the last few days have been pretty tough. but i don't want to write too much about my PhD on here because i spend so much of the rest of my time thinking about it!
i've been finding nice ways to relax or switch off which, other than brunch with friends over from spain, (hola rosana if you're reading this) does not include socialising. at the moment i'm not actually very good company so hermit land is still suiting me just fine.
but here are some sweet treats from the past fortnight (in no particular order).
homemade (by my dad) sloe gin. lush!
brunch
new old shoes ordered after spotting them here. currently winging their way to me :)
more to be revealed on this soon...
today's lunch-break activity - collecting a posy of wild flowers
taking time away from the screen to just sit and stare at the beautiful trees
reading and snoozing in the sun during a break
continuing to work outside whenever the sun shines. the weather is so gorgeous at the moment.
sherry
catching up on grey's anatomy. i love this show.
my favourite guilty pleasure - the only way is essex. i smile the whole way through the show and think joey essex (pictured above sporting his reem whip) should have his own spin off show.
watching babies. this is a *fantastic* film. absolutely fascinating. basically a documentary following the first year of four babies' lives in namibia, mongolia, san francisco and tokyo in the style of a wildlife documentary. i will definitely watch it again and again. in fact, i think i posted the trailer a while back on my blog but can't be bothered to find it so will post it again here. also, if babies aren't your thing, i think you'd still find it enjoyable and the cinematography is just wonderful.
it's a truly hilarious film and well worth watching the interviews with the director as well (if you're interested about the parenting, development and research side as i am).
yesterday was a tough one. despite working outside* all afternoon, i felt pretty low and fed up with work. i also felt particularly stabby. other negative emotions this past week have included feeling terrified at the enormity of the task ahead since this is, by far, the most difficult thing i have ever had to do in my life. have i said that before? probably a number of times. forgive me but i will probably repeat it on a weekly basis.
i also had a workload reality check and had to cancel some social arrangements and say no to other invitations so that felt pretty rubbish. but i have chosen to work in this way because that is my best chance (i know how i work by now) at getting targets met on time.
there are lots of positive emotions at the moment too. and not just today when i am feeling chipper. i'm very proud of myself for having succeeded in immersing myself in my work and it feels good. i am confident about the work i am so far producing and i am so very passionate about my research and the data i've collected (after following families through their first year of parenthood).
in all, i would say this week has been wavy. (thanks to hels for this term).
here are a few pics of my first week of project hermit.
wed - wine to steady the nerves before project hermit began
thurs - data, notes & coffee. #currentview
fri - taking a break and getting sun on my face. #currentview
sat - shedding a few tears as the enormity of writing up dawns on me
sun - apt reading for mother's day
mon - good old fashioned post-it notes and pads helping me organise my PhD in addition to spreadsheets
tues -work was going well but my mum bought be these flowers to cheer me up when times are tough
wed - outdoor office.
*i am so lucky to be able to work at my parents' whenever i want. their house is a sanctuary and they have the oh so important outside space that my beautiful bristol flat doesn't. i tend to move location quite a bit when working this hard (to keep me alert) so i move from room to room, house to house, cafe to cafe.
two more things - it will be interesting to see if anyone reads this since i won't be advertising it on twitter (taking a complete break for a while) and facebook (still zero regrets about quitting). also, i am still updating my pics daily to my flickr site.
i'm still keeping up with my photo a day project and you can see the whole set (which i upload to daily) here on flickr. my favourites from this month are here with the first 'sweet couple' being my top favourite. other photos i'm really pleased with have been (and will be) included in blog posts this month.
so i'm still managing to keep up with taking (at least) one picture a day for the 2011 365 project and i upload them daily to my flickr set here. but i stopped posting them weekly on the blog as that felt like a chore. i wanted to share some of my favourite from february though so here they are:
my 2011 365 project is still going well and i upload photos every day to my flickr set. but instead of listing all photos here each week i thought i might just post my favourite. plus today i'm in a reflective mood so this seems apt.
1 - elephant bank. helping me save pennies
2 - banana milkshake with cinnamon. #lush
3 - using my rice cooker for the first time. only used as a slow cooker until now
4 - five minute dinner
5 - morning tea in bed while i listen to the rain
6 - got home late! 7hrs of driving, scary meeting, coffees with naomi & a final research interview. oof
7 - tampopo
1 - christmas boat
2 - moebius cowl
3 - mac 'n' cheese at 'same same' in bath
4 - it's still christmas here :)
5 - my parents' neighbours
6 - twelfth night. last use of xmas mug
7 - these need filling. #sortingfriday
