Hello People!
So last week Saturday, I went to film with PJs to make a promotional video. It was fun planning the sections and putting it all together, I can't wait to watch the finished video!
But, even bigger news... the 100 Challenges Challenge is TOMORROW. I can't believe the days have gone so fast. I'm happy though, because I have gained sponsors and feel like I'm contributing. I'll probably put in some of my own money as well. I'm looking forward to it.
I'll blog again as soon as the challenge is over. Hopefully, it will be a success.
Wish me luck!
Love you all!
Bye people!
Friday, 12 September 2014
Wednesday, 3 September 2014
PJs Progress
Hello people!
So I talked to someone in school about maybe doing a presentation in front of my year for PJs. He said he'll look into it. Hopefully it all goes to plan- fingers crossed.
Wish me luck!
Bye people!
So I talked to someone in school about maybe doing a presentation in front of my year for PJs. He said he'll look into it. Hopefully it all goes to plan- fingers crossed.
Wish me luck!
Bye people!
Tuesday, 2 September 2014
Fundraising: PJs Community Services
Hello people!
I'm with NCS (National Citizen Service) the challenge and my group "Jackman" are fundraising for PJs Community Services.
PJs is a really good organisation who deliver care services. This care is delivered in the form of home care, education and support for young people, nursery facilities for those who need them, care for the elderly and other vulnerable adults, as well as many more.
It's a really great organisation that I love and I would love it if you could check out their website:
www.pjsgroup.co.uk. It has a lot of detailed information of their work and the services they provide.
As a fundraising event, my group are doing the 100 Challenges Challenge. In this challenge, we have to walk around London whilst doing 100 different random challenges along the way. Do you get it? The 'challenge' is to do 100 challenges.
It should be a really fun and challengeing experience, and it's completely worth it to help such a great organisation.
I'll be writing about our progress with PJs over the next few weeks.
Also, my group are launching our own campaign to get people to take pride in being #madeincroydon. Please follow us on facebook and instergram. Thanks! (I'll also be writing about our progress in made in croydon).
Bye people!
Thanks!
I'm with NCS (National Citizen Service) the challenge and my group "Jackman" are fundraising for PJs Community Services.
PJs is a really good organisation who deliver care services. This care is delivered in the form of home care, education and support for young people, nursery facilities for those who need them, care for the elderly and other vulnerable adults, as well as many more.
It's a really great organisation that I love and I would love it if you could check out their website:
www.pjsgroup.co.uk. It has a lot of detailed information of their work and the services they provide.
As a fundraising event, my group are doing the 100 Challenges Challenge. In this challenge, we have to walk around London whilst doing 100 different random challenges along the way. Do you get it? The 'challenge' is to do 100 challenges.
It should be a really fun and challengeing experience, and it's completely worth it to help such a great organisation.
I'll be writing about our progress with PJs over the next few weeks.
Also, my group are launching our own campaign to get people to take pride in being #madeincroydon. Please follow us on facebook and instergram. Thanks! (I'll also be writing about our progress in made in croydon).
Bye people!
Thanks!
First Day Of Sixth Form
Hello people!
So today I started school in Ursuline Sixth Form (leave a comment if you want boring factual details). It was definetly an experience.
Firstly, I was ridiculously late- not a great start to the year. It wasn't my fault though, the bus (that had come late in the first place) decided to terminate half way through my one hour journey. I got dropped of in the middle of nowhere- alright, it wasn't nowhere- but I had no idea where anything was and ended up wandering around and asking for directions. I finally tryed calling my mum, who was going back from her night shift and she said she would "try to find me". In the end I ended up waiting for the next bus, this came so late that I was an HOUR late to school. It was horrible, but the staff were nice about it because it was my first day.
They may not be so laid back tomorrow though... so I better NOT be late!
The rest of the day went by well. Everyone was really welcoming and inclusive even though I didn't know anybody. It was fun making a few acquatences (it's a little early for friendship) and meeting my form. Even though the day didn't go smoothly, i'm just happy with it overall.
I can't wait till me start lessons tomorrow. Wish me luck!
Bye people!
Lots of love!
So today I started school in Ursuline Sixth Form (leave a comment if you want boring factual details). It was definetly an experience.
Firstly, I was ridiculously late- not a great start to the year. It wasn't my fault though, the bus (that had come late in the first place) decided to terminate half way through my one hour journey. I got dropped of in the middle of nowhere- alright, it wasn't nowhere- but I had no idea where anything was and ended up wandering around and asking for directions. I finally tryed calling my mum, who was going back from her night shift and she said she would "try to find me". In the end I ended up waiting for the next bus, this came so late that I was an HOUR late to school. It was horrible, but the staff were nice about it because it was my first day.
They may not be so laid back tomorrow though... so I better NOT be late!
The rest of the day went by well. Everyone was really welcoming and inclusive even though I didn't know anybody. It was fun making a few acquatences (it's a little early for friendship) and meeting my form. Even though the day didn't go smoothly, i'm just happy with it overall.
I can't wait till me start lessons tomorrow. Wish me luck!
Bye people!
Lots of love!
Thursday, 28 August 2014
New blog?
Hello people!
I've been thinking about this for a while, I was thinking about starting a new blog. This new one would be a personal blog (because I realised that I was making this blog too personal).
What do you think? Comment below.
Bye people!
Love ya!
I've been thinking about this for a while, I was thinking about starting a new blog. This new one would be a personal blog (because I realised that I was making this blog too personal).
What do you think? Comment below.
Bye people!
Love ya!
It's my BIRTHDAY!
Hello people!
IT'S MY 16TH BIRTHDAY TODAY!
It was so fun because I wasn't planning on doing anything for it and went to NCS as usual, then... I arrive home to a small dance party! It was such as great surprise and I really had fun.
Also... guess what? I had UDON!
