No news yet!

Sorry I haven’t updated in a while! Most of my time recently has been spent at work where nothing terribly exciting happens so I haven’t had much to talk about. 

I have been to Tiggywinkles a few times since I last posted and I should be getting some of the kit to start proper rescues on Monday. I am pretty confident handling foxes now. They behave sort of cat-like so I can predict what they are going to do a lot of the time. Deer however are still a challenge! They are very unpredictable and I have lots of bruises to prove it, lol. 

I haven’t anything from any of the vet schools in a while. I’m taking no news as good news because I think some rejections have been handed out already. The graduate interviews are usually held a bit later than undergrad interviews anyway as far as I know. I had the BMAT results back a couple of weeks ago and I didn’t do too badly. I got quite high on the science section which I was glad about. Having done a science degree already it would have been quite embarrassing if I had done badly there! No one seems to know quite how the vet schools use BMAT scores in the application process so I’ll just have to wait and see if it’s good enough!

I have a few knitting projects on the go but I can’t write too much about them yet because they are Christmas presents ;) Not all the recipients read this blog but I will keep quiet just in case!

I have some work experience at a mixed practice coming up in a couple of weeks so I will try to write something about that soon.

Bye for now!

Lucy

Vet School Post

I received a post card this morning from Nottingham vet school. Unfortunately it was nothing too exciting like an OFFER, it was just acknowledging that they’d received my questionnaire. It did however have a giraffe on it which is perfect because I love giraffes! I look a little bit like one you see.

Anyway, now that the BMAT is over (thankfully) and all questionnaires/application forms etc have been sent off, this is the beginning of me waiting every day for the post to arrive to see if I have anything from the vet schools. The anticipation is killing me just a bit.

Work is going pretty well, I got promoted already! That means I get a little bit more money and a little bit more power, muahaha. I only get one real day off a week now because of work and college. That happens to be today, and it happens to have been ruined by one of my bunnies getting ill this morning. She isn’t eating, I think maybe the fireworks last night stressed her out. So I spent most of the morning at the vets and the bunnies are still there :( They should come home tomorrow if Ruby is eating by then.

Poor Woobles

I had been debating doing NaNoWriMo this year, but it looks like I might be too busy with work and college. I think my writing days are over, I don’t really get ideas any more. If I do end up writing anything then maybe I will post it here... But probably not. 

Happy Bonfire Night by the way!

Lucy

Progress!

Since I last wrote, I have sent off my university application and managed to find a job, yay! 

I am working in the gift shop Past Times which sells some cool stuff (or I think so anyway). It has gone pretty well so far, but I don’t get paid until the end of November which is a pain :(

 

College is going ok, and it has been half term this week which is weird because it feels like we only just started! What is the point of half term, really? It has given me more time to work in the shop and earn monies anyway which is good.

I have done a few more training sessions at St Tiggywinkles and moved on to larger animals now. The foxes and badgers are fine (although the ones I have been practising on so far have been pretty flat) but I was having trouble with the deer. I have decided that the bigger deer are too heavy for me to lift on my own (about 30kg, and kicking) so I will just pin them to the floor and get someone else to help me lift them :D 

I went to see Contagion the other day which I thought looked pretty good. I went with my mum (cause I’m cool like that) cause plague/disease-y type films are our favourite. I quite liked it and it seemed really realistic compared to something like The Stand where everyone except a few particularly interesting characters die off. One thing that annoyed me though was the overuse of technical jargon one minute and the patronising explanation of simple concepts the next. People who work in disease research are not going to explain lock and key mechanisms to their equally knowledgeable colleagues! Anyway, I think it was worth seeing but maybe not at the cinema (although we went on a cheap night so that was ok :) ). 

I am annoyed at the lack of horror movies in cinemas now we are so close to Halloween. They are my favourite part of the holiday! Except maybe the sweets. 

I know I said in my last entry that I’d try to have something interesting to write about this time but that has failed :( Have a picture of a kitty instead.

(I’ll try again next time)

Lucy

A few things...

Been up to a few things since I wrote the last entry! I started at college where I’m retaking A level chemistry. I was a bit worried I was going to be the oldest in a class of 16/17 year olds but there are a few people doing the same as me so that’s good! It’s not as awful as I remember chemistry being so hopefully I can get a better grade this time.

I’m still looking for a job, which is a pain. The office temp job I mentioned last time lasted a week. I very nearly died of boredom. I’m definitely not made for office work.

The deadline for vet med UCAS applications is coming up fast so I’ve been busy with that. I think I may actually have finished my personal statement finally. It’s not perfect but I don’t think it’s too bad so hopefully it can get me at least an interview. I’ve also been revising for the BMAT exam which I need to take at the beginning of November. It’s so difficult! I just hope I do ok in the actual exam.

Other than that, I had my first training session at Tiggywinkle’s a couple of weeks ago. Had another little look around the shelter and got to stroke a fox called Casper. He’s really tame and behaves just like a dog. It was very strange! He is lovely, but not very white any more.

So far I’ve only had training in handling small mammals and birds. The birds were a bit of a challenge, they flap all over the place! Next time I’ll have training in catching large mammals like foxes, badgers and deer. The badgers sound quite scary; apparently they can bite and charge at you. Not as cuddly as they look!

Ooh, I made a purchase today. I tried to resist buying anything but failed miserably. I spotted a copy of the illustrated version of the Life of Pi for £3. £3!! So I bought it. The story is amazing and the pictures in the illustrated version are lovely. Apparently there’s a film coming out next year but I think I may avoid it. I don’t think it will come across that well on film. However, Jean-Pierre Jeunet was on board to direct a few years ago and I think maybe I would have given his version a watch.

