October
Posted on 31 Oct, 2010 by Lynne Walker | Filed under Blog • Orienteering • General
This is a reflective look back at October 2010, written at the start of January 2011. Why the delay? Well, life has been a bit busy and so other things have taken priority (that does sound a lot better than saying I’ve been lazy!).
This was a month of some time here and some time there. There was Boat of Garten, coaching and assessing orienteering – as well as having a break. Here was well, here – and painting.
Decorating
So to the painting first. We had finished the main bedroom and kitchen at the start of October. We tackled the spare room and the lounge. This seemed to be never-ending. There was the preparation (all that sanding and plaster dust), the undercoat and then the two coats of emulsion. Add to that the woodwork of the skirting boards and door frames, changing the light fittings, painting inside all the cupboards and so on. We seemed to be trying for further perfection as we went on; the walls are OK but we know where the imperfections are (all the bits we filled and could not get perfectly smooth again). At least we did not have window frames as the replacement windows are UPVC. However the mastic had to be removed, paint up to the edge of the frame and then reapply the mastic. I actually got became reasonable with the mastic gun! It was worth it though as the result is a smarter and cleaner look to the house. Doors came off for painting – and some are still not back on again (and this is the end of January).
The Old Stable
However October was not all house painting. At the start of the month I was assessing for the UKCC L2 coach award near Boat of Garten. We found a one bedroom place to rent, adjacent to a place we had rented before so we knew we liked to location. The first weekend was assessing on the Saturday and coaching on the Sunday. The group were adults who wanted to improve so was very satisfying to work with. Paul joined in with the group being coached and so gained something from the weekend. We spent the rest of the week running a bit, cycling and going to a film in Inverness. The accommodation was great.
Coaching
The end of the month saw us back up at Boat of Garten, staying at Fraoch lodge ‘bunkhouse’. We were coaching the Stramash apprentices, bringing them from almost no orienteering skills to being able to complete a TD4 Light green course on their own. I had planned all the training; Niall & Paul helped with delivery and putting the controls out. The weather was generally quite kind to us; it was cool and windy at times. We had rain when we were doing the practise night event which made things rather miserable.
At the end of the training week there was the Tinto Twin weekend in Inshriach. The night event was easier than last time, probably because I now have a decent torch. There was only one control I made a bit of a mess of. Before running on the Sunday I helped at registration for three hours. The Sunday run went very well (not usually the case when I have been helping) and I was really pleased to have quite a good time and also beat many of my rivals. This good run meant that I won the Tinto Twin W55 trophy. It was a weekend if gaining trophies as Tay 2009 and the 6-Day Company had been awarded the Thistle Trophy on the Friday evening. Anne Hickling had represented the 6-Day Company at the ceremony; she then brought the trophy to the Tinto Twin event so many could see it.
I am a level 4 orienteering coach and a qualified Assessor & Coach Educator. I have been orienteering for xx years and have coached on many foreign tours.