To explain, Udon is the name of a type of Japanese thick noodles. I heard so much about them and have wanted to try for ages! The day finally came! It lived up to my expectations and was the best present ever!
Also (yes, i'm not finished), I got a thousand pounds- yes, you heard correctly- a THOUSAND! But, it's for uni... still good though.
Bye people!
I'm so happy!
Love you all!
IT'S MY 16TH BIRTHDAY TODAY!
It was so fun because I wasn't planning on doing anything for it and went to NCS as usual, then... I arrive home to a small dance party! It was such as great surprise and I really had fun.
Also... guess what? I had UDON!
To explain, Udon is the name of a type of Japanese thick noodles. I heard so much about them and have wanted to try for ages! The day finally came! It lived up to my expectations and was the best present ever!
Also (yes, i'm not finished), I got a thousand pounds- yes, you heard correctly- a THOUSAND! But, it's for uni... still good though.
Bye people!
I'm so happy!
Love you all!
Thursday, 21 August 2014
GCSE RESULTS DAY!
Hello people!
I'm SO HAPPY! I just got my GCSE results. Here they are:
Maths: A
Geography: B
Spanish: D
Music: D
Biology (triple science): A
Chemistry (triple science): A
Physics (triple science): A
RS: A*
D&T Resistant Materials: A*
English Literature: A
English Language (early entry): A
OCR ICT (year 9): Distinction
I did higher course in all of them.
I'm actually more proud of my own predictions of results though. I pretty much predicted these results (apart from Spanish, I predicted myself a C).
I might retake Spanish but it and music are not necessery subjects for my line of work. I'll have to figure it out.
Love ya all!
Bye!
I'm SO HAPPY! I just got my GCSE results. Here they are:
Maths: A
Geography: B
Spanish: D
Music: D
Biology (triple science): A
Chemistry (triple science): A
Physics (triple science): A
RS: A*
D&T Resistant Materials: A*
English Literature: A
English Language (early entry): A
OCR ICT (year 9): Distinction
I did higher course in all of them.
I'm actually more proud of my own predictions of results though. I pretty much predicted these results (apart from Spanish, I predicted myself a C).
I might retake Spanish but it and music are not necessery subjects for my line of work. I'll have to figure it out.
Love ya all!
Bye!
Saturday, 16 August 2014
Top To Tail Summary
こんにちは (konnichiwa) people!
My overall experience was really good. I did many different jobs, including: washing dogs, blasting/ drying dogs, holding dogs that don't stay still and comforting them, carrying dogs whilst they get their nails cut, brushing dogs, combing dogs, walking dogs, sweeping floors, cleaning windows, washing the baths at the end of the day, removing hair from plug holes, pollishing the front desk and chairs, cleaning mirrors, disinfecting and wipping down walls, mopping, cleaning the 'floor mats' in the wash room, hoovering, and organising files in alphabetical order.
I think that's it...
With this large variety of jobs, I had to take innitiative. This was especially true with dogs that would not co-operate. In these situations I would have to figure out why (e.g. the dog is scared) and try to find a way to complete the task (e.g. blasting) while getting the dog to co-operate (e.g. give them regular breaks and cuddles to calm them down). This kind of problem solving helped me to use and develop my skills of understanding a dog's body language. It also increased my confidence in my own abilities.
However, an ability to learn quickly was the most important quality. This is because I was shown most things relatively quickly and only once. With this quick run-through I would have to be vigulant in order to remember everything I needed to. This meant that I was always listening to what they had to tell me and often remembering multiple instructions at once.
Another major skill was taking orders. I would simply do what they wanted me to do without complaining if it wasn't directly animal related (e.g. organising files). I would also simply try my best in any task that was set for me. Nevertheless, I would still ask questions if I there was any confusion or if I just needed confirmation of the instructions. This was a big achievement for me because around this time last year I had very little confidence in talking to people that I didn't know well. So I am really proud of how I was able to speack confidently and ask questions without an irrational fear.
As long with a confidence boost, I feel like my work ethic is improving. I was happy to do any job and even thought of jobs that I would have complained about a year ago (e.g. all the cleaning) as 'fun'. I feel as though I have progressed as a person as well as in my work-life.
So back to numbers, I spent eight days over two weeks at Top To Tail. Each day was around eight hours (this would change based on how busy the day was). Theirfore, I had around 64 hours of work experience in total at Top To Tail.
I'm really happy with how this experience turned out and I am esspecially glad that I had so much fun doing it.
さようなら (sayounara) people!
Love you all!
Take care!
My overall experience was really good. I did many different jobs, including: washing dogs, blasting/ drying dogs, holding dogs that don't stay still and comforting them, carrying dogs whilst they get their nails cut, brushing dogs, combing dogs, walking dogs, sweeping floors, cleaning windows, washing the baths at the end of the day, removing hair from plug holes, pollishing the front desk and chairs, cleaning mirrors, disinfecting and wipping down walls, mopping, cleaning the 'floor mats' in the wash room, hoovering, and organising files in alphabetical order.
I think that's it...
With this large variety of jobs, I had to take innitiative. This was especially true with dogs that would not co-operate. In these situations I would have to figure out why (e.g. the dog is scared) and try to find a way to complete the task (e.g. blasting) while getting the dog to co-operate (e.g. give them regular breaks and cuddles to calm them down). This kind of problem solving helped me to use and develop my skills of understanding a dog's body language. It also increased my confidence in my own abilities.
However, an ability to learn quickly was the most important quality. This is because I was shown most things relatively quickly and only once. With this quick run-through I would have to be vigulant in order to remember everything I needed to. This meant that I was always listening to what they had to tell me and often remembering multiple instructions at once.
Another major skill was taking orders. I would simply do what they wanted me to do without complaining if it wasn't directly animal related (e.g. organising files). I would also simply try my best in any task that was set for me. Nevertheless, I would still ask questions if I there was any confusion or if I just needed confirmation of the instructions. This was a big achievement for me because around this time last year I had very little confidence in talking to people that I didn't know well. So I am really proud of how I was able to speack confidently and ask questions without an irrational fear.
