HANGING A LEVELS

Good morning Bloggets. I’m up early couldn’t sleep in today. Lots to do and think about. Hub off to work before eight and teen spent the night somewhere!

Last night was interesting. Firstly, our daughter received her a, level results, well, her first year of them. She is 16 and is doing what I think they call A’s She received a D in psychology, so not too good,   two C’s an A in drama and another A in English, but for her English, she received 100% so didn’t drop one mark. She is one in about four in the country she tells us to have achieved this. Her English not only to write, but to talk is perfect. So now for next year. What to do? We have suggested to her to drop Psychology and focus on her C’s, get them up to B’s. She’s quite capable. Even dropping one of her C’s and taking up music, if they will let her in a year do two years’ work? But to be honest, she will walk it, as she is up to grade 8. I’m not sure why she didn’t take music for her first year? Perhaps because it’s too easy for her she wanted a challenge or because it’s a hobby and doesn’t want to make it a task? But to be honest, she got those grades like teen, just natural no stressing, so if she puts a little effort into it this year, she will be able to get better results for her C’s. Her A’s? Wow. My word. I took my English A, level and so stupidly quit six weeks before the final exam. Oh I was so silly, I was predicted a B, but whether or not I would have got that is another matter. I took the wrong course. I took media, badly advised as for a blind person, media is not good, as too much visual.  Taking it again, even another English course, I can’t even for a second imagine me getting an F? My brain has turned to mush. Occasionally I go back into my college days and write something that I think. “Hmm, perhaps I should return to study?” But then I think. “Naha! Hehehe.

I honestly don’t think I could do it now. I spent six long painful years studdying. I did about four computers and typing courses that were so boring, I was sure the paint on my walls at home whilst reading, would fall off. I took my maths and for that I really suffered. Again, didn’t really have any help as silly circumstances forbid me from knowing Braille, so most of what I had to do was in my head. Remembering the numbers, facts and figures was so torturous. I still today feel the strain in my brain. Up to twenty numbers at a time I had to remember. The college I was at were good as they did allow me to be in a room on my own, so wasn’t stressed out about all the black board work there was to do. Well, it would have been impossible. But it made the lesson long and so boring. But when I start something, I really have to finish it, one reason I still write my blogs, apart from the lovely emails and other ways of contacting me from my dear Bloggets, and the dream one day a publisher will be interested and mostly, trying to wake the world up to what it’s like to experience sight loss, I’ve started, so need to finish, but when is finish? Gosh, will I still have my blog page when I’m old and wrinkly?

“Stop it?

My tutor for maths said I sent her grey. I was as concerned as she was so serious, but when I asked a friend, she laughed and told me she has been grey for some years. But my face was grey every end of lesson then I had to go home and study for the following week.

 

When I took English, oh I loved it; I took GCSE that is what you take to lead you onto A, level if you wish. I ate that and enjoyed it so much. It wasn’t media but good old fashioned writing story’s essays poems and so on and we had debates and gave speeches. Perfect. That I did receive my A. I will never forget that day.

I had to call in to college to receive my envelope. X took me there as we were on our way out. My Son was about nine at the time. As I started college from he was three. My three hours escape per day, hence taking six years to study everything. I went into the reception and the lady handed me the envelope. Telling me I was one in three to receive this mark. I wondered what mark it could be. One in three to receive the failed letter U? Oh my heart pounded as I so badly wanted this result to be good and when I was asked what my end result would be by my tutor? I told her A. This was week one of the nine months course. She chuckled and months later, she told me she expected me to get at least a C. No, I wanted so much to receive an A.

I had so much reading to do and this was really difficult. My dear friend Julie read loads of books for me on tape and I used Jaws so much. Thank God for Jaws. My software which makes my computer talk. So all the research I did was on the computer. Great. As for doing speeches, others had to read things I didn’t need to. I had been given talks at different society’s groups and so on for a while, and with my media background, talking for me was never an issue… Others used to feel sick before a speech. For me it was as easy as breathing, well some days, easier, depending whether or not I had bad Asthma at the time. Haha.

