthier, I really hope the street art stays.  It's a reminder of the happy soul of the place, and also its working class past.  Plus, I just really love it. It makes me smile on a bitterly cold early spring day in London.

 

 

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If you are interested in finding out more about street art you might enjoy:

• Street Art London
• The Shoreditch Street Art Trail at HiddenCity
• Hooked blog
• More photos from the walk in my Flickr set