As long with a confidence boost, I feel like my work ethic is improving. I was happy to do any job and even thought of jobs that I would have complained about a year ago (e.g. all the cleaning) as 'fun'. I feel as though I have progressed as a person as well as in my work-life.
So back to numbers, I spent eight days over two weeks at Top To Tail. Each day was around eight hours (this would change based on how busy the day was). Theirfore, I had around 64 hours of work experience in total at Top To Tail.
I'm really happy with how this experience turned out and I am esspecially glad that I had so much fun doing it.
さようなら (sayounara) people!
Love you all!
Take care!
Friday, 15 August 2014
Last Day Of Top To Tail
Hello people!
I can't believe it is my last day! I'm actually going to miss the place.
Today was great anyways. It was a slow day though. There was this one dog, he was just so much. He had the personality of a puppy on steriods! He just would not stay still for more than five seconds. He came in with a ridiculous amount of mud on him, looking very pleased with himself. As soon as I turned the water on him (without soup to start with) the water became completely brown with muck. It took a long time- and prewash, shampoo, and conditioner- to wash him completely. Also, a lot of muck was between the pads on his paws. These were hard to clean.
Nevertheless, I had fun with that weird dog. I heard that he eats paper, and he would always lick my hand when I washed his feet. This mad him pretty amusing. He was hardest to handle when we needed to groom him. He wouldn't sit still! He would simply stick out his paw onto my chest as if to say "no thanks Sally" or he would attack my face with kisses. As much as I loved the attention, it made him really hard to groom. I ended up having to distract him with a comb (he plays with anything) whilst I attempted to brush as much as possible. We finally ended up needing to hold him down between two people!
Bye people!
Love ya!
P.S. I'll right a full summary of the experience tomorrow.
I can't believe it is my last day! I'm actually going to miss the place.
Today was great anyways. It was a slow day though. There was this one dog, he was just so much. He had the personality of a puppy on steriods! He just would not stay still for more than five seconds. He came in with a ridiculous amount of mud on him, looking very pleased with himself. As soon as I turned the water on him (without soup to start with) the water became completely brown with muck. It took a long time- and prewash, shampoo, and conditioner- to wash him completely. Also, a lot of muck was between the pads on his paws. These were hard to clean.
Nevertheless, I had fun with that weird dog. I heard that he eats paper, and he would always lick my hand when I washed his feet. This mad him pretty amusing. He was hardest to handle when we needed to groom him. He wouldn't sit still! He would simply stick out his paw onto my chest as if to say "no thanks Sally" or he would attack my face with kisses. As much as I loved the attention, it made him really hard to groom. I ended up having to distract him with a comb (he plays with anything) whilst I attempted to brush as much as possible. We finally ended up needing to hold him down between two people!
Bye people!
Love ya!
P.S. I'll right a full summary of the experience tomorrow.
Thursday, 14 August 2014
Seventh Day Of Top To Tail
Hello people!
It's almost the end of my grooming adventure!
Today was nice as always, although I have realised just how tired I get after work each day. It's only for two weeks, but with NCS there is really no time to rest.
It's fine though, I'm just happy to be back to work- even though it's almost over.
Today was another typical day. But there was this one dog that- and I love him to bits whilst I'm saying this- smelled so much. He had horrible doggy breath and gave me it by licking my whole face. I could honestly taste his horrid breath. I still love him though, he just urgently needs Dentasticks.
Another highlight were two dogs owned by employees. They would stay in a cage all day and sleep, and when we decided they needed a toilet break and at least some exercise, they would take a sniff of the outdoors and return to there (unlocked) cage to go back to sleep. I first heard about this on Monday, but I saw it for myself today. I judt don't understand those dogs! They are so lazy!
So that's all for today folks. It was mostly a normal day with normal chores.
Bye people!
Love ya!
P.S. The rain today was horendous, it was pouring on and off for most of the day and I was seriously praying for it to stop whilst I walked to the bus stop. Thank goodness it did!
It's almost the end of my grooming adventure!
Today was nice as always, although I have realised just how tired I get after work each day. It's only for two weeks, but with NCS there is really no time to rest.
It's fine though, I'm just happy to be back to work- even though it's almost over.
Today was another typical day. But there was this one dog that- and I love him to bits whilst I'm saying this- smelled so much. He had horrible doggy breath and gave me it by licking my whole face. I could honestly taste his horrid breath. I still love him though, he just urgently needs Dentasticks.
Another highlight were two dogs owned by employees. They would stay in a cage all day and sleep, and when we decided they needed a toilet break and at least some exercise, they would take a sniff of the outdoors and return to there (unlocked) cage to go back to sleep. I first heard about this on Monday, but I saw it for myself today. I judt don't understand those dogs! They are so lazy!
So that's all for today folks. It was mostly a normal day with normal chores.
Bye people!
Love ya!
P.S. The rain today was horendous, it was pouring on and off for most of the day and I was seriously praying for it to stop whilst I walked to the bus stop. Thank goodness it did!
Wednesday, 13 August 2014
Sixth Day Of Top To Tail
Hello people!
I'm sorry I didn't post anything on Monday, I was busy preparing for NCS. I'm so excited for it!
So back to the topic. Today was a good day. But we had nothing to do in the first forty minutes because the dogs came really late. This meant I could play fetch with the managers little dog. That was fun. When the dogs finally turned up (there were four of them), it became really busy ridiculously quickly. I washed the two small dogs, whilst two employees washed one of the two big dogs each. This took some time because the water kept going cold due to us sharing the hot water between three baths (my two shared a bath).
After this, there came the task of drying the dogs. We had to prioritise and so one dog had to wait for a little bit to get dryed (not that he cared at all).
