An update of sorts.

It’s been a few weeks since I published my last post, so thought it was about time I posted a new one, just in case you were worried that I’d vanished off the face of the earth. ;-)

After completing the Blackwork birthday card, I started work on a cross-stitch kit that I’d purchased at the International Craft and Hobby Fair in March. I’m currently unable to say anything about it, other than the fact I have finished the cross-stitching, and am part-way through the back-stitching.

In addition to the above, I have been busy with non-stitching projects. At the beginning of the year, I enrolled on a Level 2 ITQ course with Learn Direct. ITQ (Information Technology Qualification) has replaced ECDL, which stands for European Computer Driving Licence. All being well, it will lead to an internationally respected, vocational qualification in basic personal computing skills. If I am to stand a chance of getting myself a job working as a Data Entry Clerk, I will require that qualification.

Before Easter, I completed and passed the Microsoft Word module. On the whole, I found it relatively easy because I was familiar with using Word. However, that’s not to say that I didn’t learn a few new skills, because I did. I am currently part-way through the Microsoft Access (database) module, which I have until July to complete. My knowledge of Access is limited, and I’m not ashamed to admit that after an hour or two of studying, my brain feels fried, and I’ve had enough. I find that I have to make a lot of notes, and repeatedly go over what I’ve already studied, in order for it to sink in.

I have also been keeping myself physically active by doing some long-overdue weeding, which has included uprooting some unwanted trees, or at least they would be trees if left to grow (The circumference of the tree trunks is smaller than the circumference of my wrists). Unfortunately, the soil I am working with contains a lot of heavy clay, so I’ve had to use a mattock to break it up, in order to get down to the roots. To complicate matters, there are concrete foundations getting in the way. Obviously, I don’t want to intentionally damage the foundations, but I have to say that they are an absolute nuisance.