Catch Up

Todays Walk & Catch up

Just thought I would tell you what I have been up to, though more like not up to. I’m not writing my novel, that’s for sure.  Fresh start with a new week tomorrow. I am thinking about my story, when I can drag my thoughts away from potential blog posts.

The photos are from todays walk, taken with my Fujifilm Finepix A607. The mushrooms are still coming up and I’m still not eating them. I’d love to, but the insects would already be in them. Notice the fly on the dead leaf to the right. It’s probably just laid maggots in there. I wonder how many bugs and maggots I’ve eaten in the past.

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Lately, I begin the week with my 2 km walk on the treadmill, all fired up to be good. Normally I’ll treadmill two or three times for the week, but this week no. I could hop on and do it now, but no. My doctor is happy with my blood pressure and I’m good to go for another five repeats on my pills.  My aim now is a healthy weight before my 60th birthday party. Eight months away, plenty of time to whittle the extra bits away. I’m around 75 kilograms and about 5′ 5 1/2″. LOL. A mix of metric and imperial there.

I began my first Coursera course yesterday. I discovered that I’m required to keep a journal for some of the writing tasks and I thought – hey, why not have another blog? – so I have.  Brain Brush Up, My Online Learning Journey. I’ve put a posts widget here, in the sidebar stuff, which previews the later posts. I thought it best to have another blog and, okay, I’ll admit I was keen to try that Greyzed theme.

Yesterday I began: Crafting an Effective Writer: Tools of the Trade (Fundamental English Writing)

Today I began: How to Change the World.

I worried the latter would be way over my head, but I thought some knowledge about ‘social good’ is better than none. The first video lecturer gave me hope. He spoke in a way I can understand and seemed warm and friendly. There is an incredible amount of reading to do, so I will need to replace my bedtime reading with class work.

Two days in and I am loving it. I like opening up Coursera, seeing my classes and clicking on ‘go to class’.

The winter solstice has passed. It has been cold by our standards this past week, though the sun had shone. Grey the past two days, drizzle all day yesterday. I’m giving you another photo of the autumn hues on the young elms growing where they shouldn’t. Mr R has a little chainsaw now, so we’ll cut them before they leaf again. There is an amazing contrast between the green and yellow, sometimes on the same leaf. Just green and yellow, no orange. It’s a bit weird.

Well, I better go off and work on another of the Writing 101 tasks – I’ll try to keep it simple this time. 🙂

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11 thoughts on “Todays Walk & Catch up

  1. Beautiful photos Christine! You are doing well managing a course, journal and two blogs!
    Much more adventurous than me at the moment. What date in February is your birthday?

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    • [birthdate edited out – ha ha, identity thieves, foiled you!] I’ve freed up a lot of time by losing the family history urge Barbara, and now the cold weather is here, I don’t do any extra work on top of the little cleaning jobs three days a week. In the ‘change the world’ class, I can choose to participate at any level I want. Even just watching the five video lectures a week, without the reading will be educational. 😀 And somewhere I have to make time to finish my novel (beginning tomorrow. 500 words before I do anything else!)

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      • Thanks for giving me your birth date, that’s a big one coming up! I shall be 69 on 25 Feb, so we’re nine years apart. My biggie will be the following year… Your schedule sounds pretty hectic to me, but it’s wonderful if you can keep up with it all. Good luck with your novel. What are your plans with it? Will you self publish? What age level are you writing for?

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        • You have got a biggie birthday coming up. I have few desperate demands on my time, Barbara. I don’t let things like housework, the house falling down around our ears, nor gardening get in the way of what I feel like doing. Only work interfers, but then not much. I’m currently writing at young adult level. I will self publish. I had intended to try the traditional route first, but M-R’s experience tipped me over the other way, to which I had been gradually leaning. I read a post by an editor not long back, and she said they won’t even look at a manuscript if the author hasn’t an author’s platform in place already! Well, this is my platform. 😀

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          • Christine, you have a good outlook and your platform is definitely growing. Yes, let’s concentrate on what is important! I agree, getting a publisher is difficult unless you’re famous, so self publishing is the way of the future! 💡

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  2. Sue says:

    won’t be able to look at another mushroom without thinking of the bugs. Lucky I only buy the supermarket kind. Not game to try any others, never know what they may be.

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  3. Yay you for exercise! I’ve slacked off a bit lately; I need to find my motivation again.

    Hey … did you steal it?! 🙂

    Gorgeous mushrooms up there! But they don’t sound appetizing.

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    • Nope, not me Cindi, I have haven’t got it … honest. 😀
      Yeah, they look so white and fresh. I fell for it the other day but as soon as I started peeling the first one, the little black spots changed my mind. Mr R just shook his head at me because he knows I’ll never eat them when i bring them home.

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