Overall, this was a cleaning day- I had a lot of hoovering, mopping, and sweeping to do. This was primerily due to the few customers followed by a wave of business that mellowed down after a couple of hours.
I was fine with the cleaning though, I think i'm getting used to it (don't tell my mum that or she'll make me do all the chores- ALL of them).
The clear highlight of today was this gorgeous Doberman Pinscher. I don't know if it is just me, but dogs with clear-cut silhouettes. She was just so beautiful! I had to bath her in special shampoo because she has sensitive skin, and dry her. I wish I could steal her and take her home! But that's not possible... after all, she is way to big for me to hide in my purse.
(That's a joke, if you didn't know- I don't want to be accused of attempted dog-napping).
Well, Bye people!
Lots of Love!
I'm sorry I didn't post anything on Monday, I was busy preparing for NCS. I'm so excited for it!
So back to the topic. Today was a good day. But we had nothing to do in the first forty minutes because the dogs came really late. This meant I could play fetch with the managers little dog. That was fun. When the dogs finally turned up (there were four of them), it became really busy ridiculously quickly. I washed the two small dogs, whilst two employees washed one of the two big dogs each. This took some time because the water kept going cold due to us sharing the hot water between three baths (my two shared a bath).
After this, there came the task of drying the dogs. We had to prioritise and so one dog had to wait for a little bit to get dryed (not that he cared at all).
Overall, this was a cleaning day- I had a lot of hoovering, mopping, and sweeping to do. This was primerily due to the few customers followed by a wave of business that mellowed down after a couple of hours.
I was fine with the cleaning though, I think i'm getting used to it (don't tell my mum that or she'll make me do all the chores- ALL of them).
The clear highlight of today was this gorgeous Doberman Pinscher. I don't know if it is just me, but dogs with clear-cut silhouettes. She was just so beautiful! I had to bath her in special shampoo because she has sensitive skin, and dry her. I wish I could steal her and take her home! But that's not possible... after all, she is way to big for me to hide in my purse.
(That's a joke, if you didn't know- I don't want to be accused of attempted dog-napping).
Well, Bye people!
Lots of Love!
Friday, 8 August 2014
Fifth Day Of Top To Tail
Hola people!
It's Friday! (Think of Rebeca Black's Friday song whilst you're reading the rest). This means one week is over and I'm half way through my work experience! (cue applause).
Also a miracle happened, there was a cat in the groomers. I know: a cat. My prayers have been answered!
Seriously though, I didn't do much with the cat myself apart from strock her a bit. So I guess it's still dogs for me.
So today I did the usual: washing, blasting/ drying, combing, cuddling, and stroking. But I did walk two dogs today. It was a fun change of pace for me and they were fairly well behaved (apart from not one, but two poos). That was actually the first time I have ever walked a dog outside of a closed space- I guess I'm finally trusted.
Today there was a lot more cleaning to do. I had to clean and organise drawers, clean the baths, clean the mats on the washroom floor, sweep the washroom floor, sweep the main floor, hoover the main floor, mop the main floor, hoover the entrance floor, wipe the counter, and... oh yeah, take the dry towels of the washing line.
Phew! I think that's all.
It was definately the most tiring day. But now I have the weekend to regain my strength.
Bye people!
Love you all!
It's Friday! (Think of Rebeca Black's Friday song whilst you're reading the rest). This means one week is over and I'm half way through my work experience! (cue applause).
Also a miracle happened, there was a cat in the groomers. I know: a cat. My prayers have been answered!
Seriously though, I didn't do much with the cat myself apart from strock her a bit. So I guess it's still dogs for me.
So today I did the usual: washing, blasting/ drying, combing, cuddling, and stroking. But I did walk two dogs today. It was a fun change of pace for me and they were fairly well behaved (apart from not one, but two poos). That was actually the first time I have ever walked a dog outside of a closed space- I guess I'm finally trusted.
Today there was a lot more cleaning to do. I had to clean and organise drawers, clean the baths, clean the mats on the washroom floor, sweep the washroom floor, sweep the main floor, hoover the main floor, mop the main floor, hoover the entrance floor, wipe the counter, and... oh yeah, take the dry towels of the washing line.
Phew! I think that's all.
It was definately the most tiring day. But now I have the weekend to regain my strength.
Bye people!
Love you all!
Forth Day Of Top To Tail
Hello people!
Sorry for being late with this post.
So yesterday was eventful. The day was still fun, but in the morning I had to put lots of appointment cards into alphabetical order in their files. This was fine because I did the job well, but I was just disapointed that it had nothing to do with the animals.
Still, thats work for you, it can't all be sunshine and roses.
Apart from that, the day was the usual: combing, drying/blasting, washing, stroking. I did do a lot more sweeping than before, but after the amout done in Dulwich Ridding School, a little sweeping isn't a bother.
My favourite part of the day was near the end. There where only a few dogs left and so I did a lot of stroking and socialising with these dogs. There was one pug that had a crazy amount of energy and would run in a circle before attempting to 'climb' me to get to my face to lick me (this was easy since he was on a table). It was just fun to see him compared to his laid back sister.
So that was my day yesterday.
Adios People!
Aishite iru (I love you)!
Sorry for being late with this post.
So yesterday was eventful. The day was still fun, but in the morning I had to put lots of appointment cards into alphabetical order in their files. This was fine because I did the job well, but I was just disapointed that it had nothing to do with the animals.
Still, thats work for you, it can't all be sunshine and roses.
Apart from that, the day was the usual: combing, drying/blasting, washing, stroking. I did do a lot more sweeping than before, but after the amout done in Dulwich Ridding School, a little sweeping isn't a bother.
My favourite part of the day was near the end. There where only a few dogs left and so I did a lot of stroking and socialising with these dogs. There was one pug that had a crazy amount of energy and would run in a circle before attempting to 'climb' me to get to my face to lick me (this was easy since he was on a table). It was just fun to see him compared to his laid back sister.
