Autumn at the aboretum in Lincoln

‘Autumn, the year’s last, loveliest smile’ (attributed to William Cullen Bryant)

It really has been a beautiful autumn, but as I write this, the evenings are getting darker, it is getting colder and the clocks are about to be set back for winter!    Still October has been a good month for me, it feels as though the new academic year has now fully got underway with the usual round of meetings and strategic planning.  More excitingly I have been working with many new students having the early ‘taste’ of learning in higher education.   This month I have also been able to find some space to make some serious ‘in-roads’ into the sole-authored book I am writing for Sage publications, on interprofessional collaborative practice in Social Work, there is alot more to do, but I feel that this is now moving on well.  I am also working on developing some of my doctoral thesis for submission as journal articles, but this is a surprisingly time-consuming process. 

During October, we went to see Bob Golding in the fantastic, new one-man play which celebrates the life and career of the legendary comedian Eric Morecambe – it was a great night out.

So, my plans for November?  Well, more writing, perhaps some updating to this website, there will be marking and more teaching and, of course, planning for the festive season!

May has been a month for completing all the marking and beginning to think about teaching commitments for the next academic year. The marking process is lengthy but is now in the latter stages with reports being prepared for various examination boards in the next couple of months. I know that students wait anxiously for confirmation of grades, so this is an important time of the academic year.

At home, the kittens, or rather ‘cats’, were one-year old. As pedigree pusses, they are house-cats, but following a safe exploration in the back garden, it became clear that they would enjoy the experience of fresh air and some different scenery. So amid much laughter in the family, my ‘other half’ has agreed to build them a cat run – I will upload some photographs here when the run is finished and in use!