That’s about it. Next time I will try to have something more exciting to write about. Maybe some pictures would make this more interesting... hmmm.

Bye for now!

Lucy

St Tiggywinkles Ambulance Driver

I had an interview the other day to be an 'ambulance driver' for St Tiggywinkles the wildlife hospital. It involved driving out to collect injured animals to take them to the hospital. I'll be getting training in handling all sorts of animals which sounds really exciting. They gave me a massive list of equipment I'll need to fit into my car as well. Deer crates and gauntlets and nets and all sorts.
I also had a quick tour of the hospital which was really interesting. I'd love to work somewhere like that but I imagine jobs are pretty scarce! I saw a badger coming round from surgery which I was pretty excited about. I've never seen a badger in real life before! I also had a look in the nursery where there are lots and lots of baby hedgehogs at the moment. There was also a species I hadn't encountered before called a Glis glis which is a type of dormouse. They were very cute!
I didn't realise before how busy the hospital was. Apparently in summer they can get over 1000 cases per day :| My work as an ambulance driver will be pretty sporadic because they will only call me out for cases in my area, but it should still be really interesting.

Other than that, I finished my kennel work experience last week and then on Thursday I started at a temporary office job. I'm covering for a PA and I pretty much have no idea what I'm doing. I mostly just have to answer the phone and emails and make calls. It's very very boring. Makes me work harder at all my animal-y stuff so I don't get stuck in an office job forever.

On the vet front, I finished a draft of my personal statement today. It's over the character limit so I'll have to cut it down but I don't know which bits to cut and which to leave! It also seems really really cliche... I just hope I can get it so it will do the job. Only a month and a half till the deadline now!

That's all for now,

Lucy

Long time no type

Again, it’s been a long time since my last update! Sorry about that.

I don’t think I updated about my stable work experience! I was there for a week and it was slightly disappointing, but at least I have some horse experience now. I spent most of my time forking straw and poo onto the muckheap. Fun! I also groomed a few horses, learned how to tack up and muck out. It was very very tiring although I did get used to it by the end of the week. I think I probably built up some muscles too! :D

Yesterday I started at a smallholding with free-range chickens, turkey, sheep, pigs, ducks and geese. There aren’t that many animals so not an awful lot to do but I learned a lot about the diseases affecting the animals there. One of my favourites was blackhead disease in turkeys . It’s caused by a protozoan (single-celled) parasite called Histomonas meleagridis which is transmitted by a nematode (multi-cellular, worm-like parasite) called Heterakis gallinarum. The parasitology geek in me found this super interesting. The disease affects the liver and caecum and turns the head of a turkey a blue-ish colour. The only drug against the parasite was withdrawn a few years ago so it mostly has to be managed by practising good hygiene.

I also met a hen and her foster babies – two ducklings she had been given to hatch. They were just a couple of days old and only just starting to eat food. They were soooo cute! They love their mum too, she hasn’t worked out they’re not chickens yet!

Got to ear-tag some lambs as well. They have two blood vessels running through their ears so you have to make sure the tag is in between those. It was quite a challenge because lamb ears are small and they don’t appreciate being pinned down and prodded so they were pretty wriggly. Luckily I did it ok and there was no blood explosion!

Ooh, I also have an interview to be a volunteer rescuer/ambulance driver for a wildlife rescue! It sounds really exciting so I hope I get it. I will have to do a few training days in rescuing wildlife which should be fun, and a chance to learn about wild animals which I’m not super knowledgeable about.

In other news, I started knitting a sky scarf! The idea is to knit two rows of the scarf each day using the weather to decide what colours to use. I have a feeling mine is going to have lots and lots of grey in it given the wonderful weather in the UK.

I’ll try not to leave my updates so long this time!

Bye for now!

Lucy

Holiday, graduation, work experience

It’s been a long time since I last updated. I’m sorry! I’ve been quite busy.

The week before last I was on holiday with my family. We went on a cruise around the Mediterranean which was an experience. Cruising is not my favourite way to travel. I liked the places we stopped at, but we didn’t spend long enough in each place. I like time to explore! Also, being on the cruise ship reminded me of the space ship in Wall-E. Lots of people lounging around and eating and buying souvenirs and eating some more and So cruising is not for me but at least I have tried it!

The ship left from Venice (which I unfortunately didn’t get to see much of) and stopped in in Dubrovnik, Athens, Izmir and Split before going all the way back to Venice. My favourite place was probably Turkey. We went on a trip to Pergamon which was really interesting. I also liked the Acropolis museum in Athens. It’s built over an excavation site and the floor is glass so you can look down into it which was quite cool.

(The theatre at Pergamon)

Then last week I had a little temporary job in Next for the sale. It was pretty soul destroying. I spent most of the time picking clothes up off the floor. For the sale I was put on childrens wear. I’m not a huge fan of children, especially when they scream. There was a lot of screaming going on during the day of the sale and it was sooo busy. I have decided I much prefer shovelling animal poo for free to a paid job in retail.

Ooh, and also on Friday I had my graduation! It was quite nice, but the ceremony bit was rather boring. Also the robes and hat were a pain to wear. My hat kept slipping down!

Today I started a work experience placement at a stables. I’ll write a more detailed account of it at the end of the week. For now I will just say that I’m very sore. I can hardly move my arms, lol. I think I need to build up some muscle!

Bye for now!

Lucy

PS. Congratulations to Kirsty who graduated today! :D