Mushrooms!

Today and yesterday I got a job-hunt related rejection letter both days.  I also followed up a speculative CV and ordered a book about how to get into ecology.  So I guess it balances out, right?

Outside of that, I decided that yesterday would be a fantabulous day to go out and brush up my ID skills.  And it was a fantastic wander... until the heavens broke, the thunder came and even my underwear got properly soaked.  Mind, my DMs kept my socks dry, so at least there's that.  That'll teach me to believe that the weather will hold.

Until I got properly rained on, I'd been having a good little walk.  Not only do I have a new GPS app on my phone that allows me to map things, but my mushroom ID was picking up.  So, because I quite like blackberries and raspberries, I mapped out an area of accessible bushes using the app plus Bing maps.  So if anyone heads out to Dyson Woods...

http://binged.it/PANoHn -- and it's exportable to KML and a few other formats, so you can actually look at it in GIS applications if needed.  How cool is that?  In the mean time, I'll be taking a wander and getting some blackberries for blackberry gin.  None of the few raspberries I did find actually made it home (again).  But they were *so* tasty...

Outside of that, I saw two different types of fungus.  One is Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor) that was growing on a felled silver birch.  The growth was quite young so it felt velvety.  There were several pores per millimetre on the underside, which was entirely white.  The fungus is listed as "inedible" on several sites.  Which is fair, because it feels leathery and unpalatable:

The underside is a proper white colour on these particular Turkey Tails.

I also saw a Common Earthball (Scleroderma citrinum).  Scleroderma citrinum literally means hard-skinned and lemon in colour, more or less, which isn't far off the mark as they feel almost rock hard to the touch:

This little mushroom is also called pigskin poison puffball and isn't a puffball at all -- it's an earthball.  Puffballs have a single opening in the top through which the spores disperse; earthballs prefer to break up and release their spores.  Common earthballs have black spores and it's worth noting that the spores may cause crying, conjunctivitis, runny nose and nosebleeds in some people -- and you'd definitely not want to be eating them.  Gastrointestinal distress is the term used.  Even that's too colourful!

And then... there was rain.  All of the rain.  So, I may head out that way tomorrow as long as it's not, you know, a proper deluge.  My ID books hate water.

Gathering Week

Ow.  This last week has been a hammer.

So, Monday -- first day volunteering at Record.  Actually, that was the day of rest and it was really good to get back into using GIS programs (even if it was MapInfo, which isn't my preference).  Still, I'd not done much with digitising NVCs before, so it was a really good experience and this weekend, I'll be doing some mycology off the back of it.  In short, I'll be learning some more about fungi and lichens.  Yes.  I'm weird.  I am aware of this.  Though the weirdest thing about volunteering at a biological records centre was the response to a team member finding a dead bat in one of the storage boxes.  Record collects all the biological sighting data for Cheshire... so of course there was interest in recording the type of bat and it's gender before getting rid of the poor thing (and it's new inhabitants.  Grim).  The bat situation was eventually resolved (and recorded, sadly).  I followed this up with a games evening in the pub, which was quite cathartic and made some new friends, which was good.  I also had a mooch earlier in the day where I spent some time hanging out with the red pandas.  I have to admit to watching one of them with great joy as they munched on one of the hawthornes in their enclosure with every sign of enjoyment.

And then I had a week where I could find no new jobs to apply for.  But that also gave me a week to do leatherworking.  Specifically faction symbols, more guild symbols, a belt with tonnes of pouches, bards sashes, a bandolier... it raised a lot of money for the faction, which is fantastic, plus it covered the make costs, so I'm a happy bunny (see all the tags below!)

Getting those metal stamps made saved my sanity.

Outside of that, the event this last weekend just about broke me. Still, I think I had fun -- I just wish I didn't attempt to get all my exercise for the month in in one weekend.  Yeowch.

As a side note, I now have over 300,000 followers on Pinterest.  I'm still shocked about it, but still -- very cool. It's made me think about adding to this blog and creating some infographics about ecology.

Interview Week

Well now.  It's been a funny 10 days.

Last week, I called an ecological firm nearby and sent a CV after they asked me to.  I've yet to hear feedback, but it has only been 7 working days.  So, I'll give them a mither on Monday.

And then I went back to Cardiff for a couple of days, randomly.  It was good to see family and friends.  St. David's 2 has really improved the shopping and restaurant situation down there (it was already good to begin with, but now it's just amazing!).  I had a good time with the lads, good company and food, returned home and recovered because when I say randomly, gosh.  It was a 3am deciding to "let's go" because the OH had a job down there to do those two days.

The rest of the weekend was spent making bits and pieces from fimo and reading Snuff by Terry Pratchett as well as seeing some friends of ours in The North.  Excellent.  Everyone needs a week off.