My problem was getting to college and back. Being with people I struggled with too. Thirteen years I hadn’t left the house other than with x. And that was rare.

 

So in the car x started up the engine. I turned to him and asked was he not going to read my results?

Well, I won’t go into what happened next, but it was the most painful experience. Just like when I tried to take my A level, he told me when I asked  him to describe a film I had to watch as the colours and background I had to write about, well there was no audio so I asked him. He told me it was me taking the exam and I had to do it. He didn’t want to know.

 

Same as he didn’t want to know when it came to teaching my Son to read and write. Walk and talk too, but I could teach walking and talking, easily. As for reading and writing, whilst blind? Quite difficult, but you know what? I did I blooming well did and my Son has done really well at school and it didn’t cost me a penny and he is getting great results, because he’s clever but mainly because from the age of three, I spent hours teaching him and hurting so badly inside because it would have been so easy for x to show him the basics. I didn’t expect him to educate him, as that would be requiring a medical interception, but the basics? Well, something else I don’t have to thank him for.

 

So back to our daughter. We were very happy with her results. I think first time she has received a D in anything; this is why I hope she drops that for next year and focuses on her other exams. Three or four A, levels, is enough to get into any University. They were saying on the news yesterday that there are more Uni spaces than students this year. Universities were giving away gifts to try to encourage students to attend. Like lap tops and free flights home if they studied in Ireland for example.

 

So back to last night. After making my Sons favourite chicken, he told me he wasn’t here for tea, he had to go out. So rush rush to get there. Not sure when he is due back home. He may be even away for the weekend?

 

So my picture came the one from the cruise, well, my tiger has been on a wonderful holiday? She’s travelled not only to Norway but Spain Greece Italy and so on. A well-travelled tiger indeed.

 

Hub and I decided we would open the enormous box. Oh my God? The picture is ginormous. Oh wow. I’m really not sure our walls are going to support it? The frame is beautiful. But no glass in it. Just canvas

Well, where was it going? I would remove the pictures above the piano. First I couldn’t reach them. Then I got the ladders and felt the walls for the two pictures. Remember the ones I bought some months ago? I got them online. Didn’t have a clue what they would be like? They were really cheap. Copies of a famous painter, can’t remember now, but God knows what they look like? Oh I mean, my friend Arty described them to me with such grace, but put it this way, she didn’t say, oh their lovely. Teen says they look nice though, and his taste in some, things are really good…

I was so afraid to knock the picture because I was feeling for it and it  could drop off the hook and fall onto Hubs piano? So precariously, I found them and lifted them down. Placing them on the couch the right way, as Hub did remind me we needed to know what way they went to hang them somewhere else.

Oh then he asked how would we be able to hang up the tiger as what way would it go? Well I knew the gallery were leaving string on it, probably the same as was on the cruise.

I said to Hub, the string would be higher up rather than in the middle. And it was a third way. So obviously the biggest drop would be the bottom.

Now, firstly, our handy man wasn’t really handy as there were pin like nails in the walls, above Hubs piano? Hmm. They need sorting; secondly, no way we could risk hanging the picture onto those weak nails. So back on the two pictures went, with a good dusting, mind you surprised they were not bad at all. I do gently go over them, but can’t really clean them for the above reasons.

 

Now what to do with the painting? Oh God. Stress. If only we were good at D I Y? But we’re not.

So not only am I still waiting for my curtain pole to go up, but I have a tiger in my guest room, and we are terrified one of us throw something on the bed and damages the painting.

 

I have asked my handy friend, but he is golfing, my joiner won’t come out for just a small job. So what to do? My handy man said he will come out next week, but that is next week. We should have left it in its box, but we were sure that it would hang on the two hooks on the wall, what I didn’t know was, the hooks would be nails.

 

A drill and wall plugs are needed and industrial picture hooks and the phone number for a builder?

 

OK, must go now and eat. A cup of tea too will be nice.

 

Until later with love.