So that was my day yesterday.
Adios People!
Aishite iru (I love you)!
Wednesday, 6 August 2014
Third Day Of Top To Tail
Hello people!
I need to clear up what happened on Tuesday (yesterday). Basically, Top to Tail are not open on Tuesdays. I didn't know this and turned up anyway. I think this was a joint mistake: as much as I hate to admite it I should have researched a little more about the company, but they should have made sure that I was fully informed too.
Well, time to get over it and think about today.
Today was a good day. Business was slow at first but soon picked up as the day progressed. This meant that I had time to hang out with a few dogs in the morning- that was fun.
I got the chance to meet more of the employees today (because they switch from day-to-day). They were all nice and friendly so it was easy to take orders from them.
Most of the day was the usual: combing, brushing, washing, blasting/ drying, hugging, and strocking. It was really fun though.
I had two highlights of the day. The first one was this gorgeous Akita that came in. There was a moment after he had finished being groomed and I looked up at him. I swear he glowed- he was just so gorgeous!
The second highlight was during my thirty minute lunch break. In the sorta-kitchen area where I have my lunch I found, not 1, not 2... but 3 cute small dogs there. They were the dogs of the people that worked their and that meant that my lunch break was spent playing around and having fun with these bundles of joy.
Unfortunately, I had to leave a little early to go to an NCS meeting. I'll talk about NCS The Challenge when i'm doing it.
Love you all!
Adios tiendas!
I need to clear up what happened on Tuesday (yesterday). Basically, Top to Tail are not open on Tuesdays. I didn't know this and turned up anyway. I think this was a joint mistake: as much as I hate to admite it I should have researched a little more about the company, but they should have made sure that I was fully informed too.
Well, time to get over it and think about today.
Today was a good day. Business was slow at first but soon picked up as the day progressed. This meant that I had time to hang out with a few dogs in the morning- that was fun.
I got the chance to meet more of the employees today (because they switch from day-to-day). They were all nice and friendly so it was easy to take orders from them.
Most of the day was the usual: combing, brushing, washing, blasting/ drying, hugging, and strocking. It was really fun though.
I had two highlights of the day. The first one was this gorgeous Akita that came in. There was a moment after he had finished being groomed and I looked up at him. I swear he glowed- he was just so gorgeous!
The second highlight was during my thirty minute lunch break. In the sorta-kitchen area where I have my lunch I found, not 1, not 2... but 3 cute small dogs there. They were the dogs of the people that worked their and that meant that my lunch break was spent playing around and having fun with these bundles of joy.
Unfortunately, I had to leave a little early to go to an NCS meeting. I'll talk about NCS The Challenge when i'm doing it.
Love you all!
Adios tiendas!
Tuesday, 5 August 2014
Second Day Of Top To Tail?
Hello people!
Nothing happened today. Literally nothing.
I went on the long bus ride to Top to Tail, waited for twenty minutes outside, called to see what was happening, was told that due to unforseen cercumstances the groomers was closed today, and left.
I know this means I have a day off (not that I wanted one) but it is still really annoying that I had to waste my time on the trip there and back.
But oh well...
Sorry that this post is just me annoyed.
Wish me luck for tomorrow!
Love you all!
Bye people!
Nothing happened today. Literally nothing.
I went on the long bus ride to Top to Tail, waited for twenty minutes outside, called to see what was happening, was told that due to unforseen cercumstances the groomers was closed today, and left.
I know this means I have a day off (not that I wanted one) but it is still really annoying that I had to waste my time on the trip there and back.
But oh well...
Sorry that this post is just me annoyed.
Wish me luck for tomorrow!
Love you all!
Bye people!
Monday, 4 August 2014
First Day Of Top To Tail
Hello people!
Today was my first day of work experience at Top To Tail animal (mainly dog) groomers and it was wonderful.
It was not an ideal start to the day because my mum and I (she gave me a lift) couldn't find the place. We were in the area 10 minutes early and unexpectedly drove right past it. This ended up in us driving around looking for the building; it was really embarrasing when we finally found it hidden in plain sight!
Apart from that the day was fantastic. It really didn't feel like work. But then again, my idea of fun isn't everybodies.
I first learnt about how to wash the dogs (I had never done this before because I have never owned a pet, unfortunately). Then I got to see how the blaster (like a really powerful hairdryer) was used. Next, was using the hairdryer and a fan to finish off the job. I learnt fast and quickly got stuck in to the work.
There was a gorgeous, massive, black dog-customer that stayed all day. He looked like a giant cuddly bear but didn't make a sound through the whole process; he was even asleep through half of it. I spent a lot of the day helping out with combing out the slicky fur of this sleeping giant and it was fun in a weird way.
I also washed two dogs on my own. Chear for me!... no?... oh, ok :(
Anyway, there were only dogs today but I hope there might be a little variation in the future- no matter how small the odds- I do have two weeks minus a day left.
The best part was just being around the dogs, especially when I got lots of kisses from them. The overall environment was great as well and I throughly enjoyed my experience.
But, I still have a lot of time to go so I'll wait and see if my opinion will change.
Bye people (and dogs)!
Love you all!
Today was my first day of work experience at Top To Tail animal (mainly dog) groomers and it was wonderful.
It was not an ideal start to the day because my mum and I (she gave me a lift) couldn't find the place. We were in the area 10 minutes early and unexpectedly drove right past it. This ended up in us driving around looking for the building; it was really embarrasing when we finally found it hidden in plain sight!
Apart from that the day was fantastic. It really didn't feel like work. But then again, my idea of fun isn't everybodies.
I first learnt about how to wash the dogs (I had never done this before because I have never owned a pet, unfortunately). Then I got to see how the blaster (like a really powerful hairdryer) was used. Next, was using the hairdryer and a fan to finish off the job. I learnt fast and quickly got stuck in to the work.
