So I did it again! Months have gone by with no updates. Sorry!

I'm not sure what I want to do with this blog now. Do I keep it as a general, this is my life type blog? Or do I turn it into a record of the objects I work on at university?

Since my last post I've had a busy time. I finished my first year at uni with really good marks. I know they don't count towards the overall degree classification but I'm really proud of myself and am using the feedback I got to aim for the best marks I can overall (first class with honours of course!).

After Christmas we were let loose on real objects which was really exciting (although I'm quite sure the iron chisel I spent hours removing the corrosion from is now back in it's owners shed gaining another layer for future students to remove).

I did get to work on what looks like a rather boring and pretty crap object....

Yes, I know what you're thinking! It's a bit of burnt wood! So what??

Ok, it's actually quite an important piece of burnt wood. It was salvaged from the fire at the Glasgow School of Art a few years ago and was used in the research into the materials and finishes used by one of the companies involved in the huge restoration project that is currently ongoing.

My brief was simply to consolidate the wood so that the pieces didn't fall off and so it could be handled without the black residue transferring onto hands or other surfaces.  It was a simple job but I was really chuffed that I had been trusted with it. I really enjoyed doing it and am really grateful to the lovely guys from Crick Smith conservation for all their help and advice and their generosity with their time and objects.

I had almost five months off over the summer which was lovely but I was desperate to get back to Lincoln by the end of it.

We went to see New Order again, in Manchester, again and also got to see the fantastic New Order exhibition at the Manchester Art Gallery while we were there. It goes without saying the band were amazing as usual and it was really good to see them perform their older stuff. They had a synthesiser orchestra from the Royal College of Music and later discovered one of the musicians is the niece of a lad I went to school with. Going to see NO seems to be an annual event now doesn't it??!!

We also rediscovered a mutual love of camping and had several camping trips which was fab. We risked a family camping trip that was a huge success and we're already looking forward to going again next year when the weather warms up again. We managed to miss the big camping show this year but we will be going next year. Coincidentally we're going to be in Birmingham that weekend anyway for a concert but my poor old 17 year old isn't impressed that she's going to spend the day looking at boring tents before she gets to see Imagine Dragons in the evening.

I've been back at uni for three weeks now and already I can see that second year is going to be far more intense and harder work than first year. Already we've been given three objects to work on between now and Christmas and the last couple of weeks have been spent researching the objects and the best way to treat them. I've written my treatment reports ready to hand in this week and hopefully they will be signed off and I can get to work straight away.

I still can't quite believe I'm actually at university achieving my dreams. I love it, even the two hour lectures on things like dust (ok, I will admit, a two hour lecture on stone did almost finish me off) and the only time I missed was when I was really too ill to go in. Anyone who knows me will confirm that I love sleep and being in bed and that I really do not do mornings. So something that gets me out of bed at 6am even on cold, wet, miserable, dark winter mornings when my lovely cosy warm bed is begging me to stay has got to be pretty damn amazing!!

February Update

After my last post things got busy. Very busy!!

In September I started my degree in Conservation of Cultural Heritage at the University of Lincoln and the time has flown by, I can't believe I'm already halfway through my second semester!!

I absolutely love it. I knew I was going to but I didn't realise just how much. It's really interesting and lots of fun - in one class we had to package up an egg stuck to a stone and test the packaging by knocking it off the table, kicking it down the stairs and best of all, dropping it off the roof. So far that class is the best one yet, closely followed by the lecture in which we were shown a New Order video to demonstrate post-modernism.

Because the majority of the course is practical - working on objects and doing scientific testing - I'm travelling to Lincoln four days a week which has been a great opportunity to listen to podcasts on the long drive. We get to do all kinds of different stuff and it's great getting to find out what we like doing and what we don't. So far I've loved gilding but I have discovered I have a huge interest in medieval stained glass so that may be the route I eventually go down.

Our lecturers are experts in their fields so are very knowledgeable and have worked in some amazing places previously like the British Museum, the V&A and top museums around Europe. The lecturer that played the New Order video is an expert on medieval stained glass and has written books on it which I'll have to get out of the library. He co-wrote them with one of the country's leading experts on the subject who just happens to work at Lincoln cathedral and gave us a tour of the glazing department which is where I had my "this is what I want to do" moment.

Funnily enough, Carenza Lewis from Time Team now lectures in history at the university. It was while watching Time Team that I had my first "this is what I want to do" moment when I realised I wanted to be a conservator 8 years ago. I always smile to myself whenever I see her around the campus.

Apart from uni not a lot else has happened. Millie and I went to see Bastille in November almost a year to the day that we saw Imagine Dragons at the same venue. It was a fantastic show and despite being seriously delayed getting there we still managed to end up right at the front and just by the spot the lead singer kept standing. I'm ashamed to say I shouted and sang so much that I lost my voice for several days afterwards. There was definitely a Muse influence in the show, you could tell they had toured with Muse in the past.

So that's pretty much it for now.

Ok, so the prolific posting calmed down a bit and it’s been a month since I last posted anything.  The desk make-over was completed, I just need to write the post and upload the photos, but I’m really pleased with it.

