It has been a fairly relaxed start to the Easter weekend. I finished off the third of four TMAs for my Open University (OU) Ecosystems course, as the deadline occurs when I am way on this residential. Although I procrastinated for a while, it didn't take that long once I got stuck into it. I had to run down to the post office to pick up a parcel that had tried to be delivered - I am sure I was in the house, but the postman must have knocked really quietly as I didn't hear them. The parcel was a butterfly net I had ordered, but I couldn't figure out how it fit together ... there may be a piece missing? I will have to have a closer look when I am back home.
Around lunchtime I drove down to Preston Montford near Shrewsbury, the venue for my Open University residential course. This weekend is the first of two residentials for SXE288 Practical Environmental Science. The journey was really smooth, the traffic light and the driving conditions excellent. I arrived too early, despite two stops, so chilled out with a few other students that had also arrived early.
After a delicious three course dinner, we all met up for our first session in the evening. This involved some map reading - but not just any maps, we were looking at geology, soil and drift maps as well as standard Ordnance Survey maps. We then walked into the grounds and took some soil samples using both dutch and screw augers, and practiced describing the soil profile and horizons using colour and texture to decide on a soil type. This involved mushing up soil in our fingers: needless to say I ended up with very muddy hands! These are skills that we will have to use on day three when we carry out an investigation that has to be written up for our next assignment.
It was after 9pm when we finished for the evening. Some of the other student have come from as far afield as Switzerland, Jersey and Ireland as well as from around the UK. Mike that I met in Nicaragua is one of the tutors on the course. There are twenty five students in total, with three tutors. Everyone seems very nice so far. I'm hoping the weather stays fine, or at least dry, as we will be outside for most of the next two days. I'm looking forward to the rest of the course.
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