There was a gorgeous, massive, black dog-customer that stayed all day. He looked like a giant cuddly bear but didn't make a sound through the whole process; he was even asleep through half of it. I spent a lot of the day helping out with combing out the slicky fur of this sleeping giant and it was fun in a weird way.
I also washed two dogs on my own. Chear for me!... no?... oh, ok :(
Anyway, there were only dogs today but I hope there might be a little variation in the future- no matter how small the odds- I do have two weeks minus a day left.
The best part was just being around the dogs, especially when I got lots of kisses from them. The overall environment was great as well and I throughly enjoyed my experience.
But, I still have a lot of time to go so I'll wait and see if my opinion will change.
Bye people (and dogs)!
Love you all!
Tuesday, 29 July 2014
I have news
Hello people!
Sorry that I haven't posted in a while. I had internet trouble and had to reboot the whole thing.
Anyway, I'm here now and I've got BIG news!
I have work experience next week for two weeks (from the 4th of August)! It's so great. I also have NCS for the rest of August and every Sunday in September. I also have Code club (I'll talk about it in a later blog) every Saturday in September- so I have no free time.
Still, I'm really happy about this and I'll be doing daily blogs when I start next week so keep posted for that.
Love you guys.
Bye People
Sorry that I haven't posted in a while. I had internet trouble and had to reboot the whole thing.
Anyway, I'm here now and I've got BIG news!
I have work experience next week for two weeks (from the 4th of August)! It's so great. I also have NCS for the rest of August and every Sunday in September. I also have Code club (I'll talk about it in a later blog) every Saturday in September- so I have no free time.
Still, I'm really happy about this and I'll be doing daily blogs when I start next week so keep posted for that.
Love you guys.
Bye People
Thursday, 3 July 2014
Summer Volunteering: Deen City Farm
Hello people!
Firstly, I think we just need to take some time to appreciate that Deen is also my surname. I have a farm named after me! (sort of... not really).
Anyway, my time at Deen City Farm is so far the best volunteering experience that I have had. It was a very rounded experience due to the wide range of types of animals that I worked with. I worked in the 'lifestock' section. This also includes small pets, birds, etc... as well as convential lifestock (such as sheep and goats).
I volunteered there every Saturday over summer 2013 working 7 hour days. This amounted to 91 hours over 13 days and I loved every second.
Work consisted of mucking out and cleaning cages, stalls, etc; checking for eggs; handeling and giving talks about animals; taking animals to events (e.g. birthday parties); feeding animals; walking cows to their field and back; and 'walking' ducks between two ponds. We would also occasionally walk ferrets, rabbits, sheep, and chickens. We would also help in fundraising activities. Running around doing odd-jobs was also the norm.
My favourite day was the harvest festival on my second-to-last day. It was sooo fun! We each got to take out and walk an animal of our choice in the 'harvest parade'. After a few laps around the area, we got to stop and just hang out with the animals and the many visitors (talking about animals, of course). There were also many different people coming in to help or sell things during the festival, so there was a lot to see. This day was like a half-day off (we had to help set up and take care of animals in the morning). I loved it! There were lots of interesting people around. For example, there was a carpenter that talked to us for ages about carpenting. He even agreed to make a little mushroom for each of us to keep. There were also two lovely old ladys that taught us some basic kniting! (It was more fun than it sounds).
I made many new friends at DCF and not all of them were human. I loved the animals there so much and it was fun to be able to stroke them and just generaly be with them every day. I feel that the number of animals can only be conveyed in a list.
Well... here goes: there was a herd of sheep, many were young lambs; three cows (a forth was born this year); a goat herd- my favourite goat was Kane, he was the only male and was kept to 'make babies'; three young pigs (only two adult pigs this year); an alpaca (she lives with the goats after her partner died- she liked goats way better than other alpacas anyway); two rats (they had babies last year that got sold); five ferrets; Edna the barn owl; countless chickens of different breeds; two turkeys; a corn snake whose name I can never remember; a male python named Princess; 'visitor' owls that only came for two weeks; two bearded dragons that didn't stay for long either; three giant rabbits; many smaller rabbits; many guinea pigs; many types of small birds that live in a shared cage; and ducks- lots of ducks. Oh... and I can't forget the farm cats that would turn up in the early mornings and disappear for the rest of the day.
...I think I got them all, right?...
Working at DCF required high levels of teamwork and communication. Both of these skills where developed according to the situation. Using innitiave was also very important- as important as obeying orders. Social skills were constantely required when speacking to visitors, especially children. We also needed good memory and communication skills when giving visitors information about animals and answering questions.
Life at Deen City Farm was never dull and was such a great social and educational experience that I would recommend it to anyone! I love you DCF!
P.S. For anyone interested, there is also a 'stable' and 'gardening' section that you can choose to work in. I worked in 'lifestock'.
P.P.S. Lifestock is the best!
P.P.S.S. Click here for pictures
Thanks for reading
Love you all!
Firstly, I think we just need to take some time to appreciate that Deen is also my surname. I have a farm named after me! (sort of... not really).
Anyway, my time at Deen City Farm is so far the best volunteering experience that I have had. It was a very rounded experience due to the wide range of types of animals that I worked with. I worked in the 'lifestock' section. This also includes small pets, birds, etc... as well as convential lifestock (such as sheep and goats).
I volunteered there every Saturday over summer 2013 working 7 hour days. This amounted to 91 hours over 13 days and I loved every second.
Work consisted of mucking out and cleaning cages, stalls, etc; checking for eggs; handeling and giving talks about animals; taking animals to events (e.g. birthday parties); feeding animals; walking cows to their field and back; and 'walking' ducks between two ponds. We would also occasionally walk ferrets, rabbits, sheep, and chickens. We would also help in fundraising activities. Running around doing odd-jobs was also the norm.