Last year I fulfilled my ambition to finally see New Order play live and that was very quickly replaced with wanting to see them play live in Manchester, my home town where I first started listening to them and of course where they originate from – well, kind of, I know I’m going to annoy any Salfordians reading now, but Manchester and Salford, they’re the same thing really….. (if it’s any consolation my mum is from Salford. No? Ok, I’m sorry.)

Anyway, last weekend they played at the Castlefield Bowl and I was there, at the front, with my wonderful boyfriend protecting me from the over-enthusiastic crowd. It was amazing and once again I stood right in front of where Bernard tends to stand so I was only feet away from him with just a very bored security guard between us (and a steel barrier which I still have the bruises from getting crushed against a few times). I’ll try and upload some photos this week.

We had a great few days up in Manchester revisiting all my old favourite places and discovering some new ones. Afflecks Palace is still there and still thriving. I’m sure the third floor wasn’t open in my day but there’s a great café up there that we visited a few times for cheap but great food and coffee. Sadly the stall where I used to get my New Order 12”s from is no longer there, but there are several vinyl stalls which the boyfriend spent ages browsing and treated himself to some new stuff. I could easily have spent a small fortune in there but was very good and didn’t buy anything, saving my money for NO merchandise at the concert.

In other news, I got my official college results and have had my place at uni confirmed. I’m really excited about September now, not only for myself but also for my daughter who is starting at uni too.

It made me think again about it being a new start and should I choose a new surname to go with the new me but I decided I couldn’t be bothered with the hassle. I do like my surname, I should do as I chose it, so I think I’ll stick with it. I think I might have mentioned before I had a few people ask me when I got divorced if I’d change my name but like I say, I chose my current surname and I don’t know what I’d change it to now anyway. I didn’t like my maiden name and my married name was just awful – awful name, awful family!! Talking of divorce, I can’t believe it’s only 6 months ago it happened, I suppose the fact we split up over 6 years ago makes me think it was longer than that, and I think it would have happened a lot quicker if it hadn’t been for the fact my ex really didn’t want to marry his new girlfriend but couldn’t put it off any longer.

I’m sure they think I’ll be jealous or something when they get married but actually I’ll be really pleased for them, they’ll both be stuck with each other and both too pig-headed to split up so they’ll be miserable together. Anyway, I digress somewhat.

So, already July has been a fab month – I graduated from college, got my place confirmed, went to Manchester and saw New Order and then this weekend it was my boyfriend’s brother’s 40^th. We were hoping to see him but he’s been in the studio recording another album so celebrating will have to wait until over the summer. The children finish school for the summer holidays on Thursday and I can’t wait for them to be at home with no school run to do until September. We’ve got a few plans for things to do so I’m really looking forward to spending time with them and no doubt hunting for Pokemon wherever we go.

It may have come to your attention that all of a sudden I am becoming slightly more prolific with my posts than I have been previously. The reason for this is that I am suddenly at a loose end and need something to do to fill my spare time other than housework - when my children are at home I spend my time with them.

I finished my college course last week and it wasn't until the day after I handed my last couple of assignments in and got everything signed off that I realised just how intense it has been since September. In that time I have written 42 assignments which looking back I can't quite believe. And I've achieved the equivalent of As and Bs at A-level which isn't bad for a girl who left school 25 years ago with just one grade C at GCSE (maths in case you're wondering).

If you're reading this and are considering doing an Access course then I would say go for it. I've loved it, yes it's been hard at times, especially when I've ended up falling behind - I was really ill for a few weeks and couldn't do any work and then just as I caught up from that one of my friends was involved in a car accident and I was visiting her in hospital most days which meant I fell behind again but got myself caught up.

One of my tutors told us we would get bored very quickly once the course was over and I didn't believe her. I've got far too much to do to be getting bored....  Yep, she was right! I'm even going in next week to talk to the potential new students for this September which I'm quite looking forward to.

I'm quite sad to have left, I loved the history classes and the random discussions with the tutor (the one who said I'd get bored) about all sorts of strange things and we had a really good laugh as we both have the same sense of humour (which is a good job really as I finished one of my presentations off with a very bizarre and amazingly well photoshopped picture of a topless Hitler which she thought was hilarious).

I'm also going to miss the friends I've made as a lot of them are going off to various different universities around the country, but a few are going to Lincoln, albeit on different courses, so hopefully I will get to catch up with them occasionally.

My favourite little pens

The title is slightly misleading as I have a few favourite pens but at the moment I am seriously loving these Inkjoy mini pens from PaperMate. I love them so much I have bought several packs of them, partly because I don't want to run out of them and partly because my children have taken a shine to them too (and yes, I have bought some of them their very own too).

I bought my first pack of them because I thought they were cute but it wasn't until a study skills class at college that I really started using them. The class was on note-taking and one of the tips was to use different coloured pens. Now it sounds like a really obvious thing to do but I hadn't thought of it and once I tried it I haven't gone back to using a black pen. I find having my notes in different colours makes finding the info I'm looking for so much easier than trawling through pages of black writing.

