Personal Blogs

Settling down into a new routine of carer, for my husband after his operation. He is still waking up during the night with some pain,  I think that is mostly coming from the site of the wound itself. The pain killers are helping a lot and he was able to get a few hours sleep afterwards.

During the day I have to look after my son. We go to do some shopping at the supermarket but we can't go very far,  as I have to come back home to give hubby  his medications and he needs to take food with it so I have to make a little lunch.

In the afternoons if there is a lull I can get my son onto the computer for an hour or so, then I can do a bit of studying myself.

 I have downloaded some e books that I can read, these have questions and exercises in that I can do. Studying is all about time management, arranging everything to fit around study and care. Hopefully, I am getting there now !

👩‍💻

Last night I went to the Tutorial at 6.30pm. I was quite nervous at first,  then when I got connected and entered into the room,  I was relieved to see the Tutor Mary on the screen.  She looked so nice and friendly, smiling and very welcoming. I soon began to relax especially as other students started  to arrive.

I had to attend this Tutorial rather than the first one because I was unable to make it to the other tutorial due to the fact that I had just had my flu jab,  (my arm was still sore and Ihad a headache, which always happens after my flu jab!)

The Tutor explained all about the Module and what was expected of us in terms of scores that we needed to get to pass each unit. We had a little quiz which was great fun!  about what the all different abbreviations in the OU stood for, I managed to get most of them right!

I didn't really know anybody there at all, although some names sounded familiar. I mostly stayed quiet until the end and listened carefully to what was being said.

 I usually like to stay quiet and listen while taking notes,  unless I am called upon to answer a question. By the end of the session I was feeling quite  like I belonged there!

At the end of the Tutorial I typed "Goodnight" and "Thank you" . In the text box. I then signed out. It had been a very beneficial Tutorial and I had gleaned a lot of  useful information by attending. I am glad I managed to take part.

Why are there Wars ?
I was pondering this question and in my Bible readings the answer came

Epistle of St. James: chapter 4, v 1-4

What causes wars, and what causes fightings among you? Is it not your passions that are at war in your members?  You desire and do not have; so you kill. And you covet and cannot obtain; so you fight and wage war.

However there is a better way in verse 7 it says;

⁷ Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

NIV Bible

Let us always seek peace. 🕊

Translation of a prayer by Saint Ignatius of Loyola 

Apprends-nous, Bon Dieu, à te servir comme tu le mérites ; donner et ne pas compter le prix, se battre et ne pas prêter attention aux blessures, travailler dur et ne pas chercher le repos, travailler et ne pas demander de récompense, sinon celle de savoir que nous faisons ta volonté.
Dieu, donne-moi ton amour et ta grâce. Cela me suffit. Amen.

Translation in English

Teach us , good Lord , to serve you as you deserve ; to give , and not to count the cost , to fight , and not to heed the wounds ,
to toil , and not to seek for rest , to labour , and not to ask for reward , except that of knowing that we are doing your will."
God give me your love and grace. That is enough for me. Amen.

          🙏

A quiet sunny morning so I am able to have a good couple of hours studying. My son (who I am a carer for)  is on the computer doing his own thing. Thankfully all is calm in the house and in the neighbourhood. The noisy lawnmower nearby has by now stopped.

🌞☕  👩‍💻 🖥 📖⏰

Online I am still concentrating on Block1. Now I find if I click on "All weeks"  I can have full access to all Block 1, so this is good news! 

I have been able to look over a few sessions and try to grasp what needs to be done. I have already made some notes in my digital note book.
Drinking Coffee at the moment to keep myself alert. Learning lots of important things about sentences, paraphrasing, summarising and so on. This was all missing from my former education at school due to my being disrupted by my mothers illness.

These are all vitally important lessons for writing essays, especially so that I can avoid plagiarism ( which can so easily happen! ) Being able to change sentences around,  and use synonymns to change words, this can help when using other peoples pieces of writing, so that I don't copy it word for word. This is something I really need to learn so taking lots of notes!

I hope to finish reading Block 1 before the start of the term in October.
All this knowledge of sentence structures will be a good grounding, a solid foundation,  to then build upon as the course progresses.

I have received my printed text book for L185  English for Academic Purposes Online, and I have really enjoyed looking through it. There is something very  good about the feel of having a printed book version of the course to look at,  and to read the course materials. Having a book that I can easily pick up and put it down again rather than having to pause and having to save the page and close the computer down,  this  all takes time up,  so the book  will  be useful and readily available to hand whenever I want to read it, which is great!
🖥🖨
However, most of the coursework takes place online,  I am preparing for this by making sure my computer is all updated ready for tutorials.
     🧭 ⛵
Today I am  just familiarising myself with the contents of Block 1 (online)
I also have the interactive e-book for block 1 from 'Resources',  which will be a great help in understanding all the tasks.
The course looks interesting and I am looking forward to the forums opening,  in order to meet other students on this course. It will also be interesting to learn about other peoples experiences of studying.

