Decisions Made

It's amazing how going on holiday puts a different perspective on things. Talking with friends and family helps immensely too, so the bunch of flowers is for everyone reading this who's listened to my wailing about my National Trust dilemma and studies recently.

So what are my conclusions? Well, as impressive as the volunteer volunteer manager post may sound, I've decided it doesn't impress me, so I've turned it down. It felt like I'd be returning to work - if I'm going to do that I might as well be paid for doing so. I'll continue with giving advice and help with the project on the more one off tasks and I've also said I'd like to participate in the garden survey and photography aspects of the project. They sound much more fun and will give me the chance of being outside instead of in the office. I've decided that offices and me don't go together that well!

As far as the Designing with Plants course goes, I've realised that signing up for a distance learning course doesn't really fit that well with my preferred hands on style of learning. My original reasons for choosing the KLC course don't really apply now as my circumstances have changed, so I've decided to sign up for the RHS Certificate component of the course at my local agricultural college (Lackham) in the autumn. I've met a couple of people at the Botanic Nursery workshops recently who've highly recommended the course there. Once I've completed this, I'll see whether I want to continue with the Plant Design component of the KLC course.

So the dilemmas are gone, decisions have been made and I feel much better :)

Comments

  1. NewShoot6 May 2008 at 20:05

    Well done on the decision front. Hope you really enjoy the RHS course - getting stuck into the RHS system was the best thing I ever did. There are some amazing tutors around (I had one who was one of Percy Thrower's bothy boys (less of a euphemism than it sounds!)). I don't know any of the tutors at Lackham - but I do remember the entertaining farm animals there and the giant lemons - so you should have fun!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous6 May 2008 at 20:19

    I hope you enjoy the RHS course. I would like to do this and did register for it but I would have to do it in the evenings instead of during the day. The evening courses are more theory than practice due to the limited time and it being dark! so I decided that I would wait until I didnt need tyo work full time and do it then by which time I will be ancient and incapable of understanding anything new!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Aunt Debbi/kurts mom7 May 2008 at 02:34

    Good luck and enjoy the course. I loved my design course at Texas A&M. The acer is beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  4. VP8 May 2008 at 20:06

    RPF - thanks. The giant lemons are great aren't they!

    Helen - that's a shame. Don't let getting older put you off - I'm not!

    Deb - Thanks - I hope I will. And thanks for the acer compliment :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Monica the Garden Faerie8 May 2008 at 21:05

    I'm all for volunteering, but I think you made the right decision. There's a subtle distinction between volunteering and unpaid work and that will vary for each person... For me, it's that volunteering is fun and/or educational and ON MY OWN TERMS. When I have to show up regular hours on a regular basis and do serious stuff, then, nope, it's work!
    By the way, do you know anything about the NT working holidays volunteering in gardens? I've been wanting to do one in Zennor for years but wasn't sure about the volunteer/work balance.
    ~ Monica

    ReplyDelete
  6. VP12 May 2008 at 15:08

    Hi & welcome Garden Faerie! You're quite right - I think they stepped way over the line in this case. I'll come over to your place to answer the rest...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Monica the Garden Faerie12 May 2008 at 16:10

    VP--thanks for the link to NT working holidays. What I was wondering about, specifically, was more whether you had a feel of how volunteers felt about the program. Is it in fact fun/educational or more like unpaid labor? Thanks!
    ~ Monica

    ReplyDelete
  8. VP14 May 2008 at 21:08

    TGF - I put your answer up over at your place...

    ReplyDelete

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