Now, I know this sounds weird but although these pens also come in regular size I don't think they're the same and I will only buy the mini ones. They're really handy to have around and I love using them. They're smooth to write with which is yet another bonus. My only complaint is I used one of the black ones for an exam and after all that writing it went a bit 'blobby' and made a mess everywhere.

You can get them on Amazon cheaper than in the shops although they do tend to be an add-on item but that just gives you an excuse to order other stuff. My local WHSmiths had a load in their bargain bin the other week and the only reason I can see is because it was different packaging to the ones they had at full price in the pen section (yeah, I took advantage of the half price offer....)

Anyone who knows me knows that I have an immense love of stationery. Even as a child my favourite time of year was at the end of August when it was time to go and buy new pens, pencils and pencil cases in time for going back to school. Even now, many, many years later I love that time of year when all the shops have got their stationery ready for that first Tuesday in September.

Thanks to the wonders of modern technology and the internet the options have widened beyond the limited range in WHSmiths or Woolworths and I am discovering that the world of stationery is huuuuuuuge!!! I recently discovered a website called Typo thanks to a blogger who is also crazy about stationery and I had to place an order.

First of all, who are they? They're an Australian gift, stationery and lifestyle brand that have become available over here in the UK. If you like quirky fun stuff then you'll love them (and if you don't, and you prefer boring stuff then you'll probably find them far too frivolous for your liking!!!)

Now, admittedly it wasn’t a big order that I placed, I still have several things saved on my wishlist, but I couldn’t afford to buy everything I wanted in one go. I also just wanted to test out the quality of their stuff first too (and having received it I am disappointed that I didn’t buy everything I wanted lol).

I wish I had taken a photo of the box the order arrived in, it was brilliant, and everything was well packaged inside.

I got the A2 mat for my ‘new’ desk (another post for another day), a lovely rose gold pen holder and a box of fab map pens (maps are another big love of mine, so maps and stationery in one are even more exciting than either on their own!!!)

So, would I recommend Typo? Hell yeah!! When you sign up for their newsletter you get a 20% discount code as well which is fab. I will definitely be back there for more goodies sometime in the future.

Muse - April 9 2016

As my eldest son, R, is a huge fan of Muse and they announced a new tour just before his birthday it seemed like a great idea to get him tickets as his birthday present (fortunately he agreed this was a great idea). My partner is also a Muse fan and has wanted to see them live since 2003 so he too was very excited about going. Now, I have to admit to not being a huge fan, in fact not really a fan at all. I thought their music was ok, although I absolutely love Psycho and find myself singing one particular line in my head when dealing with particular people. One of these days I’m going to end up singing it out loud though, lol. Anyway, I went along for the ride especially as it was in Manchester.

After a day wandering round my home town and introducing R to the delights of some of my old haunts we joined the crowds heading to the Manchester Arena and found our seats. By the time we’d booked the tickets back in September there weren’t a lot left so we were right up at the top in tier two which for me and R wasn’t exactly fun as we looked down from a great height, at least until the seats in front of us filled up and we felt a bit more secure that if we were to somehow fall we would be caught by the people in front (that was until it was pointed out there would be a domino effect..)

It’s been two weeks since the concert and I’ve been trying to think of a way of describing it other than AMAZING!!!!!! But I can’t. It was just amazing. And I wasn’t even a fan until about 30 seconds into the first song. Then they played Psycho second and that was it. You know it’s a good show when it’s finished and you think “oh, is that it??” and then look at your watch and discover that actually 2 hours have just flown past in an amazing, breathtaking blur! Now, I love New Order more than any other band on this planet and their show last year was amazing but, sorry guys, it was nothing on Muse. I still love you, but Muse were just even more AMAZING!!! (Am I getting across that I like it at all??)

I would love to talk you through it song by song but as I say it passed in a blur so I will just show you some of the photos we took. I must apologise for the fact they are not great quality as they were taken on my phone.

This guy, and another one, spent the whole show on the rig waaaaaaaayyyyyy up above the stage.

This gives an idea of how high up we were

Throughout the show these globes came out from above the stage and floated around above the audience and then went back onto the rigging again, they also changed colour.

At intervals throughout the show screens dropped down from the rigging that had images projected onto them. During 'The Handler' holographic hands appeared above the band with strings coming down from them so the band were puppets being controlled by these huge hands in the sky. It looked amazing (have I used this word too much yet???)

At one point during the show huge balloons were released into the audience. The idea, I think, was for the audience to knock them around and eventually burst them, releasing confetti onto those below. One ended up on the stage which the bass player popped with his bass and then of course the rest of them ended up on the stage so he chased them around bursting them to huge cheers and much applause from the audience. That was definitely the funniest part of the show.

Above are some of the images projected onto the screens.

The only thing that could have made this show any more amazing would be them flying a plane round the auditorium above the audience.

Oh........

Yep, they even flew a plane (ok, maybe it was a blimp thing, but who cares??) around above the audience. How amazing is that???????

Next time they tour I'm getting tickets for two shows because I really regret only seeing them once. And yes, I am now a huge fan of Muse.

But, just to show that I still love New Order, here's a quick photo from their show last year....

Yes, we were *that* close!!!