My favourite day was the harvest festival on my second-to-last day. It was sooo fun! We each got to take out and walk an animal of our choice in the 'harvest parade'. After a few laps around the area, we got to stop and just hang out with the animals and the many visitors (talking about animals, of course). There were also many different people coming in to help or sell things during the festival, so there was a lot to see. This day was like a half-day off (we had to help set up and take care of animals in the morning). I loved it! There were lots of interesting people around. For example, there was a carpenter that talked to us for ages about carpenting. He even agreed to make a little mushroom for each of us to keep. There were also two lovely old ladys that taught us some basic kniting! (It was more fun than it sounds).
I made many new friends at DCF and not all of them were human. I loved the animals there so much and it was fun to be able to stroke them and just generaly be with them every day. I feel that the number of animals can only be conveyed in a list.
Well... here goes: there was a herd of sheep, many were young lambs; three cows (a forth was born this year); a goat herd- my favourite goat was Kane, he was the only male and was kept to 'make babies'; three young pigs (only two adult pigs this year); an alpaca (she lives with the goats after her partner died- she liked goats way better than other alpacas anyway); two rats (they had babies last year that got sold); five ferrets; Edna the barn owl; countless chickens of different breeds; two turkeys; a corn snake whose name I can never remember; a male python named Princess; 'visitor' owls that only came for two weeks; two bearded dragons that didn't stay for long either; three giant rabbits; many smaller rabbits; many guinea pigs; many types of small birds that live in a shared cage; and ducks- lots of ducks. Oh... and I can't forget the farm cats that would turn up in the early mornings and disappear for the rest of the day.
...I think I got them all, right?...
Working at DCF required high levels of teamwork and communication. Both of these skills where developed according to the situation. Using innitiave was also very important- as important as obeying orders. Social skills were constantely required when speacking to visitors, especially children. We also needed good memory and communication skills when giving visitors information about animals and answering questions.
Life at Deen City Farm was never dull and was such a great social and educational experience that I would recommend it to anyone! I love you DCF!
P.S. For anyone interested, there is also a 'stable' and 'gardening' section that you can choose to work in. I worked in 'lifestock'.
P.P.S. Lifestock is the best!
P.P.S.S. Click here for pictures
Thanks for reading
Love you all!
Deen City Farm photos
Hello people!
Here are my photos from Deen City Farm.
Just so you know, these photos were taken recently (29th June) so I wasn't allowed to go into the cages, fields, etc because i'm not a volunteer anymore.
Enjoy!
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Here are my photos from Deen City Farm.
Just so you know, these photos were taken recently (29th June) so I wasn't allowed to go into the cages, fields, etc because i'm not a volunteer anymore.
Enjoy!
Monday, 23 June 2014
Nihongo!
Konnichiwa people!
I just wanted to commemorate yesterday: the day I officially started learning nihongo (that's 'Japanese' in Japanese).
P.S. I know this isn't about volunteering but I just had to.
Sayounara people!
aishite iru (I love you) all!
I just wanted to commemorate yesterday: the day I officially started learning nihongo (that's 'Japanese' in Japanese).
P.S. I know this isn't about volunteering but I just had to.
Sayounara people!
aishite iru (I love you) all!
Tuesday, 17 June 2014
First Work Experience: Horse Riding School
Hello people!
As this is my first proper entry, I decided to start at the beginning with my first work experience placement.
It was a whole 11 months ago, when I was still young and didn't know the true horror that is GCSEs...
Anyway, it was two weeks in total- from July 1st to July 12th 2013. I completed 80 hours over 10 eight-hour days. I was working from 9 to 5 for the first time in my life.
I was in year 10 and the 'work experience co-ordinator' was part of my school. This increased the pressure of having to get work experience quickly. I was sending emails out to just about every company I came across in a frantic attempt to secure a placement. This wasn't fun.
Funnily enough, two of my friends found the placement I ended up at first, it was at Dulwich (horse) Riding School. This meant that we could all go together- which I loved. I do think that this was the best thing that could have happened at the time because all my many attempts at getting work experience were obviously not working. This was mostly because I was 14 and most veterinary placements only accept 16-year-olds and over.
Despite having my friends and lots of other people working in the Riding School, it was still a very demanding work-load. The number one thing that made it worthwhile were the animals. I loved the horses and I really got to know them individually. Two of my favourites were Beau-James (a beautiful mischievous young horse that didn't listen to anyone), and Lady (a pony who had been abused in her old home- making her very timid and untrustworthy, but she was better than before, now).
So that you know, saying I have 'favourites' doesn't necessarily mean that I dislike any other horses or ponies. On the contrary, in fact. I absolutely loved ALL of the animals (including a cat and guard-dog that I would play with whenever I could).
The actual work was hard but unexpectedly rewarding. It included a lot of sweeping, mucking out, weighing horse and dog food, laying straw, walking horses and ponies, assisting in riding lessons, cleaning and polishing equipment, grooming horses, washing horses (only happened once in the two weeks), and anything else we were told to do.
We also had to give the horses, ponies and dog their food and water (the cat ate mice so was only fed cat food occasionally). This was harder than it sounds because each horse had to have different amounts and types of food, some even had special dietary requirements. This made teamwork and good communication essential to being able to get anything done.
By far the worst job was sweeping. I know that you may be thinking, "But Sally, you had to muck out horses, isn't that so much worse?". You would be wrong there. Working with manure was relatively easy. All we had to do was muck out the horses and ponies, transport the manure via wheelbarrow to a manure pile and then shovel the manure from the manure pile into bin-bags. The manure would then be given away for free as a fertiliser. This was fairly simple because we had many people working on each part of the process, making it easy to complete relatively quickly.
