Compulsory Masks, Lake Vyrnwy and Hypnobirthing Training!

This week had lots of celebrating, plus some big milestones in both my personal life and the country!

Click here to watch the vlog or see below! 

Whilst somewhat fortunately, the weather hadn't been too great, there was a couple of days during my Independent Learning Week, where the sun really did come out. In between writing my assessment, I was taking breaks outside and on one particularly sunny day I thought I would get the blanket out to sunbathe. Not even 5 minutes later, I'd been bitten by ants! We have also been finding what we assume to be fox poo on the grass which is also a little annoying. 

The final assessment was all about our caseholding experience, which you all know I thoroughly enjoyed and absolutely loved. I was actually really excited for the assessment itself but because of the theoretical content that's expected of us to include, it ended up being a little more difficult that originally planned to get it to flow. I kept changing orders constantly!

Despite going to M+S the week before for treats, dad wanted to stock up on some of the normal bits and bobs so we headed to out "local" Tesco's for a big shop. I love meal planning so I got everything for the week and knew exactly what I was having each day, which makes me feel so much more relaxed, calm and prepared with my OCD.

The day before, the government announced mandatory masks and although it's not a legal requirement until 24th July, we didn't particularly see the point in waiting because it has been shown to reduce the risk of transmission and it protects the vulnerable. Dad bought some black masks and I actually found mine to be really quite comfortable, although my nose was super itchy and couldn't get scratched! Dad's girlfriend also bough be a handmade mask in a flower fabric and I have a knitted extender to go with it too.

Finally, I'd finished writing my assessment and I had my dad check over for some grammatical checking etc. before starting to transfer it to the online template because it was a "portfolio" submission rather than an academic essay, whilst still being academically marked. All a little strange to be honest! I was getting really quite frustrated because the editing wasn't being transferred over which meant I had to manually go through everything for paragraphs and the reference list all needed re-bolding which was really hurting my eyes. At just the right moment, dad asked if I wanted to go for a walk around Lake Vyrnwy so of course I jumped at the chance of a break! A quick change later and I was ready.

I think I've been to Lake Vyrnwy on every visit to Wales. It's only about 10 miles away from my dad's house so it's perfect. Of course, with strict lockdown it has been closed, so this was the first time I'd been since Christmas, although dad and Karen had been once more recently.

The lake is really pretty and I love the history behind the place, albeit somewhat sad. The place is now a reservoir to supply Liverpool with fresh water. But to create it, they flooded the head of the Vyrnwy valley and submerged the village of Llanwddyn. There's a whole village underneath somewhat forgotten about, although apparently in droughts at the height of summer, you can sometimes see the steeple of the church.

The bridge is one of my favourites and even though it's relatively quiet, I hope I never have to drive over it myself. It's super narrow but often you meet cars and have to go onto the high curbs, in between all the pedestrians which can be a little nightmare-ish.

Whilst the playground was still closed, I was really impressed by the barriers surrounding the area. Also, it looked like a family of pheasants had taken up home, with the long grass growing to cover nests etc.

Once home, I started straight on my portfolio again and in between cooking a Sunday Roast for tea, I submitted it finally. It's crazy that I've submitted my last EVER undergraduate assessment. I did worry for a second after I didn't have the options I should have. Before panicking too much, I tried doing it on incognito and it worked great so it must have been my AdBlock software stopping it from popping up.

Also, I got a few other bits of news that were great. After winning the Initiative of the Year Award at the Volunteer Awards last week, I wasn't expecting to win anything else, but I also ended up winning the Union Prize for contribution to university at the SU Awards Night too! On top of that, the day before I found out I had been shortlisted for interview at my first ever job application which is crazy and after a little struggle with the dates, the programme allowed me to select my preferred choice. 

Finally, the long awaited Hypnobirthing Training Day arrived. There was a short time when I thought I wouldn't be able to do it as planned because the assessment was taking a little longer than expected but luckily, after cracking down I submitted it as planned. I spent the day before going through the online packages and then the training day was straight through from 9am to 5pm. A long day! I will share more about the course on Midwifery Monday! 

I also needed a break and was very sad to have to spend the entire weekend indoors when it was so sunny. In the breaks, I walked through the garden and enjoyed the plants for a much needed stretch!