I wish everyone the best and Happy studying!

📱On my Smartphone I can use Samsung notes, 📕 to write down any ideas. There is also a secure folder.   I have ReadEra to keep pdfs in and e-books and coursework related materials.
🎙
I have a voice recorder to record important information,  that I can then access later on. I still have my lap top which I have to make sure that I have it updated.  🖥

⬇️I can download tutorials and other documents.
As well as this, I can use the camera 📷for screen shots and for photo copying pages for reading off line.🖨

When I need a distraction or an inspiration,  I can always play music from my playlist through my earphones!📻 🎧 🎼

Wonder if it makes a cup of tea? ☕

Last year I had to have a deferral due to life/health circumstances. I also had Covid. Things had built up and I just couldn't cope, but  I am now back again and raring to go!

What did I do this summer?

• I picked bramble berries and apples  in my garden and made Jam. I also made apple and bramble berry crumble pudding.

• My friend and I walked to the next village (2 miles)  We carried on walking through the footpaths and found a lovely sunny spot for a picnic in the corner of a field near to a little stream. We had a lovely walk and saw some cows,  horses and  sheep on the way and the occasional rabbit!

• Visited my eldest son in City. Went for a McDonalds meal and had a sight seing tour!

• By kind permission I was allowed to play some Bach on the  church organ in a local village church.

• Read some good books which I borrowed  from the local library. These were on my "to read list."  I had read some of them before in the past,  but I wanted to re-read them again for English practise.

Austen
Bronte
Dickens
Elliot
Hardy

•  Translated a very small book in french into the english language just for language practise.

• Went out to celebrate our wedding anniversary this week, at the White Hart Hotel in the city, there we ate the most delicious pancakes with strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and maple syrup, with a glass of bubbly of course!

•  I walked a lot everyday this summer including up a very steep incline. My husband pushed me hard to do it,  as I would never dared to do this by myself!

•  I think I might be becoming fitter again at last,  after having had the dreaded  Covid .  I must perservere and keep up the good work on exercising my muscles.

I had to have a deferral from studies due to family circumstances  (various operations to help and support my family with and my own health issues to deal with) I feel much better.

•  Now there is just this English module  L185 to get through in order to fulfill my dream of achieving a language Degree!

Good luck to everyone! 

Lorsque l'aube pointe,
Les oiseaux
'Maitres chanteurs'
Donnent le signal
D'une belle journée.

When dawn breaks, The birds 'Master singers'
Give the signal Of a beautiful day.
"Bonheur dans le jardin-
by Jean Gastaldi.

Par Léokadia

🕊🕊🕊🕊
Today is not a study day, it is a holiday, but I am reading to keep on practising my language.

It is a warm sunny Sunday afternoon and very peaceful in my sleepy neighbourhood . In the distance can be heard the occasional bleating of sheep in the field that is close to the village. 

A dog barks somewhere in the street, the cats are sleeping in the garden.  Nothing much is happening right now which is great, so plenty of peace and quiet. The church clock chimes the hour, a solitary car rumbles slowly by and a collared dove coos in the nearby tree.

I am sitting on the deck chair in the garden, from here I can smell the perfume of the nearby roses on the rose bush in my garden and I can the smell the scent of freshly cut grass from this morning.
A bee softly hums nearby.

At the moment I am readng a  very good book about a woman who likes to travel. I enjoy the book and feel like I am travelling too without actually having all the hassle of leaving home!

When it is slightly cooler later on, we  walk up to the park for a little exercise before dinner.  When we did finally arrive at the park,  there are absolutely hundreds of sea gulls everywhere !

Pretty soon the whole park's  field is filled up with sea gulls!

So many sea gulls!

What are they doing here? Where have they come from?

The sea side is about 10-15 miles away. Why have these sea gulls come inland?

They seem to be just sitting, resting,  or sunbathing, on the green field. We sit at the picnic bench, and eat an ice cream as we enjoy observing this spectacular show of the sea gulls!

Sea gulls arriving in the park

                 ❤

Better to start with Love.
If you start with hate there will be no end to it!

Who will you hate next yourself?

Love one another do no harm to your neighbour who dwells peacefully beside you. 👫👭👥👤

Seek good, not evil, that you may live (Amos 5.14)
Do not forget to do good and share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. (Hebrews 13.16)  🍞🎂🥮

Turn from evil and do good; then you will dwell in the land forever. For the LORD loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. Wrongdoers will be completely destroyed (Psalms 37:27-29(NIV)

Keep watch, because you do not know on what day the Lord will return.🌄 (Matthew 24v42) ⌛

Lorsque l'aube pointe, les oiseaux "maitres chanteurs"

Donnent le signal d'une belle journée

Quand arrive l'été, le bonheur est dans le jardin.

(Bonheur dans le jardin deJean Gastaldi)

Climbing Roses