In comparison, sweeping was a constant annoying battle against dirt. We had to sweep the ground so often it got tedious. It was the only job that I didn't even get any satisfaction in completing. But, looking back on it, I'm happy that I did do it. It was a great lesson in self-discipline and teamwork. I also had to take charge of the group at times and this helped me to think about how to get everyone organised and working in the most efficient way possible. This often involved having most people sweeping into the dirt into a pile, another one or two people shovelling it into a wheelbarrow and another person emptying out the wheelbarrow when needed.
The highlight of the two weeks was when we surprisingly got offered a free horse riding lesson. I jumped at the opportunity and I completely enjoyed it.
Overall, it was a very successful work experience placement that made me think a lot about many aspects of work that I had never before. It enabled me to learn about how to take orders, but also how to think quickly, independently and even lead a team when I need to.
This is a certificate of completion I got from my school for completing work experience:
Thank you for reading. Bye people!
P.S. This entry was quite long, sorry guys! I'll try to keep them shorter in the future. I'll probably do daily blogs when I start more work experience.
As this is my first proper entry, I decided to start at the beginning with my first work experience placement.
It was a whole 11 months ago, when I was still young and didn't know the true horror that is GCSEs...
Anyway, it was two weeks in total- from July 1st to July 12th 2013. I completed 80 hours over 10 eight-hour days. I was working from 9 to 5 for the first time in my life.
I was in year 10 and the 'work experience co-ordinator' was part of my school. This increased the pressure of having to get work experience quickly. I was sending emails out to just about every company I came across in a frantic attempt to secure a placement. This wasn't fun.
Funnily enough, two of my friends found the placement I ended up at first, it was at Dulwich (horse) Riding School. This meant that we could all go together- which I loved. I do think that this was the best thing that could have happened at the time because all my many attempts at getting work experience were obviously not working. This was mostly because I was 14 and most veterinary placements only accept 16-year-olds and over.
Despite having my friends and lots of other people working in the Riding School, it was still a very demanding work-load. The number one thing that made it worthwhile were the animals. I loved the horses and I really got to know them individually. Two of my favourites were Beau-James (a beautiful mischievous young horse that didn't listen to anyone), and Lady (a pony who had been abused in her old home- making her very timid and untrustworthy, but she was better than before, now).
So that you know, saying I have 'favourites' doesn't necessarily mean that I dislike any other horses or ponies. On the contrary, in fact. I absolutely loved ALL of the animals (including a cat and guard-dog that I would play with whenever I could).
The actual work was hard but unexpectedly rewarding. It included a lot of sweeping, mucking out, weighing horse and dog food, laying straw, walking horses and ponies, assisting in riding lessons, cleaning and polishing equipment, grooming horses, washing horses (only happened once in the two weeks), and anything else we were told to do.
We also had to give the horses, ponies and dog their food and water (the cat ate mice so was only fed cat food occasionally). This was harder than it sounds because each horse had to have different amounts and types of food, some even had special dietary requirements. This made teamwork and good communication essential to being able to get anything done.
By far the worst job was sweeping. I know that you may be thinking, "But Sally, you had to muck out horses, isn't that so much worse?". You would be wrong there. Working with manure was relatively easy. All we had to do was muck out the horses and ponies, transport the manure via wheelbarrow to a manure pile and then shovel the manure from the manure pile into bin-bags. The manure would then be given away for free as a fertiliser. This was fairly simple because we had many people working on each part of the process, making it easy to complete relatively quickly.
In comparison, sweeping was a constant annoying battle against dirt. We had to sweep the ground so often it got tedious. It was the only job that I didn't even get any satisfaction in completing. But, looking back on it, I'm happy that I did do it. It was a great lesson in self-discipline and teamwork. I also had to take charge of the group at times and this helped me to think about how to get everyone organised and working in the most efficient way possible. This often involved having most people sweeping into the dirt into a pile, another one or two people shovelling it into a wheelbarrow and another person emptying out the wheelbarrow when needed.
The highlight of the two weeks was when we surprisingly got offered a free horse riding lesson. I jumped at the opportunity and I completely enjoyed it.
Overall, it was a very successful work experience placement that made me think a lot about many aspects of work that I had never before. It enabled me to learn about how to take orders, but also how to think quickly, independently and even lead a team when I need to.
This is a certificate of completion I got from my school for completing work experience:
(yes, my full name is written on it)
Thank you for reading. Bye people!
P.S. This entry was quite long, sorry guys! I'll try to keep them shorter in the future. I'll probably do daily blogs when I start more work experience.
A bit about me
Hi. I'm Sally D.
I am 15 years old and my birthday is in August.
I have just finished my GCSE exams (last one was on Friday 13th of June 2014). YAY! So I decided that Friday the 13th is no longer unlucky. It is now my most lucky day!
I am in LOVE with animals. I love them all (yes, including rats and spiders). This love of animals is the reason for my future job prospects. I am going to be a Veterinary Surgeon. To realise this dream, I am aiming to study in the RVC (Royal Veterinary College) University of London and do a BVetMed course for five (or six) years.
So, to get accepted into the RVC I need to do lot of work experience. For me, this is not a chore and is actually quite enjoyable. So enjoyable, in fact, that I decided to start this blog about it and to share my work experience and volunteering story with all the fine people of the internet.
Have a great day. Bye!
I am 15 years old and my birthday is in August.
I have just finished my GCSE exams (last one was on Friday 13th of June 2014). YAY! So I decided that Friday the 13th is no longer unlucky. It is now my most lucky day!
I am in LOVE with animals. I love them all (yes, including rats and spiders). This love of animals is the reason for my future job prospects. I am going to be a Veterinary Surgeon. To realise this dream, I am aiming to study in the RVC (Royal Veterinary College) University of London and do a BVetMed course for five (or six) years.
So, to get accepted into the RVC I need to do lot of work experience. For me, this is not a chore and is actually quite enjoyable. So enjoyable, in fact, that I decided to start this blog about it and to share my work experience and volunteering story with all the fine people of the internet.
Have a great day. Bye!
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