So Monday, I had an interview for a volunteer position.  It was with RECORD, so it's based in Chester Zoo.  I was a bit late due to road problems and sat nav problems, so it was quite stressful.  However, they still decided to take me on and I start volunteering there on Monday, which I'm really looking forward to.  It's not too glamourous (GIS and data processing) but the perks are that it gets me meeting people, keeps my skills current, keeps me busy a day a week AND I get to have lunch with the lions and servals.  See the serval!  I have decided his name is Herbert:

I did have a giggle as I was watching him -- someone wanders up going "Are they dangerous?"  I'm kinda thinking to myself "It's a cat.  Of course it's dangerous.  Never mind the 50lb advantage it has over the house cat..."  Bless.  They also have a really nice British wildflower space which I'm going to get some better pictures of next week.

Monday nights also happen to be games night with some friends of mine down in Chester, which is good as it's a mixture of board games and card games.  It's also fortuitous, because I didn't realise it when I opted to volunteer that day.  Get in!

Thursday I had an interview for the arboricultural surveyor job I applied for.  Now that was an interesting experience.  I'm used to being the wildcard applicant, but it's something to actually be told it.  The interview was really hit and miss so I've genuinely no idea how well I did.  Currently my head tells me no though, which would be sad as they seemed like a good company to work for.  On the bright side, I got myself a set of interview clothes that make me feel confident.  Looking confident and feeling confident are two different things, but feeling it helps make the looking of it.

As for the jobs mentioned on the previous blog post...
Bridgend volunteering just wasn't practical.
Invasive species officer wasn't practical to even apply for.
I'm no good at birds.  I went for a wander in the woods this last week in preparation for the interview on Thursday.  It just confirmed that I'm no good at birds; but I did find wild raspberries, so there's a bonus.  No, they did not make it home.

I've seen no jobs to apply for this last week, which makes me sad.  Just chasing up loose ends and calling folks to see if they mind me putting in a speculative CV.  I really think that contacting people before I email them is, firstly, polite and secondly, it puts a person behind that CV.  I must admit to thinking that it's really important.

In other news, I now have 115,000 followers on Pinterest.  I'm still not entirely sure why other than I pin every day, I check my sources, and I write about why I'm interested.  I did have the nicest compliment this last week:  "You should write a book or an ebook! I would buy it! I do genealogy and have royalty in my family line. Your pictures and stories are awesome and they explain the individual and the era."  That was on the day of the interview so it cheered me up immensely.  It's certainly something to sit down and think about.  I often think about writing, formally and properly.  I'd be awful as a fiction writer, but I'm not bad as a factual writer who likes to throw in a human connection.

Time will out.

Recovery Week

In the last week, I completed the following:

48 guild symbols
Two pairs of bracers
A pair of greaves
Four scabbards (two with lammie pouches)
A wrist purse

And at this point, I feel the need to explain something, as potential employers may run across this blog.  I have a hobby and I'm the first to admit it's a bit odd.  In short, a few weekends every year, I camp for anywhere between 3-5 days, in a field (or sometimes scout camp).  I spend large amounts of time wandering around forested areas, sometimes trying to walk very quietly and often this happens at night and in all weathers.  It almost sounds like ecology, until you take into account that I'm wearing armour.  I like history and I like being active.  The hobby I do is similar to medieval re-enactment, but with some differences (e.g. we're not being historically accurate, though there are guidelines for kit; we're not re-enacting a battle as such, but battles do happen).  If you're interested, I'm happy to talk about it -- after all, it was the hobby that made me realise that I would be much happier working outside and doing ecology.  And this is the hobby that prompted me towards the leatherwork because a lot of the kit is leather-based armour, leather pouches and leather scabbards.

So, back to what I've been doing, here's some photo tasters of the work I did this week...

And bear in mind, that's not even everything.  Busy bee.

Then there was the event, then we had Alton Towers with some friends (which was a day badly needed).  And then it was back to the real world.

So, this morning I had an email turning me down for one of the academic jobs I applied for -- I'm really curious as to why as I am totally qualified in terms of teaching, though I admit I am missing a hefty research portfolio.  I think I'm going to email them and ask why.  I've also had an interview from RECORD inviting me to interview as a volunteer.  I can't make it this week, so fingers crossed they don't mind next week.  At least that's positive.  Not heard anything out of anyone else, sadly.

So, jobs this week...

I have just discovered that it may well be worth putting in a CV with some local firms for ecological surveying, bat surveying and perhaps as someone with a spray cert.  I should get on that today/tomorrow.

There is an invasive species officer volunteer placement down in Bridgend (meaning I could stay in Wales for the rest of the summer), however, it's entirely unpaid and I can't afford that.  I don't know who could, either, apart from people living with mum & dad or extremely well off people.  But that's another issue!

I did spot a really awesome placement with Lancaster Wildlife Trust last week, however, given that it was advertised on the Monday, with a deadline of Friday 1) it wasn't happening and 2) that's really short notice for a deadline, which points to someone being prepared to slip into that position.

So.  Two things to apply for.  And I'm off to Wales tomorrow.  On reflection, I know what I'm doing this afternoon...

Edit:  I forgot to mention.  For no apparent reason that I am aware of, in this last week on Pinterest, I have gone from having 1,000 odd followers to 23,197 followers this morning.  I have no idea why, but I'm not complaining.  Most of my pins are mainly about history with some ecology thrown in -- people seem to really like that, but I've done nothing to actively make people follow me.  It's just happened.